The Supreme Court on Tuesday urged the government to negotiate compensation with farmers before acquiring land for development purposes because paying a "pittance" caused heart burn. The court told additional solicitor general P P Malhotra to "advise the government to set up a committee to negotiate and fix a settled price for land because at a time when land prices are increasing manifold, the government cannot pay them a pittance"....

The management of food and poverty in India is getting increasingly unreal. On the one hand, the country has a bumper harvest with every likelihood of the grain mountain to be procured adding to the existing mountain of official stocks. Without adequate storage space, a not-so-insignificant part of it will rot and go to waste. On the other hand, the government will not allow wheat exports until it is clear...

Amidst growing land acquisition rows across the country, the Supreme Court today suggested the government come out with a “reasonable compensation policy” to meet the genuine grievances of land owners. A vacation bench of justices G. S. Singhvi and C. K. Prasad felt if a proper monetary compensation policy was evolved by the government the frequent disputes over acquisition of lands by government would not arise. “We think if the state formulates...

West bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee may have complained of inheriting empty coffers from the Left Front government that ruled the state for 34 years, but cold statistics reveals that it created a base for her to build upon. During the last few years of the Left rule, Bengal witnessed rapid industrialization. Former chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee steered the state to fourth position in terms of rapid growth of industry...

It is the improper mode of application, violating the law and regulations, that is responsible for the apparent adverse toxic effects of endosulfan. FROM a scientific perspective, an extremely pertinent question in the endosulfan story is why adverse health effects similar to those seen in the villages of Kasaragod district in Kerala have not been reported from other parts of the country where the pesticide is used in much larger...