Big Issues

After a decade-long legal battle, the Supreme Court ruled in April 2017 that permanent jobs be given to 2,700 contract workers of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), India's richest municipal corporation. These contract workers, who sweep streets, collect garbage and clean sewers, were not entitled to health and other benefits, vacation, rest days and pension. They will now get back pay of two years and employee benefits, such as weekly offs and medical leave without a pay cut.

As demands for farm-loan waivers grow across Punjab, Haryana, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, and Karnataka -- after Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra wrote off loans worth Rs 36,359 crore and Rs 30,000 crore, respectively -- India faces a cumulative loan waiver of Rs 3.1 lakh crore, or 2.6 per cent of its GDP in 2016-17.

Underage marriages, especially of girls, are rising in urban India and declining in rural India, according to a new analysis of census data, but while the immediate reasons are not clear, patriarchy and the continuing hold of tradition are implicated.

दहेज प्रथा : महिलाओं के शोषण का एक प्रतीक दहेज प्रथा भारत की उन समाजिक कुरीतियों में से एक है जो आज भी बदस्तूर जारी है । दहेज प्रथा की शुरूआत भारत में ब्रिटिश शासनकाल के पहले हुई थी । ये प्रथा उस समय दरअसल एक कुरीति के रूप में नहीं थी । उस समय पिता विवाह के समय पुत्री को उपहार स्वरूप कुछ धन या भूमि दान में देता था । इस भूमि या धन पर सिर्फ उसकी पुत्री का हक होता था । इस संपदा के जरिए वो महिला स्वावलंबी भी होती थी और परिवार का भरण-पोषण भी करती थी ।

Will the US withdrawal from the Paris agreement impact Indias efforts to tackle climate change? To a limited extent, yes. Will it stop Indias actions against climate change? No.

New Delhi, May 24, As the government gears up to push generic medicines to bring down costs for patients, World Health Organisation (WHO) representative in India Henk Bekedam has stated that the move, if successfully implemented, will not only reduce the cost of medicines within the country but also globally.

Chandigarh, May 9, It was ranked at the top spot among India's institutions of higher learning just four years ago. It's alumni includes a former President and two former Prime Ministers, among them Manmohan Singh. But today, the 135-year-old Panjab University (PU) is staring down the barrel of a staggering deficit upwards of Rs 345 crore ($53 million) -- with no immediate solution in sight.

"The rift has accelerated since end of the last year", reported all the major news agencies in North America and elsewhere. "It may get close to a full break, never seen before in the history," they added.

Around 3.5 per cent of children between the ages of 11 and 14 years, and 13.5 per cent between the ages of 15 and 16 years were dropouts, while over 25 per cent of children in Grades I to VIII were absent from school on the day a team visited the school.

These are the findings of the 2016 Annual States of Education Report (ASER) survey of schooling and learning levels in rural India. The survey included over 560,000 children between three and 16 years, in 589 districts of India.

A curious combination of judicial and saffron activism is posing a serious threat to employment prospects, thereby undermining the economy when it is dealing with the phenomenon of jobless growth because of automation.