-Business Standard Not to estimate poverty lines or absolute numbers; will take these from ongoing socio-eco caste census done by states, focus on impact of programmes Taking note of some hard lessons learnt by its predecessor, the National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog would not estimate either poverty lines or the number of the poor in the country. The erstwhile Planning Commission, replaced by the Aayog, had got into a big controversy...

-Economic and Political Weekly While the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers' Rights Act 2001 is a progressive piece of legislation that recognises farmers' rights to seed, it demands payment of an annual maintenance fee by the farmers to protect the varieties which they have been cultivating and conserving for years, only because these varieties have been brought under legal protection through national legislation. Parameswaran Prajeesh (prajeesh@mssrf.res.in) is a researcher with the...

-Down to Earth tribal groups raise concerns regarding delay in recognition of Community Forest Rights Accusing the environment ministry of trying to deprive forest dwellers of their rights, Adivasi Janajati Adhikar Mancha (AJAM) said dilution of the "consent" clause of Forest Rights Act (FRA) 2006 was "highly unconstitutional". AJAM also said the environment ministry was "interfering and encroaching upon the affairs of MoTA (Ministry of tribal Affairs) with the sole objective of...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: The Centre today began consulting the states on a new education policy that will review a range of practices, including the automatic promotions till Class VIII and the option of skipping one's Class X board exams under the Central Board of Secondary Education. Smriti Irani's human resource development ministry made a presentation flagging 33 key issues, which include the need for examination reforms to focus on problem-solving, critical...

-The Times of India GUMLA: US-based Ford Foundation's president Darren Walker has, with a team comprising Larissa Macfarquhar, Alfred Ironside from the US and Srinivasan and Kavita from India, visited Gumla on Wednesday to assess the change process carried out during the last few years within tribal communities through NGO Pradan's engagement methodology. The foundation, in partnership with the NGO, has started self-help groups for tribal women in the past. Walker and his...