-The Hindu There was a last-minute hiccup in the passage of the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill in the Lok Sabha on Thursday when the Trinamool Congress demanded that the clause mandating private projects to take the consent of 80 per cent of landowners be changed to 100 per cent, as is prevalent in West Bengal. The State, Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh said, could change this provision, but...

-IANS The land acquisition bill was on Thursday tabled in the Lok Sabha amidst chaos with the opposition parties demanding a statement from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the depreciation of the rupee against the dollar. As the house resumed following an hour-long adjournment, Union rural development minister Jairam Ramesh introduced the land acquisition and rehabilitation bill to be taken up for consideration. The members of various political parties continued demanding that the...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Cultivable land in India continues to shrink. It may not pose an immediate problem for the nation's food security but its long-term effect could be disastrous with the country needing more and more foodgrains to support its growing population. Latest data from the agriculture ministry shows that as many as 20 states reported decrease in cultivable land to the extent of 790,000 hectares in four years...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: In what raises questions over the government's seriousness in conducting legislative business, a study by PRS Legislative Research has found that though 30 bills were slotted for discussion in the Lok Sabha over 78 hours this monsoon, the 16-working-days session left scope for discussing them over just 36 hours. The calculation goes like this: the Lok Sabha sits for an average five hours daily - from...

-National Alliance of People's Movements (NAPM)   Please click here to access the press release of the press briefing that was held at Indian Women's Press Club, Windsor Place, New Delhi on 13 August, 2013.     ...