With the focus now on the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, scheduled for early next year, the Congress led-UPA government has once again displayed its keenness to position itself with the agitating farmers by trying to ensure the passage of the Land Acquisition and Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill during the winter session of Parliament. Assuming that the Parliamentary Standing Committee attached to his department is likely to give all stakeholders a fair...

-The Hindu   Noted Jaipur-based economist V. S. Vyas has expressed concern over “progressive diminution” of cultivated holdings which he says has led to stagnation in the yield of major crops and rendered agricultural income insufficient for farmers to make ends meet. A sharp decline was also being witnessed in per capita food production, he said. Delivering the Tarlok Singh Memorial Lecture at the University of Hyderabad over the weekend, Professor Vyas said...

-IANS   A representative of Dalit organisations Saturday sought support for their version of the anti-graft bill, claiming that the Jan Lokpal bill drafted by Team Anna "will disturb the constitutional balance". "The Jan Lokpal bill wants the executive, the judiciary and the legislature should report to the Lokpal. This will disturb the fine constitutional balance," said All India Confederation of SC/ST Organisations chairman Udit Raj, seeking support for their version of...

-The Indian Express   Amid a raging debate on RTI, Union Law Minister Salman Khurshid has made it clear that there is no proposal for a "relook" at the Act but noted that not only the government but the judiciary too had experienced "difficulties" because of it. "We are proud of RTI. We are pleased that we gave RTI to this country. Even if it causes inconvenience to this country to an extent,...

The Centre is likely to pay minimum wages to workers under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) in compliance with the recent Karnataka High Court ruling upholding the supremacy of the Minimum Wages Act (MWA) over the MGNREGA. Union Minister of Rural Development Jairam Ramesh has taken a decision favouring payment of minimum wages for agricultural workers as notified by the States as MGNREGA wages. He told The...