-The Telegraph Radhakamal Mukerjee: an ecological pioneer In 1922, a professor at Lucknow University named Radhakamal Mukerjee published a book called Principles of Comparative Economics. Reading the book one hundred years later, I was struck by the attention it paid to the impact of the natural environment on the social and economic life of Indian villages. Mukerjee was perhaps the first Indian scholar to recognise the vital importance of common property resources...

-Deccan Chronicle Adilabad: When the founding fathers of the Indian republic sat down to write the Constitution, the feature that they gave utmost importance was equality. It was the cornerstone on which the Constitution stands. They wanted each individual to enjoy equality in opportunity as well as treatment. But even 75 years after independence, successive governments failed to make good this constitutional pledge to several sections of people. Women are one of...

-Hindustan Times On Monday, the ministry of housing and urban affairs (MoHUA) held a meeting with stakeholders of these villages to discuss the policy provisions before it is notified. The Centre is in the process of finalising its Green Development Area (GDA) policy to allow planned development, including the permission to construct farmhouses and educational institutions, and conduct commercial activities in 88 greenbelt areas and villages with a large number of farmhouses. The...

-Hindustan Times No part of the village common land can be re-partitioned amongst the proprietors and such land would not be available for sale, the Supreme Court ruled Chandigarh: Thousands of acres of village common land (shamilat deh) in Haryana sold off by shareholders or gram panchayat for monetary gains would get freed with the owners being ousted following a Supreme Court ruling on Thursday. The shamilat deh is reserved and used...

-Down to Earth With sustainable development goals in place, increasing democratisation and connectivity of the world, ecologisation of politics and vice-versa will become the new norm Nobel laureate Wangari Maathai wrote: In a few decades, the relationship between the environment, resources and conflict may  seem so obvious as the connection we see today between human rights, democracy and  peace. Decreasing resource base and the  struggle for control and power leads to politicising ecological issues...