-Survival International Anthropologist Dr. Felix Padel works with the tribes of Odisha in eastern India, including the Dongria Kondh, for whom Survival International has campaigned for 10 years. Felix is the great great grandson of Charles Darwin and lives in a remote village in Odisha. In this interview, he talks to Survival about the Dongria Kondh's relationship to their mountains, their heroic struggle against Vedanta, Darwin's evolution theory and the experience...

-The Hindu On the day that Veerappa Moily took over reins, the Environment Ministry eased environmental clearance norms for select industries, including brick kiln owners and river sand miners. On December 24, the Ministry took a decision to exempt a slew of different types of industrial and mining projects from either providing environmental impact assessment reports or holding Public Hearings when they are approved by the state government. Categorising these set of...

-PTI Taking cognisance of reports on destruction of files by officials, CIC today issued summons to Delhi Chief Secretary to present their inquiry report into the alleged incident before it and barred destruction of any record held by any GNCT department till further orders. Information Commissioner M Sridhar Acharyulu also directed the Chief Secretary D M Spolia to initiate criminal action against officials, who were found to be involved in the destructions...

-The Telegraph Nagpur: The Maharashtra government has given a slew of private companies permission to conduct field trials of genetically modified crops at state agriculture universities' farms, rejecting its dissenting agriculture minister's suggestion for a public debate first. Before this, no Indian state had allowed field trials of GM crops since October last year, when a Supreme Court-appointed expert panel recommended a 10-year moratorium on such trials - though the court has...

-The Indian Express Asserting its supremacy over the executive, the Supreme Court Tuesday ruled that the Centre's approval was not required to investigate officers of Joint Secretary level and above when a constitutional court monitors the probe. In what it described as "substitution of a forum - from a minister to a constitutional court," a Bench led by Justice R M Lodha said the necessity of prior sanction under Section 6A of...