Scores of farmers staged a protest in Uttar Pradesh's Jhansi city on Tuesday to protest against the government's acquisition of their lands. The agitating farmers also demanded proper compensation for their lands. "We want proper compensation for the lands that have been taken by the government, the lands which have been snatched from us. They have taken our wells, our tress; we want compensation for that or else give us land in...

The rally members will highlight farmers' insecuritiesKisan Swaraj Yatra (rally for farmers' sovereignty), a conglomeration of farmers' organisations, consumers and civil society groups, is to make a presentation on the agriculture crisis to the National Advisory Council (NAC). They seek a Farmers' Income Commission and a social security legislation for farmers.Representatives of the Yatra, who met NAC chairperson Sonia Gandhi here on Saturday to highlight the income insecurity of farmers,...

Jairam Ramesh, India's environment minister, will make a decision in the next week that could define the future of the country: whether to approve a $12 billion South Korean-owned steel plant, the largest potential foreign direct investment ever on the subcontinent. The plant, proposed by South Korea's Posco, has been in the works for years. It already has been cleared by the environment ministry, which Mr. Ramesh runs, and endorsed by...

The Naveen Patnaik government is facing court strictures and opposition criticism for irregularities in grant of mining leases. WHEN Naveen Patnaik stepped into his father Biju Patnaik's shoes and donned the mantle of leadership of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) to become the Chief Minister of Orissa for the first time in March 2000, he was seen as a crusader against corruption. In his initial years in power, he did...

Farmer leader Manveer Singh Tevatia on Monday announced that he along with his supporters will sit on a fast unto death at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi from December 1 in support of their demands to amend the Land Acquisition Act 1894 and to implement UP government's new land acquisition policy with retrospective effect from 1997. The demands also include right to decide the rate of the land-to-be-acquired should be...