A large white tent in the middle of an arid ground in Jind served as the venue for a Sarv Maha Khap Panchayat meeting on Sunday. Organisers who were expecting “thousands of supporters” to join their ranks to announce “threats” aimed at everyone from the government to young couples who choose to marry within the same gotra (sub-caste) were in for a disappointment. By 12 noon, two hours after the...
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Ban same-gotra marriage or pay anna fine: Khaps by Manveer Saini
Pressing ahead with their demand for amendment in the Hindu Marriage Act, the Sarv Khap MahaPanchayat on Sunday resolved to slap a token fine of "ek aana" (currency unit formerly used in India) on MPs and MLAs if they failed to meet its demand by June 19. In a meeting held in Jind, which was attended by around 2,000 representatives of khap Panchayats, they also ruled out establishing any matrimonial...
More »Panchayats in tribal areas to control forest management
Maoists capitalise on mistrust between JFMCs and tribals Move intended to counter Maoist influence over local tribals Panchayats in tribal areas will soon be controlling forest management at the ground level, replacing the control of the Forest Department. At a meeting held earlier this week between Union Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh and Union Minister for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj C.P. Joshi, it was decided to remove Joint...
More »Now, villagers will have legal aid at their doorstep by Dhananjay Mahapatra
For long, villagers have been at the wrong ends of justice being unaware of the functioning of courts and also sent on a merry-go-round while trying to procure a document -- be it a ration card, birth or castecertificate -- from Panchayat or block offices. No more, for the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) is forging ahead with its plan to set up legal aid clinics (LACs) of permanent nature...
More »Biodiversity, development, livelihoods by MS Swaminathan
Biodiversity drives sustainable and climate-resilient farming and the biotechnology industry. Everything should be done to spread bio-literacy for an era of bio-happiness in rural and urban India through the conversion of bio-resources into jobs and income. Biodiversity provides building blocks for sustainable food, health and livelihood security systems. It is the feedstock for the biotechnology industry and a climate-resilient farming system. Given its importance, a Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)...
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