‘No further funds for the job scheme if norms are not met'  Several States, activists oppose new provisions Financial proposals now to be made online The Centre has made construction of the controversial Bharat Nirman Rajiv Gandhi Sewa Kendra mandatory out of funds earmarked for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) and warned that States which fail to do so will not receive any money under the scheme which...

A UNESCO dossier examines the problems faced by the original tribal inhabitants of the Andaman islands. SINCE the 1780s, a variety of players have vied for space in the Andaman archipelago. Today, apart from the three wings of the country's armed forces, others including rice farmers, timber merchants and academics are trying to push out its original inhabitants from their traditional habitats. For the first time in the past 150 years,...

The shortage of migrant labour for paddy transplantation in Punjab has started telling on the symbiotic relationship between farmers and labourers, with the money factor apparently driving a wedge between them. The strain in relations came to the fore in Herike village on Sunday when the farming class announced a social boycott of labourers for seeking enhanced rates for trasplanting paddy. Though the village sarpanch admitted that he had asked...

Whether it was bureaucratic callousness or political cover-up, the fact that the only comprehensive survey of Bhopal gas victims ever to be undertaken has yet to see the light of day 25 years later is likely to add to the controversy surrounding the disaster. The Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) study was significant since it was the only comprehensive survey of the extent of damage wrought by the gas leak....

Corruption and human rights issues continue to be neglected by companies despite ongoing interest in United Nations-led efforts to ensure ethical corporate conduct, according to the findings of a new survey by a global initiative that seeks to foster responsible business practices. The UN Global Compact surveyed a total of 1,044 businesses in 97 countries, representing nearly 20 per cent of all of the initiative’s participants last year, and the...