-The Hindu Adivasi Kshema Samiti to intensify stir for land A group of tribesmen under the aegis of the Adivasi Kshema Samiti (AKS), a feeder organisation of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), encroached on vested forest land at two places in the district on Monday and claimed their rights on the land by erecting huts. As part of an ongoing agitation, 115 tribal families from different parts of the district occupied a...

Himachal Pradesh-based environmental organisations are elated over the recent High Court judgment against cement majors Jaiprakash Associates Limited for flouting environmental norms and illegally acquiring land for setting up their mega business ventures. Non-governmental organisation Him Parivesh that had filed the petition in the High Court had said: “The years of struggle of the communities and their stand against the Jaypee power project and cement plant has been vindicated by the...

COIMBATORE: The Tamil Nadu forest department's push to get Sathyamangalam Wildlife Sanctuary declared a tiger reserve suffered a setback on Wednesday when grama sabhas in all 19 tribal-majority panchayats in the region passed separate resolutions against the move. The resolutions said the department had not consulted the local communities on the project, though Section 38 V of the Wildlife Protection Act makes it mandatory. The Wildlife Protection Act stipulates that approval from...

-Reuters KHAMMAM (India): It was a deal struck almost 40 years ago by a poor, illiterate Indian farmer, driven by desperation after a drought wiped out his crops and left his family close to starvation. The agreement: 10 acres of land, the size of four soccer pitches, for a mere 10 kg (22 lbs) of sorghum grains. "My father-in-law pawned the land for food," said Kowasalya Thati, lifting the hem of...

-BBC A legislator, who was kidnapped by Maoist rebels in the eastern Indian state of Orissa more than a month ago, is likely to be released on Thursday. The rebels said the decision to free Jhina Hikaka was taken at a meeting of the "praja court" (people's court). Mr Hikaka was abducted in the early hours of 24 March while returning home after attending a meeting. The government had earlier offered to free some...