The most-debated aspect of the bill is its recommendation for substantial payouts to people living in mining areas, including a profit-sharing clause that seeks to have companies pay out 26% of their net profit The Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) (MMDR) bill, which seeks to replace a decades-old mining law, has been introduced in the Lok Sabha, an official in Parliament said on Monday. The government has drafted the new bill...

-The Deccan Herald   Farmers have demanded a compensation of Rs 50 lakh per acre for their land notified for acquisition by the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB) for the Vemgal Industrial Area in the taluk. V R Sudarshan, MLC, who submitted a memorandum to Deputy Commissioner Manoj Kumar Meena on Monday, said the KIADB should leave no room for controversy in the process of acquiring the land. He said the KIADB had offered...

-The Hindustan Times   After the news of the hospital fire in Kolkata broke on December 9, social media networks went into a frenzy. While some wanted the death sentence for the owners of the AMRI Hospitals where the disaster happened, others demanded answers from the state on why and how it failed to implement fire safety laws. One of the posts succinctly captured the Indian mindset responsible for such mishaps. The...

-The Economic Times   US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday said at the Ministerial Conference on Internet Freedom at The Hague in Netherlands that a Regulation on internet in some countries has made an environment where ideas are being blocked and conversations are being stifled.  Clinton cited the examples of Syria, Iran and recently Russia where bloggers and internet activists are being targeted. Without naming India, she said that some governments...

The Supreme Court on Friday asked the Central Government to consider the plight of nurses working in hospitals who are victims of the allegedly illegal practice of bond, including the retaining of their original certificates to prevent them from leaving the institutions. A three-judge Bench comprising Chief Justice S.H. Kapadia and Justices A.K. Patnaik and Swatanter Kumar, without issuing notice on the petitions highlighting their problems, asked Solicitor-General Rohinton Nariman to...