Groups from across India gathered in Delhi recently to assess the Forest Rights Act’s journey since 2006. The law is often dubbed as ‘landmark’ because it ended the age-old illegality surrounding communities living in forest areas by entitling them to individual and community land title. It also went beyond the colonial paradigms of the forest bureaucracy to recognise community efforts at protecting and preserving forests. Numerous groups and individuals working...

-The Hindu   "To the women of India - we have a collective responsibility to ensure the dignity and safety of women. Recent incidents have cast a long dark shadow on our credentials. As more women enter public spaces...there are more reports of violence against them. We stand in solidarity with our girl children. We pledge to everything possible to keep them swcure. A number of measures are in the works...

-The Guardian The government's decision to allow major infrastructure projects to go ahead without obtaining consent for forest clearance paves the way for the violation of village land rights, say rights groups Land and tribal rights in India have been dealt a new blow after the government announced last week that major infrastructure projects will be exempt from obtaining consent for forest clearance from tribal communities living in the forest, a decision...

-The Hindu ‘State nod enough for diversion of forest land unless it significantly affects quality of life of displaced persons’ In a major turnaround in its stand on the Vedanta case, the government on Thursday told the Supreme Court that Gram Sabha consent was not required for diversion of forest land, barring in exceptional cases. In an affidavit submitted in the court, the government — the Ministries of Tribal Affairs and Environment and...

-The Business Standard Indian plantations bloom in Ethiopia at the cost of the livelihoods and homes of the tribals If there is “blood diamond”, there is also such a thing as “blood maize”, “blood soya” and “blood pulses”. These come all the way from plantations in Ethiopia and other countries with repressive regimes. India, which claims to shun blood diamonds coming from African mines that use slave labour, is enthusiastically backing exploitation of...