-The Hindu The UPA Government has been proactive in responding to demands by Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) for a raise in natural gas prices, but has shown little urgency in implementing the Comptroller and Auditor General's (CAGs) recommendations made in 2009 on the audit of oil and gas contractors such as RIL. The CAG recommendation would have facilitated the intense scrutiny of the prices and profits made by the contractors. The Petroleum Ministry's...

-The Hindu Left parties to press for referring land acquisition bill to panel VISAKHAPATNAM: Continuing her tirade against attempts by the UPA Government to adopt the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2011, in Parliament without addressing the concerns expressed by many, CPI (M) Polit Bureau member Brinda Karat on Sunday accused Union Minister for Rural Development Jairam Ramesh of dancing to the tune of the corporate lobby. At a seminar on ‘Tribal...

-Frontline PESA, which is seen as an enabling law for tribal self-governance, is violated brazenly by both the Union government and State governments in the name of development. SINCE October 2012, the Ministry of Rural Development of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government has apparently been engaged in an exercise to evolve a "National Land Reforms Policy". Over these months, the Ministry wrote to various State governments, highlighting the importance of...

-The Hindu She claims the Bill has been diluted at the behest of mining lobby VISAKHAPATNAM: CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Brinda Karat on Saturday described as ‘historic' the Supreme Court order making the gram sabha consent a pre-requisite for going ahead with the controversial Vedanta project in Odisha. She urged the UPA Government to take a fresh look at the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2011. Instead of rushing the Bill through...

-Live Mint Government reaches near consensus as BJP agrees to support Bill in Parliament; industry not enthused by plan The government may be close to pulling off one of India's most significant policy changes with a near consensus among political parties on a new land acquisition law, taking the country to the verge of removing what's perceived as the biggest impediment to the next wave of industrialization. At the conclusion of an all-party...