-The Times of India The official version of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's speech at the National Board of Wildlife (NBWL) on Wednesday changed thrice in the space of one day. In a highly unusual sequence of events, the version of Singh's speech released by the PMO on its website on Wednesday was withdrawn on Thursday afternoon only to return in its original form by late evening. The flip-flop-flip is perhaps the...

-Down to Earth World is moving towards natural capital as a measure of economic growth After using gross domestic product, or GDP, as the universal measurement of economy for six decades, the world has begun looking beyond this gold standard for measuring a country’s economy. On May 25, 10 African countries agreed to incorporate their natural capital, or value of their natural resources, into their national accounts to make better economic decisions. The...

-The Indian Express Tribal affairs minister’s letter to states on the Forest Rights Act highlights the problems of implementation For most observers, the Forest Rights Act (FRA) is just another “welfare” law. It is often trotted out as one of those “development measures” that ought to be implemented, but isn’t. Recently, Minister for Tribal Affairs V. Kishore Chandra Deo wrote to state governments, taking them to task for tardy implementation of the...

-Live Mint   Rural development minister Jairam Ramesh is advocating a new approach to fighting the Maoist insurgency that has gripped 78 districts so far. Apart from development and security, the approach involves politics and justice, he said. In an interview, Ramesh warned that in the rush to attain high growth rates, India was placing the interests of tribals below that of mining firms. The minister suggested the setting up of a...

-The Telegraph Assam has witnessed one abduction almost every two days this year. Despite militancy being on the decline, there has been no let-up in abductions in the state. Assam forest minister Rakibul Hussain today told the Assembly that 56 abduction cases have been registered in the state since January, which works out to 86 days till today. Replying on behalf of chief minister Tarun Gogoi, who holds the home portfolio, Hussain said between...