-The Times of India The Chhattisgarh government fudged records, concealed facts, changed policy and altered decisions while the Union environment ministry overlooked all such illegalities to open up 1,899 hectares for mining in Hasdeo Arand, one of the best patches of Forests in central India. Initially, the Centre had decided to protect Hasdeo Arand by making it a no-go zone for miners. The Chhattisgarh government too had moved to get the dense...

-The Hindustan Times Bhubaneswar: In a move that will give a big boost to the economy of tribals, Union rural development minister Jairam Ramesh on Sunday handed over gram sabha transit passes (TPs) to tribals in Jamguda village of Odisha’s Kalahandi district in the presence of union tribal affair minister KC Deo and Odisha revenue minister SN Patro. The TPs will assert the community ownership of the tribals giving gram sabha to...

-The Hindu ‘State nod enough for diversion of forest land unless it significantly affects quality of life of displaced persons’ In a major turnaround in its stand on the Vedanta case, the government on Thursday told the Supreme Court that Gram Sabha consent was not required for diversion of forest land, barring in exceptional cases. In an affidavit submitted in the court, the government — the Ministries of Tribal Affairs and Environment and...

-Deccan Herald As primitive tribes continue to be in a state of acute poverty, ‘schedule area’ status for settlements of evicted tribals from Nagarahole National Park will favour their development. The status will also solve the problem of representation of tribals in political institutions, which will help them benefit from the welfare programmes aimed at them, said Muzaffar Assadi, Chairman of the High Court-appointed Committee on Tribal Issues of Rajiv Gandhi...

-The Economic Times KORAPUT/NEW DELHI: Villagers protesting against Hindalco's plan to mine bauxite at Mali Parbat in the Koraput district in Odisha have come up with a unique proposal that offers to compensate the state for its loss in revenue from royalty. Forty one villages from the district, two thirds of whose largely tribal population live below poverty line, have proposed to soon pass panchayat resolutions promising to pay Rs 35 crore,...