Unionizing gig economy

Any assessment of a government's performance invariably ends up at the economic door. At the start of Narendra Modi's ninth year as prime minister (PM), it is then pertinent to ask: how has the Indian economy fared so far? Making any straight comparisons between now and May 2014 would be unfair given the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. And even before the pandemic's end, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine upended all calculations again. "No one country today can plan for its recovery...because of these kinds of disturbances. Our recovery, not just of India, but for countries everywhere, will be severely hampered," Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had noted in late February a day after Russia attacked Ukraine. But it must not be forgotten that India has attempted to kick-start its economic recovery multiple times in the last eight years. The first of these was soon after Modi took charge as PM in May 2014. Working in tandem with Raghuram Rajan at the Reserve Bank of … [Read more...] about Modi govt @ 8 | Pandemic hides economy’s past troubles as restart button hit again

The second reading of the Trade Unions (Amendment) Bill 2022 is scheduled for the next Parliament sitting, commencing on July 18. (Photo by Zahid Izzani Mohd Said/The Edge) - A + A KUALA LUMPUR (June 25): Claiming that the Trade Unions (Amendment) Bill 2022 does not provide for a constructive industrial relations environment, a coalition of trade unions said the second reading of the Bill should be deferred. The second reading is scheduled for the next Parliament sitting, commencing on July 18. The Bill — along with the Industrial Relations Act 1967 (IRA) — is “about control of unions as if unions are some destructive or terrorist-minded organisations bent on destroying the Malaysian economy and causing chaos”, said the Coalition Against Multiplicity of Unions (CAMU) in a statement on Saturday (June 25). CAMU said the government had not only failed to ratify the International Labour Organization Convention No. 87 (C87), “but it has also gone on to trample the … [Read more...] about Multiplicity of unions causes double jeopardy to workers and unions, says coalition

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union leaders will turn on Friday from celebration over Ukraine's start on the road to membership of their bloc to consternation over Russia's squeeze on their gas supplies, soaring prices and sputtering economies. On the second day of a summit in Brussels, the leaders of the 27 nations will place the blame for a spike in inflation and sagging growth across the globe squarely on Russia's invasion of Ukraine that began four months ago to the day. They will also call on the EU's executive to come up with energy supply solutions in response to Moscow's "weaponisation" of gas imports now that a dozen European countries have been thumped by cuts in critical supplies from Russia. "We have to adjust to the new reality," said one EU official ahead of the talks. "It is only a matter of time before the Russians close down all gas shipments." The first day of the summit ended on a triumphant note as the EU formally accepted Ukraine as a candidate to join … [Read more...] about EU leaders to debate economy woes as Russia squeezes gas supplies

Khartoum (Reuters) - An accelerated breakdown in services including water and electricity supplies has left Sudanese citizens counting the cost of political stalemate after a military takeover last October. The slide in living conditions comes after the coup triggered the suspension of billions of dollars in international funding, and at a time when the war in Ukraine has pushed the cost of key imports higher. It has fed into anti-military demonstrations held at least once a week for the past eight months, while also adding to pressure for the military and civilian groups to come to a political agreement. No prime minister has been appointed since the coup, ministers are serving in an acting capacity and mediation attempts led by the United Nations and the African Union have yet to produce results. Authorities say they are pressing on with economic reforms that a civilian-led government began under International Monetary Fund (IMF) monitoring in 2020, aimed at reducing … [Read more...] about Sudan’s economy sinks as post-coup leadership searches for support

MALAYSIA is trying to reduce its dependency on low-skilled foreign workers as it moves up the economic value chain. To reduce the number of foreign low-skilled workers, both the businesses and industries across all the economic sectors are asked to hire more locals and embrace automation with the aim of becoming a high-income nation. And interestingly they have been doing so, where local employees have become the first choice. Still, businesses and industries across all the economic sectors need low-skilled foreigners to fill up the many jobs available where the locals are reluctant to take on. Most of the jobs taken up by the foreign workers are low entry levels considered to be dirty, dangerous, and difficult or 3D – reasons as to why the locals shy away. Also, the locals are seeking a more balanced lifestyle, better paying jobs like work in the gig economy or going abroad for the same low entry level jobs. Today, the labour shortage issues have worsened, now estimated … [Read more...] about Worker shortage is the biggest challenge

(Image: Reuters) India is providing safety certification for dozens of ships managed by a subsidiary of top Russian shipping group Sovcomflot, official data showed, enabling oil exports to India and elsewhere after Western certifiers withdrew their services due to global sanctions against Moscow. Certification by the Indian Register of Shipping (IRClass), one of the world's top classification companies, provides a final link in the paperwork chain - after insurance coverage - needed to keep state-owned Sovcomflot's tanker fleet afloat and delivering Russian crude oil to overseas markets. Data compiled from the IRClass website shows that it has certified more than 80 ships managed by SCF Management Services (Dubai) Ltd, a Dubai-based entity listed as a subsidiary on Sovcomflot's website. An Indian shipping source familiar with the certification process said most of Sovcomflot's vessels had now migrated to IRClass, via the Dubai arm. Classification societies certify that … [Read more...] about Russian oil tankers get India safety cover via Dubai company

AS you’re aware, there is a serious manpower situation that Malaysia is facing. Some are saying Malaysia is at breaking point. It’s feared that our country is missing a golden opportunity to capitalise on high palm oil prices and will suffer production losses because of the acute shortage of workers. What has been done? According to the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) report in 2015, up to 78% of the oil palm plantation workers are foreign workers, with most of them coming from Indonesia. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, there was no new arrival of foreign workers beginning from March 2020, and Malaysia recently opened its international borders on April 1, 2022. Due to the shortage of workers in the oil palm plantation sector, expected revenue losses are around RM20bil. ALSO READ: More foreign labour soon This has led to the Malaysian Cabinet to agree to a special exemption for the intake of 32,000 foreign workers for the palm oil sector in April 2022. As mentioned much … [Read more...] about Resolving worker shortage woes

(Representative image: Reuters) A day after endorsing Ukraine's candidacy to join the European Union, the bloc's leaders turned their attention to the severe economic turbulence looming over the coming months as the full impact of Russia's war sinks in and the threat of recession rises. The EU's 27 leaders gathered in Brussels to grapple with surging inflation, energy shocks, dwindling business and consumer confidence, and growing budget pressures. The leaders also will have to contend with higher borrowing costs as the European Central Bank prepares to raise interest rates for the first time in 11 years to counter runaway price increases. ECB President, Christine Lagarde, who plans to raise rates next month and again in September, joined the EU summit to discuss the darkening economic outlook. Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson said, "We are in a difficult situation, its very important that we have this discussion." The EU has spent the previous decade battling … [Read more...] about EU leaders tackle inflation, energy shocks from Russia’s war

Representative image Shriram City Union Finance will focus on personal, gold and small business loans to achieve its 18 percent growth in AUM in the current fiscal year amid a slowdown in demand for two-wheelers due to shortage of components and other factors, a top company executive said. Noting that the demand in the economy has not yet fully recovered, while rural and semi-urban areas have been doing better now, YS Chakravarti, MD & CEO, said majority of the company's business comes from semi-urban and rural markets and anything good for the rural economy will help the company's business. "Our focus will be on personal loans, gold loans, and small business loans. In terms of economic recovery, we have not recovered fully. Urban areas are still struggling, to some extent, the rural economy has picked up probably because, once the harvest has been good and in the current year also there is good rainfall prediction," Chakravarti told. … [Read more...] about Shriram City to focus on gold, personal, small business loans in FY23

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Since the execution of the Maastricht Treaty in 1992 that led to the establishment of the Euro single currency, different European Union countries have faced issues meeting the Treaty’s requirements to maintain the currency, especially the obligation that no country may run a budget deficit greater than 3% of its GDP. An example is Greece, which in 1992 used large amounts of financial gimmickry to claim compliance originally, then often fell into clear violation. In 2012, Greece hoped the EU would give it breathing space to work out its financial difficulties, including a potential default to the International Monetary Fund. Germany, as the strongest member of the European Central Bank, took a very hard line toward any Greek rescue. It insisted that Greece cut its federal budget, regardless of the economic pain that might cause to Greek taxpayers. Germany was concerned that, should a bailout occur, Germany would pay the … [Read more...] about German Stance On Russian Energy Could Affect Future Of The Euro