In a landmark announcement that can impact the entire outlook of the country, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, with the backing of his entire cabinet, said that New Delhi would soon share its responsibilities with Srinagar in summers. Srinagar will function as the national capital in the summers’ from April to September. The centre claims that…
Minister of Labour and Employment Mallikarjun Kharge informed the Rajya Sabha yesterday that except for such processes, operations, or other work in establishments where employment of contract labour is prohibited through notification under section 10 of the Contract Labour (Regulation & Abolition) Act, 1970, contract labour can be employed. The central government has so far…
world where everyone has a decent place to live,’ remains the utopian imagery of the world and it also makes for a nice, feel-good statement. But once in a while, there happens an entity or an organisation committed to turn this mere ‘line’ into a reality. Last week, amidst all those stories of cacophonic politics,…
Early this month, India saw its state-owned health insurance firms withdrawing the cashless payment facility for treatment at hundreds of hospitals, on the ground that hospitals were over-charging customers who had health insurance policies. The move forced the health ministry to take action and it has already mandated an expert panel to frame ‘treatment protocol’…
‘There is no need to redefine the poverty line as it would bring more people under the deprived category, make it difficult to implement welfare schemes or will dilute their purpose,’ said Planning Commission Principal Advisor Pronab Sen on August 23. ‘The higher you raise the poverty line, the chances of helping those at the…
Following the collision of MSC Chitra MV Khalijia on August 7, that had caused major oil spill in Mumbai harbour, the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) has claimed damages of three crore rupees to clean up the spill. The other claims in damage to the environment and marine life will be made once National Environmental…
‘There is no need to redefine the poverty line as it would bring more people under the deprived category, make it difficult to implement welfare schemes or will dilute their purpose,’ said Planning Commission Principal Advisor Pronab Sen on August 23. ‘The higher you raise the poverty line, the chances of helping those at the…
The major variation in figures in different reports estimating poverty in India has created differences within the government. Although in principle it was agreed that the Tendulkar Committee’s figures will be referred to revise the food security law, there now seems to be a lack of consensus, and the controversy of who the real poor…
The report from the Manila-based Asian Development Bank (ADB, released on August 19, stresses that a great number of Asia’s new middleclass individuals still live on incomes just above poverty levels, leaving them vulnerable to a relapse into poverty. At the same time, the emergence of so much new spending power carries with it a…
Addressing a meeting of the Congress Parliamentary Party in New Delhi, today, Congress president Sonia Gandhi said that there was a need to reach out to the people of Kashmir and that was possible only by addressing the anger and pain through talks and mutual understanding. ‘Kashmir has a very special place in the party’s…
