a discreet letter, che/gen-318/dp/gen, dated October 16, 2006, from the commissioner of Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (mcgm) was recently discussed during its improvements committee meeting. Its subject line has worried urban planners and activists: "Policy guidelines for allowing development of lands reserved for public purposes of gymnasium, gymkhana club, stadium, swimming pool, recreation ground (rg) and play ground (pg).'

The mokasodari system has its origin in pre-liberation Goa when mokasodars used to collect revenue from the villagers. Says Amrut Kasar, land rights expert, a mokasodar was not just a revenue collectors, he enjoyed a high social and political status in the village. The Portuguese colonial rulers allowed the mokasodar's permanent land rights.

But there is no legal clarity over these rights because the original residents of the villages, the goankars, also claim ownership over the land they have been tilling and living on for centuries now.

Worried over frequent clashes between tribals and non-tribals over land dispute, the Orissa Government has completely banned transfer of tribal land to non-tribals. The law has been amended so that

Union urban development minister Ananth Kumar said that he was optimistic that about 300 acres of salt pan land at Kanjur village, (Maharashtra), close to the eastern express highway, will soon be

In addition to the ongoing inter-state border disputes of Assam with Nagaland and Meghalaya, another incident of illegal encroachment in Kokrajhar district has come into light. Almost 3,000 bighas of

The Chattisgarh Cabinet approved a rehabilitation package for those who will be affected due to acquisition of land for development of a new capital city. However, it made the Capital Area