Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was chosen CNN-IBN Indian of the Year Veteran agricultural scientist M. S. Swaminathan has been conferred the CNN-IBN Indian of the Year 2010 Lifetime Achievement Award for his “outstanding leadership in the field of agriculture that has contributed to ensuring food security for millions of Indians.” Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee presented the award to Dr. Swaminathan at a function here. Dr. Swaminathan, a statement from...

70-lakh people will get security of dwelling, marine resources Draft text of Bill posted on Environment Ministry website Minister proposes eco-restoration-cum-conservation project at salt memorial The Fisherfolks Rights Bill, guaranteeing traditional marine rights, is on the anvil, Union Minister for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh said on Sunday. Conceived on the lines of the Forest Rights Act that guarantees traditional user rights and land rights to tribals, Adivasis and forest dwellers, this Bill would...

It has been a challenge guiding the Editors Guild of India over two years, in what are difficult times for the Indian media. Two years ago, when I was asked to become the President of the Editors Guild of India, I did so with some trepidation. The Guild had a formidable reputation of having been at the forefront of editorial integrity and independence. Set up in the Emergency years, it emerged...

Nearly 2,000 Adivasis and activists demanding forest rights in Nandurbar are under arrest since December 14 in various jails in Maharashtra, but their crime was not that they protested in support of their demands. “When we asked for some corrections in the written reply to our demands, the Collector objected and said we were not withdrawing our agitation. Finally our demand that the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the SIMI [Students Islamic...

Rajan Ghate, Goa's one-man-army against the illegal purchase of land by foreigners, is one among five Indian citizens to be awarded the National RTI Awards 2010 by the National RTI Secretariat, Uttar Pradesh. The awards ceremony will be held in January 2011. During his days as the state president of the Nationalist Youth Congress from September 2005 to October 2010, Ghate single-handedly agitated against the illegal purchase of land in...