The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government’s proposed land acquisition law, a politically sensitive and critical piece of legislation that could potentially remove a big roadblock to industrial investment, aims to address rehabilitation and resettlement (R&R), providing safeguards for both land owners and livelihood losers, while clearly defining the “public purpose” for which land can be acquired by the government. “This draft Bill seeks to balance the need for facilitating land acquisition...

States are expected to take responsibility for this, but the Bill ignores the nutritional crisis altogether K V Thomas Minister for Food The inclusion of iron supplements, protein, dairy supplements and vegetables can be done gradually - this Bill is just the beginning The food security Bill will certainly ensure nutrition but it is the states that have to take steps for that. The draft Bill approved recently by the Group of Ministers is...

-The United Nations   The United Nations tomorrow will mark World Hepatitis Day for the first time to bring attention to the disease that affects almost one in every three persons on Earth. “We know what needs to be done,” said Margaret Chan, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO). “Viral hepatitis is one of the most prevalent and serious infectious diseases in the world. It deserves much more attention, understanding and...

The Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council (NAC) — at the initiative of which the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme was rolled out in UPA-I — is taking a fresh look at how to strengthen it. The NAC wants the scheme to move from its “relief work mode” to one that would blend “natural resources and labour to build productive assets.” When the NAC meets here on Thursday, the Deep...

Days before the draft Lokpal bill is expected to be put before the Union Cabinet for its consideration, the National Campaign for People's Right to Information (NCPRI) headed by Aruna Roy has begun lobbying for its version of the anti-corruption legislation. Roy and her colleagues met with law minister and government representative on the joint drafting panel Salman Khursheed on Tuesday and are likely to meet HRD minister Kapil Sibal...