-The Indian Express Chandigarh: A panel of experts appointed by the Himachal Pradesh government has said that popular opposition to large hydel power projects on the Sutlej is being fanned by the establishment's "indifference" to the problems of the people. The panel has rejected the conclusions of a report prepared earlier for the union government, which had said that the adverse impact of the projects can be mitigated by suitable measures. "...Opposition to...

-Business Standard Limits funds to states under the scheme and still looking to reduce labour budget ratios The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government had begun work on amending the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), restricting the coverage to a few backward districts, leaving out large portions of Punjab, Haryana, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Kerala from its ambit. The plan was eventually shelved after protests and a debate in...

-The Pioneer Bhubaneswar: With the increasing demand for building and construction materials in a rapid urbanisation and industrialisation process in the State, the use of minor minerals has been increasing. The housing and road communication projects, both in rural and urban areas and industrial hubs, have created huge demand for minor minerals that have raised concern for an effective minor mineral management policy. It is a fact that in many areas there...

-Business Standard Govt's revised method of calculating output and growth make recomparisons inevitable in earlier judgments At the outset, nobody would believe that India's economy expanded by double-digits only four years earlier and the growth rate in gross domestic product (GDP) dived to as little as below four per cent during the global financial crisis period of 2008-09. Yet, these would be the facts if one measures growth in terms of the...

-GRISTMedia.com In the course of my work as part of a team set up to look into the socio-economic status of Adivasi communities, there were several things I learned about the Land Acquisition Act, 2013, and the amendments to it. Here are some important questions about land and the Act that we should be asking: * What is the State's relationship to land and its citizens? This a key question - and one...