The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Rural Development, headed by BJP leader Sumitra Mahajan, on Thursday tabled its report on the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2011 (LARR Bill) that recommended complete overhaul of the legislation.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Sunday assured South Korean President Lee Myung-bak on the implementation of the $12-billion Posco steel project in Odisha. During the bilateral talks, Singh told Lee that there was progress on the Posco project, which has been dubbed as the single largest foreign direct investment in India.
“The two leaders also reaffirmed the importance of implementing the Posco project in the state of Odisha,” said a joint statement issued after the talks between the two leaders.

GUWAHATI, March 13 – The State at present has two big, three medium and 1,194 small irrigation projects under construction. Four big projects and 11 medium projects have already been completed. This was revealed by Irrigation Minister Dr Ardhendu Dey while replying to a question from Abdur Rahim Khan (AIUDF) in the Assembly today. Dr Dey said that of the projects on which work was on, 104 small projects were beyond repair while 91 small projects were in a reparable stage.

New Delhi: The Food Security Bill has put in a clause to restrict the diversion of agricultural land, a move that can become a headache for industry. The Bill also says the Centre will bear the expenses on giving grain at subsidised prices to 75% of the rural households and 50% of urban households under the proposed food security Bill, but would want states to share the financial burden for providing free grain and other nutritional benefits to expectant and lactating mothers.

The state Cabinet, which met under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah here today, approved the National Food Security Bill draft. It also approved the payment of compensation to the Rakh and Farm wing of the Agriculture Production Department for its land being used for the establishment of the Central University of Kashmir at Ganderbal. The grant of ex-gratia relief to employees of the Power Development Department (PDD) and others, who were killed or grievously incapacitated in electricity-related accidents, was also approved.

Bhubaneswar: Noted social activist Medha Patekar on Thursday urged the Odisha government not to allow use of agricultural land for setting of industries.
She told a meeting of the National Alliance of People's Movements (NAPM) that here that any land acquisition process should be undertaken in the interests of common people.
Patekar also opposed the Centre’s land acquisition Bill in its present form.

The Keran Taryamber Kisan Kalyan Samiti has filed a complaint before the SP, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Shimla, alleging that Harish Cement Company was cheating farmers whose land would be acquired by the company if the plant would be set up near here. It was alleged in the complaint (66 pages, including annexure) by Lalit Sen, secretary of the samiti, that officers of Harish Cement Company were cheating the farmers of the area and forcing them to sell land to the company at throwaway prices.

Amitabh Bachchan may have been a popular mascot for the national pulse polio campaign, but the Goa Law Commission has now used the superstar as a celebrity footnote to promote its crucial draft agricultural land reform legislation. Speaking to mediapersons here, Commission Chairman Ramakanth Khalap recommended that the State Government should ban sale of agricultural land to non-agriculturists, to protect the diminishing agricultural lands in the State, which are being eyes by real estate speculators.

The Department of Environment yesterday fined dyeing factory Apparel Village Ltd Tk 30.31 lakh for polluting water bodies and cultivable land at Birulia in Savar.

The penalty came after a team of Rapid Action Battalion-1 led by DoE Director (monitoring and enforcement) Muhammad Munir Chowdhury conducted a raid on the factory.

The DoE ran the drive upon receiving complaints that Apparel Village has been discharging untreated liquid waste into a nearby canal and farmland for 10 years.