Ashok Dasgupta The Finance Minister is faced with conflicting demands from different quarters

Even as the Congress is battling the BJP Government within the State Assembly and outside over the "inadequate' relief package for farmers affected by the frost and extreme cold conditions in Rajasthan, the party is leading a large group of the victims this Thursday to meet Congress president Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi. The party's strategy seemingly is to extract some concrete announcements from the Centre in favour of the farmers in general and the frost-hit in particular.

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has termed the Rajasthan Government's relief package for farmers affected by frost and extreme weather conditions as "grossly inadequate'. Even while asking the United Progressive Alliance Government at the Centre to include crop-based catastrophes eligible for compensation under the Calamity Relief Fund, the party has decided to start district-wise protests against the inadequate relief.

Gram panchayat members of 19 villages have demanded that the compensation for land acquisition be increased from Rs.75 lakh per acre to Rs.2 crore. At a meeting organised by senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Vijay Goel at Alipur here, it was pointed out that the Delhi Government had increased the compensation from Rs.25 lakh per acre to only Rs.75 lakh per acre in the last ten years, "even though the market price in these areas had gone up to Rs.3 crore per acre'.

Proposal to acquire 2300 acres for the 2000 MW plant "Government had employed all tactics to terrorise the people' CHANDIGARH: The Akhil Bharatiya Kisan Sangharsh Samiti, a conglomerate of Left parties, has threatened to make it a national issue in case the Punjab government failed to meet the demands of the people of the four villages of Mansa district of Punjab, who are agitating against a proposal to acquire their 2300 acres of land to set up a 2000 MW thermal power plant.

The power shortage in Rajasthan touched the level of 1.25 crore units a day following the closure of fifth unit of the Kota thermal power plant due to a technical snag. The unit is not likely to restart before the next three days. The State is already facing a severe power crisis due to non-availability of electricity from six Central power projects and a leakage in the re-heater tube of Giral lignite thermal power plant in Barmer district.

The Daroji Bear Sanctuary, home to the sloth bear, proves that even small wildlife habitats can bounce back if given due care and attention. Unusual and charming: A sloth bear comes for its quota of jaggery at the park.

The Rajasthan Government has announced a Rs. 126-crore relief package for the State's farmers who have suffered damage to their crops recently due to frost, hailstorm and cold wave conditions. The package, coming after an acrimonious political exchange between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and the Opposition Congress over who should compensate the farmer, earmarks Rs. 101 crore for farm subsidies, Rs. 15 crore for waiving four months electricity bill to small and marginal farmers and Rs. 10 crore for waiving the water cess.

Marking an important step in its plans to set up a chemical hub in the State, the West Bengal government on Friday handed over a