THE Union government is reviewing its landmark initiative, the Forest Rights Act, four years after enacting it. The aim is to find how to strengthen the law which was legislated to ensure the traditional rights of 100 million forest dwelling people in the country. Two high-level groups submitted their assessment in the first week of January. But it seems the Union ministry of environment and forests has made up its mind...

Condition of six serious; they wanted government intervention to help stabilise the price of red gram In a bizarre turn of events, 12 agitating farmers in Karnataka attempted suicide in a tahsildar's office on Friday by consuming pesticide and reports said that the condition of six of them was serious. The farmers of Jewargi town, belonging to the Gulbarga District Raita Raitha Horata Samiti, had been on agitation for the past...

No major investment in dam projects before land acquisition, relief and rehabilitation sorted out Project should be cleared only after distribution network is provided For years, it has been felt that engineers of the Irrigation and Water Resources Departments are far removed from human considerations while planning and executing a project. This is why concerns at displacement and rehabilitation of project-affected people and farmers for whom the water is meant are not...

It's the land of freedom, of bright lights and burgers, where daring entrepreneurs arrive from across the planet in search of fame and fortune. The United States of America - the world's melting pot - has been a symbol of hope for centuries, but behind this vision of wealth and wonder is a tale often untold. Food security, lack of water rights and unemployment might sound like the type of problems...

During protests against the WTO (World Trade Organization) meetings in Cancún, Mexico in September 2003, Lee Kyung Hae, a South Korean farmer and La Via Campesina member, martyred himself by plunging a knife into his heart while standing atop the barricades at Kilometer Zero. Around his neck was a sign that read, "WTO Kills Farmers." At that time, activists around the world were rallying under the umbrella of the global justice...