As the joint drafting committee begins work on the Lokpal Bill, its civil society members face challenges from various quarters. AS the leader of the five-member civil society group within the 10-member joint drafting committee to prepare the new Lokpal Bill, Anna Hazare finds himself in an unenviable position. After his successful agitation for equal participation for civil society in the legislative exercise to create the first Lokpal at the Centre,...

The Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Vikas Parishad today “took back” land that was being used by a Siliguri-based planter as a small tea garden for the past five years, alleging that he had duped the Adivasi owners. The Jalpaiguri administration has termed the “takeover” illegal. “Who gave them the rights or the responsibility of reclaiming tribal land? There is an administration and government procedure for everything. They should have come to us...

The Supreme Court hopes the intractable land disputes of Singur and Nandigram will get resolved after the Bengal elections. “Wait until the elections,” Justices R.V. Raveendran and A.K. Patnaik said today, giving a July hearing date on a slew of petitions demanding the land acquired for the Tata Motors plant in Singur be returned to farmers. “We may not have the problem then (after the elections),” Justice Raveendran, the senior judge on...

The Rs 54,000 crore Posco integrated steel plant got the final clearance from Union environment and forests ministry on Monday. Jairam Ramesh gave the nod for the pending forest clearance to the state government, paving the way for the Korean steel giant to acquire the forest land required for the project. In January, Ramesh had put one last condition before the state government to acquire the forest land. He had asked...

Union Minister for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh has granted the final forest clearance to Posco's Rs.54,000-crore integrated steel plant in Orissa, even while urging action against the sarpanch of one of the villages protesting against the project. Last month, Mr. Ramesh offered some hope to the protesting people of Dhinkia and Gobindapur by taking note of the resolutions passed by their village councils alleging that the Orissa government had failed...