'Earlier compensation was less, but we have increased compensation four fold. As a result, farmers want to give up their land.' 'Infrastructure projects will create 50 lakh jobs. If today we are building 14 km of road per day, by next March, we hope to take it up to 30 km. My own hope is we can take it to 100 km per day.' 'The government's ambitious Sagarmala project aims to develop port infrastructure along the country's 7,500 km coastline. The project includes modernisation of our ports and islands, setting up of coastal economic zones, new major ports and fish harbours.'
The new package put together by intermediaries includes higher compensation for land to land losers and more compensatory wages for registered tenant farmers (called bargadars), unregistered tenant farmers and agricultural labourers, and involvement of Tata Motors in the Singur resolution process, said sources close to the development.
There were no reports of loss of life due to the cyclone which uprooted trees. Incidents of wall collapse were reported from some parts of Tamil Nadu, state Revenue Minister R B Udhayakumar said.
The West Bengal government's new compensation package for 'unwilling' farmers in Singur, 40km from Kolkata, might have been praised by Tata Motors, but those involved in land transactions in the area find the offer inadequate.
Various farmers association and individuals have raised objection to Justice Mishra hearing the matter on the grounds that he has already expressed his mind in the judgment pronounced by the apex court in February last year.
Faced with floods that affected over 20 million people, the Bihar government has sanctioned a whopping sum of Rs 1,000 crore to compensate the losses suffered by flood victims in the state.
The Land Acquisition Bill, which was being pushed by Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council, is set for further delay with the controversial matter being referred to a Group of Ministers because of the opposition by a number of Cabinet ministers.
'These three commodities have been chosen very well.' 'It is up to the state governments and central government to see how it is implemented.' 'The government has to do some hand-holding.'
'This is against the Constitution and we will oppose it tooth and nail.'
The Congress seems to have brokered peace with the main Opposition parties on the crucial food security and land acquisition Bills and ensured that they are not dependent on the whims and fancies of smaller parties. Renu mittal reports
With the general elections due in 2009, lenders to farmers will get cash compensation of Rs 40,000 crore (Rs 400 billion) -- or almost 70 per cent of the waiver package -- in 14 months from July this year. Farmers whose debt is waived will become eligible for fresh credit after June 30, by which time the relief package will have been completed.
Chouhan met some farmer leaders on Saturday, but failed to reach a compromise.
'All parties and the government acknowledge that there we are in trouble and there is more trouble ahead,' observes Aakar Patel.
Modi can waive loans of the country's rich but can't do the same for farmers, he said.
'I would like to convey the message to your readers that the prime minister himself is directly seized of the situation on the ground. He periodically reviews the situation on the ground and how it is moving forward, taking inputs from economists, business leaders, chambers of commerce.'
The Uttar Pradesh government is all set to challenge Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to prove his allegations about women being raped and 74 people being burnt alive in Bhatta Parsaul village of Greater Noida. To refute Rahul's charges, he raised several vital questions -- "How is it that not one villager talked about killings and rape until Rahul Gandhi surfaced in Bhatta Parsaul? After all, so many journalists have visited the area days before Rahul did."
In a setback to the Mayawati government and thousands of apartment buyers, the Allahabad high court on Friday set aside acquisition of land in three villages of Noida, Greater Noida and Noida Extension areas while ordering enhanced compensation to farmers of some other villages in Gautam Budh Nagar district.
The Land Acquisition Bill, passed by Parliament during the Monsoon Session to replace a 119-year-old legislation, became a law with President Pranab Mukherjee giving assent to it on.
Under attack over violence in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati on Thursday launched a scathing attack on Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party on the issue of land acquisition.
It's been over two months since the flood waters receded, and it would seem with it so has anger against either the state government or the BJP-Sena candidates, reports Archis Mohan.
The film presents the flip side of development.
Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi's disguised entry to the troubled spot in Greater Noida, where local farmers are on a warpath against 'inadequate compensation' for their acquired land, has put the Mayawati government in Uttar Pradesh on the back-foot.
The death of a 11-year-old boy due to 'bird-flu', even before the devastating effects of the second Covid wave have waned, has alarmed the medical fraternity though they assert that human-to-human transmission of H5N1 virus is extremely rare. The event has also put the Rs 90,000 crore domestic poultry industry which was seeing some uptick in demand after months of low sales last year into a spot of bother, as any curb on sale or production of eggs or chicken could have a devastating impact on its revenues. It is estimated that around 60 million people are directly impacted by the poultry sector in India. H5N1 virus, also commonly known as bird flu, is known to spread from chickens but other birds such as ducks and crow are also carriers of the virus.
'Tiger reserves were created to protect areas from developmental activities.' 'If we go ahead with these projects, then it is a complete mockery of our institutions and our laws, it is against everything we have stood for, our Forest Conservation Act, our Wildlife Biodiversity Act.'
The path-breaking Land Acquisition Bill, which seeks to provide just and fair compensation to farmers while ensuring that no land can be acquired forcibly, was passed by the Lok Sabha with overwhelming majority on Thursday.
A day after ending his hunger strike, Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu was on Saturday discharged from Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences in Hyderabad. The former chief minister ended his fast, launched to demand higher compensation for the farmers affected by natural calamities in the state, on Friday evening after eight days. Naidu was shifted to NIMS amidst high drama on early December 20, the fourth day of his hunger strike.
Naidu broke the fast by taking a glass of coconut water following intervention by Communist Party of India-Marxist general secretary Prakash Karat, CPI general secretary A B Bardhan, Janata Dal-United chief Sharad Yadav, Rashtriya Lok Dal president Ajit Singh and other leaders who prevailed upon him to end the fast.
Fasting Telegu Desam Party chief N Chandrababu Naidu was shifted to the ICU of a hospital as his condition worsened further even as Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy appeared unwilling to accept his demand for enhanced compensation to rain-hit farmers.
'I hope the anger that Gujarat farmers have demonstrated is also reflected in other parts of the country in ensuing elections.' 'Only then will the ruling parties accept that something is terribly going wrong in the hinterland.'
The condition of Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu, who is on an indefinite hunger strike demanding compensation for farmers, is said to have worsened on Monday but he has refused to take any medication, official sources said.
In a pre dawn swoop, the Hyderabad city police arrested Telugu Desam president and former Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu, who was on indefinite fast for the last three days, and forcibly shifted him to the Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences.
Most producers have put off plans to make capital investments in their wineries, and implemented cost-reduction measures to conserve cash.
Former Congress MP Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy would undertake a week-long fast from Friday in Hyderabad demanding that the Andhra Pradesh government release funds for the tuition fees reimbursement scheme.
'Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis called us for a meeting in March 2016 and we submitted the same charter of demands that we are submitting now.' 'He gave us wishy-washy assurances.' 'We thought he was the new chief minister and we believed him, but later we found out that nothing is moving on the ground.' 'This time we want a written assurance and a concrete timetable for implementation.' 'We will not leave Mumbai, come what may.'
Here's the full text of President Ram Nath Kovind's customary address to the joining sitting of Parliament on the first day of the budget session.
The storage of water in the six major reservoirs in the state was just 6.2 per cent of capacity as of April 27, 2017, reports T E Narasimhan and Gireesh Babu.
Chandrababu's son Lokesh, MLC Y V B Rajendra Prasad and several others were injured in the police action during the arrest of the former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister.