-The Business Standard   The new Act is an effort to address the historical injustice while speeding up procedures The Land Acquisition Act, 1894, is a colonial law enacted by the British government which survived and continued post-independence. This Act authorised the government to acquire the land from privately held person for public use, at a reasonable price. Even after independence, the Indian government continued with the 1894 Act. In many instances there have...

-The Hindu   On the first anniversary of the Uttarakhand disaster, here's a look at issues plaguing the fledgling state. On June 16, it will be a year since Uttarakhand experienced its worst natural disaster. It was also a year of loss, of grief, of recovery and of resilience. While those affected continue to cope and rise, we need to look beyond the disaster in order to unravel the contradictions and challenges that...

-The Times of India   NEW DELHI: The government on Thursday kicked off online environment clearances for industrial and infrastructure projects which have for long been hobbled by the slow pace of green approvals. As part of the transition to an e-window mechanism, for the next three weeks, project developers will be required to submit a hard copy of the application besides filing it online. From July 1, the system will be fully...

-The Hindu   It is creditable that Narendra Modi seeks inspiration for his growth model from China and Japan rather than the U.S., which is a high-cost, specialist-driven model The old adage ‘health is wealth' was given legitimacy by no less a personage than Professor Jeffrey Sachs, who in 2000, chaired the World Health Organization's Commission on Macroeconomics and Health (CMH). The CMH report brought forth indisputable evidence of the link between health,...

-The Hindu   When an electoral system structurally discriminates against particular categories such as persons with disabilities, it is tantamount to a failure of the democracy as a whole The citizens of India are in the process of casting their votes in what is being widely hailed as the largest election in human history. By sheer size, the 16th Lok Sabha elections signal a triumph not only for India, but for democratic exercises...