When it was almost certain that the governments of the country were to take their hands off from total acquisition of land for a private project, the Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council has started thinking otherwise. The thought went out for hundred per cent acquisition by the government. Had this come at the germinal stage of discussion about changes in the colonial Act, it could have resulted in Mamata Banerjee’s face...

While A. Raja's alleged shenanigans in the Telecom Ministry have been grabbing all the headlines, some activists are now urging the CBI to focus its spotlight on the tainted DMK leader's earlier role as Environment Minister. For example, Mr. Raja granted Korean steel giant Posco its first major statutory clearance in 2007 by approving the captive port component of its controversial Rs. 52,000 crore steel plant project in Orissa. Interestingly,...

-PTI   Alleging forcible land acquisition for Posco steel project near Paradip, five political parties today resolved to go for a civil disobedience agitation in front of the state secretariat on Monday.The leaders of five parties comprising CPI, CPI(M), Forward Bloc, RJD and Samajwadi Party in a joint meeting condemened the state government's alleged act of using force to acquire land from the residents of the three gram panchayats under Ersama...

An arrest in a small corner of Chhattisgarh has become the subject of an 'urgent action' petition circulating worldwide. Amnesty International, a human rights watchdog, has urged people to write to authorities "calling on them to drop the false charges against Ramesh Agrawal and Dr Harihar Patel and release them immediately". A week ago, Agrawal and Patel were arrested in Raigarh based on a complaint filed by Jindal Power Limited. A...

Development has a multiplier effect in terms of employm-ent, secondary activity and revenue to state, while delay entails loss for everybody. Tolstoy’s famous question, “How much land does a man require?” was answered when the Count who had ruthlessly exploited his serfs was buried in a grave measuring 7x4x4 feet. And that, Tolstoy concluded, was all the land a man requires. Is corporate and infrastructural greed in India today destroying the small,...