-The Times of India   The unveiling of the draft National Land Acquisition and Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill is better late than never. All over India, industrialisation and infrastructure are hobbled by land-related strife. Whether it's Singur in Bengal or anti-Posco protests in Orissa, such stirs are impeding development and spooking investors. Bringing in a set of predictable rules - any rules - is welcome in such a context. The Bill...

-The Telegraph   The government plans to revisit the minimum space criterion for special economic zones as developers are facing problems in acquiring land. “Land issues are critical... I think the minimum size is something that needs to be looked at again definitely. You are not going to find 5,000 (hectares) of land area, it is a pipe dream. It’s not going to happen... I think that’s something we need to talk...

-Reuters   Red-hot food inflation that has vexed policy makers around the world seemed to take a breather last month, when corn and wheat prices tumbled on reports that crop shortages were easing. The sell-off was also driven by global economic worries that prompted funds to exit grains in droves. But prices are climbing again, and have already made up half of June's losses. The sell-off masked an unnerving reality: The world remains...

Kolkata : Mamata Banerjee’s announcement banning the acquisition of land by any government department or agency for industry has grounded over a dozen key industrial parks across the state. These projects, in various stages of progress — and in which land acquisition was on — account for a committed investment of Rs 50,000 crore. The announcement — underlined by the state Industries and Finance Ministers — has stunned industry and so...

In his fields, Badhia Naval Singh , a farmer tilling 8 bighas of land in the Bagli tehsil in Madhya Pradesh, has been seeing something strange for a while now. Earlier, if he pulled out a tuft of grass, he would see earthworms . "Ab woh dikhna bandh ho gaye hain (they don't show up any longer)," says the 45-yearold . Also, he says, when he ploughed earlier, the soil...