Page 56 - Labor

Gender diversity is likely to be boost productivity growth: IMF study

Gender diversity is likely to boost productivity growth, including in countries like India, as women bring new skills to the workplace, according to the IMF. The progress has been made in increasing female labour force participation in the past two decades but the pace has been uneven and large gaps remain, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in a research paper. The paper asserted that gender diversity is likely to be beneficial to productivity growth, including countries like India, because women bring new skills to the workplace. Reducing female underemployment should yield greater gains than an equivalent increase in male employment: gender diversity brings benefits all its own, it said. "Women bring new skills to the workplace. This may reflect social norms and their impact on upbringing, social interactions, as well as differences in risk preference and response to incentives, for example," said the latest IMF discussion note 'The Economic Gains from Gender Inclusion: New

EDMC terminates services of 26 contractual sanitation workers

Days after issuing a warning, the BJP-led EDMC Monday terminated the services of 26 contractual sanitation workers and suspended 17 others, with immediate effect for allegedly "creating obstruction" in work, the civic body said. Sanitation workers of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) have been on strike since September 12, demanding regular payment of salaries and regularisation of workers. "The EDMC has disengaged services of 26 contracted Paryavaran Sahayak (Safai Karamcharis) due to creating obstruction in work and suspended 17 others Paryavaran Sahayaks of the corporation with immediate effect," the EDMC said in a statement issued on Monday night. Earlier in the day, scores of sanitation workers had staged a huge protest at the Jantar Mantar here, during which police used "mild force" to disperse the crowd. The EDMC on Friday had issued a circular directing all the sanitation workers to resume work from October 6. "All the sanitation ...

'Loans of rich would have been waived but no money for sanitation workers': Kejriwal slams Centre

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday slammed the Centre, saying it would have "immediately waived loans" of "a few rich people" but not giving money for poor municipal sanitation workers who were on strike for the last three weeks. The BJP accused the Kejriwal of "lying" over the funds given by the Centre to the EDMC. The sanitation workers of East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) went on strike on September 12 demanding payment of their dues including salaries and regularisation of contract-based workers. The Delhi CM claimed the municipal corporations have to be paid Rs 5000 crore by the Centre. "Last week Delhi government on the advice of Supreme Court paid Rs 500 crore to the MCD. The Centre today denied to pay Rs 500 crore, despite advice of the Supreme Court, although it has to pay Rs 5000 crore to the MCD. Is BJP responsible to Delhi like this? Then why should Delhiites vote for you (BJP) in LS election," Kejriwal tweeted in Hindi. "It is so sad. If it were loans of

EDMC sanitation workers protest at Jantar Mantar, police use 'mild force' to disperse crowd

EDMC sanitation workers, who are on strike for the last three weeks, Monday staged a protest at the Jantar Mantar here, during which "mild force" was used by police personnel to disperse the crowd after it went out of control, police said. A senior leader of the sanitation workers' union alleged that the police also resorted to "lathicharge" during the agitation, a charge denied by the police. "The protesters, who were agitating at the Jantar Mantar, tried marching towards Ashoka Road and tried to break barricades, and also indulged in stone-pelting. Five police personnel were injured in stone-pelting," a senior police officer said. President of MCD Swachhata Karmchari Union Sanjay Gahlot, however, countered the allegation, claiming that "some anti-social elements had joined the group of protesters and resorted to stone-pelting to malign us". "The police resorted to lathicharge and some of the workers got injured in it," he alleged. Denying the charges, the senior officer said, ...

IWPC asks media houses to setup mechanisms to redress sexual harassment complaints

The Indian Women's Press Corps (IWPC) Monday called upon media houses to establish institutional mechanisms to redress complaints of sexual harassment. Expressing concern over the spate of instances of sexual harassment faced by women journalists, the IWPC urged them to take recourse to the redressal system to have their grievances addressed. "The IWPC extends its support to all the women journalists and women employees in the media who have faced sexual harassment by their co-workers and superiors and have had the courage to speak out. "The fact that many of the complaints have gone unheard despite being brought to the notice of the appropriate authorities is disturbing and a matter of grave concern," IWPC president TK Rajalakshmi said in a statement. Following Hollywood's #MeToo movement, which has seen several women there having spoken out about sexual harassment faced by them, many people are referring to actress Tanushree Dutta's statement on Nana Patekar as the beginning of a ...

2 colliery workers die in roof collapse

Two colliery workers were killed after a portion of the roof fell on them in Pandabeswar in West Burdwan district, police said on Monday. The deceased - Chandrasekhar Giri (50) and Kaleshwar Mahato (42) - were working at the Khottadih colliery of Eastern Coalfield Ltd when the chunk of the roof collapsed around 4 am on Sunday, a police officer said. Giri and Mahato had died by the time they were recovered from the rubble, he said. Fellow colliery workers staged a protest against the incident, demanding compensation for their family, before the ECL management assured them of adequate ex gratia, the officer said. A member of the workers' union alleged that ECL - a subsidiary of mining major Coal India Ltd - did not follow safety norms at the collieries. He, however, said that the management will offer employment to one family member of both the deceased and pay Rs 7 lakh each as compensation. The management of the company could not be contacted for comment.

Over 500 prisoners, ex-inmates get jobs in Telangana

With an aim to curb crime in the state, more than 500 prisoners and ex-prisoners have been provided jobs by the Telangana Prisons Department."Telangana Prisons Department has started many innovative ideas. One part of it is to reduce the crime in the society. We have started taking noble steps for the employment of the released prisoners. Already we have employed more than 500 prisoners and released prisoners in our prisons petrol bunks," Narsimha, Inspector General, Telangana Prisons Department told ANI."We also pay Rs 15,000 wages to each prisoner in urban areas and Rs 12,000 in rural areas. Due to this, the prisoners are not committing crime after having a job in the hands. Last week, we conducted a job fair for the released prisoners and we invited multiple-national companies for providing employment. Eight to 10 companies came forward and participated in the fair," he added.Narsimha went on to add that 155 released prisoners got jobs when the fair was organised last time."We are .

Skill upgradation, outplacement services key to manage post-merger job redundancies: Experts

Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) often lead to anxiety and concerns on employment front among employees due to redundancies of jobs at a merged entity and the fair approach by companies to tackle this is by investing in proactive skill upgradation and outplacement services, experts say. All M&As carry the risk of anxiety related to job security and especially when the target firm is ridden with poor performance and is financially unstable. While, in cases where the target firm is complimentary and not a competitor, these types of employee concerns are little less. "Any M&A can potentially lead to employee anxiety and concerns on job security if not managed well. One of the key reasons many M&As fail to deliver desired outcome is because the acquired and acquiring entities don't plan the transition well and they fail to align their employees," Rituparna Chakraborty, President, Indian staffing federation, said. Experts believe, the key to managing cultural incompatibility .

Social media to be used more vigorously, but with civility: Union minister Manoj Sinha

Union Communications Minister Manoj Sinha Saturday stressed the need for caution in choice of words on social media by BJP workers. "Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said that in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, the role of social media will be more important than any other medium. Hence, it has to be used more vigorously, but with civility (sabhyata)," Sinha told the party's IT workers here. "Social media is a double-edged sword. This has been proved in the last Lok Sabha and Assembly elections. Hence, a strong team for social media should be made, so that political rivals can be defeated," the Union minister added.

'Setters' explores masterminds of employment, education mafia: Director

After "Dhoop" and "Laado", writer-director Ashwini Chaudhary's next is a socio-political thriller titled "Setters". He says it explores the masterminds who work together with the system to keep the employment and education mafia going in the country.

Unemployment lowest in US since 1969

The unemployment rate in the US fell to 3.7 per cent in September, the lowest since December 1969, when hundreds of thousands of working-age Americans were serving in Vietnam, according to a new report by the Labour Department.

FNC reviews women's empowerment efforts in UAE

The 2015-2021 strategy launched by Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak, Chairwoman of the General Women's Union (GWU), President of the Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood, and Supreme Chairwoman of the Family Development Foundation (FDF), has been highlighted by the FNC Parliamentary Division's representatives during the Assembly's Social and Cultural Affairs Committee Meeting and the First Executive Council Meeting.The strategy provides a framework for government, private sector and civil organisations to apply to work programmes, in order to ensure a decent living for women, said Engineer Azza Soliman, who along with Hamad bin Ghalita Al Ghafli, are representing FNC during the meetings. Women now account for more than 46 percent of the country's workforce, up from around 6.2 percent only in early 1980s, she said.

Coal India to spend around Rs 1,600 cr for employees' bonus

Coal India is expected to spend around Rs 1,600 crore on account of paying performance linked reward its non-executive employees (PLR) for the financial year 2017-18, an official said.

Goa BJP MLA slams government over unemployment

Goa BJP MLA and Deputy Speaker Michael Lobo has lambasted his own coalition government for not doing enough to make government jobs available to the youth, claiming that people are "very disturbed" due to growing unemployment in the state.

Reliance Health Insurance gets R3 licence from IRDAI

Reliance Capital Ltd. on Friday said its wholly owned Reliance Health Insurance has got the R3 approval from Insurance Regulatory Authority of India (IRDAI).

IMF chief urges 'revamp' of Japan economic policy

The head of the IMF Thursday called for an overhaul of Japan's economic policy, as the world's third-biggest economy battles stubborn low inflation, sluggish growth and a rapidly ageing population. Christine Lagarde called for a "fresh look" at "Abenomics", the economic policy of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, which combines ultra-loose monetary policy with fiscal stimulus and structural reforms. "We believe that it will require a revamping of policies. The basic principles in our view are still valid but need to be broadened, sustained and accelerated," said Lagarde. She warned that the economic challenges facing Japan will "only grow as Japan's population continues to age and shrink," noting that both the size of the economy and the population would contract by a quarter over the next 40 years. The IMF predicted a growth rate of 1.1 percent this year, declining to 0.9 next year in the former Asian powerhouse. In the battle to get inflation above the Bank of Japan's target of two ...

60% Indian businesses want to use AI to automate tasks: Survey

While nearly 60 per cent business leaders in India are planning to use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to automate tasks to a large extent, 20 per cent believe their workforce has the skills needed to work with advanced technologies such as AI, according to a survey by Accenture on Thursday.

EDMC sanitation workers stage protest near Kejriwal's residence

EDMC sanitation workers, who are on strike for the last three weeks, Thursday staged a protest near the residence of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to press for their demands, civic body officials said. The employees are on strike since September 12 demanding regular payment of salaries and regularisation of workers. "Sanitation workers are protesting outside my residence. BJP has misled them. I am going to talk to them and present facts before them. I am really worried about the sanitation arrangements in the city and the workers. They have to protest every two months to get their salaries," Kejriwal tweeted. A senior official said a meeting was underway between between the east Delhi Mayor and a sanitation union leader to resolve the issue. The Delhi government on Wednesday told the Supreme Court that it would release Rs 500 crore within two days to civic bodies, which will help resolve the crisis that has arisen due to the ongoing strike by sanitation workers of East Delhi ...

ADB to lend $150 mn for India's first multi-skills park in MP

India and Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Wednesday signed a $150 million loan agreement to establish the country's first multi-skills park in Madhya Pradesh to create a more skilled workforce, an official statement said.

Punjab Cabinet approves setting up of mission to boost employment opportunities

The Punjab Cabinet Wednesday approved the setting up of the 'Punjab Ghar Ghar Rozgar and Karobar Mission' (PGRAKM), which is aimed at giving a fillip to the state government's employment drive. The chief Minister will be the Chairman of the Governing Council of the mission. The mission will be registered as a society under the societies Registration Act, 1860, an official spokesperson said after a meeting of the Cabinet, chaired by Chief Minister Amarinder Singh. The move is aimed at facilitating every job seeker in securing wage or self-employment in Punjab, India or abroad. The Ghar Ghar Rozgar is a flagship programme of the Punjab government, with a focus on according top priority to employment generation. According to the spokesperson, the proposed society would focus on creation of necessary framework to facilitate wage and self-employment for the unemployed youth of the state, besides improving employability through skill training/skill upgradation. It would also identify areas .