-The Hindu There was a last-minute hiccup in the passage of the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill in the Lok Sabha on Thursday when the Trinamool Congress demanded that the clause mandating private projects to take the consent of 80 per cent of landowners be changed to 100 per cent, as is prevalent in West Bengal. The State, Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh said, could change this provision, but...

-The Hindu The long-pending Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill was passed by the Lok Sabha on Thursday night after Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh assured the House that the measure allowed enough room for State governments to implement it as per their requirements. The Bill is only setting a bottom line for fair compensation, rehabilitation and resettlement in the case of land acquisition and State governments were free to further...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday gave a last opportunity to the Centre to break its long silence over Election Commission's suggestion to ban those facing trial for heinous offences from contesting elections. Almost eight months after it directed the Centre and the EC to "positively" file its response to a PIL seeking a series of directions to ensure that those with criminal track records do not...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The government is tightening the rules to stop any incidence of "paid news" in the election season. Media organizations found guilty of publishing "news'' for a consideration will risk losing their registration according to amendments to the Press and Registration of Books (PRB) act proposed by the information and broadcasting (I&B) ministry. Similar provisions are also likely to be brought in for electronic media. With assembly...

-The Hindu SC verdict disqualified MPs and MLAs convicted in criminal case , barred those in custody from polls New Delhi: Parties across the political spectrum have agreed to amend the Representation of the People Act to overturn a Supreme Court verdict barring people in police or judicial custody from contesting elections. At an all-party meeting here on Tuesday, the government also received backing for its proposal to amend the Act to...