-The Telegraph New Delhi: Several members of a joint House panel examining the land acquisition bill today slammed the government for holding "parallel" discussions on the same bill in the Niti Aayog, calling it an "insult to Parliament". Their criticism came a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who chaired a meeting of the governing council of the Aayog, warned the Opposition that the deadlock over the bill was "seriously" impacting rural...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: The Supreme Court today asked the Centre to respond to a petition that has challenged the government's decision to re-promulgate the land acquisition ordinance, slamming what it called was a "defiant" act that went against the court's earlier judgments. A bench headed by Justice J.S. Khehar gave the government four weeks to reply after former additional solicitor general Indira Jaising said the court was already seized of the...

-Business Standard This could help bypass central legislation and break the land Bill deadlock Ten big states, most of those ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its alliance partners, on Wednesday sought to unshackle themselves from the logjam over amendments to the contentious land acquisition Bill, 2013, by proposing to bring their own laws for boosting infrastructure development. At a NITI Aayog meeting to discuss the land Bill (the Right to...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: NDA-ruled states cannot "wait indefinitely for consensus" on amendments to the Centre's land bill and want to pass their own laws for smooth acquisitions, finance minister Arun Jaitley said today. Some lawyers said while many states have framed amended rules in the past, these were at variance but not in "complete contradiction" to the central land law. Jaitley was speaking after a meeting of the governing council of the...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: In an attempt to placate the belligerent opposition over the contentious land bill, the government is weighing the option of incorporating new provisions to protect agricultural land. According to indications, the changes could include largely exempting acquisition of irrigated multi-cropped land for developing industrial corridors or industrial hubs, building dams etc. Sources said the government is in favour of acquisition of such land only in 'extreme conditions'...