-The Deccan Herald   Farmers have demanded a compensation of Rs 50 lakh per acre for their land notified for acquisition by the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB) for the Vemgal Industrial Area in the taluk. V R Sudarshan, MLC, who submitted a memorandum to Deputy Commissioner Manoj Kumar Meena on Monday, said the KIADB should leave no room for controversy in the process of acquiring the land. He said the KIADB had offered...

-The Times of India   Facing complaints over government officials dealing with lawmakers, the government has put in place a code of conduct of sorts which deals with everything from rising to receive and see off an MP, besides inviting MPs to public functions.  To begin with, the office memorandum from the department of personnel and training has asked officials to acknowledge receipt of a letter within 15 days and reply within the...

The government's decision to set aside a 20 per cent quota for SC/ST vendors in its purchases, if accepted by every sector on a wider scale, has the potential to makegrowth pro-poor and inclusive. The Central government has finally announced a policy reserving 20 per cent of its purchases for micro and small enterprises run by entrepreneurs belonging to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes. The new procurement policy will...

Two confederations that represent most Indian Christians have voiced fears that Team Anna’s version of the proposed Lokpal law will disturb the separation of powers among the three wings of democracy. In a memorandum submitted to the Centre, the National Council of Churches in India (NCCI) and the Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI) also suggested ways to strengthen the government’s Lokpal bill, which they said was weak. The confederations said though...

-The Times of India   More than 8,000 tribals, armed with traditional weapons, participated in a demonstration organized in front of the office of the Balangir collector on Friday. They criticized the government for taking no action against fake tribal certificate holders. They went round the Balangir town in a rally before coming to the collector office. Security was beefed up in the town in view of the agitation. The agitators submitted a...