70-lakh people will get security of dwelling, marine resources Draft text of Bill posted on Environment Ministry website Minister proposes eco-restoration-cum-conservation project at salt memorial The Fisherfolks Rights Bill, guaranteeing traditional marine rights, is on the anvil, Union Minister for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh said on Sunday. Conceived on the lines of the Forest Rights Act that guarantees traditional user rights and land rights to tribals, Adivasis and forest dwellers, this Bill would...

It has been the most contentious of UPA's flagship schemes for the aam admi. The government has never been sure if it wants the Forest Rights Act to really work, and Congress can't make up its mind on whether it will gain anything from the act meant to return forestlands taken away illegally from tribals and others by the government. It has been a handy tool to make some pro-tribal...

If it was the inability to resettle 450 families that sealed the fate for Korean steelmaker Posco in Orissa, the failure to give jobs to another 500 families in and around the Vedanta project in Niyamgiri put paid to the aluminium major’s plans, said National Advisory Committee member NC Saxena, who wrote the report that resulted in cancellation of Vedanta’s project. On being asked about the contradictions between development and growth,...

The Andhra Pradesh government has begun consultations with all political parties to find a solution to the farmers’ crisis, the issue on which former Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has been continuing an indefinite hunger—strike for the last one week. An all party meeting, chaired by Chief Minister Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy began here, to resolve the crisis that erupted after farmers lost their crops in the recent rains. Mr....

CPI(M) will organise a two-day state level adivasi conference at Malbazar in Jalpaiguri district from December 28. But adivasis under the aegis of Adivasi Vikas Parishad have given a call for a 2-day bandh coinciding with the conference. John Berla, president of Adivasi Vikas Parishad, told newsmen here yesterday that the CPI(M) had not given attention to the plight of tea garden labourers, distribution of patta to tribals, proving education facilities in...