-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Extending the assured income support (PM-Kisan) scheme for farmers, approved by the new government in its first Cabinet meeting last Friday, will also benefit over eight lakh big landholders — having landholding size of 10 hectares (nearly 25 acres) and more — across the country. Though such big landholders account for merely 0.6% of total farmers in India, their numbers in some states, such as Rajasthan,...

-Hindustan Times The CPCB itself has been given a month’s time to publish the guidelines for restoration water bodies, not presently protected by any national legislation which protects water bodies more than 2.5 acres in size. Gurugram: The National Green Tribunal (NGT), last week, instructed all states and Union territories to follow Haryana’s example and create detailed inventories of water bodies not already protected by any law, review their existing FRAmework...

-Hindustan Times It is also important to remember that both these laws were the product of sustained, grassroots-level social movements. Consequently, perhaps the surest remedy against possible future dilution may lie not in judicial challenges (although that remains important), but in popular mobilisation. With the 2019 general election yielding a decisive mandate for the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), attention will soon turn to the new government’s legislative agenda. As the government is...

-The Times of India Panaji (Goa): Citizens will no longer have to shell out Rs 51 per page when seeking documents under Right To Information (RTI) Act pertaining to the revenue department. An order passed by the appellate authority and additional collector Dasharath Redkar in an appeal has ended the controversy surrounding the issue of charging exorbitant fees for documents sought under the RTI Act. Redkar has directed the public information officer...

-Down to Earth To start work, the Sustainable Development Goals first need to be popularised by the new government The new government has to ensure that each one in the country is able to enjoy freedom and practices tolerance without fear. National security is no doubt significant, but it cannot be the country’s political narrative. India is riddled with problems such as extreme poverty, exploitation and inequalities, and does not need to...