-PTI   To press for farmers' demands, including pension and interest free loan, Akhil Bhartiya Kisan Sabha would launch a nation-wide stir on September 1. "On September 1 demonstrations of farmers would be organised across the country to press for six point charter of demands," ABKS general secretary Atul Kumar Anjan told reporters here today. The main demand includes pension to farmers at the age of 60 years by the Centre and the...

A rare praise for the UPA government in the 743-page CAG report on the Commonwealth Games was courtesy railways. Applauding the work done by the state-run transporter, the government auditor mentioned that all the major activities relating to the makeover of New Delhi railway Station were completed before the Games and within the budget. Though the CAG in its initial review of rail projects in January-February 2010 revealed substantial delay at every...

The Mamata Banerjee ministry will not accept government role in land acquisition for the private sector even under the private-public partnership model, except in “specific and limited situations”, sources said after a cabinet meeting this evening. A “final decision” on the state government’s position on the draft National Land Acquisition and Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill is still to be taken. Mamata asked the group of ministers led by Partha Chatterjee entrusted with...

Vicky Nanjappa goes through Karnataka Lokayukta Justice Santosh Hegde's explosive report on illegal mining in the state and reveals damning figures of corruption. A jaw-dropping Rs 12,228 crore worth of iron ore was illegally exported in a a span of four years (2006-2010), says Karnataka Lokayukta Justice Santhosh Hegde in his report released a couple of days back which led to Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa's exit. According to the report, which...

The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government’s proposed land acquisition law, a politically sensitive and critical piece of legislation that could potentially remove a big roadblock to industrial investment, aims to address rehabilitation and resettlement (R&R), providing safeguards for both land owners and livelihood losers, while clearly defining the “public purpose” for which land can be acquired by the government. “This draft Bill seeks to balance the need for facilitating land acquisition...