New Delhi: The Union Cabinet on Monday cleared the Land Acquisition Bill which will be tabled in Parliament on Wednesday. The Bill's draft makes consent of at least 80 per cent landowners mandatory if acquisition is for private projects. Public purpose has been defined as land use for strategic purposes, infrastructure and industry. But the consent is not mandatory when land is acquired by the government for its own use....
06:56 PM, Sep 05, 2011
The new draft of the Land Acquisition Bill will be discussed by the Union Cabinet on Monday evening. Rural Development minister Jairam Ramesh has laid the groundwork and met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, circulated the draft to all the chief ministers, and met all the Cabinet ministers personally. The key features of the Bill: 1) Consent of 80 per cent of people mandatory except...
04:08 PM, Sep 05, 2011
New Delhi: The long awaited Land Acquisition Bill could be cleared by Union Cabinet on Monday. The Bill's draft makes consent of at least 80 per cent landowners mandatory if acquisition is for private projects. Public purpose has been defined as land use for strategic purposes, infrastructure and industry. But the consent is not mandatory when land is acquired by the government for its own use. Urgency clause is to...
01:40 PM, Sep 05, 2011
New Delhi: Industry body Ficci has suggested that the proposed land acquisition act should apply to the private companies only if they buy 500 acres of land or more, instead of the 100 acres as suggested in the draft law. "The industry feels the threshold of 100 acres is very low for projects, especially in rural areas and this may only encourage smaller and fragmented holdings particularly in the mining...
10:58 AM, Sep 04, 2011
New Delhi: Anna Hazare's fast demanding a strong Lokpal to tackle corruption crossed 100 hours on Saturday, with Anna expanding ambit of his fight to include electoral reforms and a farmer-friendly land acquisition law. As his fast entered the fifth day, his team said they were ready to talk to the government but no such communication channels have been opened so far but insisted the August 30 deadline set by...
08:35 PM, Aug 20, 2011
Allahabad: A judge heading a bench specially constituted for hearing scores of petitions challenging acquisition of land in Uttar Pradesh's Gautam Buddh Nagar district on Wednesday recused himself from the case. Justice RK Agrawal, who was heading the bench which also comprised justices Ashok Bhushan and VK Shukla, recused himself when the matter came up for hearing on Wednesday morning. The matter has been, thereafter, referred back to the Chief...
01:35 PM, Aug 17, 2011
New Delhi: In the backdrop of controversies surrounding procurement of land, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday promised enactment of a "forward looking and balanced" law on land acquisition soon to prevent tensions over the sensitive issue. Taking note of the tensions caused in some parts of the country because of acquisition of land for industry, infrastructure and urbanisation, the Prime Minister said the government will ensure that "no injustice...
09:05 AM, Aug 15, 2011
NCP MLA Jitendra Awhad said the situation turned out to be so violent that police had not other option. ...
11:10 PM, Aug 11, 2011
Sagarika Ghose examines issues of land acquisition and price rise. ...
12:21 AM, Aug 11, 2011
Maval: Three people were killed after police opened fire on protesting farmers on the Mumbai-Pune expressway on Tuesday. The farmers were opposing a proposed water tunnel project that will divert water from the Pawna dam to Pune's satellite towns. Besides, they said building the tunnel would lead to land acquisition. 29-year-old Shyam Tupe was killed in Tuesdays police firing. The villagers, who have already had their land taken away for...
10:34 PM, Aug 10, 2011
New Delhi: Popular perception of the state of economy, as recorded by the CNN-IBN-CNBC-TV18 State of the Nation Poll in association with Forbes India conducted by the CSDS, confront the "aam admi" government with many reasons to worry. Unlike corruption, the message is not loud here. Years of survey research have demonstrated that Indians tend to be positive and optimistic when it comes to their economic conditions. One needs to...
07:03 PM, Aug 10, 2011
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled government has to strictly comply with the twin conditions of acquiring land for "public purpose" and adequately fulfilling the "compensation" claim to the oustees. "Public purpose is a pre-condition for deprivation of a person from his property under Article 300A and the right to claim compensation is also inbuilt in that Article and when a person is deprived of his property, the...
10:48 PM, Aug 09, 2011
Pune: Four people, including a woman, have reportedly been killed in police firing on farmers protesting over the Pawna Lake issue in Pune as the protests turned ugly on Tuesday. The police resorted to firing when protesters took to stone pelting. Farmers have blocked the Pune Expressway and traffic movement has stopped completely. The protestors have been agitating against their land being acquired for the project that would provide more...
03:26 PM, Aug 09, 2011
New Delhi: The compensation amount to agitating farmers of the Patwari Village has been increased by almost 100 per cent and now the construction of over 20,000 dream homes will resume. But the question is whether this could be a possible settlement plan for other disputes too. The Mayawati Administration is now strategising to end the dispute between the farmers and Greater Noida Authority in other villages as well. Sources...
01:00 PM, Aug 07, 2011
New Delhi: Amid controversy over the acquisition of land in a Gurgaon village for the Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust, the Haryana government has been dragged to the Supreme Court for acquiring over 2,700 acre of fertile land in Rohtak district for developing a township. While the state government is defending the acquisition of over 850 acres which also covers land for the Trust at Ullahawas village in Punjab and Haryana...
09:40 AM, Aug 07, 2011
New Delhi: The acquisition of land in Haryana for the Rajiv Gandhi foundation has been adding to the Congress' woes. CNN-IBN has now accessed documents to show that the land use law was deliberately changed to help the foundation. On October 20, 2010 the Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust applied for Change of Land Use (CLU) to utilize village common land to set up an eye hospital. On December 1, 2010,...
07:54 AM, Aug 05, 2011
New Delhi: The Rajya Sabha was adjourned on Wednesday over the acquisition of land for the Rajiv Gandhi trust in Gurgaon. The villagers of Ullawas village in Gurgaon have rejected the Hooda government's overtures. The villagers of Ullawas village are holding a Kisan panchayat on Wednesday to protest against the Haryana government's preferential treatment to the Gandhis. They have decided to go to court to get their land back, having...
01:03 PM, Aug 03, 2011
New Delhi: Reacting to the CNN-IBN expose on Haryana land deals favouring the Rajiv Gandhi Trust, the Congress has said that no rules were bent and that land was only given on lease. Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said, "The land was leased to the Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust for eyecare. The trust does not own the land." Singhvi claimed, "Not a single rule has been bent, the Gram Panchayat...
07:50 AM, Aug 03, 2011
Chandigarh: The Haryana government has decided to relook at acquisition of land for the Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust after CNN-IBN on Monday reported how the trust was given land breaking rules and regulations. In all, 65 petitions in Punjab and Haryana High Court have now claimed the "Gandhis as trustees" tag swung the deal. On Tuesday the Haryana government offered to reconsider the cases of the 65 petitioners that alleged...
11:27 PM, Aug 02, 2011
New Delhi: Congress on Tuesday downplayed the political controversy surrounding the land allotment to the Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust in Haryana in wake of the Punjab and Haryana High Court court summoning all records related to it. "This matter is between the Haryana government and the High Court. The state government should accept whatever decision the court takes. This issue (of land acquisition) does not concern one trust but thousands...
11:17 PM, Aug 02, 2011
