-Outlook The LARR bill must plug gaps that allow ingress of misery for the affected The UPA's proposed land acquisition, rehabilitation and resettlement (LARR) bill contains several provisions which seek to improve upon the existing land acquisition law. Anyway, the present law has clearly run its course, with people no longer willing to submit to coercion by the state. The enactment of a new land acquisition law, in order to make...

-The Telegraph Right to Information activists have accused political parties of making a mountain out of a molehill in their opposition to the Central Information Commission order BRInging six parties under the RTI Act's ambit. They say the act has enough provisions to block queries on sensitive subjects such as campaign strategy or political discussions at meetings. "We moved the plea (before the CIC) to BRIng political parties under the RTI Act mainly...

-The Hindu     ‘We have cashew on over 150 acres in the district now' Bidar: Vidya Sagar Patil still remembers the reactions of his neighbours when he decided to plant cashew on his family's land at Malchapur four years ago. "They thought I was mad. Some were blunt enough to tell me to my face, while others just gave me a weird look. After a while I stopped reasoning it out with them and...

-The Times of India BANGALORE: Even as crimes against women is raising country wide, more than 2,150 rape cases were registered in Karnataka alone in the past three years (2010, 2011, 2013). The legislature committee on women and child welfare, which tabled it report to the legislative assembly on Friday said 9,201 cases of sexual harassment and 936 dowry death cases were reported in last three years. The panel has called for...

-The Hindu     While the legitimacy of political parties depends on their acceptance of financial transparency under the RTI Act, their internal decision-making processes should be left alone The Central Information Commission (CIC) decision declaring political parties as public authorities under the Right to Information Act has again pit the political class against the people. Political parties have increasingly lost legitimacy due to opaque financing, cultivation of individuals with a criminal background, subversion of...