-The Economic Times   A clause introduced in the draft land acquisition bill will bring cases where the award of land is underway or possession has not taken place within the scope of compensatory and acquisition norms. This will make private developers, industries and the government, who are currently involved in the process of acquiring land, shell out generous compensation packages to Land Owners with retrospective effect. "The new clause that we...

The Mamata Banerjee government wants the Centre to include in the draft National Land Acquisition and Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill provisions of the Bengal’s land ceiling law, which caps holdings by industry at 24.88 acres. State cabinet sources also said the government would not accept any special economic zone (SEZ) and ask the Centre make its position clear on such enclaves, which typically require large tracts, in the bill. The recommendations were...

-The Times of India   Posco officials and police faced a major stumbling block at Gadakujang village, the site of the company's proposed steel plant in Jagatsinghpur district, as a large number of irate villagers prevented their entry into the area on Thursday. Many agitated villagers prevented the entry of police forces by blocking the road at Gadakujang. Last week, the Posco authorities had started land-leveling works after acquiring about 1,980 acre land...

• Without a clear definition of ‘public purpose’, the land acquisition bill is meaningless • The bill’s definition of ‘fertile land’ can potentially harm the agriculture sector • Government’s role in defining land will create economic and political problems in future As Parliament debates this month it will, hopefully, move beyond issues of corruption in high places to important economic legislation. Two such pieces of legislation are the land acquisition bill and...

-PTI   Farmers affected by the Yamuna Expressway project have threatened to resume their agitation if the Uttar Pradesh government fails to respond to their demands by September 5. In a memorandum sent to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati, the Kisan Sangharsh Samiti, which has been leading the agitation for more than two years now, has demanded that there should be a parity in compensation rates for all districts through which the expressway...