-The Deccan Chronicle   The approval by the CABinet of the Mines and Minerals Development Regulation Bill is clearly meant to facilitate the acquisition of land in the mineral-rich districts of the country. Several large projects, including those of the richest non-resident Indian, Mr Lakshmi Mittal (Arcelor), and the South Korean giant Posco have been held up because of serious objections and protests from the affected tribal populations. The bill stresses on...

The Planning Commission's Approach Paper to the Twelfth Plan sticks with the neoliberal agenda despite claims of inclusive growth. INCLUSIVE was one word that came up time and again in the early announcements of the Planning Commission on the Twelfth Five-Year Plan. “Faster, Sustainable and More Inclusive Growth” was the slogan coined for the Plan and there was the promise of widespread consultations as never before as part of the processes...

Even as the Centre is set to junk most of the recommendations of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Whistleblowers Bill, the government has proposed that the penalty for frivolous or malafide complaints in the proposed Bill would be a jail term up to one year and/or a fine up to Rs 30,000. Also, the Centre says that it would be for the trial court to decide on the quantum...

For non-coal firms, amount will be equivalent to their royalty The Union CABinet on Friday approved the landmark Mines and Mineral Development and Regulation (MMDR) Bill, 2011 that provides for mining companies to keep aside 26 per cent of their net profits for a Mineral Development Fund to be used for the development and rehabilitation of project-affected people in tribal areas. For the non-coal companies, the amount will be equivalent to...

-The Hindu   ‘The mechanism for compensating the affected people is not clearly defined and has many limitations' Industry chambers led by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and FICCI on Friday sought a review of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Bill, 2011 approved by the Union CABinet stating that the industry was concerned on royalty, profit sharing and the methodology of providing assistance to project-affected persons. In a statement here, Rana Som,...