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Low and declining women’s labour force participation rates in India have been a longstanding concern. 94% of the women who are counted as being in the workforce remain concentrated in the informal sector. In the non-farm sector, women are usually located as home-based workers, domestic workers, construction labourers, petty retailers and textile and garment factory workers, beauty, salon and spa services providers, in fitness industries and in the BPOs as customer care representatives of domestic and multinational companies. The national lockdown imposed as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic adversely affected livelihoods in all of these sectors. Even as the lockdown is being eased, the overall slowdown in economic activity and the absence of adequate demand stimulus by the government does not bode well for future employment generation, especially for women.

Impressive as the worldwide demonstrations are against white racism, it will be unrealistic to expect their impact to be long-lasting. It is a safe bet that their tempo will subside in a month’s time and the world will return more or less to what it was before George Floyd’s sadistic murder by a white policeman. Floyd has become a part of history, of course, along with others such as Rodney King, who was also a victim of white racism. But it will be foolhardy to expect that prejudice and intolerance based on colour are now on their way out.

Adani Green Energy, a Gautam Adani company, has reportedly bagged the world’s largest contract to build a 8,000 MW-capacity photovoltaic (PV) power plant and additionally set up a 2,000 MW capacity domestic solar panel manufacturing facility. The combined investment is estimated at $6 billion (over Rs.42,000 crore). However, the Adani group’s existing massive debt burden somewhat dampens the hope that the project will become a success anytime soon and it will be able to keep its tariff commitment. In 2018, the Adani group’s total debt, according to Bloomberg data, was estimated at Rs.99,181 crore. This included Adani Power’s Rs.47,609 crore, Adani Enterprises’ Rs.22,424 crore, Adani Ports’ Rs.20,791 crore and Adani Transmission’s Rs.8,356 crore. However, the group is not concerned. It continues to bid big to acquire large projects. And, the government seems to be strongly by its side.

I knew Justice Suresh as a practicing lawyer well before he got appointed as a judge of the Bombay City Civil and Sessions Court (BCCSC). He performed well there at the BCCSC but he had a dream. He wanted to be a Judge of the High Court and hence he resigned as a judge of the BCCSC and rejoined the Bar. It was from there that he was elevated to the High Court, perhaps one of the few to adopt that course to the High Court successfully. We rejoiced when he was appointed. For we knew that he would do justice for the underprivileged in his judicial capacity.

China and the coronavirus is all about markets. If in Wuhan, it was a ‘wet market’ where the virus got a foothold before taking off to climes across the world, the coronavirus has returned to roost in another market, this time in capital Beijing – the Xinfadi wholesale vegetable market – prompting Chinese in prominent posts to say, “It’s time to remind the Chinese people that the virus has not gone away!”

There is an assumption among a large number of political commentators that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi is still popular with Indians, particularly the rural population. Yet commentators avoid direct answer to the moot question relating to popularity of NaMo with the major and influential sections of the Bharatiya Janata Party. The contrast in the activities at the BJP headquarters between two elections in 2014 and 2019 was the clear evidence of fading out of the position of the Prime Minister in the BJP. All these and many other new developments are indicative of brewing of a new political stance within the party as well as in the country.

The campaign for the Bihar election, scheduled for the end of the year, has begun. In a display of what campaigning may look like in the coronavirus disease (Covid-19)-hit era, Union home minister and top Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Amit Shah addressed workers in a digital rally. His message was simple: The BJP-Janta Dal (United) alliance has delivered on governance; it will win a two-thirds majority under chief minister Nitish Kumar, and the state government have worked to address the distress of the poor, particularly migrant workers.

It is high time Prime Minister Narendra Modi reigned in his impetuosity in taking decisions that affect the destiny of the nation. It is true that he stakes his prime ministership by such thoughtless action, but that is insignificant compared to the price that the nation is called upon to pay.

The crime branch of the Delhi police has fabricated a conspiracy theory which seeks to link anti-CAA protesters with the communal violence which took place in north-east Delhi in end February. The pattern of arrests, the cases and charge-sheets filed, reveal the real conspiracy which has been hatched under the aegis of Amit Shah’s home ministry.

The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code was enacted in the year 2016 and its provisions, in respect of the corporate insolvency, were enforced with effect from December 1, 2016. Prior to this revolutionary legislation, India had a very complex insolvency regime governed by multiple laws like Companies Act of 1956, Sick Industrial Companies Act of 1985, etc. none of which provided a complete solution in itself. The main objectives of this new Code are to consolidate the laws relating to insolvency to make insolvency a time-bound process and maximise asset value for the collective satisfaction of the creditors. It is also to encourage resolution over liquidation in order to prevent corporate deaths and promote entrepreneurship. Based upon practical experience, the Code has been amended so far five times, including the last one by way of the recent IBC (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020 promulgated on June 5, 2020.