-The Hindu By exempting some projects on forest land from gram sabha consent, the government has undermined the rights of local communities and their crucial role in protecting the environment In early February, the Ministry of Environment and Forests partially revoked a crucial order it had issued in August 2009, which made the consent of gram sabhas mandatory for projects seeking diversion of forest lands for non-forest purposes. Now, the ministry has...
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The rising menace of intolerance-Soli J Sorabjee
-The Hindu Freedom of expression will continue to remain under siege unless all groups accept that people can have different opinions and beliefs in a free country “Our tradition teaches tolerance; our philosophy preaches tolerance; our Constitution practises tolerance; let us not dilute it.” These stirring sentiments were expressed by Justice Chinnappa Reddy in a Supreme Court judgment pronounced in August 1986 which invalidated expulsion from school of students belonging to Jehova’s...
More »Sori acquitted in crucial case, lawyer optimistic of speedy Essar trial-Suvojit Bagchi
-The Hindu Soni Sori, the tribal accused of acting as a courier between Essar Steel and the outlawed Communist Party of India (Maoist), has been acquitted in a crucial case filed in 2010 by the Dantewada district police against 19 individuals for allegedly opening fire and using explosives to blow vehicles of Essar. Ms Sori was one of the key accused in the case. “But the additional sessions court of Anita Dehariya could not find...
More »CPI(M) holds signature campaign, seeks food security
-The Hindu Udupi: Taluk unit of Communist Party of India (Marxist) held a signature campaign seeking food security to people here on Tuesday. Balakrishna Shetty, member of the State Committee of CPI(M), said that nearly 1,200 people had signed the petition seeking food security at the Service Bus Stand here from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. Nearly 10,000 people had signed the petition in the district. The signature campaign was a nation-wide initiative...
More »MNREGS killing entrepreneurial spirit of rural AP, says study
-The Times of India HYDERABAD: The UPA government's petprogramme - the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGS) - may have been started with the objective of securing the livelihood of the residents of rural India by providing assured employment for 100 days in a year, but has ended up choking the entrepreneurial spirit in the hinterlands ofAndhra Pradesh. These are the findings of a study conducted by a faculty of...
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