The implementation of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 has created controversy in West Bengal. The gram sabha, the basic unit in the process of forest rights recognition, has been replaced by the gram sansad, denoting the village level constituency under the panchayati raj system. This has been followed by contiguous arrangements as well as initiatives which are inconsistent with the Act....
More »SEARCH RESULT
Total Matching Records found : 635
BJP cleared expressway, now it is opposing project
BJP may have stalled proceedings in both Houses of parliament on Monday over the firing in Aligarh in which four people were killed. But the lesser talked-about fact of the matter is that the original notification for the Taj Expressway was issued in April 2001 when BJP’s Rajnath Singh was the Uttar Pradesh (UP) chief minister. The expressway, which Mayawati re-christened as Yamuna Expressway, is at the crux of the ongoing clash...
More »“Let not grains rot in godowns while millions CRY for food”
Food rights activists demand universalisation and decentralisation of PDS A large number of food rights activists staged a protest outside the godown of the Food Corporation of India in Rourkela on Sunday demanding equitable distribution of food grains and universalisation and decentralisation of the public distribution system (PDS). More than 1,500 activists, academicians and those involved in various people's movements participated in the agitation against the rotting of food grains in...
More »Something Is Rotten by Anuradha Raman
Systemic Failure * Despite record procurement, poor storage has led to a criminal waste of grain * 61,000 tonnes of grain rotted as it was left in the open during the monsoon * The FCI had shut down storage facilities after low procurement in 2006-07 * The plan for decentralised storage facilities is 40 years old. It’s still hanging fire. * EGoM did not clear the surplus grains for the PDS since it would have...
More »Cotton farmers opt for double-gene Bt technology by Harish Damodaran
The widespread acceptability of Bt technology among India's cotton farmers is a recognised reality today. This year, out of the total projected cotton area of 260-265 lakh acres, about 225 lakh acres would be sown under Bt hybrids/varieties. Considering that the latter figure stood at a mere 72,000 acres in 2002, it represents perhaps the most rapid rate of diffusion for any technology after the mobile phone. But even this tells only...
More »
