-The Telegraph   The Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS), which is fighting against big Dams, today asked outsiders engaged in the construction of the NHPC Dam at Gerukamukh to leave the region immediately, warning that goons might attack them taking advantage of the ongoing protest. “I appeal to all the workers at the NHPC site in Lower Subansiri to stop working for the construction company and help in the fight against big Dams....

-The Telegraph   It was a stormy homecoming for chief minister Tarun Gogoi with members of the All Assam Students’ Union waving black flags and Opposition parties raising the pitch against the Indo-Bangla land-swap deal. From the AASU to former chief minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta to the All India United Democratic Front, everyone went after the three-time chief minister for having allegedly sold out the interests of Assam vis-à-vis the land deal as...

Have you heard of the Yangtze River Dolphin? For the longest time, it used to be found along 1,700 kilometres of the middle and lower reaches of the mighty Chinese river. The Baiji, as it is known, was white finned, a little over two metres long, had poor eyesight and relied mainly on sonar for navigation. A few decades ago, as populations along the river grew, as shipping traffic rose,...

The Gandhian movement Ekta Parishad plans to organise a march for land rights in October 2012 in India, aiming to gather around 100,000 indigenous people, dalits and poor peasants. Support is shaping up around the world, at events such as an international mobilisation conference in Geneva Sep. 12-13. "In India, a large number of adivasi (indigenous people) are pushed out of their land because of mining, huge Dams, wildlife protection, industrialisation...

The foreword — to the Draft National Land Acquisition and Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill 2011 — that says “urbanisation is inevitable” (I.p.1) signifies danger. The Bill, if enacted in its present form, is likely to worsen, and not stop, displacement of tribal, Dalit and other backward communities. The Bill states: “The issue of who acquires land is less important than the process of land acquisition, compensation for land acquired and...