The commission plans to file several cases under the SC & ST Act The battle of Bhatta-Parsaul in Uttar Pradesh's Greater NOIDA area, where violence raged recently over the contentious issue of land acquisition, promises to get bigger. On Thursday, the National Commission for the Scheduled Castes decided to summon the District Magistrate and the Superintendent of Police of Gautam Budh Nagar district, where the twin villages are located, to seek a...

The Centre is “determined” to make both State governments and individuals responsible for law and order “accountable” in cases of communal violence, Union Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal said on Thursday. He was responding to a question on the criticism of the Prevention of Communal and Targeted Violence (Access to Justice and Reparations) Bill, 2011, drafted by the Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council's Working Group, by Leader of the Opposition...

A 30-year survey of the poor gives a wake-up call POVERTY is becoming hereditary in India, at least for a sizeable population. That is the conclusion derived from a three-decade tracking of poor households in rural India. A survey by the Chronic Poverty Research Centre (CPRC), an international association of researchers and academicians, claims that those who are chronically poor may pass on poverty to their next generation. What’s more, people residing...

The Supreme Court on Tuesday urged the government to negotiate compensation with farmers before acquiring land for development purposes because paying a "pittance" caused heart burn. The court told additional solicitor general P P Malhotra to "advise the government to set up a committee to negotiate and fix a settled price for land because at a time when land prices are increasing manifold, the government cannot pay them a pittance"....

Amidst growing land acquisition rows across the country, the Supreme Court today suggested the government come out with a “reasonable compensation policy” to meet the genuine grievances of land owners. A vacation bench of justices G. S. Singhvi and C. K. Prasad felt if a proper monetary compensation policy was evolved by the government the frequent disputes over acquisition of lands by government would not arise. “We think if the state formulates...