Treeni Sustainability Solutions, a software product company established by sustainability practitioners and technology experts, hosted its third edition of the ‘Sustainability for Breakfast’ event recently. The theme for this edition was “Role of technology in CSR enablement.” The discussion panel included Meera Rajeevan, Program Director, Sarojini Damodaran Foundation, Shoma Bakre, Founder and Managing Trustee, Let’s...

The Maternity Bill has been in force since 1 April, bringing in a host of issues in its wake. There have been over the economic forces that come into play while implementing the tenets of the Act, with HR managers across disciplines trying to find solutions to their specific requirements within the framework mandated by the...

A handful of corporate titans, young entrepreneurs and researchers on Wednesday got an opportunity that even some students of Harvard Business School do not get. They got a crash course in business and economics from Michael Porter. The business strategist and economist teaches at Harvard. A student who wants to attend his lectures has to clear...

Employees sort different grades of tanned leather skins into piles at a tannery in Kolkata. The ICN report found a wide gap between the price of the end product and wages in three hubs. ICN report finds widespread labour, gender, caste discrimination in Agra, Kolkata and TN

Abortion remains highly restricted in India. The governing law, the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act (1971), permits abortions before 12 weeks of pregnancy by a registered medical practitioner or before 20 weeks of pregnancy with the approval of two registered medical practitioners, but only if the mother or child's mental or physical health is in danger. A slightly more liberal amendment is under consideration, but still does not allow abortion if the woman simply wishes to terminate the pregnancy.

President Pranab Mukherjee urged India Inc to leverage corporate social responsibility (CSR) to address higher developmental challenges in India, saying the country needs visionary business leaders to catalyse the growth process. "I would like to remind industry that just as much as the funds, the country also needs your ideas, energy and drive. I urge you to leverage CSR...

Tribal population in India is a community that is underdeveloped both economically and socially. They mostly live in isolation from mainstream population. Women especially often find it difficult to be employed in the mainstream jobs. However, they are very good at traditional skills, which are tapped on by We Will Help (WWH) Charitable Foundation,...

Increase of 27% was noted in the expenditure of corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds in 2015-16 as compared to the previous year. The figures rose from Rs 6,400 crore in FY15 to Rs 8,900 crore. These results are based on disclosures of close to 1,270 companies listed on BSE that had to comply with Section...

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) rules, implemented in April 2014 under section 135 of the Companies Act, have generated a buzz for their innovative approach to social development, and helping channel funds from companies towards such activities. But even as annual CSR spend is on the rise, the impact on the ground and effective deployment of...

The Union Cabinet on Friday took long pending steps to strengthen laws against child labour. It approved ratification of the Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138) and Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182) of the International Labour Organisation (ILO). The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave its approval...

The Parliamentary Standing Committee rapped Indian Railway Tourism and Catering Corporation Ltd. (IRCTC), a Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) under the Ministry of Railways over usage of its CSR funds. The standing committee noted that the CSR policy as approved by IRCTC board was not in conformity to the CSR Guidelines issued by the DPE. The...

A majority of information technology (IT) and financial service sector companies in India are investing in education and employable skills, when it comes to the mandatory spend on corporate social responsibility (CSR), says a report by Nasscom Foundation. ‘Key to social issues’ “About half the companies (70) interviewed have spent more than 70% of their CSR...