The Supreme Court today held that any land acquisition depriving farmers of their “land, livelihood and way of life” without following due process was akin to “state-sponsored terrorism”. Slamming the Uttar Pradesh government’s land acquisition process, a two-judge bench headed by Justice G.S. Singhvi observed: “Throwing out villagers from their land and taking away their livelihood and way of life is state-sponsored terrorism.” The top court was hearing an appeal by some...

It approves 26 per cent share in profits for local people The draft bill proposes setting up of a fund to pay beneficiaries Final legislation likely to be introduced in the winter session of Parliament The Group of Ministers (GoM), headed by Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, on Friday approved the new Mining Draft Bill, including the provision that mining companies share 26 per cent of profits with local people affected by their...

KEY TRENDS   • Section 105 of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, which provides for excluding 13 Central legislation, including Land Acquisition (Mines) Act 1885, Atomic Energy Act, 1962, Railway Act 1989, National Highways Act 1956 and Metro Railways (Construction of Works) Act, 1978, from its purview, has been amended for payment of compensation with rigours $ • The amendments have now...

KEY TRENDS   • Maternal Mortality Ratio for India was 370 in 2000, 286 in 2005, 210 in 2010, 158 in 2015 and 145 in 2017. Therefore, the MMRatio for the country decreased by almost 61 percent between 2000 and 2017 *14    • As per the NSS 71st round, among rural females aged 5-29 years, the main reasons for dropping out/ discontinuance were: engagement in domestic activities, not interested in education, financial constraints and marriage. Among rural males aged...

The Supreme Court today upheld the Uttar Pradesh government’s land acquisition for the Taj expressway linking Delhi with Agra, dismissing farmers’ contention that the land had been acquired for a “company” and not for a “public purpose”. The top court agreed with Allahabad High Court’s view that even if a private company — Jaypee Infratech Ltd — had paid all land acquisition costs, the acquisition would be considered for a public...