-People's Democracy IT seems the Sheila Dixit government of Delhi, backed by powerful elements in the UPA-2 central government, will let nothing stand in the way of water privatisation in the capital. Several earlier attempts going back many years to fully or partially privatise distribution of water, especially the big loan application to the World Bank in 2005, were foiled by vigilant community organisations, public interest groups, trade unions and political...

-The Times of India Environment minister Jayanthi Natarajan has overruled objections from her officials to break the forest bureaucracy's monopoly over the annual Rs 10,000 crore bamboo trade and declared it a 'minor forest produce' instead of a 'tree' under forest laws. This will allow tribals, instead of forest departments, to harvest and auction bamboo, which is one of the major raw materials for the paper, pulp and board industry, from their...

-The Hindu A campaign launched by a community service institution to make selected villages in Bharatpur district of Rajasthan shed the below poverty line (BPL) tag has immensely benefited the poor families in the region and facilitated creation of new employment opportunities, small entrepreneurships and income-generating ventures. The youth and women are especially getting involved in new enterprises in large numbers. Kheria Purohit village in Deeg tehsil of Bharatpur district, where 15...

-IANS Tribals in Chhattisgarh are furious over police moves to ban their traditional weapons in public places, particularly in village haats, or markets. Bastar range inspector general of Police T J Langkumer said the ban was being implemented only in Narayanpur district in a bid to prevent Maoists from attacking security personnel, and they would try to extend it to the Bastar region. Tribal leader B.P.S. Netam warned that the government was playing...

-PTI COIMBATORE: Tamil Nadu government has allocated Rs 1,500 crore for developing green cover in the much neglected Eastern Ghats, Tamil Nadu Agricutural University (TNAU) vice-chancellor K Ramasamy said on Thursday. So far efforts had been on developing Western Ghats, which runs through Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka, and now the Government has allotted Rs.1,500 crore for developing Eastern Ghats, he told reporters here. With East Coast Road on place, the govenrment wanted...