MP Shivajirao Adhalrao-Patil on Sunday said the new Pune airport plan remained a non-starter because of lack of serious efforts on part of government officials to convince farmers about its need. Adhalrao, considered an opponent of the airport plan in Chakan area, was at pains to say that he was not anti-development. “Rather than my stand, it would have been better if the officials had taken efforts to explain to farmers...

Six years after a Human Development Report on Gujarat was published, the state government has embarked on another survey for a similar report, albeit district-wise, whose publication date is yet to be decided. So far, study reports on five districts — Surendranagar, Jamnagar, Sabarkantha, Dangs and Surat — have been submitted whose drafts have been reviewed and sent back to the authors for consideration. G K Vyas, Director, Human Development, said that...

Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi on Friday requested Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to defer issuing the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) notification till the apprehensions of fisherfolk and environmentalists are allayed. In a letter, Mr. Karunanidhi said there was a strong apprehension among the coastal communities that the draft notification would cause widespread destruction to the livelihood of fishing communities and other poor communities in the coastal areas, resulting in damage to coastal...

Could India's mock war on poverty ever turn real? India became independent 63 years ago. Since Independence the country has implemented 10 Five Year Plans and a few Annual Plans. Currently the 11th Plan is being executed. Efforts made during the last six decades have resulted in the modernisation of a stagnant economy and India's emergence as a major industrial power. This period also witnessed remarkable progress in agricultural production. But India...

In a major revision of the policy for rehabilitation & resettlement of landowners framed in 2005, the Haryana government has almost doubled the land acquisition rates in Gurgaon and substantially increased those in other parts of the state. Announcing this at a Press conference here today, Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said that Haryana has been divided into five zones - instead of the earlier three - for the purpose...