-The Indian Express On a suit filed by PepsiCo India Holdings Pvt Ltd, the Ahmedabad city civil court earlier this month had barred four farmers of Sabarkantha district — Bipin Patel, Chhabil Patel, Vinod Patel and Haribhai Patel — from growing and selling potatoes till April 26. Ahmedabad: Leading rights groups and individuals working for farmers’ rights in the country have sought Central government’s intervention to protect at least nine farmers...

-The Hindu Poor people are running from pillar to post as the Aadhaar payment bridge routinely obstructs their welfare benefits Perhaps you will remember “l’affaire Airtel” — the mass diversion of LPG subsidies to Airtel wallets that came to light in 2017. Many of the wallets were unwanted, or even unknown to the recipients. Those affected, fortunately, included millions of middle-class Airtel customers who protested when the goof-up emerged. The subsidy money...

-The Hindu Sabotaging the Forest Rights Act damages democracy Since 1980, through the Forest Conservation Act (FCA), the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF) has “diverted for non-forest use” (bureaucratese for destroyed) over 1.5 million hectares of forest. How many Adivasis and forest-dwellers have been evicted by this ‘lawful’ forest destruction? Stripping these forests has yielded thousands of crores of rupees for corporations to which a bulk of these forestlands...

-The Indian Express According to the Forest (Conservation) Amendment Rules 2016, the district collector needs to complete the process of vesting of forest rights under the FRA and obtain written Consent of the affected gram sabhas before any project proposal reaches the forest department for consideration. New Delhi: A day before it moved the Supreme Court seeking a stay and modification of its February 13 order directing states to evict over...

-TheWire.in The community has a traditional approach to sex education and finding a partner. The key is openness, conversation and guidance. Rayagada, Odisha: In his village of Singoroda, 80-year old Langi Nathika commands great respect – mostly as the husband of a bejuni, a priestess in their Kondh tribe. Like many in his community, Nathika cherishes their traditional approach to sex education and finding a partner. He may have something for us to...