-Frontline Interview with Congress leader Jairam Ramesh by TK Rajalakshmi THE Congress has been firm in its opposition to the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Bill, 2015. The Ministry for Rural Development under Jairam Ramesh in the previous UPA government drafted the 2013 Land Acquisition Bill, which the NDA government now seeks to amend. Excerpts from an interview with Jairam Ramesh: * Is your party...

-Frontline &NBSp; The BJP-led NDA government has, in the two Budgets it has presented so far, revealed itself to be very different from the pro-farmer image that its leading election campaigner and now Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, projected. THE Bharatiya Janata Party's manifesto for the 2014 Lok Sabha election states: "Agriculture is the engine of India's economic growth and the largest employer, and BJP commits highest priority to agriculture growth, increases in...

Is it the case that lack of Central financial assistance is restricting the growth of Gram Nyayalayas? Available Government documents and reports corroborate this doubt. &NBSp; Shri Kapil Sibal who was the Law and Justice Minister during the UPA rule while answering a question on 18 December, 2013 said that since the commencement of the Gram Nyayalayas Act, 2008, an amount of Rs. 3425.8 lakh was provided to the states as...

-The Times of India GANDHINAGAR: The Comptroller & Auditor General (CAG) of India report tabled in the state assembly on Tuesday raised several question marks on the much-famed Gujarat Model. The report tore apart the tall claims of the state government led by former chief minister Narendra Modi on agricultural growth, social indicators and spent on social infrastructure, fiscal discipline, right to education, and law and order situation. The report observed that Gujarat's...

-The Hindu The land bill passed by the Lok Sabha and pending before the Rajya Sabha has no chance of being cleared before April 5. The Union Cabinet on Tuesday discussed re-promulgation of the Land Acquisition Ordinance but refrained from making an official announcement on the decision taken. Senior Cabinet sources told The Hindu that the government is determined to re-issue the ordinance in its changed form following amendments to the Bill introduced...