A day before the start of the Budget session of Parliament, as many as 18 opposition parties, led by the Congress, the Nationalist Congress Party, the Shiv Sena and the Trinamool Congress, decided on Thursday to boycott the President's address to the joint sitting of both Houses in solidarity with the farmers protesting against the new farm laws.
A young girl from Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, who has been tackling the problem of child labour, has been conferred with the first United Nations Malala Award for spreading education among child labourers. Razia Sultan, 15, will be felicitated as United Nations Special Envoy for Global Education's Youth Courage Award for Education
Sharing his experience of the yatra so far, the Congress leader said he felt sad while talking to farmers, youth, and tribals.
These parties also asked the Centre to present a revised comprehensive economic package that will be a 'true stimulus' and sought reversal of all unilateral policy decisions, especially pertaining to labour laws, as they put forth a 11-point demand charter before the government during a virtual meeting, called by the Congress to discuss the situation arising out of the pandemic as well as the lockdown.
Mufti's political graph shows his fondness for courting unpopular, politically hazardous ventures in pursuit of his ultimate objective to vindicate his leadership. Towards the end of his life, Mufti's public profile had come to assume the dimensions of statesmanship. One reason being his willingness to learn from his experience, says Mohammad Sayeed Malik.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi alleged on Friday that China was preparing for war and the Indian government is sleeping over it and trying to ignore the threat.
The BJP calling the Congress a "torn old party" moving towards a stage where its relevance and necessity will be completely lost.
The sectarian killings by hit-and-run groups have revived and sharpened communal fears among the victims while the Poonch encounter reveals how deep the terrorists have dug in without getting noticed in the porous border area, notes Mohammad Sayeed Malik, the distinguished commentator on Kashmir affairs.
Nothing is going to dramatically open up on May 3. There will be too many ifs and buts and terms and conditions and guidelines in leading one's life in various zones, reveals Sheela Bhatt.
A party without a 'high command' would be 'anarchy,' he said.
At a virtual press conference to launch the report, Inger Anderson, Executive Director, United Nations Environment Programme, said, "Climate change is here and now. No one is safe. Despite warnings from so many years, the world did not listen. We need to act now. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions will not only limit climate change but also reduce air pollution."
Prime Minister Modi arrived in Riyadh late Monday night on a two-day visit to Saudi Arabia to participate in the high-profile financial summit Future Investment Initiative, dubbed "Davos in the desert", an initiative of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
India has entered a 'demographic sweet spot' with half of its population being under the age of 29. This 'demographic dividend' is likely to last for 2-3 decades and provides the government a unique opportunity to harness the vast potential of India's youth, points out Raj Kishore Mishra, the former civil servant turned development professional.
But, the Wall Street Journal said that the US labour market is operating with millions fewer jobs than in February, the month before the coronavirus pandemic struck the country's economy.
The encouraging news, however, is that India features among the top four countries out of 44 nations that projected a positive hiring trend.
Investors have another reason to wrinkle their noses at emerging economies - fading labour productivity.
Japan's Mima Ito took the bronze medal after beating Han Ying of Germany in straight games.
'Today when people are fighting to get their salary, you are telling them you will privatise airports!'
Niti Aayog vice-chairman Rajiv Kumar debunked claims of jobless growth, saying how can a country grow at an average of 7 per cent without employment.
At a press conference after a meeting of the party's senior leaders, K C Venugopal said the Congress will also launch a massive signature campaign in which it aims to collect two crore signatures from farmers and the poor people against farm bills.
According to sources, all private offices will work from home and only government offices and essential services will be open.
'It is not about trusting the governor but the ground situation not matching with what he has said,' Jammu and Kashmir People's Movement chief Shah Faesal, who was one of the leaders to meet the governor tells Rediff.com's Prasanna D Zore.
Making a case for liberalising labour laws, the National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector suggested on Thursday adoption of conditional hire and fire policy, while safeguarding the interest of workers.
'"We have lost our jobs, we have lost our savings, we have been beaten up for being on the streets, we have walked for a thousand kilometres, we have seen our children starve or die because nobody came to help us".' 'For such people, the relationship with the government has gone,' notes Aakar Patel.
'There shall be no change in India-Japan ties,' predicts Rajaram Panda.
The Mayawati-led BSP will fight 20 of the 117 assembly seats in Punjab, while the rest will be contested by the SAD.
Sports Awards could to be delayed: Ministry official
India's growth projection released by the latest World Economic Outlook remains unchanged from its previous WEO (World Economic Outlook) update of July this summer but is a three-percentage point in 2021 and 1.6 percentage point drop from its April projections. According to the latest WEO update, released ahead of the annual meeting of the IMF and the World Bank, the world is expected to grow at 5.9 per cent in 2021 and 4.9 per cent in 2022.
Santosh Patkar of Devgadh Taluka Sindhudurg district of Maharashtra is a worried man these days. Devgadh, which is known as the home to world famous Alphonso variety of mangoes, has seen an unusual drop in yields which is affecting farmers' income. Being one of the primary agricultural produce from the area, Santosh is not untouched by this somewhat rare phenomenon. He said in his own mango garden, yields have come down by a third from most trees.
'In May 2020-2021, nearly 10 crores (100 million) lost jobs. 'Covid is not the reason for the present crisis. It aggravated the crisis.'
Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee on Saturday elevated her nephew and MP Abhishek Banerjee as the party's all-India general secretary, the second-most important post in the organisation, a senior leader in Kolkata said.
Later, there may be some tax relief aimed at the middle class and measures to benefit the sectors worst hit by Covid-19 and the resultant nationwide lockdown.
BMS allies with breakaway faction of Congress-affiliated INTUC. This marks a new chapter in India's trade union movement
Protectionist and exclusionary FTAs weaken multilateralism.
Tejashwi accused the Nitish Kumar-led government of meting out "step-motherly" treatment to migrant labourers.
MNREGS labourers are usually engaged in irrigation projects.
China, the Ukraine crisis and Quad will dominate the discussions, observes Dr Rajaram Panda.
'What the government should do to create jobs is to help revive the MSME sector.' 'This sector gives employment to lakhs of people.' 'The MSME sector provides more employment than the big industries.' 'So, what should be done immediately is to revive the MSME sector.'
The Taliban takeover of Afghanistan will inspire terrorists and trigger an "explosion" of extremism and security challenges for the world, UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace warned on Thursday.
"CCP's (Chinese Communist Party) territorial aggression is also apparent on its Indian border where China has attempted to seize control of the Line of Actual Control by force," US National Security Advisor Robert O'Brien said in a remark on China early this week in Utah.
