Livelihood

The latest nationwide survey reveals a seismic shift in the age profile of Sri Lanka, with the share of children shrinking and the elderly proportion growing – signalling a departure from decades of youthful-growth to one of rapid ageing and dependency pressures.

The NCAER survey points to stagnation in India’s labour markets, reflecting the cautious stance of employers amid policy and trade uncertainty. Over 70 per cent of firms expect no change in their hiring plans for the next six months.

At least 16 people were killed and several others injured after a massive fire engulfed a garment factory and an adjoining chemical warehouse in Dhaka’s Mirpur area on Tuesday, October 14, exposing once again the fragile state of industrial safety in Bangladesh’s most vital economic sector.

Union minister of state for environment, forest and climate change, Kirti Vardhan Singh, released the report, ‘Guardians of the Wild: Supporting India’s Frontline Forest Staff’.

The data put out by PIB confirms that farmer empowerment, aimed at building a resilient and self-reliant agricultural sector, has become a core element of India's strategy for inclusive growth.

According to the investment bank, India is on course to achieve average annual GDP growth of 6 to 6.5 per cent over the next decade – one of the fastest rates globally. However, this pace may not be enough to meet the employment aspirations of the country’s rapidly expanding working-age population, which will swell by nearly 100 million over the next ten years.

While male participation in the labour market remained largely steady, dipping only slightly from 48.1 million to 48.0 million, female participation plunged more markedly – from 25.3 million in 2023 to 23.7 million in 2024.

ndia has witnessed a near doubling of its women’s employment rate between 2017-18 and 2023-24 – rising from 22 per cent to 40.3 per cent, according to recent data from the Periodic Labour Force Survey.