-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...

-The Business Standard Why the hue and cry over Walmart? Many of India Inc's big ones are no strangers to lobbying in the US  There is a very fine line that separates lobbying from bribery, and there are diverse opinions on what kind of influential pressure on lawmakers qualifies as acceptable, and what doesn't. Quite clearly, bribery is illegal and unacceptable, there is nothing wrong in lobbying per se -- at least...

-Pratirodh.com Hundreds of the victims of  failed 'cash transfer' experiment in Kotakism met the Rural Development minister Jairam Ramesh at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi where a three-day dharna began on Wednesday demanding a more inclusive 'Food Security Act'.   More than 1000 people from all over the country are participating in the dharna which has been organised by 'Right To Food Campaign'.   Victims of failed cash transfer experiment shared their experiences with the...

-DNA The high court on Wednesday directed the state government to quickly formulate rules and regulations to ensure the safety of RTI activists. RTI activist Lingaraju, 40, was killed by three unidentified people in front of his house in Chamarajpet. The high court had taken a suo motu public interest litigation based on newspaper reports. A memo was filed by the state government contending that the it had no objections to constitute...

-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...