Question hour in the Rajya Sabha ended five minutes before time Thursday following noisy scenes when a Congress MP alleged a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader in Gujarat was involved in the killing of RTI activist Amit Jethva. Asking supplementaries on a question on the Right to Information (RTI), Congress MP from Gujarat Alka Balram Kshatriya alleged that a nephew of the BJP MP from Junagadh was involved in the killing...

The promise of the FRA remains largely unfulfilled, says a committee set up by the Ministries of Environment and Forests and Tribal Affairs. IT seems hard for a government used to controlling most of India's common lands to let go of them. Even though it has passed a law mandating more decentralised governance of forests, the government itself is proving to be the biggest obstacle in its implementation. Other than in...

The city crime branch on Friday filed a voluminous supplementary chargesheet in the RTI activist Amit Jethava murder case. The report was filed after the arrest of the sixth accused Shailesh Pandya, who is a sharpshooter. One Bahadursinh Rathod, who is believed to have helped the accused persons in carrying out Illegal Mining activities in the prohibited Gir sanctuary, has been shown as an absconder in the chargesheet. The investigating agency...

India’s rulers have found a new vocation – maligning environmentalists and questioning the very idea of regulating industry for pollution. Thus, faced with criticism of Lavasa, an artificial gated city of the super-rich near Pune, in which his family has invested crores, Agriculture Minister, Sharad Pawar, lashed out at well-known activist Medha Patkar and other “vested interests” for obstructing this “pioneering” project. Lavasa’s promoters built the project without seeking environmental clearance...

At least 10 RTI applicants have been killed over the past two years, with many others facing threats in their bid to expose corruption On a Republic Day when India celebrated 61 years of justice, equality and liberty, Amar Nath Pandey says he encountered the darkest moment of his life. In late evening on 26 January, a lone assailant leaped from the folds of darkness in the street outside his house in...