-The Times of India JAIPUR: A local RTI activist has accused the Ashok Gehlot government of favouring a firm in allotting tender for the Kalisindh Dam project in Jhalawar district. The activist has demanded a CBI probe into the matter and said that he will also file a public interest litigation in this regard. Ashok Pathak, the activist, addressing a press conference on Sunday said that the tender issued by the Vasundhara...

-The Hindu   Ranbaxy's fraudulent practices may have jeopardised millions of lives in India, Africa and the U.S. Exactly two weeks ago, the pharmaceuticals industry was rocked by revelations that one of the world's largest generic drug manufacturers, Ranbaxy Laboratories, pleaded guilty to seven federal criminal charges stemming from its fraudulent production practices dating back to 2008, and agreed to pay U.S. regulators $500 million in fines. Much has since been said about Ranbaxy's...

-The Telegraph A village awaits doomsday By Jaideep Hardikar, Penguin, Rs 299 Why is the year, 2011, important? It is important for some states like West Bengal and Tamil Nadu, for it marked a change of government. But it is important, nationally, for the reason that 2011 was a census year. The data for Census 2011 has come, recently, into the public domain - which shows that our farmer population is shrinking....

-The Hindu New York: Dayamani Barla was presented with the first ever Ellen L. Lutz Indigenous Rights Award by Cultural Survival, an indigenous peoples' rights organisation The Big Apple is renowned as the home of investment banks, glitzy fashion shows and other 21st-century tributes to prodigious wealth accumulation. But on Thursday it played host to a powerful symbol of Indian adivasis' struggle against oppression, Jharkhand activist and journalist Dayamani Barla. On a rainy...

-Tehelka Close to 30 percent of forests have been converted to Chir Pine monocultures displacing grazing rights of several communities like the Gaddis and Gujjars. There is no quantitative assessement of the impact of loss on people's lives The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers Act, or Recognition of Forest Rights Act - commonly known as the Forest Rights Act (FRA) was passed by Parliament in 2006 to address historical injustices...