-The Hindu People’s objections, from Chhattisgarh to Odisha, against large development projects have brought out the real power of the Forest Rights Act of 2006. Democracy is alive and kicking in India. No, I am not referring to the Assembly elections. It is unfortunate that the term democracy has been reduced to the drama of periodic elections and the subsequent reliance of the electorate on politicians and bureaucrats. When these powerful few...

-Business Today The elixir of life has been the subject of a dispute of life-threatening proportions between industry and communities. When a life sustaining resource is in short supply, conflicting claims over it are bound to arise. Water conflicts span the gamut of fights, from neighbours in water starved colonies to those between states over river waters. But perhaps the most vital current conflict over water is that between agriculture and industry.   "Around...

-PTI The National Green Tribunal has appointed a local commissioner to inspect the premises of beverages major Coca Cola's Hapur plant in Uttar Pradesh and probe whether it was discharging effluents into a nearby pond. The green panel directed Coca-Cola to pay Rs 20,000 as fees to the court commissioner and asked him to videograph the work done, and file his report. "Considering the gravity of the allegations, made against each other and...

-The Hindu The Centre should step forward and bring both Punjab and Haryana, ruled by the BJP and an ally, to the negotiating table to resolve the crisis over the Sutlej-Yamuna Link canal Contemporary India illustrates the tragic paradox of farmers’ politics: they get divided just when they need to unite the most. The last few years have witnessed a deepening of the agrarian crisis in India. This is the moment when...

-Business Standard Forest Rights Act allows government to divert forest lands for other purposes only after prior consent of the tribals through gram sabhas Forest rights of tribals over their traditional lands in Ghatbarra village of Surguja district have been taken away by the Chhattisgarh government to facilitate coal mining of Prasa East and Kete Besan coal block. The block has been allocated to Rajasthan Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Limited (RVUNL) and Adani Minerals...