Jean Dreze, until recently the intellectual driving force behind the National Advisory Council , is measured but unmistakable in his disenchantment with many current UPA welfare schemes. The economist who quit the Sonia Gandhi-led NAC in late June, won't comment on whether the UPA government has failed the NAC. But, he tells Ullekh NP, there's not enough empathy in the Indian establishment for the poor. Programmes like NREGA, he says, attract...

-The Business Standard   By staying the state government’s hand on the return of the land acquired by the Tatas for their automobile project in Singur, the Supreme Court has injected some sense into the handling of the matter. The Mamata Banerjee government created an avoidable mess with its hasty decision to find a legislative way out of a difficult political situation. Even as the Calcutta High Court was hearing the...

The episodes of violence in land acquisition by the government, as witnessed recently in Bhatta-Parsaul in Uttar Pradesh and in other states earlier, occur because patterns of violence are inbuilt into the process. Despite a bill pending in Parliament since 2007, there has been little effort by political parties to evolve a consensus on acquisition of agricultural land for non-agricultural purposes. The law as at present and also the provisions...

Probing the trail of Rs 200 crore, which was paid to Kalaignar TV by Swan Telecom in the 2G spectrum scam, the CBI has now reached at the doors of four private companies including UB Group and India Cements. While the names of the other two companies could not be ascertained, CBI officials said the four had facilitated payments to Kalaignar TV to help it repay Rs 200 crore to Swan. "We...

-The Telegraph   Governor M.K. Narayanan has given his assent to the Singur Land Rehabilitation and Development Bill, 2011, which will pave the way for the Mamata Banerjee government to award plots to “unwilling” farmers. According to government sources, Raj Bhavan officials informed chief secretary Samar Ghosh today about the clearance to the bill, passed by the Assembly on June 14. The chief minister, away in Delhi on a three-day visit, has...