Environment minister Jairam Ramesh tied himself in knots on Monday to defend the guidelines his ministry had issues on turning national parks and sanctuaries into inviolate critical wildlife habitats, bypassing provisions of the Forest Rights Act. Even as his statement contradicted the guidelines issued by the environment ministry on February 8, Ramesh defended them claiming that `news reports' against the fresh set of rules were `misleading'. TOI had reported how the...
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Won't give an inch of land, say anti-Posco activists
Activists opposed to the Posco project in Orissa have decided not to give "an inch of land" for the mega steel venture, even as the BJD government was gearing to start land acquisition over the next two weeks. Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti (PPSS) Chairman Abhaya Sahu said that anti-Posco movement was passing through a very "critical stage" after Union Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh gave clearance for the project. "We have been fighting...
More »Arbitrary detention, torture of terrorism suspects in India: HRW by Dharitri Bhattacharjee
"When I asked my son if he was tortured, he said, 'They were hardly going to treat me with love...They used to make us memorize the police version of the case. We were not allowed to sleep until we could recite that version.' " These words by Nisar Ahmed are an excerpt from the106-page report released yesterday, by Human Right Watch titled, "The 'Anti-Nationals': Arbitrary Detention and Torture of Terrorism...
More »An aam aadmi sarkar fights the poor by Vidya Subrahmaniam
It is tragic that the same government that gives huge corporate concessions and loses money in corruption is fighting over minimum wages. As India's — and by some reckoning the world's — largest rights-based rural safety net programme completes five years, here is a reality check. The National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) has become the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS). But in a monumental affront to the...
More »Government's commitment to food security questioned by Gargi Parsai
Right to Food Campaign demands a universal PDS “It is a dishonest proposal of the government” The Right of Food Campaign has charged the Central government with lack of commitment in providing food and nutrition security to citizens with its reported decision to revise the issue prices of wheat and rice for the Above Poverty Line (APL) category of beneficiaries in the Public Distribution System (PDS). “This is the first step to finish...
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