President Droupadi Murmu, in her address to the nation on Republic Day, advocated for the "One Nation One Election" initiative, emphasizing its potential to enhance governance and reduce financial burdens. She highlighted the government's efforts to eliminate remnants of colonialism, citing the replacement of British-era criminal laws with modern alternatives. Murmu also lauded India's economic progress, stressing the importance of inclusive growth and social welfare. She urged citizens to remember the sacrifices of freedom fighters and reaffirmed the significance of the Constitution in guiding India's journey towards a prosperous and equitable future.
After assuming power in 2014 with a full majority of its own, the BJP-led NDA government started an ambitious process of reforming labour laws in the form of codes aimed at making the framework less cumbersome with a variety of alterations. It had planned four codes each for industrial relations, wages, social security and welfare, and occupational safety, health and working conditions. To this end, 35 central labour laws were to be converted into four codes that would have had the virtue of streamlining labour relations. But none of the proposed code Bills could be converted into a law principally because neither trade unions nor industry representatives came on board. They hold the key to India's low-growth-high unemployment paradigm but the government may struggle to push them through this time as well. Somesh Jha explains why
Engineers based in India are estimated to be writing roughly 35 per cent of the 100 million lines of codes required to develop one fully driverless car for global vehicle makers.
The Supreme Court of India directed the government to establish a legal framework to protect domestic workers and address their exploitation.
The government has decided that there has to be a floor minimum wage for the workers.
BMS general secretary Virjesh Upadhyay said, "There are many anomalies in the draft rules on Code on Wages which need to be amended. The new rules are silent about many provisions clearly provided in the four Acts subsumed in the code."
Instead of mechanically consolidating all labour laws into one, provisions of all labour laws should be relooked in terms of their substance. The irrelevant and archaic provisions have to be fixed, says Aparajita Gupta.
According to draft Code on Social Security, 2019, gig and platform workers will be entitled to life and disability cover, health and maternity benefits, among others.
At present, laws on wages do not cover workers getting a monthly wage of more than Rs 18,000
Labour Minister Santosh Gangwar said, the purpose of labour reforms is to provide a transparent system to suit the changed business environment.
The incident took place around 8.30 am at the under-construction site of Amrapali Dream Valley Society, the police said, adding that the long-stalled project is being completed by the state-run NBCC.
'The BJP's numbers in this government are almost the same as those enjoyed by the Congress under P V Narasimha Rao when the reform process was kicked off in 1991.' 'As before, the only constraints on the prime minister's actions are internal, not external.' 'They come from his own assessment of the political consequences of any action,' points out Mihir S Sharma.
The Centre has, however, retained its proposal to curb flash strikes as workers in all factories will be required to give employers a strike notice of at least two weeks after the Bill becomes a law.
Technology is rapidly reshaping industries that have long been rooted in tradition, driving a wave of innovation that is transforming everything from finance, banking, steel to manufacturing.
If retrenched workers are unable to reskill within a fixed period of time, they will have to return the money given to them by the government. Moreover, they may be asked to pay back an interest on the sum transferred.
No government in the past initiated the process of policy making for its next tenure even before going in for elections. Once the Model Code of Conduct is enforced by the Election Commission, should the government of the day refrain from taking an active interest in policy making for the next five years and let that be the function of the new government?, asks A K Bhattacharya.
Justices Arif S Doctor and Somasekhar Sundaresan held there was nothing in the MCC that would interfere with the Board's ongoing activities.
By June 2025, financial freedom will be just an ATM away. Pleasantly surprised? But there's more, says Ramalingam Kalirajan
Labour law changes for three years may not be enough as it takes a couple of years for factories to build and operations at a proper scale start only in the third or fourth year.
Small Factories Act, Industrial Relations Code likely to be redrafted under pressure from Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh
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.
The Opposition parties need to spell out how exactly they will protect the citizen from government excess, asserts T N Ninan.
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.
'Today, let us reaffirm our commitment to strive to realise Gandhiji's dreams. His watchwords, truth and nonviolence, will continue to remain relevant for the whole world. He also taught us that rights and duties are but the two sides of the coin - indeed, the true source of rights is duty. Today we recall his lessons in compassion too - compassion not only for our human neighbours but also for our other neighbours, namely, flora and fauna, rivers and mountains.'
Protests by central labour unions and widespread criticism from Opposition parties because of job losses on account of demonetisation and the GST have put the contentious labour reform proposals in the slow lane.
Three Union ministers and farmer leaders will meet in Chandigarh at 6 pm to discuss their demands, including a legal guarantee for MSP for crops and farm debt waiver.
The Meerut Conspiracy Case was aimed at curbing communist influence in India. However, it fueled nationwide sympathy, shaping the course of leftist politics in the country.
Taxing the existing retirement benefits schemes would affect the working class, the labour ministry said.
The new definition under the Code of Wages, 2019, includes three components: basic pay, dearness allowance and retention payment.
Calling the Budget 2018 'anti-labour', the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh will observe February 20 as a 'black day'.
Sitharaman said the Bill has proposed giving a legal framework for fixed-term employment through which contract workers serving a fixed-tenure will get equal statutory social security benefits as regular workers in the same unit.
There is and will be plenty written about Shirish's achievements, his awards, his writing, his talks, the mark he left on this city he knew and understood so well. I know much of that, certainly. All of it speaks of the man he was, and what he meant to so many. Dilip D'Souza pays tributes to Shirish Patel, the legendary urban planner, who passed into the ages last week.
'Right to apprenticeship means that anyone below the age of 25 years with a diploma or other qualifications can demand an apprenticeship with a private, a public sector company or a government organisation. And when he/she demands this, it is the obligation of the government to provide it.'
On the eve of the Modi government's two years in office, the RSS-linked Bharatiya Mazdoor Sabha leadership met Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. After the meeting, the BMS claimed the FM told its delegation 'the government has realised that labour reforms are not essential for industrial growth in the country.'
Jobs requiring AI skills carry a significant wage premium, with some roles offering up to a 25 per cent increase in wages, notes Manoj Nagpal, vice president, professional services, OpenText, an information management company.
A joint forum of central trade unions has given a call for a nationwide strike on March 28 and 29, to protest against government policies affecting workers, farmers, and people. The Joint Platform of central trade unions held a meeting in Delhi on March 22, 2022, to take stock of the preparations in various states and sectors for the proposed two-day all India strike on 28-29 March 2022 against "the anti-worker, anti-farmer, anti-people and anti-national policies" of the central government, a statement said. The statement said that roadways, transport workers and electricity workers have decided to join the strike in spite of the impending threat of ESMA (Haryana and Chandigarh, respectively). Financial sectors, including banking and insurance, are joining the strike, it stated.
Labour rights activist Naudeep Kaur was freed Friday by the Punjab and Haryana high court, which said slapping charges like attempt to murder on her is a 'debatable issue' to be considered at a later stage in the trial.
A survey, with over 3,700 respondents across digital platforms, found that transparent taxation has been one of the most significant initiatives of the government followed by the production-linked incentives (PLI) scheme, equalisation levy and new labour codes.
According to new proposal for amendements in the labour law, a worker will be allowed to object to being laid off within three years, against no clear period specified in the law now.
