-The Telegraph Union minister Jairam Ramesh today described the proposed land acquisition bill as the “political agenda” of the Congress and said it would be reintroduced in the winter session of Parliament with no “significant” change. Five ministers had blocked the amended land acquisition bill in the cabinet last week on the ground that its provisions would stall industrialisation and urbanisation. “The land acquisition bill is the political agenda of the Congress Party....

-The Times of India Rural development ministerJairam Ramesh said he would not dilute the compensation package and rehabilitation norms in the draft land acquisition bill, throwing a challenge at ministerial colleagues who last week dubbed it anti-industry to block its approval by the Cabinet. "This bill is part of the political agenda ofCongress and we are a political party. These people should know we are in government, they are ministers because...

-The Hindu Laws count for nothing when some of the worst offenders are government-run bodies, agencies and enterprises. The Central government is trying to push through the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and Their rehabilitation Bill, 2012, under pressure from the Supreme Court; but, going by the experience of the past few decades, there is no cause to assume the dehumanising practice of manual removal of human excreta will soon...

-The Hindu The Madhya Pradesh government has said the filling of the Omkareshwar dam poses no threat to human life even as the Madhya Pradesh Human Rights Commission (MPHRC) directed the government to ensure the safety of the protesters. The government’s statement comes in the wake of the ongoing jal satyagraha protest of the project affected people of the Omkareshwar dam in the East Nimaar region (Khandwa district), where oustees have been...

-PTI Some residents of Khardala village in Harda district have launched 'Jal Satyagraha' agitation by standing in the backwaters of Indira Sagar dam built here on river Narmada, to demand proper rehabilitation, sources said. Nearly 25 persons, including women, have been agitating here since yesterday by standing in water above their waist level, as the dam backwater has reached their village. The villagers are against the move of filling up the Indira Sagar...