Parliament passes minimum wage law
India sends back ex-Maldives vice-president
MUMBAI, Aug 3, (Agencies): India’s parliament on Friday passed a “historic” law to guarantee a minimum wage to hundreds of millions of workers, but labour activists said it did not go far enough to protect those in the informal sector.
The Code on Wages aims to set standard wages across India, where almost 90 percent of the labor force works in the informal sector with no security, low pay and little or no benefits.
Labour Minister Santosh Gangwar said the “historic” bill would for the first time ensure about 500 million Indian workers received minimum pay. Previously, one in three casual workers on daily wages had been excluded, according to official data.
“This will be the first time that all workers who earn daily wages and
hibition on a slew of opposition-minded candidates, some of whom are allies of Navalny, from taking part in a September election for Moscow’s city legislature.
That vote, though local, is seen as a dry run for a national parliamentary election in 2021.
Authorities say the opposition candidates failed to collect enough genuine signatures to register.
The excluded candidates say that is a lie and insist on taking part in a contest they believe they could win. (RTRS)
Spain rescues 59:
Spain’s maritime rescue service says it has saved 59 migrants, nearly all minors, trying to make the dangerous crossing of the Mediterranean Sea in a small boat.
The service says that the migrants were located Saturday in the Strait of Gibraltar by a Civil Guard patrol craft, which escorted them to a rescue ship. The Guardia Civil reported to the service that 51 of the occupants were under 18.
The other passengers were seven women and one adult man. All appeared to be of northern African descent, according to authorities.
Spain became the leading entry point for migrants to Europe in 2018, with about 57,000 unauthorized border crossings. (AP) employed across all sectors will have the right to a minimum wage,” a labour ministry official told the Thomson Reuters Foundation, speaking on condition of anonymity.
India’s minimum wage is 176 Indian rupees ($3) for an eight-hour work day, but local authorities can set their own lower rate and at least six states do so.
India’s upper house passed the Code on Wages Bill, the first of four labour bills designed to replace 44 archaic laws, on Friday evening within three days of it being voted through the lower house. Speaking in parliament, opposition lawmakers said the bill lacked teeth and failed to guarantee “fair wages” to workers.
COLOMBO:
India
on Saturday sent back a former Maldives vice-president who sought asylum after fleeing the Indian Ocean archipelago nation to avoid police questioning over the alleged embezzlement of state funds, a news report said.
Former vice-president Ahmed Adeeb arrived by boat at Tuticorin port in southern India on Thursday. Indian authorities did not allow him to enter the country since he did not possess valid documents to do so. On Saturday, Adeeb was sent back to the Maldives after questioning, the Press Trust of India news agency reported. Indian and Maldives officials declined to comment immediately.
An international legal team appearing for Adeeb said Friday that he had sought the protection of India and had initiated the process of claiming asylum.