-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...

-The Hindu Geeta Dharmarajan, founder of Katha, which has just completed 25 years of reaching out to the unreached in the National Capital. Scrolling down the students' blog of Katha, the non-profit organisation in the National Capital which runs schools for underprivileged children living in 248 slums, I come across a complaint letter by a child addressed to the Chairman, Municipal Corporation of Delhi. The child wants to bring to his notice...

-The Hindu Absence of safe cycle tracks and lack of pavement networks have pushed people to motorised transport Across the world, in the wake of the fuel crisis and environmental challenges, cities are increasingly paying attention to bicycling and walking - non-motorised modes of transport (NMT). As studies show, if 5 per cent of the trips made in cities across the world shift from car to NMT, the savings in terms of...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Delhiites are happiest with the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) followed by the electricity department and unhappiest with the Delhi Police and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) among all the public services. This was revealed during focus group discussions done as part of a perception survey done for the Delhi Human Development Report 2013. In the survey, people were asked to rate their dealings with...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Even while the capital decks up to usher in the 67th Independence Day, the abysmal state of its public toilets has left Delhi high court shocked. A court-appointed panel of scientists from Central Pollution Control Board informed HC on Wednesday that many city toilets have been converted into shelters for goats and stray animals, most having either broken doors or no doors at all, lacking power...