Left and right unite to stall twin bills in Parliament THE land acquisition bill and the resettlement and rehabilitation bill, criticized for harming land rights of people living in rural areas, were turned down in the Rajya Sabha on February 26. This was a day after the twin bills were rushed through the Lok Sabha. The bills, that complement each other were the government

Sri Lanka parliament today approved the Environment Conservation Levy on mobile phones by a majority of 46 votes.

Total number of 57 MPs casted their votes in favor of the levy and only 11 parliamentarians were against it.

Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) has opposed the new levy on mobile phones and main opposition United National Party members were absent for the voting.

Environment and Natural Resources Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka told Parliament yesterday that the government would launch its programme for recycling the electronic wastes such as mobile phone batteries very soon.

The Minister was speaking during the debate on the Environment Conservation Levy which was introduced earlier.

Patent bill may be pushed through Parliament without debate THE Ministry of Science and Technology has introduced a bill in the Parliament that may make life-saving drugs unaffordable for poor people. The bill gives scientists and researchers in government-funded universities the right to patent innovations and research outcomes. This includes medical research and patenting drug

PROJECTS in states with coal mines may be given preferential treatment in allocation of coal blocks as the government looks to push growth in coal-rich states that remain economically backward.

Devesh Kumar NEW DELHI

New Delhi: The UPA Government on Wednesday pushed through two landmark legislations

IN an attempt to prevent skirmishes of the kind that left the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee government badly bruised in the wake of Nandigram and Singur clashes, the Manmohan Singh government is racing against time to get the Land Acquisition (Amendment) Bill, 2007, and the Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2007, passed in the remaining two days of Parliament.