The concessions given by the UP government to traders will prove to be a pace setter for the revival of economic activity in the state at a time when the nation is going through a rough phase due to the COVID-19 outbreak, UP Vyapaari Kalyan Board chairman Ravi Kant Garg said. He said the exemption from labour laws for three years is bound to open gates for economic growth that was hit by the coronavirus lockdown. Such measures will spur economic activities and boost the investment climate in the state, Garg said while talking to a group of reporters on Saturday evening. He further said that exemption of 46 variety of fruits and vegetables from the clutches of Mandi Adhiniyam Suchana through Krashi Utapadan Mandi Adhiniyam (Sansodhan) ordinance 2020 would boost the trade. It is bound to help farmers as well as traders, he added. Now, the farmer would be free to sell his produce outside Mandi Parishad. Exemption of Mandi shulk (Mandi tax) from 46 variety of grains would provide maximum .

Haji Mohammed Sajid could not control his emotion as he came out of the Lucknow airport on Saturday evening after an Air India flight arrived here from Sharjah with 182 Indians on board as part of the government's 'Vande Bharat Mission'. Kissing the floor of the airport, much to the surprise of the officials and mediapersons present there, a teary eyed Sajid said, "I was missing my parents and India very much." "I thank the government for helping me reunite with my family after being stranded abroad for the past couple of months," said the Ayodhya resident, who worked as garment designer in the United Arab Emirates. With just one coffee vending machine and a fruit cart, the airport wore a forlorn look, while the arrival board displayed the lone flight IX184 that arrived around 9.00 pm. CISF jawans maintained a strict watch on the activities of the visitors as passengers started coming out of the airport at 10.30 pm. They were screened and sent to quarantine. "This is the first flight

The Jawaharlal Nehru University on Saturday announced its academic calendar and said exams will be completed by July 31. JNU vice-chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar said the academic calendar has been unanimously approved by all the deans of Schools and Chairpersons of Special Centres. "Tentatively, students are expected to return to JNU campus between June 25 to and 30 so that they can complete their remaining academic components and complete their examinations. Examinations will be completed by July 31," he said. The next semester for the continuing students will start from August 1. Even if the examination results are not ready by July 31, students will have the opportunity to provisionally register and move on to the next semester. The entire monsoon semester registration process will be completely online making it easy for the students to register even from their homes," he said. The deadline for research scholars to submit their theses/dissertations has been extended to December ...

Sixteen more people including two minors from nine districts tested positive for COVID-19 on Saturday, taking the total number of cases to 595 in Bihar, a top health department official said. Seven of the 16 fresh cases are migrant people from other states, Health Departments Principal Secretary Sanjay Kumar said in a tweet. "We are ascertaining their further infection trail," Kumar said. Of the 16 new cases, three each are from Muzaffarpur and Arwal, two each from Begusarai, Munger, Nalanda and one each from Vaishali, Bhojpur, Siwan, Sheikhpura districts, the Principal Secretary said. Five people have died of the disease so far in Bihar which is now left with 272 active cases while 318 have recovered. The number of samples tested so far at seven facilities in Patna, Bhagalpur, Muzaffarpur and Darbhanga is 32,767.

Doctors at the government-run ESIC Hospital here committed a "mistake" by not testing samples of a 16-year-old girl, who later died of Covid-19, Assam Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Saturday. The girl breathed her last on Thursday at the B Barooah Cancer Institute. Her samples, which were taken after her death, tested positive for coronavirus infection/ "The girl first went to ESIC Hospital with all symptoms like fever and pain in legs. It was a mistake by doctors that her samples were not sent for testing... It is a matter of concern," Sarma told reporters here. Talking about the Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), which was closed for new patients after a doctor at the facility tested positive on Thursday, he said a total of 529 samples have been collected from doctors, nurses, professors and superintendent of the institute for testing "Out of those, reports of 357 samples came out negative and one was positive. Results of the rest of the samples are awaited," .

The Bombay High Court has directed the Maharashtra government to issue a clear directive to the state police to ensure ambulances or other vehicles ferrying pets and sick animals to and from veterinary clinics are not stopped during the lockdown. Justice S C Gupte in an order on Friday said the police administration must not obstruct or stop such vehicles. He also directed the state to clarify its stand on permitting residents across the state take their dogs out for a walk during the coronavirus-enforced lockdown period. The court was hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by a Pune resident seeking permission to take her pet dogs outside for their daily walks. The PIL, filed through advocate Harshwardhan Bhende, claimed several police stations under the jurisdiction of Pune Police had issued "arbitrary directions" to housing societies to stop residents from taking their dogs outside for walks. Advocate Bhende also told the high court that several ambulances and

In the wake of migrant workers sleeping on railway lines being crushed to death by a goods train in Maharashtra, East Coast Railway (ECoR) has asked people to refrain from walking on the tracks as several special trains are running during the lockdown. Although passenger trains have been suspended due to COVID-19 outbreak, goods trains and parcel express trains are continuously running on all the railway tracks to maintain supply of essential commodities across the country, a railway official said. Recently Shramik Special trains have also been started and many such trains are running in ECoR jurisdiction also, he said. "Therefore, walking on the tracks or on railway lines is extremely dangerous and strictly prohibited," he said, adding that ECoR is doing awareness campaign through every medium to educate people not to walk or pass train tracks, instead they should use limited height subways and manned level crossings only. Trackmen, bridge repair staff, station ...

The Yenepoya medical college hospital at Deralakatte here has become the first private hospital in Dakshina Kannada district to get coronavirus (COVID-19) testing approval. The laboratory at the hospital has received the nod from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) to conduct tests for COVID-19, a release here said. Dakshina Kannada will now have two centres for coronavirus tests, the first one being the district Wenlock hospital, the designated hospital for Covid-19. ICMR has approved 33 testing centres in the state of which 21 are government hospitals and 12 are private hospitals.

: Communicating across its nine factories and setting up milk collection points are some of the steps taken by dairy products major Thirumala as per COVID-19 guidelines for manufacture, to ensure supply does not get affected, a top official said. Thirumala was acquired by France-based dairy group Lactalis in 2014 and the company produces dairy products across nine manufacturing units in southern states. Thirumala CEO Christophe Jouin said the company had taken precautions by communicating across factories, setting up milk collection points and issuing safety guidelines to employees. "The first step was to carry out checking of temperatures of employees before they enter the factory and maintaining social distancing norms during daily work, among others," he told PTI. The entire process, from the collection of milk till the distribution, has been enhanced and totally protected with the help of intensive comunication done well in advance, he said. The company collects milk ..

Union Minister Jitendra Singh on Sunday came to the help of 13 girl students from the Northeast studying in Delhi University, after they were asked to vacate their hostel, and he made it clear that they can continue to stay in their current accommodation "as long they as wish". The minister for Development of the North Eastern Region (DoNER) intervened after the DU administration asked the students to vacate the North Eastern Students House for Woman by May 31. The provost had asked the students to leave the hostel as soon as possible due to the expiry of mess contract by month-end. While the hostel has a capacity of about 100, currently 13 students are stuck there because of the lockdown. "I have spoken to vice-chancellor of the Delhi University Prof Y C Tyagi regarding the students and resolved the issue. They can continue to stay comfortably in the hostel as long as they wish," Singh said here. The minister said no one should bother students and put them under any kind of ...

We discuss the art of moving baseball fences, Kevin Harvick's theory on eating pancakes before driving and how "Frozen on Ice" is mostly pummeling NBA and NHL teams.

Jason Gay on Thanksgiving family touch football week and the instant overreaction on everything in sports.

Do alternative schools work? After all, every child has to ultimately face a society that puts a premium on competitiveness and commodification. Or are alternatives only an option for children of parents from a certain class of society? Deepa A finds out.

For decades, there have been concerns that India's universities were being bogged down by the number of institutes they had to manage. Recently, the University Grants Commission accepted in principle that autonomy must be green-lighted. But debates on the freedom of institutions remain inconclusive, reports Deepa A.

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India’s report on Tamil Nadu (General and Social Sector) for the year ending on March 31, 2014 got tabled in the state assembly last month. Himanshu Upadhyaya analyses the report and asks question on the non-responsiveness of the state government to CAG’s performance review.

The Centre's latest piece-meal approach to child labour is likely to be as ineffective as the previous failed schemes and plans. Unless the underlying causes of child labour are addressed, and the rights of children are properly secured, India will remain prone to wide-spread child labour, writes Ingrid Srinath.

Despite laws abolishing the inhuman practice of manual scavenging, over a million dalits in 'superpower India' are caught in a vortex of severe social and economic exploitation. Even the central government pleaded lack of resources in failing to implement the law effectively, writes Sunil Kuksal.

The new government's candour that meaningful reforms must permeate into the institutions beyond the budgetary process itself is a start. The India Together editorial.

Aarti Madhusudhan begins a series on the workings of development organizations. In this first part, she looks at the role of board members: their obligations, services, and even their identities!

A largely oral system for transfering knowledge has been shaken by the advent of modern methods of learning, and by great changes in Indian society. But there are positive developments too; learning music is now more democratic than in the past. Varupi Jain speaks to noted practitioners who are alert to this transformation.

A National Convention of Nomads and Adivasis was organized last month in Delhi. This was perhaps one of the first attempts to give a unified political voice for Adivasi and Nomadic communities in India. G. N. Devy writes on the efforts to make this convention happen, and its import.

Ruth Manorama is a women's rights activist well known for her contribution in mainstreaming Dalit issues. Herself from the Dalit community, she has helped throw the spotlight on the precarious situation of Dalit women in India. She calls them "Dalits among the Dalits." A peacewomen profile from the Women's Feature Service and Sangat.

Are they members of a Church without caste hierarchy, or are they still Dalits, with all that it implies in Hinduism? Dalit Christians find that despite being a numerical majority in the faith in India, the promise of equality is as distant as before. They're taking their protests to Parliament this winter, reports Padmalatha Ravi.

The tenth Mumbai International Flim Festival has just closed. And obviously, the ilm-makers who protested MIFF 2003 have got their message across that they won't tolerate government interference. Now, the films aren't censored any more. Darryl D'Monte reports.

A new child-led survey has documented the types of violence children in Maharashtra are exposed to. Alka Gadgil reports the important findings from the survey.

Lalitha Sridhar presents excerpts from an audience interaction with Naomi Ackerman after a performance of Flowers aren't enough, an acclaimed solo play on domestic violence, at Chennai.

Both legalisation and decriminalisation talk about protecting prostitutes from police harassment, as well as guarding their right of choice. But they have so far failed to address the issue of vulnerability of the women in the sex trade. Asha Ramesh notes different voices in the debate over what the legal stance towards prostitution should be.

A pan-India survey conducted recently by the Bangalore-based Institute for Social and Economic Change (ISEC) has brought an alarming new phenomenon of premature menopause amongst Indian women to light. Neeta Lal has more.

Despite a slew of legislative measures to prevent sex determination tests, medical technology continues to be misused, resulting in sex ratios skewed against women. Shoma Chatterji

Manjari Singh reports on the opening of the Lucknow branch of Sheroes Hangout, a café run and managed by acid attack survivors under the guidance of the humanitarian organisation “Stop Acid Attacks”

Despite lack of support from policy-makers, potato farmers continue to deploy indigenously developed production and storage techniques, says Virendar Khatana.

A number of factors have combined to keep farmers in the country growing wheat and rice, instead of fruits and vegetables which would fetch much higher returns, writes Richa Govil.

The Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2016 introduced in the parliament proposes a ban on commercial surrogacy. Shoma Chatterji finds out if this will help in checking exploitation of women.

Following allegations of wide-spread child labour in their business activities, foreign and Indian agri-business firms pledge to reform themselves. An update from The India Committe of the Netherlands.

In Sriramagiri panchayat, a few Kondareddi settlements want nothing to do with the relief and rehabilitation package for those who would be displaced by the Polavaram dam. Fighting off underhand tactics by officials, they are determined to remain in their homes, amidst their culture and its history. R Uma Maheshwari reports.

Krishna Rupanagunta urges a determined beginning to counting the true costs of hardship in labour.

New Delhi's relations with Naga leaders may at last be taking a turn for the better, and offering hope for an end to the long-running insurgency, says Ramachandra Guha.

55 years after Independence, the people, the prime minister, opposition leaders, the Election Commission and the Supreme Court are all crying, day after day, for clean politics. Former High Commissioner to South Africa L C Jain connects the past with the present.

From biogas to solar cookers and improved cookstoves, from agricultural tools to drudgery reducing technologies, most research and development in appropriate technologies has not been backed-up by appropriate market incentives. In contrast, hi-tech is totally market driven, says Sudhirendar Sharma.

One year ago, Dr Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, the newly elected Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh had taken the World Bank heads on by calling its policy 'an anti-people condition for lending.' But his government has recently negotiated a loan of Rs 7,510 crores from the bank. Sudhirendar Sharma says Reddy is taking the legacy of his predecessor forward.

The World Bank's much touted 'knowledge' products are coming out of a flawed process. The bank hires highly paid consultants who are mostly directed through a system of incentives towards arriving at a pre-determined policy consensus. Information and experiences that run counter to the consensus are ignored. Shripad Dharmadhikary on the implications for India.

It is because his own Party stopped taking Gandhi seriously that most young people in India grow up thinking of him as a pious crank, used only as a meaningless icon, writes Madhu Purnima Kishwar.

The inability of India to adequately provide for its own population no longer reflects a failure of implementation, but rather of a failure of innovation, writes Aditya Dev Sood.

The issue of parental authority to resort to corporeal punishment on children is a matter still hotly debated in large sections of our society writes Shankar Jaganathan.

"Like thousands of other ordinary Indians I had rushed to Gujarat to lend a helping hand. And in the two weeks spent there I got to see up close, many dimensions of our innate, if imperfect, humanity." Venu Madhav Govindu remembers a relief camp he called home five years ago.

No sane person can accept the immorality of using economic and military superiority to bludgeon inconvenient nations into falling in line, says Kalpana Sharma.

Nothing exposes the hollowness of the claims corporations now make to intellectual property as much as their own histories, says George Monbiot.

While arguing that he is doing what he is to make the world more peaceful and stable, in fact George Bush has pushed the world closer to greater conflict and war, says Kalpana Sharma.

Last month, women's groups were engaged in a vigorous debate with the National Commission on Women (NCW) about a bill on sexual harassment, says Kalpana Sharma.

The difference between a nation that increases women's representation and one that doesn't is partly a difference of intent and determination, says Kalpana Sharma.