-Article-14.com An apple tree takes a decade to mature. In Kashmir's Budgam, thousands were cut in 24 hours, as the government—in its rush to evict Muslim tribals from land they have used for generations—held back a protective forest law and ignored a Supreme Court stay. Kanidajen, Budgam: On a cold November morning, Abdul Gani Wagay was home when he heard that men with axes had come to cut his precious apple trees,...
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Will the Right to Information Act Become the Right to Denial of Information Act? -Shailesh Gandhi
-Newsclick.in One of the best transparency laws promulgated by Parliament is now threatened by judicial decisions and interpretations which are not in consonance with the law and would weaken it. If more importance is given to exemptions and widening the Act’s scope, it would be a sad regression for democracy, writes former Central Information Commissioner SHAILESH GANDHI. The Supreme Court of India has consistently held from 1975 to 2005 that the Right...
More »CEA Subramanian asks NSC to make junked consumer spending report public -Somesh Jha
-Business Standard The findings of the report, published by Business Standard in November 2019, showed consumer spending falling for the first time in over four decades in 2017-18. Chief economic advisor (CEA) Krishnamurthy Subramanian has asked the National Statistical Commission (NSC) to make public the 2017-18 consumer spending survey data. “The government had decided to not release the consumer expenditure survey report. But, earlier this year, NSC Chairman Bimal Kumar Roy received a...
More »Neither govt nor protesting farmers recognise challenge of depleting natural resources and climate crisis -Richa Kumar, Nikhit Kumar Agrawal, PS Vijayshankar and AR Vasavi
-The Indian Express If we truly want to ensure the livelihoods of our farmers and provide safe, healthy, nutritious food for our consumers, it is imperative to make policies that go beyond the productivity trope and populist posturing. Proponents of the three new farm laws have claimed that they will engender competition in agricultural markets and will give farmers a choice to sell wherever they like. The opponents of these laws, including...
More »There’s Nothing to Celebrate About Q2 GDP Estimates -Prabhat Patmaik
-Newsclick.in The statistics are dubious because there is a substantial increase in GDP under the head “discrepancies”, which is synonymous with errors and omissions. It is ironic that government spokespersons should exhibit so much euphoria over the second quarter (July-September) gross domestic product (GDP) estimate, which shows a drop “only” of 7.5% compared with the second quarter 2019-20. The expectation had been that the drop would be larger, about 8 to 9%;...
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