-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...
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Jairam writes to Nitish Kumar on murder of RTI activists
-The Hindu I am sure all efforts are being made, but no arrests have yet been made, said Jairam Patna: Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh has written to Bihar Chief Minister raising concerns over the recent murders of RTI activists in Bihar. Mr. Ramesh said in the letter that his ministry was working on a protocol - that would be applicable for the entire country - for such cases. In two recent incidents,...
More »The responsibility to protect -Anjali Bhardwaj and Shekhar Singh
-The Indian Express A sound whistleblowers' protection law is long awaited. It languishes in Parliament at the system's peril Nandi Singh, a resident of a remote village in Assam, was brutally attacked with axes in September 2012 as a result of a complaint filed by him regarding irregularities in the functioning of fair price shops supplying rations under the public distribution system. He succumbed to his injuries on the way to the...
More »The Mamata Banerjee story is over...-Aditi Phadnis
-The Business Standard A trail of unfulfilled promises follow her in rural and urban Bengal The furious letter-writing since 2010 about the chit fund industry in West Bengal suggests that everyone knew the industry was going to implode. Bengal has one of the highest rates in small savings, Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Somen Mitra wrote to the prime minister in 2011. The state buys the highest number of new life insurance policies, and...
More »Mamata Banerjee under attack for asking people to smoke more
-IANS KOLKATA: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday came in for sharp criticism from within her party and the opposition after she suggested people to "smoke more" to provide compensation to victims of a chit fund scam. "Smoking is bad.. let there be tax on it. But am I responsible for what Sudipta Sen did? Why should I pay more tax on every cigarette I smoke? I haven't fleeced the...
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