New Delhi Nothwithstanding the thickening cloud of scandals around it, the UPA government is pressing ahead with its reforms agenda. A group of ministers (GoM) on Tuesday approved the long-pending land bill for Cabinet consideration after resolving disputes between ministries.

As per the final draft, approval of two-third of land owners and affected families will be required for acquiring land for PPP and private sector projects with defined public purposes. If the Bill is approved by Parliament —the plan is to introduce it, vetted earlier by the relevant House panel, in the Winter session — it will remove yet another hurdle for investors and spur economic activity.

Bill during winter session of Parliament; only two-thirds of landowners will have to agree before land can be acquired

After three rounds of vigorous debate, a Group of Ministers has approved the controversial Land Acquisition Bill, with few changes from the version presented to the Union Cabinet last month. This paves the way for the Bill to be introduced in Parliament in the winter session.

New Delhi: If you have a domestic help below the age of 14 years, then the authorities may soon visit your house and send her to school.

With decreasing discharges into the sea, India’s rivers are dying. Reduced outflows have led to untold damage to the fragile ecology and biodiversity of the Indian river systems.

Environment experts attending the 11th Conference of Parties (CoP-11) to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity warn that India will lose its mega biodiversity tag if the river systems are not restored immediately.

Kudankulam plant must be governed by constitutional principles of absolute liability and ‘polluter pays’

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday issued notice to the Centre on a writ petition seeking a direction that the Kudankulam nuclear plant in Tamil Nadu not commissioned without resolving Russia’s liability in case of a nuclear accident. A Bench of Justices K.S. Radhakrishnan and Dipak Misra granted the Centre three weeks to respond to the petition by the Centre for Public Interest Litigation, Common Cause, the former Union Power Secretary E.A.S. Sarma and social activist from Tamil Nadu G. Sundarrajan.

It also cleared a project worth over Rs 600 crore for two-laning of Salasar-Haryana Border section of NH-65

The government today approved Rs 899.24 crore investment proposal for building a section of National Highway 758 in Rajasthan. It also cleared a project worth over Rs 600 crore for two-laning of Salasar-Haryana Border section of NH-65. The Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure has approved the investment proposal for implementing the project for the development of 4-laning of Rajasamand-Bhilwara section of the National Highway 758 in Rajasthan, an official statement said.

Mumbai:In a bid to avoid conflict, villagers living in core areas of tiger reserve in Maharashtra will be given Rs 10 lakh as compensation to relocate.

Giving a pointer to the much-awaited Bill on land acquisition reforms, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar on Tuesday said the government will not dilute the provisions which restrict the acquisition

Members of the Central Empowered Committee visited Tumkur on Tuesday and held discussions on the impact of mining on drinking water, education, health and agriculture, among other sectors.

Deputy Commissioner R.K. Raju urged the team, comprising C.S. Joshi, Shakti Singh Chauhan and S. Ravi, to allocate more funds to the district for rehabilitation and restoration works in areas affected by mining. Though the area affected by mining in Tumkur district was larger than that in Chitradurga district, fund allocation for rehabilitation and restoration had not been done accordingly, he said. He said Rs. 10,000 crore had been allocated to Bellary, Chitradurga and Tumkur districts for rehabilitation and restoration works to be carried out in 10 years.

The government should only in exceptional cases permit acquisition of farm land for non- agriculture purposes like setting up of industries and housing projects, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said on Tuesday.

Mr. Pawar, who heads the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) on Land acquisition bill, said there is a pressure on farm land because of rising population. He said the government would ensure agricultural land having high yields is not allowed for acquisition by private firms for non-agriculture purpose.