-Bangalore Mirror The issue of encroachments in Devammachi Reserved Forests in Diddalli, Kodagu has thankfully evoked a balanced response from political leaders cutting across party lines. The Chief Minister, the District Minister, the Member of Parliament and the Virajpet MLA have all taken a clear stand that such fresh forest encroachments cannot be permitted while maintaining that poor people would be rehabilitated outside. However, the ill informed actions and statements of...

-PTI New Delhi: "We do not want politics to shift to the courts," the Supreme Court observed on Thursday while hearing arguments on whether a political party can file and pursue a public interest litigation (PIL). "The apprehension is that this will shift politics to the courts. We do not want this. We do not want politics to shift to the courts," a bench of Justices Madan B Lokur and N V...

-PTI There is no official estimation of black money either before or after November 8 – the day government announced scrapping of old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Friday. “There is no official estimation of the amount of black money either before or after the government’s decision of November 8, 2016 declaring that bank notes of denominations of the existing series of the value...

-The Hindu On the tenth anniversary of the historic passage of the Forest Rights Act, tribal resistance to defend their rights is growing even as government after government tries to dilute its provisions On this day 10 years ago the historic Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act was passed in the Lok Sabha. Its conception and passage was the result of the decades of struggles and...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Despite Prime Minister Narendra Modi's big push for digital payments and cashless transactions post-demonetisation, government hospitals across the country remain woefully unequipped to translate his lofty visions into reality. Despite various state governments issuing directives to state and municipality-run hospitals to promote digital payments, an overwhelming majority of these are yet to install card swipe machines. Last week, the Union health secretary held a meeting on the...