Somesh Jha And Sanjeeb Mukherjee

Stories by Somesh Jha And Sanjeeb Mukherjee

Arabian Sea is now hotbed for cyclones

Arabian Sea is now hotbed for cyclones

Rediff.com   17 May 2021

Surface temperatures have increased rapidly during the past century, leading to an increase in the frequency and intensity of tropical storms in the Arabian Sea, reports Sanjeeb Mukherjee.

Tauktae, season's first cyclone, forms over Arabian Sea

Tauktae, season's first cyclone, forms over Arabian Sea

Rediff.com   13 May 2021

The intensity of rainfall is likely to increase with the likelihood of very heavy falls at a few places and extremely heavy falls at isolated places on May 15, reports Sanjeeb Mukherjee.

Despite grim outlook, fiscal stimulus unlikely for India Inc this year

Despite grim outlook, fiscal stimulus unlikely for India Inc this year

Rediff.com   29 Apr 2021

They say that a stimulus package may not be necessary because, unlike last year's total lockdown, public transport, including the railways and airlines, is running and the restrictions on movement are localised and, in some cases, are partial rather than total.

Despite slew of records, problems still plague MGNREGA

Despite slew of records, problems still plague MGNREGA

Rediff.com   25 Apr 2021

MGNREGA scheme: A significant Rs 17,370.58 crore has been carried forward over to the next financial year as unpaid dues as demand for work continued unabated for the scheme in rural areas.

How these 5 states look to pacify disgruntled farmers

How these 5 states look to pacify disgruntled farmers

Rediff.com   18 Mar 2021

With the farmers' protest against the three new laws and in support of legalising the minimum support price (MSP) going strong, state governments have announced a slew of measures in their annual Budgets to placate farmers. The Centre kicked things off in the Union Budget by assuring farmers that the MSP would continue and coming out with a report card to demonstrate its commitment. However, these efforts don't seem to have yielded tangible results. In their respective Budgets, states chose to go a step further by announcing a variety of measures.

Jobs for locals have remained on paper

Jobs for locals have remained on paper

Rediff.com   17 Mar 2021

While the Constitution makes everyone in India eligible to work anywhere in the country, states have used legal loopholes to frame laws.

Modi: 'We need wealth creators to even distribute wealth'

Modi: 'We need wealth creators to even distribute wealth'

Rediff.com   11 Feb 2021

Demoralising the private companies and disregarding their contribution won't do any good to the country or its youth as our experience has shown that private enterprises in mobile manufacturing has lead to every poor family owning a mobile phone now, while the country's private sector in the pharmaceutical space has been serving humanity through vaccines and medicines during Covid times, Modi said.

20% remained without work six months after losing jobs to lockdown: study

20% remained without work six months after losing jobs to lockdown: study

Rediff.com   28 Jan 2021

The survey showed that women workers fared worse than men when it came to employment recovery (53 per cent versus 57 per cent) and urban areas have been much worse hit despite a quicker bounce back.

Modi's hardest task in 2021: Creating jobs

Modi's hardest task in 2021: Creating jobs

Rediff.com   5 Jan 2021

The biggest worry is not the shrinking of the labour market, but the collapse of good jobs.

Subscribers to get EPF savings interest at one go

Subscribers to get EPF savings interest at one go

Rediff.com   21 Dec 2020

The EPFO had decided that 8.15 per cent interest from its debt income would be credited immediately and the remaining 0.35 per cent capital gains from the equity sale would be given later, subject to its redemption.

CEA Subramanian asks NSC to make junked consumer spending report public

CEA Subramanian asks NSC to make junked consumer spending report public

Rediff.com   7 Dec 2020

The findings of the report showed consumer spending falling for the first time in over four decades in 2017-18.

Govt to provide PF subsidy for 4 million jobs lost during pandemic

Govt to provide PF subsidy for 4 million jobs lost during pandemic

Rediff.com   4 Dec 2020

Under the Atmanirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana announced by the Centre to incentivise formal sector job creation, all 'new employees', who were never a part of the EPF system in the past, and those who made an exit from employment during the Covid-19 pandemic from March 1, 2020, to September 30, 2020, will be eligible for the benefit.

Cracks in Sangh Parivar, BKS wants farm laws tweaked

Cracks in Sangh Parivar, BKS wants farm laws tweaked

Rediff.com   3 Dec 2020

'We were among the first organisations to voice our opposition to the three Acts long before anyone else and had sent memorandums collected from 3,000 tehsils across the country to the agriculture ministry to amend the Bills, but nothing was accepted,' says BKS general secretary Badri Narayan Chaudhary.

Employees or contractors? Gig workers face social code dilemma

Employees or contractors? Gig workers face social code dilemma

Rediff.com   3 Dec 2020

The Code on Social Security, 2020 gives a lot of comfort to gig firms which recognise cab drivers or food delivery executives as 'independent contractors' who directly do business with customers with the help of their digitised platforms.

Despite road blocks, there's no shortage of potato, onion in Delhi

Despite road blocks, there's no shortage of potato, onion in Delhi

Rediff.com   2 Dec 2020

During this time of the year, potatoes and vegetables come from Punjab and Haryana.

Draft labour rules: No licence for contractors with criminal history

Draft labour rules: No licence for contractors with criminal history

Rediff.com   30 Nov 2020

The norms, say industry experts, are not sufficient to weed out fly-by-night contractors.

First time in 5 yrs BMS rejects call by other unions for nationwide strike

First time in 5 yrs BMS rejects call by other unions for nationwide strike

Rediff.com   25 Nov 2020

The ten central trade unions have demanded a cash transfer of Rs 7,500 a month to all families that do not pay income tax, free ration of 10 kg per head in a month to all the needy, expansion of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment scheme to cover more days of job, withdrawal of labour codes and farm bills, halt on privatisation, universal pension coverage and withdrawal of "draconian" circular on forced premature retirement of government officials.

Govt plans to create 5-6 mn jobs through Atmanirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana

Govt plans to create 5-6 mn jobs through Atmanirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana

Rediff.com   24 Nov 2020

Private firms will have to maintain a minimum net addition to their workforce each month from October this year to June 2021 to get the Employees' Provident Fund subsidy for the new recruits.

States' own versions of farm Bills are falling short on farmers' needs

States' own versions of farm Bills are falling short on farmers' needs

Rediff.com   17 Nov 2020

Though the Bills of Punjab and Rajasthan have a lot of similarities, the one approved by the Chhattisgarh Assembly is structurally different. None of the three has tried to address a key demand of the agitating farmers in full, which is to make all payments below the MSP, within and outside mandis, illegal.

Data on India's burgeoning farm exports is not correct

Data on India's burgeoning farm exports is not correct

Rediff.com   17 Nov 2020

A closer look at the data reveals that a lot of the items are not part of this calculation. The notable ones include buffalo meat, marine exports, raw cotton, and plantation crops such as tea, coffee, rubber, etc.