India's unemployment highest since 2016, climbs to 7.2% in Feb

Agencies
March 6, 2019

New Delhi, Mar 6: The unemployment rate in India rose to 7.2 percent in February 2019, the highest since September 2016, and up from 5.9 percent in February 2018, according to data compiled by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) that was released on Tuesday.

The unemployment rate has climbed despite a fall in the number of job seekers, Mahesh Vyas, head of the Mumbai-based think-tank said, citing an estimated fall in the labour force participation rate. The number of employed persons in India was estimated at 400 million in February compared with 406 million a year ago, he said.

The CMIE numbers are based on a survey of tens of thousands of households across the country. The figures are regarded by many economists as more credible than the jobless data produced by the government.

The figures will be unwelcome news for Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of the Lok Sabha elections due to be held by early May. Concerns about weak farm prices and low jobs growth are often brought up as election issues by opposition parties.

When the government has released official data for the jobless rate in the past it has tended to be out-of-date. But recently it withheld a batch of data because officials said they needed to check its veracity.

The figures that were withheld in December were leaked to a local newspaper a few weeks ago, and showed that India’s unemployment rate rose to its highest level in at least 45 years in 2017/18.

A CMIE report released in January said nearly 11 million people lost jobs in 2018 after the demonetisation of high value notes in late 2016 and the chaotic launch of a new goods and services tax in 2017, hit millions of small businesses.

The government told Parliament last month that it did not have data on the impact of demonetisation on jobs in small businesses.

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Well Wisher
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Wednesday, 6 Mar 2019

Hahaha. effects of Achche din.

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News Network
February 28,2020

Suhaana shuddered with fear as she heard violent banging on her door on Sunday. The atmosphere was charged with communal tension after thousands of ruthless goons supporting contentious Citizens Amendment Act (CAA) launched a bloody onslaught against Muslims in the capital of India.

The family consists of Suhaana (name changed), her partially paralysed husband and two daughters. They are the only Muslim family in Madhuban mohalla of North Ghonda locality in north-east Delhi.

Hearts pounded louder than pounding of the door. Then the banging stopped and noises of men talking loudly came.

"I peeped out from a small window near the kitchen and saw our neighbours standing outside our entrance and arguing with 10-15 unknown people," Suhaana said.

It was the first day of the communal violence, worst in the decades, that fanned out to the entire north-east Delhi over the next three days and claimed at least 42 lives, left over 200 injured and properties worth crores destroyed. The death toll is feared to go up.

Later in the night Suhaana's family moved to one of their Hindu neighbour's house. There are about 30 Hindu households in the mohalla who kept vigil as the atmosphere deteriorated.

The next day, the violence escalated. The neighbours decided to shift Suhaana 's family to Gautampuri for their safety.

Suhaana recounted, "Our neighbours assured us that they are with us but as things were deteriorating, they said they wouldn't be able to protect us if a big mob of hundreds came. They advised us to move to the nearby Gautampuri locality and come back only after things become normal."

Rajkumar Bharadwaj brought the family to Gautampuri in the early hours on February 25.

Anil Gupta, 49, said, "It was tough to rescue them. We were asked by the rioters as to why we were saving the Muslims. But we had to, it is the people of my country who are suffering. It cannot be Hindus or Muslims."

Rajkumar Bharadwaj said, "Their youngest clung to me throughout. After I brought them here at Gautampuri, I felt good. Situation till then was not okay."

On Saturday, some semblance of normalcy returned to parts of north-east Delhi with some people opening their shops amid heavy police presence.

Meanwhile, the morbid sight outside GTB Hospital's mortuary, agonising groans in the hospital wards burnt down houses and shops remind Suhaana and others what they have been spared of.

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News Network
April 16,2020

Mangaluru, Apr 16: An old refrigerator has been turned into a "disinfection chamber" by researchers who are striving to come up with solutions to tackle the spread of coronavirus.

Dr Arun M Isloor, head of Chemistry Department, National Institute of Technology Karnataka (NITK), Surathkal, along with research scholar Syed Ibrahim has come up with the device which can disinfect items kept inside it.

"We have named this as ZERO-COV," Dr Isloor said.

He says the device ensures 99.9 per cent destruction of microorganisms present on the surface of items.

"We can keep items like vegetables, currency notes, books or envelopes inside the chamber. Switching on the chamber for 15 minutes ensures 99.9 per cent destruction of microorganisms present in the surface of the items," Dr Isloor added.

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News Network
April 6,2020

Bengaluru, April 6: Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on Monday said he is following the one-time fasting as per the order by BJP President JP Nadda.

"I am following the one-time fasting as per the order by our national President JP Nadda, on BJP foundation day today, as a mark of respect to doctors, nurses, media personnel," said BS Yediyurappa.

In his message to BJP workers earlier today, Nadda stated, "All BJP Karyakartas to give up one meal on our Foundation Day as a way to show solidarity with people facing hardships during the lockdown. Provide food packets to 5+1 needy under #FeedtheNeedy program. In the next one week, put a system in place where we can provide two homemade face covers to each person at our booth. We should circulate videos of preparation and distribution of such face covers with #WearFaceCoverStaySafe."

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