-Down to Earth The ‘real owner’ of forest land is still the forest department. Such brazen violation of the Law betrays a systematic attempt to implement FRA, reducing it to a symbol rather than a tool of empowerment The Dangs, the smallest district in Gujarat, is a thickly forested and tribal-dominated region that has been away from the ‘developmental’ paradigm till today. Some 77.5 per cent of its area is under forest cover,...

-The Indian Express Surat police filed four cases against 93 people, including leaders of the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti and the Congress, after they took out a Tiranga Yatra on tractors and two-wheelers to support the farmers’ protest, and to demand withdrawal of criminal cases against Patidar leaders. Marches were carried out in several parts of the country by farmers and trade unions to express solidarity with the tractor rally in Delhi,...

-IndiaClimateDialogue.net Protests by Indian farmers against three new farm Laws have deep roots in income insecurity, which is driven by changing rainfall patterns and incentives that promote the overuse of water The protests by Indian farmers against three Laws initially passed as ordinances have gone from sporadic in August 2020 to the biggest peaceful civil society protest in the world. Despite 11 rounds of talks and the creation of a committee by...

-The Indian Express Bihar order against criticism of government online is against governance. The Chief Minister must scrap it. The Bihar government’s decision to designate “objectionable and indecent” comments made online against the state government or its ministers, MLAs, MPs and officials as cyber-crime is one more example of elected governments abusing their power to buy themselves a Teflon shield against criticism, dissent and accountability. In November last year, the Kerala government...

-Newsclick.in The MSP system has long been the central topic of discussion in agricultural reforms. The MSP system has long been the central topic of discussion in agricultural reforms. Demystifying its pros and cons, PROF M S SRIRAM writes on what we can learn and do to make MSP an effective mechanism that empowers farmers. ARGUMENTS against a statutory minimum support price (MSP) have hovered around the following lines: The MSP benefits only a...