Proposed law against interests of displaced, say activists Civil society groups have taken exception to the exemption of Special Economic Zones (SEZs) Act from the proposed National Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (NLARR) Bill 2011, saying it would deny “whatever little benefits” assured in the Bill to those displaced by these SEZs. These groups wonder if the move to make the SEZs and 15 other laws inapplicable was deliberate, aimed at favouring...

-The Indian Express   The Comptroller and Auditor General of India is being increasingly questioned, as reports emerge about the divisions within the agency on calculating the loss to the public exchequer from the 2G licencing process. The CAG shot for drama in its high-profile press conferences, in which eye-catching numbers were trumpeted that became firmly ensconced in our collective memory. The 2G report was brandished triumphantly, like a World Cup trophy,...

For non-coal firms, amount will be equivalent to their royalty The Union Cabinet on Friday approved the landmark Mines and Mineral Development and Regulation (MMDR) Bill, 2011 that provides for mining companies to keep aside 26 per cent of their net profits for a Mineral Development Fund to be used for the development and rehabilitation of project-affected people in tribal areas. For the non-coal companies, the amount will be equivalent to...

An inspection of 60 schools – most of them located in East Delhi and Chandni Chowk Parliamentary constituencies – by over 15 organisations under the Delhi Right to Education Forum has revealed “complete lack of hygiene” in most of them. As per Joint Operation for Social Help (JOSH), which had filed a complaint with the Central Information Commission about the state of schools in Delhi, the inspection was undertaken in accordance...

Planning Commission’s affidavit to the Supreme Court states that adjusting for inflation, the poverty line for an urban person is Rs 32.5 per day per person and for a rural person it is Rs 29.3 per day per person. This has raised an outcry in media and the urban middle class, who consider them outrageously low. Based on these poverty lines, Planning Commission estimates that there are 40.74 crore persons...