-The Times of India In a country already frequently accused of centralising decision-making in its capital city, new data on the Supreme Court now shows a disturbing Delhi bias in litigation too. Litigants who live closer to Delhi are significantly more likely to appeal in the Supreme Court, according to the first detailed analysis of recent apex court data by a legal researcher. Nick Robinson, a visiting fellow at the Centre for...

-The Hindustan Times The cabinet on Thursday cleared the land acquisition bill, paving way for its introduction in the winter session. With the new law in place, the government hopes to facilitate land acquisitions that have become a roadblock for the economy. The cabinet also removed bureaucratic hurdles that hold up highway projects. According to the provisions of the bill, consent of 80% of landowners would be needed to acquire land for private...

We are providing below the revised version of the above mentioned article (in pdf), which was originally published in Outlook, 14 November, 2011 Is India doing marvellously well, or is it failing terribly? Depending on whom you speak to, you could pick up either of those answers with some frequency. One story, very popular among a minority – but a large enough group - of Indians who are doing very well...

-Outlook The controversial Land Acquisition Bill was today cleared by the Union Cabinet, making mandatory the consent of 80 per cent of people whose land is taken for private projects. In the case of Public-Private Partnership projects, the bill makes mandatory obtaining of consent of 70 per cent of the people whose land will be for acquired. The bill was given the go-ahead at the Cabinet presided by Prime Minister Manmonan Singh. The bill...

-Outlook The poverty ratio in Jharkhand declined to 39.1 per cent in 2009-10 from 45.3 per cent five years ago because of economic growth and poverty alleviation programmes, the government said today. "The percentage of people living below poverty line in Jharkhand has declined from 45.3 per cent in 2004-05 to 39.1 per cent in 2009-10. "In terms of number of poor, it has declined from 1.32 crore in 2004-05 to 1.26 crore...