Veil

2023 - 2 - 10

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Image courtesy of "East Asia Forum"

Lifting the veil on India's invisible migrant workers | East Asia Forum (East Asia Forum)

Author: Shareen Joshi, Georgetown University. Ninety per cent of Indian workers earn their livelihoods in the informal sector, lacking job security, ...

[rules](https://voterportal.eci.gov.in/faq), eligible voters can only vote in their ‘ordinary place of residence’. Evidence [suggests](http://www.igidr.ac.in/pdf/publication/WP-2020-034.pdf) that these safety nets are helpful, but coverage is still an issue — only 24 per cent of Indians [have access](https://www.ilo.org/shinyapps/bulkexplorer9/?lang=en&segment=indicator&id=EAP_DWAP_SEX_AGE_RT_A&ref_area=IND) to even one such scheme. The government is in the midst of launching a new [registration systems](https://eshram.gov.in/) for unorganised workers. It has also rolled out new [health insurance](https://nha.gov.in/PM-JAY) and [social security](https://labour.gov.in/sites/default/files/PIB1797243.pdf) schemes for them. [proposal](https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3680034) that would limit the number of unique minimum wage rates to between 4–12 per state has not yet been passed. Analysis from the International Labour Organization [found](https://www.ilo.org/shinyapps/bulkexplorer33/?lang=en&segment=indicator&id=HOW_2LSS_SEX_RT_A) that Indians aged 15–64 lost an average of 14.6 per cent and 6.3 per cent of their work hours in 2020 and 2021 respectively — nearly double the global rate. Another [study](https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3680379) showed that formal workers’ wages fell 3.6 per cent and informal workers’ wages fell 22.6 per cent. [expanded](http://164.100.24.220/loksabhaquestions/annex/174/AU197.pdf) welfare programs could discourage migration. Private entities, such as the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy, produce [estimates](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-01-02/india-unemployment-rate-surges-to-16-month-high-cmie-data-shows) of unemployment that seem at odds with the economic trends reported by the government. [welfare schemes](http://164.100.24.220/loksabhaquestions/annex/174/AU197.pdf), including access to free [food grains](https://www.eastasiaforum.org/2022/09/03/craving-indias-food-security-success/), affordable rental housing and opportunities for training. [discontinued](https://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-survey-discontinued-centre-clueless-about-unemployment-2591121) in 2016. In March 2020, millions left the cities and returned to the Indian countryside, reeling from lost employment, accommodation and poverty during India’s COVID-19 lockdowns.

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Image courtesy of "Watson Farley & Williams"

WFW advises on planning strategy for Brick Veil Mosque (Watson Farley & Williams)

Watson Farley & Williams has advised the Waqf Trust of Barton on its planning strategy for the landmark Brick Veil Mosque.

Not only does it represent a new landmark for the community but thanks to renewable energy measures that are integral to the building’s design, will in fact provide a net gain in biodiversity. He delivered his report to the Secretary of State in October 2022, recommending approval: as a “brilliant place” in which to worship. The minister who made the decision to call for the application subsequently resigned prior to Boris Johnson’s stepping down as PM, stating in his letter of resignation (perhaps tellingly):

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Image courtesy of "FranceToday.com"

Icons of France: Simone Veil (FranceToday.com)

The life and times of Simone Veil, the legendary politician and magistrate who took her suffering in the Holocaust and used it as a force for good.

Simone Veil was among those calling for the nation to open the doors of the Panthéon to the great women of France. During the Second World War, thousands of people across France risked their lives by harbouring Jewish children, men and women in a bid to save them from deportation to the concentration camps. In a time when war has returned to Europe, and women’s reproductive rights are again threatened, it feels hopeful to once more honour the memory of Simone Veil. In 1979, she entered the European political stage and made history by becoming the first female President of the European Parliament, and the first of a Parliament directly elected by its European citizens. But her improvement of women’s rights didn’t stop there: as a magistrate, she improved the conditions of female prisoners; as health minister, she made contraception available on social security and improved childcare, so women could balance family and work life. Perhaps she is most remembered for the courage and conviction with which, as health minister, she campaigned to legalise abortion, braving some hostility in a France divided on the issue.

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