South Asia Citizens Web

In what precise manner can a fantastically unethical Government prescribe a Code of Ethics for the media? This is a highly relevant question given recent bombastic claims by the Government Spokesman that a draft Bill on Media Ethics is being circulated prior to implementation.

The emerging India-Japan relationship has been met with extreme reactions – from enthusiasm and protests in India and Japan, to concern in China. This new “strategic partnership,” and particularly the nuclear cooperation under negotiation, does not portend well for Asia. P K Sundaram, a strong advocate of better relations between the people of India and Japan, tells us why.

The risks to worker safety in India are serious, but the situation is not as grave as in Bangladesh. In the case of freedom of association (the right to join or leave groups of a person’s own choice), India has not ratified the ILO convention. Moreover, the Trade Union Act got amended in 2002, making trade union registration more difficult. The sector in India has very little union presence; hence workers’ monitoring of implementation of laws is negligible.

Before the collapse of Rana Plaza, which killed over a thousand people, most of them textile workers, there was the fire that killed a hundred at the Tazreen factory.

In a historic move, 300 people from traditional forest communities from different states across India united in Puri to declare the formation of a union for traditional forest workers. The All India Union of Forest Working People (AIUFWP) is the first national union of adivasi and dalit communities representing the traditional workforce in India. The three-day founding conference of the union concluded on 05 June 2013 in Puri, Odisha.