-TheWeek.in Noted ecologist Madhav Gadgil blames the “law-flouting” state government for the devastation in Kerala. The Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP), headed by Gadgil in 2011, had suggested measures to preserve the ecologically frail Ghats. But, the Kerala government, like the other five states, chose to reject the report. Having suffered such devastation, Gadgil feels that the state should survey the “ecologically sensitive zones” that have been compromised due to...

-Scroll.in Raghav Chandra, secretary of the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes, says displaced Adivasis should not only be compensated with money but land as well. The National Commission for Scheduled Tribes has been quite proactive in the last few months. It has prevailed upon the central government to withdraw orders that it thought “diluted” tribal rights, asked states to return “unfairly acquired tribal lands”, and reminded governors of their powers to...

-TheNewsMinute.com They enrolled for the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana in 2016-17, but allege they have not yet received payments. Around 300 farmers in Bidar threatened to take their own lives, claiming they have not been paid crop insurance for the last two years. The farmers gathered at the Gram panchayat office in Kosam demanding the payment of crop insurance, which was supposed to be paid to them as part of the...

-The Indian Express The mahapanchayat demanded that relatives of the deceased not be harassed by police in the name of investigation, and that the government work towards promoting a message of peace in the area by taking steps such as organising a “sadbhavana yatra”. Gurgaon: Over a week after 31-year-old Rakbar Khan alias Akbar was beaten to death in Alwar by a mob that suspected he was smuggling cows, a mahapanchayat was...

-Hindustan Times In India, it’s difficult to find accurate estimates of campaign spending. Research also shows that illicit funds are important in funding elections in the country. Despite constant chatter about the massive (and rising) costs of election campaigns in India, there is a dearth of credible data on the actual costs, the sources of support for candidates, and the implications of campaign costs on governance between elections. However, newly available survey data...