The government’s ambitious plan of building around 18,637 km expressways by 2022 has hit a roadblock. Following the recent farmers protests against the Yamuna expressway project in Uttar Pradesh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s remark favouring justifiable compensation for land acquisition, the government has decided to go back to the drawing board on the creation of an expressway authority and the funding pattern of the projects. The ministry of road...
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Govt role must in land buys: Basu
Chief economic advisor to the finance ministry Kaushik Basu says the government should step in and acquire land for development projects to protect the interests of farmers. He also explains why the government cannot tackle food inflation by distributing free foodgrain among the poor. Excerpts from interview with ET: A large number of land-intensive project have run into opposition. Could it actually undermine our infrastructure thrust and growth? There is...
More »We have given food security model: Raman
Chhattisgarh, long known as the epicentre of Left-wing extremism, clocked the highest growth rate among all states in 2009-10. The emergence of the state as a ‘miracle economy’ is yet to loosen the grip of politics of misery-mongering. Chief minister Raman Singh discusses the state’s growth journey and its challenges with Bharti Jain. Chhattisgarh is the latest growth story, having ranked first among states with 11.49% growth rate. What are...
More »Patent concerns by CP Chandrasekhar
The discussion paper on compulsory licensing of patents will have achieved its purpose if it can lead to a proactive policy in the area of drugs and health. IN a proactive move to ensure a fair balance between protection of intellectual property rights and protection of the public interest, the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry has chosen to put out a discussion...
More »Open Sesame
What happens in open standards? All technology/software used for e-governance becomes inter-operable. In other words, any technology platform or software should be able to read government documents, maps, images and datasheets. Who gains? Government: Will not have to spend crores on a proprietary standard. Various offices would be able to access data without having same technology/software. Consumers: Will not have to buy proprietary software to access government documents Who loses? Big proprietary software companies and licensed...
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