-The Hindu People migrating due to environmental disasters should be accorded ‘refugee’ status in international law An increasing number of people globally are facing displacement due to droughts, famines, rising sea levels and other natural disasters caused by climate change. This class of migrants has been labelled as ‘environmental refugees’ in popular literature. According to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, an international body reviewing trends of internal displacement, an estimated 24 million...

-Deccan Herald An NGO on Monday approached the Supreme Court against the Union government’s decision to appoint Gujarat-cadre IPS officer Rakesh Asthana as acting director of the CBI. New Delhi: ‘Common Cause’, the NGO through advocate Prashant Bhushan contended that the government in “deliberate dereliction” did not convene meeting of the Collegium comprising the prime minister as chairperson and Leader of Opposition and the Chief Justice of India as members to select...

-TheWire.in To oppose the forest department’s plan to limit open grazing, the pastoral community is formally pursuing their collective land rights through the Forest Rights Act. The sun has not yet decided to rise. It’s pitch black out but a group of Maldharis has already assembled for the last session of this year’s milking competition. Their massive buffalos are majestically adorned with intricate garlands and colourful necklaces. The panch (group of five...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: Each citizen who performs at least two cashless transactions with the government will earn their district administration an extra Rs 10 from the Niti Aayog, to be spent on promoting e-payments across the population. This incentive comes over and above a sum of Rs 5 lakh that every district will receive for the campaign, launched today to try and make all government-citizen transactions cashless. As part of the drive,...

-Down to Earth A high level UN panel on Access to Medicines wants members to make full use of TRIPS flexibilities to protect public health If ever India needed a clear endorsement of its laws on intellectual property rights (IPRs) and their application in meeting public health priorities, it has come from the highest quarters. The report of the UN SECretary General’s High Level Panel (HLP) on Access to Medicines has, directly...