-Deccan Herald There is a fresh threat to the country's Green cover from a new definition of forests being considered by the Centre. Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar has said that the new definition will cover notified forests and those with good tree cover. But it may leave out a good part of what is now considered as forests. In fact, there is no clear definition of forests even now in...
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Sick policies, starving farmers -Amit Bhardwaj
-Tehelka Agrarian policies are proving to be an albatross around the neck of ordinary farmers Amon Singh Kevat, 70, a small farmer in Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh, spent three long days in April waiting for his harvest to be picked up from an open plot that served as a mandi (procurement centre for agricultural produce). In need of money for a marriage in the family, Kevat didn’t even go home for meals. But...
More »Watch What Happens When Tribal Women Manage India’s Forests -Manipadma Jena
-IPS News NAYAGARH (IPS): Kama Pradhan, a 35-year-old tribal woman, her eyes intent on the glowing screen of a hand-held GPS device, moves quickly between the trees. Ahead of her, a group of men hastens to clear away the brambles from stone pillars that stand at scattered intervals throughout this dense forest in the Nayagarh district of India’s eastern Odisha state. The heavy stone markers, laid down by the British 150 years...
More »Himachal: 100-workday condition relaxed for roadside plantation under NREGA -Saurabh Chauhan
-Hindustan Times Shimla: After the Union government’s nod, maximum 100-workday condition under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) has been relaxed for roadside tree plantation activities in Himachal Pradesh. Under the NREGA, 100 days employment guarantee is ensured across the country. However, the Centre approved the state’s proposal to induct the roadside plantation activity under the NREGA and to remove the condition of 100 days. Now, not only tree plantation but protection...
More »Aravali not a forest, says Haryana order -Dipak K Dash
-The Times of India NEW DELHI: In a fresh threat to the fragile ecosystem of the Aravalis, the Haryana forest department has reversed its earlier order and asked officials not to designate lands in the range as forests, other than those formally recorded as such. The order implies that vast tracts of forests, including most parts of the sacred Mangarbani grove, would now be recorded as 'not forest'. This reverses the department's...
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