Farmers in areas surrounding Panvel, where the new airport will come up, are anxious about their future. They are worried if the government will be able to deliver on the promises it will make during the land acquisition process. Hence, rather than raise the current issues, they want the government to first fulfil the promises it made to farmers whose land CIDCO acquired in 1970 to develop the Navi Mumbai...

Reiterating her stand on the Rajarhat land issue, Trinamool Congress chief and Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday asked the Left Front government to put on hold all land acquisition in the new township till the Land Acquisition Act 1894 is amended. She said, she has communicated her view to the government about the changes in the current Act. “The state government should stop all its efforts of acquiring land. Their days...

Activist Medha Patkar addressing a rally in New Delhi on Monday against the land acquisition policy of the UPA government. “Sangharsh,” a collective platform of social movements and people's organisations fighting displacement and forcible land acquisition, began a five-day dharna at Jantar Mantar here on Monday. Representatives of people's movements from Assam to Tamil Nadu participated in the “Sansad Gherao” dharna. Among the struggles highlighted was the Assam-based Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti's...

Rising food prices have not yet reached crisis levels but they are expected to remain very volatile for about the next decade, researchers said Thursday. The conclusions were based on a new study of the factors that contributed to the 2007-08 food crisis, which researchers hope will shed light on what actions might be taken to avoid food crises in the future. "There were many suspects for what caused the crisis, but...

Given the mind-boggling figures thrown up by the CAG report on the 2G scam, the gains seem rather modest. But in the year gone by, former telecom minister A Raja's finances have shown a healthy growth with regard to both income and investments. His political career may be headed south, but Raja's finances are in the pink of health. Not only has his personal income increased from Rs 11.47 lakh to...