-The Pioneer   Consumers of public distribution system are going to get information while sitting in their homes about availability of ration at the fair price shops of their respective areas. The State Government is set to implement SMS Alert scheme in this connection soon. With this in view, September 22 has been fixed as the last date for giving concrete shape to the tenders of service provider companies. State Civil Supplies Corporation...

The Karnataka government, which is in the thick of controversy over acquisition of land for several big-ticket investors, is in no mood to accept certain changes proposed in the new Land Acquisition and Resettlement & Rehabilitation Bill tabled in Parliament last week. Instead, the government is in the process of revamping its existing land acquisition policy. The state government is not agreeable to the 80 per cent consent norm proposed in...

-The Hindu   The draft Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill 2011 circulated two months ago for public comments was a significant step forward but the amended version tabled in Parliament recently is two steps back. A thorough overhaul of the archaic Land Acquisition Act was overdue. To his credit, Jairam Ramesh, Cabinet Minister for Rural Development, proposed a new bill with progressive changes and put it up for public consultation. The...

Karnataka finds large-scale violations of state laws in its three districts. Karnataka has imposed Rs 140 crore in penalties on 13 iron ore mining companies in Tumkur for encroaching on government land and dumping mineral waste, thereby causing damage to the environment. “We have conducted a suo motu joint survey with the departments of mines and geology, forest and revenue in Tumkur district and found that 13 iron ore mining companies have...

Dr. Tishyarakshit Chatterjee, Secretary, Ministry of Environment & Forests (MoEF), recently underlined the need to design carbon markets to address the short-term needs of investors in manufacturing, save fossil fuels for the future and meet the compulsions of environmental probity, sustainability, entrepreneurship and innovation over a long period. Addressing the India Carbon Market Conclave 2011, organized jointly by FICCI and the MoEF, in partnership with The World Bank and the International...