Seeking to set at rest reports of differences with two key negotiators of the Indian team over the country offering unilateral concessions without obtaining any reciprocity and attempts to water down the Prime Minister’s per capita approach, Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh said on Sunday that he held “discussions with them, and they continued to be [a] valued part of the negotiating team to guide us...

Funeral aid is proposed to be raised from Rs. 2,500 to Rs. 5,000 In case of death, compensation to go up from Rs. 80,000 to Rs. 1.2 lakh The Rajya Sabha on Tuesday unanimously approved, by voice vote, the Workmen’s Compensation (Amendment) Bill, 2009, that seeks to give higher compensation to workers and their families in the event of injury or death. It empowers the Centre to enhance the compensation and funeral...

The UPA government has come under severe criticism for trying to hurriedly pass the Land Acquisition (amendment) and the Resettlement & Rehabilitation Bill during the ongoing Parliamentary session. Both the bills have been dubbed as anti-poor as their provisions are seen to promote forced dispossession of farmers’ land as well as large scale displacement of rural people. The haste with which the two Bills are being promoted could be assessed...

The UPA government has given in to the Opposition’s demand to immediately table the Liberhan Commission report in Parliament. To this end, a meeting of the Union Cabinet was convened on Tuesday morning to approve the Action Taken Report (ATR) that will be tabled along with the Liberhan Commission report. The decision was taken after consultations with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who is in Washington. The government was initially reluctant...

This newspaper recently hosted its annual debate on whether a resurgent Bengal was an impossible dream. Not surprisingly, the verdict of the 600-odd listeners went against the motion. This has as much to do with tangible societal gains as with an enveloping sense of crisis which embeds enormous opportunities. The glorious past of Bengal needs no persuasion. It was integrated with the rest of the world through trade and interchange...