-The Indian Express Manual scavenging laws will need to be supported by better sanitation policies. The recent passage of the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Bill by Parliament is a welcome, long-overdue step in the right direction. The bill replaces the outdated and rarely implemented 1993 law, which purported to abolish manual scavenging. It has been passed primarily due to a sustained campaign by thousands of former women...

-The Hindu     The Land Act leaves plenty of room for States and the Centre to bypass it and acquire land under other laws that do not provide adequate compensation and rehabilitation The amended version of the Land Acquisition Act has been passed, but it does not entirely settle the issues of dubious takeover of land and failure to pay fair compensation. Although renamed the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land...

-PTI GUWAHATI: At least 10 districts of Assam were reeling under flood water with the Asia's largest river island Majuli and the famed Kaziranga National Park being the worst affected, officials said on Saturday. Rising water of the Brahmaputra has inundated vast tracts of land in Kaziranga's Burapahar, Bagori and northern parts of Agratoli with three animal casualty reported. Two deer were knocked down by speeding vehicles in Harmoti area when they were...

-The Economic Times NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's drive to revive investor sentiment by fast-tracking large stalled projects through the Cabinet Committee on Investments (CCI) and a special cell under it is encouraging Indian companies as well as big foreign investors such as Shell, Cairn India and Dell to knock on the government's door for urgent help. Over 250 projects worth Rs 11 lakh crore are now being considered by the...

-The Economic Times I have often been asked how Chhattisgarh manages the contradictory pulls of sound fiscal health and welfare schemes. How did we manage to roll out food and nutrition security to not just the most needy among us but to almost the entire population of a state that has had a history of malnutrition and neglect, without jeopardising Chhattisgarh's finances? As finance minister for the last eight years, I have...