-PTI A desperate government's efforts failed today to achieve any breakthrough with Baba Ramdev deciding to go ahead with his indefinite fast here from tomorrow amidst indications that a compromise was likely in a day or two. For nearly five hours, two senior union ministers Kapil Sibal and Subodh Kant Sahay negotiated with the yoga guru over his demands on eradication of corruption at a posh hotel, a venue totally different...
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Disobedience agitation plan against forcible land acquisition
-PTI Alleging forcible land acquisition for Posco steel project near Paradip, five political parties today resolved to go for a civil disobedience agitation in front of the state secretariat on Monday.The leaders of five parties comprising CPI, CPI(M), Forward Bloc, RJD and Samajwadi Party in a joint meeting condemened the state government's alleged act of using force to acquire land from the residents of the three gram panchayats under Ersama...
More »India land disputes pit farmers against middle class by Shilpa Kannan
In the first of a series of reports on land rights, we look at the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, where there have been violent clashes between local villagers and police in a dispute over land. It's a hot summer day and the air is thick with smoke from the diesel-powered trucks carrying bricks, cement and sand. There is a long line of vehicles along the road as the trucks jostle...
More »RDM proposes more equitable deal for landowners; realtors may have to share 80% profits by Devika Banerji & Ravi Teja Sharma
The rural development ministry has proposed that farmers should get 80% of the profits from resale of land bought from them for development, much higher than that suggested by a Sonia Gandhi-led panel. The National Advisory Council had pegged the compensation after resale at 25% of the profits made by private developers. The proposal, aimed at giving farmland owners a better deal, follows protests in Uttar Pradesh's Greater Noida last month over...
More »The great land grab by Venkitesh Ramakrishnan
The farmers' agitation in Uttar Pradesh brings into focus the indiscriminate acquisition of land by the state for corporate-led development. ON May 19, three days before the formal observation of the second anniversary of the United Progressive Alliance government, Congress president and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi made a categorical announcement that in the monsoon session of Parliament scheduled to begin in July the ruling coalition would bring in legislation that...
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