-The Indian Express A day after the Centre recommended promulgation of an ordinance to amend Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 and make it less stringent, former rural development minister Jairam Ramesh Tuesday said the change would pave way for forcible acquisition. The Act was moved in the Parliament and passed during Ramesh's term. "Both from the process and substance point of view, this is deeply disturbing....

-Business Standard Most conflicts arise from government takeover of land, often on behalf of private investors: Report More than 250 conflicts have arisen over land acquisition cases between 2013 and 2014 in 165 of India's 664 districts. This is revealed in a mapping exercise carried out by a Washington-based think tank, Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI), along with Delhi-based Society for Promotion of Wasteland Development (SPWD). The land ordinance cleared by the National Democratic...

-The Indian Express In a bid to ease the process of acquiring land, the Union Cabinet on Monday recommended the promulgation of an ordinance to amend the Land Acquisiton Act, 2013, by including five new categories of projects that would not require prior consent from affected families as well as Social Impact Assessment (SIA). These include projects related to defence, rural infrastructure and industrial corridors. The sensitive provisions relating to compensation, relief...

-The Hindu Business Line Bearish price trends in the global market, poor rainfall took toll on farmers in 2014 Farmers in the country were hit by a double whammy in 2014. Even as poor monsoon affected kharif output, lower commodity prices, largely influenced by a bearish trend in the global market, aggravated the agrarian crisis this year. In addition, the uncertainty over the vagaries of nature, largely through frequent unseasonal rains, compounded...

-The Indian Express More girls in Prime Minister Narendra Modi home state Gujarat seem to be reporting ‘sexual abuse' than anywhere else in the country. According to a recent status report published by an NGO - Save the Children - over 63 percent girls in Gujarat have reported sexual abuse which is highest in the country. Madhya Pradesh (57%) and West Bengal (56%) stand second and third respectively in the report titled,...