-The Hindu United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Saturday launched the Delhi government’s ambitious food security programme, ‘Dilli Annshree Yojana’, a direct benefit transfer system and described it as a first-of-its-kind food security scheme integrated with the UID Aadhar in the country. Ms. Gandhi asserted that the scheme, under which a monthly cash subsidy of Rs. 600 will be directly transferred to the bank account of the seniormost female member of...

-The Hindustan Times The cabinet on Thursday cleared the land acquisition bill, paving way for its introduction in the winter session. With the new law in place, the government hopes to facilitate land acquisitions that have become a roadblock for the economy. The cabinet also removed bureaucratic hurdles that hold up highway projects. According to the provisions of the bill, consent of 80% of landowners would be needed to acquire land for private...

-The Hindu The Land Acquisition Bill, which strengthens landowners’ rights during acquisition for development, has finally received the nod of the Union Cabinet, and is likely to be introduced in Parliament during the final week of the winter session. The final version of the bill was approved by the Cabinet on Thursday, more than a year after Parliament sent the earlier avatar to a Standing Committee. In the months since, the bill...

-The Indian Express Amendments to the contentious land acquisition Bill not only seek to hasten the acquisition process through tight time-schedules but also contain a provision that virtually allows the law to be applied retrospectively to cases that witnessed protests in the past. The union cabinet is due to discuss the amendments to the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill on Thursday. The changes suggest that the new law will be applicable to...

-Outlook The controversial Land Acquisition Bill was today cleared by the Union Cabinet, making mandatory the consent of 80 per cent of people whose land is taken for private projects. In the case of Public-Private Partnership projects, the bill makes mandatory obtaining of consent of 70 per cent of the people whose land will be for acquired. The bill was given the go-ahead at the Cabinet presided by Prime Minister Manmonan Singh. The bill...