-PTI     It could have been done in a more refined manner, it says The Centre on Thursday admitted before the Supreme Court that something went wrong with the coal blocks allocation and that it could have been done in a more refined manner. "We took the decision in good faith but something turned out to be wrong," Attorney-General Goolam E. Vahanvati told a three-judge Bench headed by Justice R.M. Lodha. "In hindsight, we can...

-The Hindu     To be able to deliver appropriate legal services to the rural and tribal communities, we need an alternative delivery system with a different model of legal service providers Delivery of legal services to the rich and the corporate class is organised not through individual lawyers but through a series of networked law firms. These firms employ hundreds of lawyers and domain experts all over the country to provide highly specialised...

-The Indian Express The Centre has defended before the Supreme Court its decision to wind up the Justice MB Shah Commission, which was set up to inquire into illegal mining activities across several states. The government, in an affidavit, has pointed out that not only was the original tenure of the panel been extended from 18 to 33 months, the government was also taking appropriate follow-up actions on the basis of commission's...

-The Hindu Most of the acquisitions by the Central government and public sector companies in the country's resource-rich State are under laws that bypass the new land Bill The UPA has claimed the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (LARR) Bill 2013 passed by both Houses will reduce forcible acquisition and help tackle Naxalism in mineral-rich areas. But with Coal Bearing Areas Acquisition and Development (CBA)...

-Frontline Interview with Jairam Ramesh, Union Minister for Rural Development. THE passage of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2013, is being perceived as a major achievement by the United Progressive Alliance government. The Bill that has replaced the colonial Land Acquisition Act, 1894, went through several changes in order to arrive at a middle path, a term coined by Union Minister for...