The Seed Bill continues to remain stuck in controversy with state governments as well as farmer groups not happy with the current shape of the legislation that the agriculture ministry is keen to introduce in the ongoing monsoon session of Parliament. The issue of Compensation for farmers in case of failure of seeds and regulation of seed prices has been raised by MPs as well as civil society groups. While...

A day after initiating land acquisition process for Posco-India’s mega steel plant project near Paradip, the Orissa government on Wednesday said 470 families could face displacement due to the mega plant. “The Rehabilitation and Periphery Development Advisory Committee (RPDAC) had already finalised a Compensation package for the affected families,” Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Suryanarayan Patra informed the State Assembly. The steel major required 4,004 acres for the Rs. 51,000 crore project...

The agriculture ministry has put on hold the controversial Seeds Bill, 2004, following strong objections from the MPs, mainly on the pricing and penalty clauses. Sources said while the penalty clause would be further referred to the law ministry for its opinion, the ministry would consider the suggestion of creating a national authority to decide pricing of the seeds. “Two main issues need to be discussed further — pricing of seeds and...

Shrugging off mounting opposition from the local people and objections from the Joint Committee under the Ministry of Environment and Forests, which is overseeing the implementation of the Forest Right Act (FRA), the Orissa government on Tuesday began the land acquisition process for the proposed Posco-India steel project in Jagatsinghpur district. First attempt Revenue officials, flanked by a horde of police personnel, made the first real attempt to acquire land five years...

Criticising the government’s Mining Bill, FICCI has said that the proposed legislation would adversely impact investments in the sector. It also termed the government’s scheme to provide shareholdings to tribals in mining projects as flawed. In a recent letter to Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, FICCI Secretary General Amit Mitra said that the proposed act will “adversely affect the industry”. “...the latest draft of the Mines and Minerals Development and Regulation Act 2010 proposes...