India's forest cover has declined by 367 sq km between 2007 and 2009. While the figure may not seem alarming, it runs counter to the impression that afforestation and conservation programmes are yielding results. The largest dip in forest cover was in the northeast which lost 550 sq km. This loss was very partially made up elsewhere, even as there was an overall negative growth in green cover. There was better...
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Year of criticism, from the bench and against it by Krishnadas Rajagopal
Judicial activism was the key in many Supreme Court observations and judgments during 2011. 2011 CVC THOMAS: A three-judge bench led by CJI SH Kapadia declared “non est” — or nonexistent — the majority recommendation of a high-powered committee for P J Thomas as Central Vigilance Commissioner. The court ruled that the Prime Minister and the Home Minister’s recommendation amounted to “official arbitrariness”, coming in spite of the dissent of the third...
More »In action-packed 2011, Supreme Court cleared over 79,000 cases by J Venkatesan
The year 2011 saw the highest number of cases disposed of in recent years, with more than 79,000 cases cleared under the leadership of Chief Justice of India S.H. Kapadia. In his Law Day address, Justice Kapadia rejected the allegation made in certain quarters about the huge pendency of cases and said: “There is a backlog of cases. However, it is not as big as is sought to be projected.” Seventy-four...
More »Jairam Ramesh to review rural job schemes in MP
-The Times of India Amid complaints from opposition Congress about corruption in Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGS) and other schemes, Union Minister for Rural Development Jairam Ramesh will tour four districts of Madhya Pradesh to review implementation the centrally sponsored schemes. Ramesh is expected to tour Sagar, Jabalpur, Mandla and Bhopal districts to review theMNREGS and implementation of other rural development schemes, particularly in the light of complaints of...
More »Tribals lead anti-bauxite mining bandh in Vizag
-The Times of India A 48-hour bandh began in the Visakha Agency with hundreds of tribals with the support of all political parties enforcing it to protest the proposed bauxite mining in the area. The tribals themselves checked all vehicles in a bid to prevent the central expert committee from going ahead and conducting its survey. The four-man committee appointed by the Union ministry of environment and forests was scheduled to undertake...
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