-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...

-The Times of India SHIMLA: With their protests having failed to impact power corridors of the state, tribals in Lahaul-Spiti, who are opposing the 400MW Seli hydro project on Chenab river, have now decided that no villager would rent their houses to project officials, and they will be barred from entering their villages. The protesters have called for a bandh in the tribal district on June 5. They said that felling...

-The Times of India AHMEDABAD: It was Rajkumar Pandian's day out. The suspended IPS officer who has been arrested in two of the most sensitive fake encounters of Gujarat - Sohrabuddin Sheikh and Tulsiram Prajapati - was allowed to go home without any police escorts on Sunday night. This NOCturnal jaunt was caught on camera by a local news TV channel on Sunday. Before going home, he even spent some time...

-The Hindu   The government does it purely on the strength of a certificate issued by the district administration Even as the recent affidavit submitted by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) before the Supreme Court in the Vedanta case has caused dismay among tribal communities and activists for the dilution of its stand on diverting forest lands of tribal communities, the Ministry has gone a step further and allowed diversion...

-The Times of India MARGAO: Locals who have been regularly attending gram sabhas of Cavelossim panchayat criticized the panchayat body both past and present for its inaction in implementing gram sabha resolutions causing heavy loss of revenue to the panchayat. The gram sabha members even pointed out that the recently held gram sabha last Sunday should have been held in the month of October as per provisions of law and after much...