A good marker of a country’s progress is the environment in which its children grow up.  Prevalence of malnutrition, hunger, unhygienic surroundings and forced child labour cost a country dearly in terms of its real growth. The State of the World's Children 2011 report shows how little is being invested in the future citizens of our world. The theme of this year’s report is “Adolescence: An Age of Opportunity” and...

At least 100,000 trade unionists marched through New Delhi on Wednesday in a protest against high food prices and unemployment, piling pressure on an administration under fire over corruption scandals. The demonstration was the biggest in New Delhi in years and included members of a trade union linked to the ruling Congress party, reflecting disquiet within the party over food inflation which hit a high of over 18 percent last December. It...

President Pratibha Patil today reaffirmed the government’s resolve “to maintain the momentum for reforms on a wide front”, prompting policymakers to outline the possible economic agenda ahead of the budget just a week away. Top officials offered their take on the phrase, mentioned in Patil’s speech to Parliament at the start of the budget session. According to the them, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and finance minister Pranab Mukherjee are looking to...

Altogether 17 workers of Dungarpur district have received unemployment allowance after they were not given work under provisions of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). Since implementation of the MGNREGA in the state, this is the second such instance of unemployment allowance payment, widely seen as an assertion of the workers' right under the Act. In 2009, a lone labourer in Bhilwara was paid the allowance after...

Members of eight major central trade unions and independent workers'/employees' federations will march to Parliament on February 23 to protest against what they call the “indifferent and don't care attitude” of the Manmohan Singh government to the “steep rise in the prices of essential commodities, rampant violation in implementation of labour laws, plight of unorganised workers, and reckless contractorisation of employees.” The Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC), trade union wing...