-The Telegraph Consensus eluded a meeting of the group of ministers (GoM) on the Land acquisition bill today amid divergent views on the applicability of the proposed law to mining and coal exploration and a retrospective clause for ongoing projects. The panel will meet again in the first week of October. The revised Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill is expected to be reintroduced in the winter session. The original bill had a...

-The Times of India The ministerial panel vetting the Land acquisition bill witnessed strong demand on Thursday that it kick in retrospectively. Urban development minister Kamal Nath is reported to have argued that a window for applying the new bill for old cases of acquisition should be retained. If the demand gains traction, it could reopen a significant section of the draft legislation which initially had the retrospective clause but was later...

-The Times of India India will, for the first time, put a cap on the maximum price at which essential drugs, like some commonly used anti-AIDS and anti-cancer drugs, besides a horde of painkillers, anti-TB drugs, sedatives, lipid lowering agents and steroids, can be sold in the country. In a Landmark decision, a group of ministers (GoM) headed by agriculture minister Sharad Pawar on Thursday cleared the proposal to bring all 348...

-The United Nations The United Nations today launched a programme to empower poor rural women through economic integration and food security initiatives. “Accelerating Progress Toward the Economic Empowerment of Rural Women” is a five-year initiative that will focus on improving food and nutrition security, increasing rural women’s incomes, enhancing leadership and participation in rural institutions, and creating a more responsive policy environment at national and international levels. “When women are empowered and can...

-The Economic Times Ahead of the first meeting of the Group of Ministers on the Land bill, Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh has asserted that the proposed Land bill balances the needs of economic growth with concerns of the common man. In a note for the meeting scheduled for Thursday, Ramesh has argued that the existing Land Acquisition Act, 1894 shows little regard for those whose Land is acquired. The note draws...