-The Economic Times AHMEDABAD: Gujarat's capital - Gandhinagar - could well be India's tree capital. The latest figures of a census conducted by the state government show that 53.9% of its 5,700-hectare area is covered with trees. Effectively, there are 416 trees for every 100 people in the city. This is more than any other city in the country. The census was conducted by the social Forestry department along with various municipal...

-The Times of India India's official unemployment rate was 3.8% for the last year and higher for urban than rural areas according to statistics released by the Labour Bureau on Tuesday. Goa, Kerala Bihar and West Bengal were among the states with high unemployment while Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Punjab were among the states with low unemployment. The 'Second Annual Employment and Unemployment Survey 2011-12', conducted by the Union Ministry of Labour...

Model community Forestry initiatives in Orissa are defying Forest Department efforts to control and exploit the region’s forests. ‘Heaven is a forest of miles and miles of Mohua trees / And hell is a forest of miles and miles of Mohua trees with a forest guard in it!’ Thus goes a song of the Muria Adivasis in the forests of Bastar in central India. Encapsulated in this simple expression, however, is...

-The Economic Times The Centre's efforts to ensure economic empowerment of tribals in forest areas received a fillip with the Maharashtra government's order to bring all joint forest management committees under the control of gram sabhas.  The state government resolution transferred all rights of minor forest produce and major timber to the gram sabha-elected joint forest management committees. Despite legal guarantees, many gram sabhas (village assemblies) are unable to have a final...

-The Economic Times A rehabilitation proposal to address displaced population and sort out environmental issues at eight iron ore mines in Karnataka has been prepared and submitted to a Supreme Court panel, giving hope to steel companies that production in these mines, shuttered since last year, will resume soon.  According to norms, the rehabilitation proposal, typically called the Resettlement & Rehabilitation (R&R) plan, has to be approved by the apex court's Centrally...