-Scroll.in The Forest Rights Act recognises the rights of forest dwelling communities and entrusts them with the responsibility for conservation. The residents of Gunehar village in Himachal Pradesh’s Kangra district are attempting to use the Forest Rights Act to challenge the state Forest Department’s decision to hand over two hectares of local forest land to the Wildlife Department to construct an office complex. At the end of December, the Gunehar panchayat...

-Business Standard CM Virbhadra Singh recently announced a programme for developing varieties that require less chilling and can survive in low altitude areas as well Climate change is impacting India’s agriculture in varied ways. It has, for instance, cast a shadow over traditional apple cultivation in Himachal Pradesh (HP).   HP’s  apple belt has been predominantly spread across the districts of Shimla, Kinnaur, Kullu, Mandi, Chamba, Sirmaur and Lahaul-Spiti. These have seen a...

-The Times of India   Honey, they've shrunk the city. Recently released census data shows that between 2001 and 2011, population in Mumbai, Kolkata and two inner districts of Delhi declined, while in Hyderabad and Chennai only a small increase took place. But surrounding regions of these cities showed phenomenal growth indicating a shifting center of gravity in metropolises. Declining populations in some of the metropolises is notable though unsurprising. These cities are...

-The Times of India   TABO (Lahaul-SPITI): "At last they entered a world - a valley of leagues where the high hills were fashioned of the mere rubble and refuse from off the knees of the mountains... Surely the Gods live here. Beaten down by the silence and the appalling sweep of dispersal of the cloud-shadows after rain. This place is no place for men." This was what Rudyard Kipling had said...

-Tehelka Close to 30 percent of forests have been converted to Chir Pine monocultures displacing grazing rights of several communities like the Gaddis and Gujjars. There is no quantitative assessement of the impact of loss on people's lives The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers Act, or Recognition of Forest Rights Act - commonly known as the Forest Rights Act (FRA) was passed by Parliament in 2006 to address historical injustices...