-Down to Earth The ‘real owner’ of forest land is still the forest department. Such brazen violation of the law betrays a systematic attempt to implement FRA, reducing it to a symbol rather than a tool of empowerment The Dangs, the smallest district in Gujarat, is a thickly forested and tribal-dominated region that has been away from the ‘developmental’ paradigm till today. Some 77.5 per cent of its area is under forest cover,...

-Newsclick.in The MSP system has long been the central topic of discussion in agricultural reforms. The MSP system has long been the central topic of discussion in agricultural reforms. Demystifying its pros and cons, PROF M S SRIRAM writes on what we can learn and do to make MSP an effective mechanism that empowers farmers. ARGUMENTS against a statutory minimum support price (MSP) have hovered around the following lines: The MSP benefits only a...

-PTI/ The New Indian Express The analysis includes dam decommissioning or ageing case studies from the USA, France, Canada, India, Japan, and Zambia and Zimbabwe. NEW YORK: Over a thousand large dams in India will be roughly 50 years old in 2025 and such aging embankments across the world pose a growing threat, according to a UN report which notes that by 2050, most people on Earth will live downstream of tens...

-Hindustan Times Among the major concerns of the gram sabhas with the proposed acquisition of the forest land is that it is being done without their consent and even before the land is diverted under the provisions of the forest conservation act Ten gram sabhas from Chhattisgarh’s Korba district, mainly consisting of people from the Gond tribe, have raised objections to Centre’s intention to acquire 712.072 hectares (ha) of land for mining...

-Down to Earth Improved access to new markets, better yields and higher income need to safeguard Environmental sustainability and farmers’ indebtedness The ongoing agitation by farmers on the borders of Delhi provides an opportunity to flag concerns about various aspects in the agriculture sector, including the Environment, society, economy, food security and risk coverage for farmers. Several commentators have already spoken about the 2020 farm laws, supported by statistics, and experience. Many of...