Chidambaram's remarks come amid clear indications from the party that it was keen that the proposed laws on food security and land acquisition are passed in this session.
Ratcheting up pressure on farmers' issues, Rahul Gandhi's next stop will be Vidarbha in Maharashtra where he will hold a 15-km 'kisan padyatra' (footmarch) on Thursday as he criss-crosses the country to reach out to the farmers in distress in various states.
The Mayawati government on Thursday ordered a Crime Branch-Criminal Investigation Department inquiry into Bhatta Parsaul incidents including of firing and rape during the farmers's agitation on land acquisition issue in Greater Noida.
A senior government functionary claimed on Thursday that the average estimated cost of MQ-9B long endurance drones for India would be 27 per cent lower than the price incurred by other countries which have bought it from the US, asserting that it will most likely go further down during negotiations unless India seeks additional features.
The Indian industry on Wednesday offered to play the peacemaker in the land row in West Bengal, parts of which have been witnessing violent protests by farmers against acquisition of land for industrial purposes.
In conversation with Shubhashish and Arijit Barman, Rakesh Arora, managing director and head of research, Macquarie Capital Securities (India) Pvt Ltd and among the most authoritative metal analysts in India, says companies should start taking environmental laws more seriously.
Though the Bharatiya Janata Party is not overly worried about getting the amended land acquisition bill through in the Upper House, it has nevertheless decided to have a three-day gap between the dates of the sitting of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha for the Budget session.
Ahead of the Monsoon session, Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mawayati on Thursday directed her party members of Parliament and legislative assembly to do their "full homework" on issues of land acquisition, corruption and price rise which are expected to dominate Parliament and assembly proceedings.
Issue came up for discussions between President Lee Myung-bak and visiting Indian President Pratibha Patil.
Villagers have stepped up protests at the Posco steel project site in Orissa's Jagatsinghpur district.
The Bharatiya Janta Party o Saturday said Rahul Gandhi's padyatra in Uttar Pradesh would be treated merely as a "political tour" unless the Congress governments increase land acquisition compensations to farmers in states like Maharashtra and explain why farmer suicides were taking place.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati is not amused with what's going on in her state. The chief minister trained guns on Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi who undertook a four-day long padyatra that culminated into a much hyped kisan mahapanchayat at Aligarh on Saturday.
There is discontent among senior Congress leaders of the Uttar Pradesh over local leaders being kept away from Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi's ambitious padytra that started from Bhatta village on Tuesday.
She said the Centre was contemplating framing a new land policy after her movement in Singur.
Delay in implementation of 224 central sector infrastructure projects resulted in cost overruns to the tune of Rs 2.11 lakh crore, government said.
In the present framework, he said the ministry will talk to states to expedite the process of granting iron ore leases to ArcelorMittal and South Korean steel giant Posco.
He said land acquisition and coal block auctions, and water were challenges impeding the growth of the sector.
The process of acquiring land for Mumbai's second international airport, to be build in Navi Mumbai, has kickstarted. The phase wise development plan too has been rolled out.
"We have conveyed this to the road transport ministry. We go for environment approval for all land we acquire, but land with environment issues requires more approvals," said a senior NHAI official, who did not want to be identified.
In an effort to keep the land acquisition issue alive, the Congress on Monday announced that it will celebrate party general secretary Rahul Gandhi's birthday as farmers' rights day across the country.
With the first two phases of town planning and zonation completed this month, the country's first special investment region (SIR) at Dholera in Gujarat is set to take off. The endeavour in Ahmedabad district is likely to bring investment amounting to $90 billion to the western state over the next ten years.
The leaders of Communist Party of India, Communist Party of India (Marxist), Forward Bloc, Rashtriya Janata Dal and Samajwadi Party along with their supporters held a rally on Mahatma Gandhi Road before marching towards the state Secretariat.
Maharashtra has the opportunity to solve all these problems by voting for the Congress and NCP, he said.
A team of National Human Rights Commission on Tuesday visited the Bhatta Parsaul village, which had witnessed farmers' agitation on land acquisition, and talked to villagers to investigate alleged violation of human rights.
The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority is exploring the possibility of constructing metro rail routes along the Western and Eastern Express highways to further ease traffic congestion in the metropolis.
Tension prevailed on Monday in parts of western Uttar Pradesh hit by farmers' unrest over land acquisition even as a heavy police deployment was made in the affected areas and political leaders were detained preventing them from reaching the troubled spots.
Tata Motors expressed satisfaction over the progress of land acquisition for its proposed small car plant at Singur and plan to launch the vehicle in 2008 as scheduled.
Both the Congress and the UPA government are racing against time to try and revamp their image with the people. The new direct benefit transfer schemes, the proposed food security bill, the land acquisition bill and perhaps the women's reservation bill are among the vehicles that the Congress intends to use to reach out to the people, says Saroj Nagi.
'Adani can attract vessels at a much lower cost to Vizhinjam as he has the financial muscle to do so.'
By a rough estimate, the company will have to pay Rs 3,750 crore for land acquisition.
The Centre will release Rs 95,082 crore as tax devolution to the states this month after including one advance instalment to help them push their capital expenditure, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Monday. After a meeting with all chief ministers and state finance ministers, Sitharaman said states had said that it would be helpful for them if the tax devolution is front loaded.
The Commerce Ministry on Friday proposed revamp of the SEZ policy to address issues concerning land acquisition and boost exports with a view to bridge the widening trade deficit.
Congress on Sunday ridiculed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's assurances to the farmers.
Ministry seeks more active role by state governments to address issues.
In a setback to BS Yeddyurappa, the Supreme Court ordered a CBI probe against him for nepotism, illegal land acquisition and favouring top mining companies. BJP insiders say that the order is expected to put the rebellious former Karnataka CM on the back foot. Vicky Nanjappa reports
Branding Trinamool Congress rebels as 'traitors' like Mir Jafar, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday took a swipe at the Bharatiya Janata Party for fielding the turncoats in the polls leaving saffron party old-timers shed tears.
Tata Motors, whose proposed people's car project in West Bengal has run into land acquisition problems, on Wednesday virtually set an end-of-the-year deadline for taking possession of the site at Singur.
Some ministers Monday voiced concern over the deliberations of the Union Cabinet appearing in the media following which all the ministers were counseled not to leak the proceedings.
Real estate developers are making a killing on projects along the corridor.
From environmental clearance to regulatory approval, from land acquisition for greenfield projects to displacement of tribals, it's been a season of scams, deep mistrust and hostility among companies, bureaucrats, regulators and politicians.
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