-TheWire.in To oppose the forest department’s plan to limit open grazing, the pastoral community is formally pursuing their collective land rights through the Forest Rights Act. The sun has not yet decided to rise. It’s pitch black out but a group of Maldharis has already assembled for the last session of this year’s milking competition. Their massive buffalos are majestically adorned with intricate garlands and colourful necklaces. The panch (group of five...

-Down to Earth A high level UN panel on Access to Medicines wants members to make full use of TRIPS flexibilities to protect public health If ever India needed a clear endorsement of its laws on intellectual property rights (IPRs) and their application in meeting public health priorities, it has come from the highest quarters. The report of the UN Secretary General’s High Level Panel (HLP) on Access to Medicines has, directly...

The National Foundation for India invites application for its National Media Awards Programme, 2017. The award is intended for young, mid-career journalists and will allow them to publish and Research articles / photo-essays on issues of national concern, which though important, do not receive adequate media attention. The award supports the pursuit of in-depth, creative field Research on these concerns and writing about them with adequate evidence. Under the programme, ten...

-The Hindu Centre for Politics and Public Policy Prime Minister Narendra Modi's announcement demonetising high denomination notes on November 8, 2016, will do little to address the prime objective of flushing out black money but will adversely affect the economy in the short term, especially the informal sector, which is predominant in India, says M. Govinda Rao, a Member of the Fourteenth Finance Commission and Emeritus Professor, National Institute of Public...

-The Indian Express It could be “several months” before RBI is able to plug the Rs 14.18 lakh crore hole left behind by the withdrawal of the 2,203 crore pieces of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes, as per the estimates. New Delhi: As the country struggles to cope with a desperate shortage of currency, new notes worth only Rs 1.5 lakh crore have come into circulation so far, says a November...