-The Times of India MUMBAI: In an explosive revelation, a whistle-blower in the state government has said a staggering Rs 35,000 crore was siphoned off and wasted on dud irrigation projects in the past decade. The Maharashtra government has spent Rs 70,000 crore on such projects across the state during this period. Vijay Pandhare, chief engineer (water resources department) and member of the state-level technical advisory committee who wrote a stinging 15-page...

-Live Mint The current policy on compensating landowners could adversely affect character of India’s future growth The Parliament is currently considering a land acquisition, rehabilitation and resettlement Bill (LARR Bill), as are various state legislatures. These are likely to affect the pace and character of future growth in India in a significant way.  Setting up new industries, service establishments and real estate development will inevitably require land to be acquired from rural areas....

-People's Democracy IT seems the Sheila Dixit government of Delhi, backed by powerful elements in the UPA-2 central government, will let nothing stand in the way of water privatisation in the capital. Several earlier attempts going back many years to fully or partially privatise distribution of water, especially the big loan application to the World Bank in 2005, were foiled by vigilant community organisations, public interest groups, trade unions and political...

-PTI Warning the Uttar Pradesh government of another food grains scam, the BSP today claimed massive irregularities have come to light in wheat purchases in five districts of the state. "There is every possibility of another food grains scam like the one in 2003-2004 and 2005-2006 worth Rs 50,000 crores which is being investigated by the CBI with reports of the wheat purchased till June 30, 2012 in Gorakhpur, Faizabad, Sitapur, Allahabad...

-The Business Standard About 15 kms from the idyllic hilly town of Semiliguda in South Odisha’s Koraput district, the stage is set for an encore of the Niyamgiri-type agitation, as the tribals gather at the foothills of Mali Parbat to protest against bauxite mining by Hindalco Industries Ltd in the area. Sharing the concerns of the Dongria Kondh tribe at Niyamgiri, whose protests had put a halt to Vedanta’s bauxite mining plan...