1. The writer is an activist who brings forth the plight of displacement in the name of land acquisitions for development projects.
2. Given that 90% of our coal, 50% of most minerals & prospective dam sites are mainly in Adivasi regions, there is likely to be a continuing tension on land acquisition.
3. At the heart of the 2013 law was the provision of seeking the consent of those whose lands were to be acquired and of caring for those whose livelihoods would be destroyed in the process.
4. The current ordinance undoes those provisions & comesa cross as a virtual resurrection of undiluted powers of “eminent domain”, which the 1894 law conferred on the state.
5. He states that the SIA is the basic minimum requirement to keep the arbitrary land acquisitions under check.
6. Prior consent of those who have occupied the lands is must for healthy development of business. It may appear to be time taking but any hasty push to acquire land costs even further more delays.
7. He finds that the ever increasing pressure on cities and an industry producing very few jobs but high on ecological footprints cannot be persisted with in the longer run.
8. It is in everybody’s interest to recall the proposed changes in the Land bill.

1. By clearing amendments to the Juvenile Justice Act and allowing juveniles between the ages of 16 and 18 to be tried and punished as adults for ‘heinous offences’ (offences that are punishable with imprisonment of 7 years or more), the Cabinet on April 22 sounded the death knell for juvenile justice.
2. The government claims that since this assessment will be done with the help of psychologists and social experts, the rights of the juvenile would be protected.
3. The new Bill is violative of India’s constitutional mandate and its international obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
4. As per the writer, there are 3 flawed assumptions: children are as culpable or blameworthy as adults; it is scientifically possible to determine maturity & mindset beyond reasonable doubt; and the transfer system will effectively deter juvenile crime and enhance public safety, particularly of women.
5. Instead of dealing with the root causes of juvenile crime, such as poverty, broken families, unregulated access to pornography, or the failure of the child protection system, the government seems to be blindly targeting adolescents.
6. With the Ministry and the Cabinet having turned their back, all hopes are pinned on Parliament to do what is right for India’s adolescent children.

1. The former finance minister/ Home minister writes about the cuts in the various CSS schemes all in the name of federalist ethos.
2. The schemes like CCTNS, SIS that were framed keeping the modernisation of police forces and providing them with the requisite infrastructure to take on the maoists have been de linked from the annual budget 2014-2015 citing that police is a state list subject.
3. This is when CCTNS is nearly on the verge of completion. The system needs to keep itself abreast with the latest in technology and so can not be left to the 29 state monitoring systems. It being of centralised nature need to be speedup under a central authority.
4. However the MHA has expressed its resentment over the pruning. The writer expects similar response from the other ministries whose budgetary expenditure has been cut down.

1. What will poor farmers do now that they can’t sell their economically unviable cattle to the butcher?
2. Bulls and bullocks are extremely expensive animals to maintain anyway, but particularly so beyond their productive years.
3. The consequence of shutting the butcher’s door on cow-bull-bullock slaughter might therefore be clandestine killing.
4. As regards cows, if religious sentiment is to override economic reality, the farmer will have no choice but to double the price of milk.
5. Caught between hard economics, temperamental rain and the government, the farmer has always died.

We all know the cons of doing away with Net Neutrality. Broadly, we do. Add to this – when an uninformed citizenry gets to decide on bigger matters like this – Flipkart ends up getting 1 rating in plenty 😉

1. But let’s for a moment – take a step back and see a possible rationale to this.
2. In the telephone networks, 1-800 toll-free numbers allow businesses to subsidize users’ access fees, but that same mechanism is missing for Internet data services.
3. This is possibly what Airtel Zero wanted to achieve? Maybe!
4. Should we have fast lanes for different services – Video on Demand vs. Content only?
5. Yes, because certain type of traffic need faster delivery, such as video streaming, while others such as emails and file transfer don’t!
6. But will the network providers chide away from the lower tier/ slower lane services?

This year, WHO’s theme is ‘Food Safety’ – To ensure that everyone has the answers to a few questions: What is in your meal and where did the ingredients come from?

1. WHO is concerned about streamlining the supply chain and stressing on stakeholders to promote food safety.
2. The approach to food safety requires multi-sectoral collaboration, as it passes through multiple hands from farm to plates.
3. As groundwater resources deplete & put pressure on other factor, farm markets shift to ‘chemically managed’ crops.
4. The increasing disregard for food safety norms is based on multiple factors including lack of awareness and training, absence of compliance or plain corruption.
   

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1. The ceasefire agreement with NSCN puts restriction on movement outside camps, prohibition on acquiring any new arms and refraining from extortions and intimidation.
2. The agreement makes these cadres eligible for remuneration from govt.
3. The free movement of insurgent cadres had created an atmosphere of fear amongst civilians, who are later forced to offer support to them.
4. The ceasefire ensures that there will be no state operation against these armed groups.
5. The solution lies in raising a common Northeast law enforcement force for monitoring internal cross border ‘ceasefire signatory’ insurgencies.
6. The monitoring and supervision of the ceasefire camps should be carried out on a monthly basis, which includes updated data of cadres, weapons and illegal activities.