-The Indian Express Under Article 6 of the Constitution, anyone who migrated to India before July 19, 1948, from territory that had become part of Pakistan, automatically became a citizen if either of their parents or grandparents was born in India. But those who entered India after this date needed to register themselves. A petition pending before the Supreme Court, and expected to come up before a five-judge Bench, could potentially affect...

-TheWeek.in Noted ecologist Madhav Gadgil blames the “law-flouting” state government for the devastation in Kerala. The Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP), headed by Gadgil in 2011, had suggested measures to preserve the ecologically frail Ghats. But, the Kerala government, like the other five states, chose to reject the report. Having suffered such devastation, Gadgil feels that the state should survey the “ecologically sensitive zones” that have been compromised due to...

-Scroll.in Raghav Chandra, secretary of the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes, says displaced Adivasis should not only be compensated with money but land as well. The National Commission for Scheduled Tribes has been quite proactive in the last few months. It has prevailed upon the central government to withdraw orders that it thought “diluted” tribal Rights, asked states to return “unfairly acquired tribal lands”, and reminded governors of their powers to...

-Mongabay.com * India’s environment ministry has notified the Compensatory Afforestation Fund (CAF) Rules 2018 to ensure proper utilisation of Rs 660 billion for plantation of trees across India. * Environmentalists and civil society groups are against the rules as they point out that the rules ignore the Rights of forest dwellers and tribals. They also said that the new CAF rules are against existing laws ensuring forest Rights and self governance for...

-Scroll.in The newspaper analysed FIRs for 20 of the 63 encounter deaths since the Bharatiya Janata Party came into power in the state. Similar words and patterns can be seen in the police’s description of the circumstances surrounding several encounter deaths in Uttar Pradesh since March 2017, an analysis of 20 First Information Reports by The Indian Express showed. The state police has controversially gunned down 63 alleged criminals and injured 584...