-Down to Earth   UN agency's latest state of the forests report says poverty alleviation and rural employment should be the ulterior driving force in amending old forest policies Recognising the role of forests in providing livelihood to people, UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has asked nations to formulate people-centric forest policies. "It is time for forestry to shift perspective from trees to people," says FAO's annual "The State of the World's...

-The Business Standard     Foreign direct investment in the NGO sector is, in fact, no different from the cross-holdings and the FDI web of the corporate world  ClimateWorks, one of the two international non-governmental organisations (NGOs) recently restricted by the National Democratic Alliance government from funding Greenpeace India Society in India, also funds another NGO, Global International, which, till recently, was headed in India by Union Environment and Forests minister Prakash Javadekar. When...

-Press Information Bureau   Mr. Peter Kenmore, FAO Representative in India called on the Agriculture Minister Shri Radha Mohan Singh here today to apprise him of the work done by FAO globally, and in India towards ensuring food security, price stability, family farming and responsible agriculture especially in the context of challenges on account of climate change. Mr Kenmore also discussed the international programmes and interventions of FAO, especially in locust control,...

-The Hindu   Although meant to function as watchdogs, human rights institutions in India are treated as subordinate departments with scant regard for their autonomy or statutory character A change in the occupancy of 7, Race Course Road, is spelling change in the composition of statutory bodies in India. With the Governors of various States, the office-bearers of the National Disaster Management Authority and the Chairperson of the National Commission for Protection of...

-The Business Standard   Assessment note says panel acts as control commission, especially in fund allocations to states An assessment of the Planning Commission by the Independent Evaluation Office has found the panel exceeds the scope of its authority by acting as a "control commission", particularly with regard to the allocation of funds to state governments. This is despite the fact that the commission was set up as a recommending body, through a...