-The Deccan Herald   At a time when farmers often demand compensation for failed crops, Jai Maruthi Devaraj, a ryot of Jannapura in the taluk has set an example on how to reap rich benefits in farming. His three acre farm with dense banana plantation is hard to miss on Belur road. He has grown plantains, ginger, cardamom, arecanut, mango, sapota, lemons and other fruit bearing trees and plants.  Devaraj hopes to earn a...

-The Hindustan Times   After farmers, the Central government is looking for a higher compensation regime for forestland acquired from tribals and forest dwellers for various projects. The move comes after the rural development ministry issued a draft land acquisition bill providing for market-linked compensation to farmers and the demand by tribal groups for a national policy on the rehabilitation of tribals displaced by large-scale mining across India to end lop-sided growth....

-The Indian Express   For the past year, land issues have been a spark for anger and political confrontation all over the country, and the Supreme Court’s recent intervention in Greater Noida land acquisition has underlined the urgency of discovering a political solution. Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India said at the beginning of this year that Investment would slide unless land issues were sorted out. And, sure enough, FDI numbers have...

The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government’s proposed land acquisition law, a politically sensitive and critical piece of legislation that could potentially remove a big roadblock to industrial Investment, aims to address rehabilitation and resettlement (R&R), providing safeguards for both land owners and livelihood losers, while clearly defining the “public purpose” for which land can be acquired by the government. “This draft Bill seeks to balance the need for facilitating land acquisition...

Kerala has not been very successful in the past to consistently attract big-ticket Investments . The absence of strategic Investments in key sectors has always been a hurdle in the state's path to economic prosperity. The new chief ministerOommen Chandy, known for speedy decision-making , wants to change this scenario. He has already been able to swing public opinion in his favour by addressing long-pending issues such as the Smart...