-The Hindu The Land Acquisition Bill, which strengthens landowners’ rights during acquisition for development, has finally received the nod of the Union CABinet, and is likely to be introduced in Parliament during the final week of the winter session. The final version of the bill was approved by the CABinet on Thursday, more than a year after Parliament sent the earlier avatar to a Standing Committee. In the months since, the bill...

-Outlook The controversial Land Acquisition Bill was today cleared by the Union CABinet, making mandatory the consent of 80 per cent of people whose land is taken for private projects. In the case of Public-Private Partnership projects, the bill makes mandatory obtaining of consent of 70 per cent of the people whose land will be for acquired. The bill was given the go-ahead at the CABinet presided by Prime Minister Manmonan Singh. The bill...

-Outlook The Union CABinet today cleared the proposal to set up CABinet Committee on Investment under the Chairmanship of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to accord expeditious approval to projects of over Rs 1,000 crore. "The proposal to set up the Committee to fast-track mega projects of over Rs 1,000 crore was cleared", sources said. The high-powered body for giving speedy clearance to infrastructure projects was initially mooted by Finance Minister P Chidamabram. He...

-The Indian Express Amendments to the contentious land acquisition Bill not only seek to hasten the acquisition process through tight time-schedules but also contain a provision that virtually allows the law to be applied retrospectively to cases that witnessed protests in the past. The union CABinet is due to discuss the amendments to the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill on Thursday. The changes suggest that the new law will be appliCABle to...

-Outlook The CABinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) today approved a urea investment policy that is likely to incentivise fertiliser firms setting up new plants and expanding existing capacity. India imports over 30 per cent of urea requirement and the policy aims at reducing that. But, it is unlikely to have any impact on existing prices. "The new urea investment policy has been cleared," sources said after the CCEA meeting here. The policy, which...