-The Economic Times A parliamentary panel on Tuesday proposed tougher norms for acquiring land for industrial use, as it finalised the new Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Rural Development, in a report due to be tabled in the House on Thursday, proposed a more stringent definition of 'public purpose' to ensure that the government does not acquire land for private businesses. According to the report, the...

The proposed liberalisation of the mining and minerals sector is an assault on the rightful owners of the land and its resources. Tribal and indigenous communities across the world have been asserting their rights to the mineral wealth often found under the land they own or possess or have traditional rights to. They have been historically denied even a share of that huge wealth, leave alone legal rights of ownership. Under...

The government has removed from a proposed bill a clause that would have made builders liable to be jailed for making false promises about houses to customers, housing ministry sources have said. The initial draft of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Bill, which is awaiting cabinet clearance, provided for a jail term of up to three years as well as a compensation of up to 10 per cent of the...

They are also entitled to interest on solatium, additional market value Farmers whose land is acquired for a public purpose are entitled to the highest market value as compensation, the Supreme Court held on Friday. “When the land is being compulsorily taken away from a person, he is entitled to the highest value which similar land in the locality is shown to have fetched in a bona fide transaction entered into between...

-Express News Service Ahmedabad: The state government has decided not to purchase and distribute Monsanto maize seeds to tribal farmers any more following fears expressed by them that these seeds could cause male and female infertility. Instead, these farmers can buy any of the government-certified seeds from open market and then claim subsidy from their respective district agriculture officers. The decision was taken jointly by the state’s agriculture and the tribal ministry on...