-The Hindu Business Line In the last 5 years, 14,034 ryots from the State — 8 a day — have killed themselves Pune: In the last five years (2014-18), Maharashtra saw 14,034 farmers — that’s eight a day — end their lives. In fact, over 4,500 committed suicide after the State announced a ?34,000-crore loan waiver in June 2017. This information on farmer-suicides over the last five years has come to light from...

-Hindustan Times The claims are by tribal or pastoral communities seeking community rights over forest land they have inhabited for generations. Out of 4.224 million claims received, only 1.894 million titles have been distributed, 1.939 million have been rejected and a little less than 400,000 are still being assessed. One out of every two claims made since 2007 by forest dwellers under the Forest Rights Act has been rejected, data from...

-The Indian Express As Activists on both sides argue their case on the SC order on eviction of encroachers whose claims have been rejected under the FRA, an explanation of key issues: from dwindling forest cover to bogus claims. On February 28, the Supreme Court put on hold its February 13 order directing states to evict tribals and other forest-dwellers whose claims over encroached forest land had been rejected under the...

-Newsclick.in It remains to be seen how many political parties pledge to protect the urban poor from eviction and homelessness and work for inclusive ‘Smart Cities’. Over 30 civil society groups consisting of slum dwellers, civil society organisations, women groups, other groups working amongst the urban poor, disabled women groups, street vendors, housing rights Activists and so on assembled in Delhi on February 28 to set a new discourse for 2019. This...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Ten members of civil society, including Aruna Roy and Arundhati Roy, have moved the Supreme Court expressing solidarity with Activist lawyer Prashant Bhushan who is facing contempt proceedings on attorney general K K Venugopal’s petition accusing him of making “false, malicious, dishonest and reckless” allegations on appointment of CBI’s interim director. The Roy duo, along with Wajahat Habibullah, Harsh Mandher, Jayati Ghosh, Prabhat Patnaik, I P...