-The Hindu Though the Union Environment Ministry acknowledges its damage, Uttarakhand's hydroelectric project-driven development agenda remains unchanged Chaaen, a village atop a hill in the picturesque Alaknanda Valley, is infamous for getting a hydroelectric project into trouble. I first visited the village last year while covering the worst flood disaster Uttarakhand had witnessed. On June 26, 2013, as I stood at Narendra Singh's verandah in Chaaen, I noticed how the walls had developed...

-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...

-The Tribune The outlook for all things smart is opening up, including Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA). Varanasi, set to develop as a Smart City, will be a lighthouse for sectors seeking sustainable ways to handle demographic pressures, finite environmental resources and climate change. The Finance Minister's budget speech has promised a hundred smart cities. With urban India well covered, it is the turn now of smart agriculture, equipped both to enhance food...

-Down to Earth Demonstrations follow T S R Subramanian Committee report recommending measures to fast-track environmental clearances Thousands of people gathered in Mumbai and Dehradun on Monday to protest recent attempts by the NDA government to undermine the rights of local communities to manage and protect their forests. Specifically targeted is the requirement for gram sabha consent on all projects seeking to divert forestland for non-forest purposes, as guaranteed by the Forest...

-The Hindu Over 40 groups wrote to the Prime Minister and the Union Minister of State for Environment, on Tuesday, expressing concern over "consistent efforts of the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) to bring out resolutions and executive orders in violation of the Scheduled Tribes and other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act 2006 (or the Forest Rights Act (FRA))". In separate letters to the Prime Minister...