-Economic and Political Weekly   The High-Level Committee set up by the Narendra Modi government to review the major laws relating to environment protection has, in its recommendations, worked towards two sets of objectives: one, to separate business from the messiness of governance, and, two, to redraw the line of demarcation between the judiciary and the executive. Manju Menon (manjumenon@namati.org) and Kanchi Kohli (kanchikohli@namati.org) are with the Centre for Policy Research - Namati...

-Livemint The Forest Rights Act, 2006 has been impactful but faces new threats The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, commonly known as the forest rights Act, was passed by Parliament in December 2006. It was the third milestone in the rights-based development decade of 2004-14, coming after the Right to Information Act enacted in June 2005 and the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act...

-The Hindu Irrespective of fuel costs, investing in a robust public transport system alone can save the day Whenever news about a fall in oil prices hits the headline, the first to cheer are car users. "I can save up to Rs. 2,700 every month now. That means I can put this money to better use elsewhere," a journalist-friend recently said with a sigh of relief when asked to respond to the...

-Business Standard TSR Subramanian committee for altering procedures under key laws to speed up decisions on applications from or for industries The T S R Subramanian committee has recommended a massive revamp of various forest laws, to expedite the processing of industrial applications. These range from the way forests are defined to cutting the procedures in attaining forest clearance for industrial projects. At present, three laws - Indian Forests Act (IFA) of 1927, Forest...

-Livemint The Subramanian committee reviewing environment laws was undemocratic in process and results A high-level committee, led by retired bureaucrat T.S.R. Subramanian and set up under the environment ministry to review laws that protect the country's environment, submitted its report on 18 November. There's no dispute that there is a need to review the entire body of environment laws, such as the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, Wildlife (Protection)...