In a major setback to the encroachers, the district administration has begun reclaiming land worth hundreds of crores of rupees from different areas of the city. Buildings constructed illegally on agricultural land along National Highway 8 were razed on Monday, while notices were issued to other encroachers. According to district administration, hundreds of acres of land given for agricultural purpose was misused by the owners and sold off illegally. The...

The implementation of the Scheduled Tribes and other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act in Madhya Pradesh faces a host of problems due to a strange interpretation of the Act by the Forest Department. While the department's opposition to the Act is no secret — several petitions have been filed against it in the Supreme Court by retired forest officials or organisations run by them — new information obtained...

Tripura Forest Minister Jitendra Chowdhury has expressed deep concern over degradation of forest land due to shifting cultivation (Jhum) over the years and revealed that Manipur has emerged as the worst-affected State, followed by Nagaland, Mizoram and Tripura. Addressing a National Seminar on the Great Depression of 1930s and Present Global Economic Melt Down and its Impact on Tribal Society at Shillong last week, Chowdhury said about 45 per cent of...

Thirty-three-year-old Mohit Sharma from Delhi took the RTI route to put an end to the civic mess in his colony, caused by rampant unauthorised construction. But now he claims a threat to his life. And his finger is pointed at the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD). "I sought this information regarding illegal constructions in Shahdara. As a consequence, I started receiving threat calls. But on March 12, three MCD employees...

THE sharp criticism of the State administration by the National Commission for Scheduled Castes for perceived inadequacies in enforcing the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, and in implementing various welfare measures aimed at empowering Dalits has put the Tamil Nadu government in a tight spot. Despite denials by Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi, who is also a top leader of the United Progressive Alliance which is...