-The Indian Express As activists on both sides argue their case on the SC order on eviction of encroachers whose claims have Been rejected under the FRA, an explanation of key issues: from dwindling forest cover to bogus claims. On February 28, the Supreme Court put on hold its February 13 order directing states to evict tribals and other forest-dwellers whose claims over encroached forest land had Been rejected under the...

-PTI AMRITSAR: Protesting farmers in Punjab called off their agitation on Wednesday after Punjab and Haryana high court asked the state government to look into their demands. The farmers had Been squatting on the rail tracks in Amritsar since March 4 in support of their demands, including full loan waiver, stopping the auction of land and arrest of farmers, and payment for sugarcane crop with 15 per cent interest. A petition seeking the...

-The Indian Express PET bottles imported for processing in SEZs had increased substantially. New Delhi: The government has plugged a loophole that allowed the import of plastic waste into India for processing. “…Solid plastic waste has Been prohibited from import into the country including in Special Economic Zones (SEZ) and by Export Oriented Units (EOU),” the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) said in an order made public on Wednesday. The...

-Newsclick.in It remains to be seen how many political parties pledge to protect the urban poor from eviction and homelessness and work for inclusive ‘Smart Cities’. Over 30 civil society groups consisting of slum dwellers, civil society organisations, women groups, other groups working amongst the urban poor, disabled women groups, street vendors, housing rights activists and so on assembled in Delhi on February 28 to set a new discourse for 2019. This...

-The Hindu Business Line Working from a mud house in a remote Maharashtra village, Rahibai Popere is taking farming back to its roots Pune: Twenty years ago, when her grandson fell ill, Rahibai Popere was convinced vegetables and foodgrains containing ‘poison’ had made the child unhealthy. She asked her son to stop buying vegetables and foodgrains grown using hybrid seeds, chemicals and fertilisers. And then started a journey to conserve and save indigenous...