-Economic and Political Weekly After coming to power in 2014, the National Democratic Alliance government took several measures to dilute the pro-poor provisions of the Land Acquisition Act of 2013. Though it has backed down, several questions remain over the way the Modi government has dealt with the issue of land acquisition. Santosh Verma (santosh.econ@gmail.com) is at the Council for Social Development, New Delhi. Land acquisition—by private corporations or the state—has raised vital...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal has asked the central government to increase wages under the national rural job scheme to at least Rs 300 a day to attract workers, a view apparently shared by many states as well as activists. An official in the rural development ministry said many state governments had already written to the Centre citing difficulties in implementing the MGNREGA because of the low...

-The Hindu For a while now, Greenpeace has been in the cross hairs of the government, first under the UPA and now under the BJP, as it championed civil liberties and causes. Its activists have been prevented from travelling abroad. The non-governmental organisation (NGO) stands accused of concealing and mixing foreign contributions with local contributions. The latest step by the Ministry of Home Affairs simply cancelling Greenpeace’s registration was but an...

-The Times of India PRATAPGARH/ALLAHABAD: After five years of collective work, over 10,000 people in nearly 50 villages of Pratapgarh and Allahabad districts have been successful in bringing the Bakulahi river back to its natural course. If Bihar's Dasrath Manjhi's resolve to break mountain was for carving out a road, these Manjhis from Mandhata block of Pratagarh were determined to end their water woes. The entire digging work of about 18...

-The Times of India MUMBAI: Fifteen years since farmers in the state's Marathwada and Vidarbha regions started taking their own lives, the state on Friday announced the first psycho-social health plan to check the epidemic of suicides. The plan hinges on community health workers — the accredited social health activists (ASHAs) and anganwadi workers — carrying out a questionnaire-based screening test to assess the mental health of farmers. "We carried out an audit...