Tightrope walking on LARR Bill

By Archana Vaidya
18 Aug 2011

The draft Land Acquisition Resettlement and Rehabilitation Bill (LARR Bill) is in public domain for discussion. The Bill makes a right start when in the preamble it declares that cumulative outcome of compulsory acquisition should be that affected persons become partners in development.

To ensure this partnership LARR Bill seems to have come up with solutions for some of the most vexatious issues that the existing law faces and has introduced some innovative and much needed provisions such as for resettlement and rehabilitation of affected people. However some important issues still have not been dealt with comprehensively and would require more deliberations and debate.

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Bungling government creates an icon

By S. G. Vombatkere
18 Aug 2011


Unprecedented public support for Anna Hazare's demand for Jan Lokpal Bill has rattled the political class. People power has won the first round of the decisive bout but greater challenges lie ahead.

Over the past four decades successive Union governments of various political hues have not even gotten to the stage of tabling a Lokpal Bill, and combined with a rash of monumental scams in the past couple of years, it has pushed the corruption issue on to the front page.

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Crisis before capitalism

Ashok B Sharma
10 Aug 2011

As lingering financial crisis in the developed world is casting its shadow on the developing countries, it is time to look beyond capitalism for sustainable and equitable development.

Despite various stimulus packages and waivers, the global financial crisis is far from being over
The slow revival process after the shock of global financial crisis that began from August-September 2008 suffered another major jolt with Standard & Poor’s (S&P) downgrading US economy last week.

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Pushing adivasis to the brink

By Pandurang Hegde
09 Aug 2011


On the occasion of the 'International Day of the World's Indigenous People', the policy makers should realize that unless corrective and protective measures are put in place, the adivasis would soon lose their livelihoods, culture and faith to the mad rush to exploit the natural resources.

Today, on August 9, the world is celebrating ‘International Day of the World’s Indigenous People’ to acknowledge the important role of tribal cultures and their contribution to cultural and linguistic diversity. This decade is also ‘Second International Decade for Indigenous People’ to highlight and strengthen international cooperation for the solution of problems faced by indigenous people in such areas as culture, education, human rights, environment, and social and economic development.

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Towards conflict free land acquisition

By Archana Vaidya
05 Aug 2011

Before acquiring lands for development, the governments must ensure that the original land-owners are made stakeholders in the progress, instead of being left behind homeless and jobless.

The Draft Land Acquisition and Resettlement and Rehabilitation (LARR), 2011 has been put in the public domain for a period of one month for wider consultation and building consensus. Before we analyse the new draft of the proposed Bill, it is imperative to understand why there has been so much anger, resentment and conflict associated with the compulsory acquisition.

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Time to revive native cow breeds

By Devinder Sharma
03 Aug 2011

Very high milk productivity of Indian cow breeds in Brazil proves that with proper nutrition, veterinary care and genetic development our desi cows can help us meet our growing milk demand. After decades of indifference, policymakers are now turning their focus on native breeds.

Better late than never! Highly concerned by the demand for milk outstripping supply, the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) has finally decided to develop 900 progeny bulls of primarily native breeds to meet the increasing demand for milk in the years to come.

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BNHS launches revised Field Guide of Salim Ali

By Atul Sathe
01 Aug 2011

Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) has launched the revised edition of “A Pictorial Guide to the Birds of the Indian Subcontinent” by Sálim Ali and S Dillon Ripley first published in 1983.

The new book in a new attractive avatar is titled “Birds of the Indian Subcontinent – A Field Guide” co-authored by Ranjit Manakadan, J C Daniel and Nikhil Bhopale. Their insights span three generations of avian expertise at BNHS. The book offers a lot more information, illustrations and other features as compared to the earlier book, at an affordable price. The book was released in Mumbai at the BNHS auditorium packed with bird lovers.

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