-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday said considerations of faster economic growth could not be the sole criterion for determining the legality of the ban it has imposed on mining activities in Goa, in remarks which immediately hiked the suspense on what it might do with the desperate pleas to allow resumption of mining which has been the mainstay of the state's economy. In a sharp rejoinder...

-Frontline Interview with Jairam Ramesh, Union Minister for Rural Development. THE passage of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2013, is being perceived as a major achievement by the United Progressive Alliance government. The Bill that has replaced the colonial Land Acquisition Act, 1894, went through several changes in order to arrive at a middle path, a term coined by Union Minister for...

-The Economic Times NEW DELHI: Monsoon rainfall, crucial for food production in India, is expected to intensify in the future and the rainy season is likely to be longer, according to the draft report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. A leaked draft of the first of three reports comprising the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's Fifth Assessment Report states while monsoon circulation is likely to weaken, monsoon precipitation is likely...

-The Times of India Mumbai/DELHI: Has the government's statistical office erred with data collection relating to food prices, either by chance or design, for calculating the two inflation indices, Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Wholesale Price Index (WPI) for August? Else how can someone explain the fact that while food prices as shown in WPI for August exhibit a higher rate of inflation now than a year ago, food inflation as measured...

-The Hindu     The Land Act leaves plenty of room for States and the Centre to bypass it and acquire land under other laws that do not provide adequate compensation and rehabilitation The amended version of the Land Acquisition Act has been passed, but it does not entirely settle the issues of dubious takeover of land and failure to pay fair compensation. Although renamed the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land...