The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government on Wednesday introduced the politically crucial land acquisition Bill in the Lok Sabha, less than two months after the ministry of rural development began drafting it. The National Land Acquisition and rehabilitation & Resettlement Bill, 2011, aims to address rehabilitation and resettlement (R&R) by providing safeguards for both landowners and livelihood losers while clearly defining the “public purpose” for which land can be acquired...

-IANS   Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh on Wednesday said the draft land acquisition bill is a "political bill which strikes a balance between social benefit and economic growth" and gave the "entire credit" for it to Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi. Referring to the recent agitations over land acquisition in parts of Uttar Pradesh, Ramesh said Rahul Gandhi made "key contributions" in the draft Land Acquisition and rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill,...

Vidarbha Civil Society Collective and Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti (VJAS) have raised strong objections to provisions in the National Land Acquisition, Resettlement and rehabilitation Bill 2011 tabled in Parliament on Wednesday. They demanded that the Bill be redrafted to safeguard interests of the dryland farmers and other landowners. "The Bill has ignored all suggestions made by the civil society and farmer advocacy groups. A month ago the rural development minister Jairam...

-PTI The Delhi government has completed the construction of 15,000 flats for the rehabilitation of slum dwellers. The allotment of 7,000 flats will start in October, it was announced Monday. Urban Development Minister Raj Kumar Chauhan said Monday in the legislative assembly: "Apart from that, government is also mulling to pay the share of Rs.60,000 for the eligible SC/ST slum dwellers for flats and a proposal regarding this is under consideration." He said...

-The Business Recorder   Surging flood waters in northern and eastern India have affected millions of people, forcing many from their homes as swollen rivers wash away roads and make rescue work difficult, government and aid officials said on Friday. Aid workers said 5.2 million people are now affected, double the figure from 10 days ago, as tail-end seasonal monsoon rains sweep the heavily-populated states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Assam where...