-Down to Earth With sustainable development goals in place, increasing democratisation and connectivity of the world, ecologisation of politics and vice-versa will become the new norm Nobel laureate Wangari Maathai wrote: In a few decades, the relationship between the environment, resources and conflict may  seem so obvious as the connection we see today between human rights, democracy and  peace. Decreasing resource base and the  struggle for control and power leads to politicising ecological issues...

-Countercurrents.org The Right to Information (Amendment) Act, 2019 was passed by both the houses of parliament in July 2019. The opposition parties had been arguing against the proposed changes in the Right to Information Act of 2005 through this amendment. The Right to Information Act, 2005 (RTI Act, 2005) came in existence after a long movement against transparency and accountability in governance. It enabled all citizens of India the right to...

-The Hindu Ensure that the grievances are redressed at the initial level itself, says Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot Jaiipur: Amid the demand for an early tabling of the Transparency and Social Accountability Bill in the Assembly, the Congress government in Rajasthan has decided to strengthen the public hearing system in the village panchayats for a prompt redressal of grievances. Activists have been staging an indefinite “jawabdehi dharna” on the issue at the...

-The Telegraph Rajasthan chief minister has shown the way to other states on how to take pro-people decisions: Ajay Maken Days after the Ashok Gehlot government restored the old pension scheme in Rajasthan, the Congress on Friday demanded this for the entire country. Fulfilling a long-standing demand, Gehlot announced in the budget placed on Wednesday that the old pension scheme was being restored for employees appointed on and after January 1, 2004. The...

-Down to Earth blog Women workers in garment industry share stories of gender discrimination, insensitive treatment and government apathy  The garment industry has long been under the microscope for flouting labour codes, breaking environmental norms, violating human rights, pay structures and much more. The women garment workers who attended an orientation workshop at a hotel on Delhi-Gurugram road October 2021, headed by Society for Labour and Development (SLD), know about these flaws. In...