-Business Standard Integrates climate change concerns and promotes private investment and role in forestry The NDA government has made public its draft National Forest Policy to replace the one that was crafted in 1988. Incorporating consequences of climate change but entirely ignoring one of the three forest related laws, the Forest Rights Act, the policy brings new focus to plantations, growing trees outside the forest lands  and wood industry. While the policy continues...

-The Hindu The object of the amended provisions is to speed up the process of dispensation of justice, liberalise and expedite access to relief for victims of atrocities. Four months after Parliament amended the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act of 1989 to tighten provisions to ensure speedier justice to SCs and STs, the Social Justice and Empowerment Ministry notified the Rules to give effect to the changes...

-TheHansIndia.com The ongoing drought is fuelling distress migration from districts in Telangana, a trend that was witnessed in the early 2000s. The severe drought conditions for the second consecutive year have led to crop failure, mounting debts, chronic unemployment and failure of the NREGA scheme, especially in the districts of Mahbubnagar, Medak, and Adilabad, forcing large-scale exodus of farmers and others.   The fruits of a people’s movement and the world’s largest anti-poverty...

-The Hindu Jaipur: It’s been over a year since minimum qualifications for contesting local body polls were made mandatory in Rajasthan. Though the law did give a chance to the educated youth to replace seasoned local leaders, it has also barred a major section of the rural population from contesting the polls. In December 2014, Rajasthan Promulgated the ordinance, which became the Rajasthan Panchayati Raj (Second Amendment) Act, 2015 on April 1...

-The Times of India CHANDIGARH: After fixing minimum educational qualification of Class X for candidates contesting panchayat polls, Haryana will now make class XII mandatory for aspirants to urban local body elections. The Supreme Court on December 10 had upheld Haryana government's earlier decision to mandate class X for panchayat polls, saying illiterates can be barred from contesting. The Haryana advocate general's office has suggested that qualification for people contesting various municipal...