Somesh Jha &Amp; Neha Alawadhi

Stories by Somesh Jha &Amp; Neha Alawadhi

Retrenchment norms: Govt says it won't be 'hire and fire'

Retrenchment norms: Govt says it won't be 'hire and fire'

Rediff.com   29 Sep 2020

The government further defended its move to introduce fixed-term employment, insisting that the present system of hiring workers through contractors is exploitative.

NPAs under Mudra scheme rise to 5% for public sector banks

NPAs under Mudra scheme rise to 5% for public sector banks

Rediff.com   24 Sep 2020

Former RBI governors Urjit Patel and Raghuram Rajan have also expressed worry about the Mudra scheme, particularly government's target-setting practice and the rising bad loans.

Covid: Some good news for ESI subscribers

Covid: Some good news for ESI subscribers

Rediff.com   18 Sep 2020

ESI subscribers to get Covid unemployment allowance within 15 days of claim. Payment will be made into bank account of the insured and Aadhaar will be used for identification.

Migrants must not bear cost of Covid: Centre to states

Migrants must not bear cost of Covid: Centre to states

Rediff.com   12 Sep 2020

Labour ministry guidelines say workers returning to cities must get housing, health insurance, facemasks. The Centre has also asked states to issue guidelines to employers to take care of the needs of migrant workers.

EPFO to pay 8.5% interest for FY20 in two instalments

EPFO to pay 8.5% interest for FY20 in two instalments

Rediff.com   10 Sep 2020

The remaining 0.35 per cent will be credited in December this year, if the EPFO is able to redeem its equity investments.

FM to hold review meeting with lenders on loan recast scheme

FM to hold review meeting with lenders on loan recast scheme

Rediff.com   31 Aug 2020

The focus of the meeting will be on enabling businesses and households to avail of the revival framework on the basis of viability, necessary steps like finalising bank policies and identifying borrowers, and discussing issues that require addressing for smooth and speedy implementation.

Banks to resume wage revision talks with TU leaders on July 22

Banks to resume wage revision talks with TU leaders on July 22

Rediff.com   21 Jul 2020

The current wage revision for PSBs, as well as some private lenders, is due from November 2017 for five years - up to October 2022.

PNB ready to disburse Rs 16,000 crore in loans

PNB ready to disburse Rs 16,000 crore in loans

Rediff.com   6 Jul 2020

'We have already sanctioned loans worth over Rs 3,000 crore to around 120,000 customers.'

Finally some good news for 32 mn construction workers

Finally some good news for 32 mn construction workers

Rediff.com   6 Jul 2020

Apart from Bihar, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand, where none of the estimated 6.7 million construction workers got cash transfer benefits, the coverage of the construction workers was the lowest in Delhi, where only about 5 per cent of the estimated workers received cash under the PMGKY, followed by Kerala and Uttar Pradesh (22 per cent), among major states. In India, construction workers belong to the unorganised sector but account for the highest share of non-farm jobs after manufacturing.

How corrupt are India's contract labour laws?

How corrupt are India's contract labour laws?

Rediff.com   24 Jun 2020

Labour

Now e-commerce firms are roped in to create Aatmanirbhar Bharat

Now e-commerce firms are roped in to create Aatmanirbhar Bharat

Rediff.com   24 Jun 2020

Govt's e-commerce portal asks sellers to specify country origin of products. Now, the commerce & industry ministry has mandated that the Government e-Marketplace, which has seen Rs 55,048 crore worth of transactions till now, adopt this approach in the interest of creating an 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat'.

Retrenched Raymond staff stare at long battle

Retrenched Raymond staff stare at long battle

Rediff.com   19 Jun 2020

The company stated that it was taking steps for cost rationalisation across all businesses to maintain liquidity and due to a prolonged slowdown it had to take a few tough measures.

Campaign to boycott China-linked apps picks up speed

Campaign to boycott China-linked apps picks up speed

Rediff.com   19 Jun 2020

According to industry insiders, India has 400 million smartphones and is the world's fastest-growing app market. So the addition or deletion of apps impacts the global valuations of these platforms. "Based on calls given by various local organisations to delete Chinese Apps, there will be an impact," said Blaise Fernandes, director at foreign policy think tank Gateway House. "All of them eventually will go the IPO (initial public offering) route so there would be economic impact also."

Fallout of PNB buying Audis for top bosses

Fallout of PNB buying Audis for top bosses

Rediff.com   18 Jun 2020

The Centre has advised banks to make a 20 per cent reduction in expenditure related to non-core business activities, along with deferring "avoidable expenditure" on "purchase of staff cars", "refurbishment of guest houses" and on the interior decoration of administrative and back offices.

Will data protection Bill finally see daylight?

Will data protection Bill finally see daylight?

Rediff.com   15 Jun 2020

After the first draft of the Bill was submitted under a committee chaired by Justice B N Srikrishna in 2018, there were objections raised by businesses, especially on the broad restrictions on cross-border data flow.

India saw 2nd highest phishing hosting attacks in Q1 2019

India saw 2nd highest phishing hosting attacks in Q1 2019

Rediff.com   15 Jun 2020

Phishing attacks could either be in the form of an email from a trusted source asking for personal information such as passwords, bank details and personal details, or it could mimic an existing website or webpage and trick a user into entering confidential information on the page.

No question of removing labour laws'

No question of removing labour laws'

Rediff.com   11 Jun 2020

'A proposal to do away with labour laws is not feasible.' 'That's why we wanted to have a dialogue with the states.'

Yatra ends merger pact, sues Ebix in US for breach of terms

Yatra ends merger pact, sues Ebix in US for breach of terms

Rediff.com   7 Jun 2020

Ebix had signed the agreement last year to acquire Gurugram-based Yatra Online for an enterprise value of $338 million (about Rs 2,327 crore) in an all-stock deal. The deal was supposed to conclude in the October-December quarter after regulatory approvals but went through several extensions, according to regulatory filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

Why Google took down TikTok clone Mitron

Why Google took down TikTok clone Mitron

Rediff.com   3 Jun 2020

Mitron probably would have continued with the free run for quite some time, had it not come to light that the source code of the app was actually developed by a Pakistani developer, reports Neha Alawadhi.

Govt unlikely to tweak GST rates on non-essential items

Govt unlikely to tweak GST rates on non-essential items

Rediff.com   1 Jun 2020

Retaining the GST rate assumes importance since states are under pressure to increase their revenues, hit hard by lockdown. Also, the Centre has not fully compensated states for their revenue losses on account of GST for 2019-20.