Carbon Copy A freshly passed amendment to the Forest Conservation Act has created a stir among ecologists, parliamentarians and stakeholders. With several contentious provisions, the amendment reveals an afforestation push where rights and justice take a backseat to commercial interests. This week, amidst a raucous monsoon session, the Indian Parliament saw the passage of several consequential pieces of legislation in quick succession. Among them was the contentious amendment to the Forest Conservation...

The Wire The issue of the deaths of 70 children in the Gambia after consuming cough syrup is back in the news again. These deaths were linked to four medicines made by an Indian manufacturer, Maiden Pharmaceuticals. A Gambian presidential task force has now recommended that the government must sue the drug manufacturer, Maiden Pharmaceuticals, and the drug importer, Atlantic Pharmaceuticals.  It also wants the Government of India to be sued. This...

-Newslaundry The Government of India has removed exemptions for journalistic work from data protection obligations in the fourth iteration of the Digital Personal Data Protection Bill 2022. If this iteration is passed as law a story containing personal data may result in journalists having to prove to a data protection board that their story was in the public interest, Newslaundry reported. The three previous versions - in 2018, 2019 and 2021...

-Press released by Christian Aid dated 27 December, 2022 * Study identifies the year’s 10 costliest extreme events influenced by the climate crisis - each caused more than $3 billion in damage. * Report also examines 10 other extreme events that caused massive human and environmental damage, mostly in the poorest countries. * The floods that submerged parts of Pakistan in June displaced 7m people and caused more than $30 billion in estimated...

-Hindustan Times In accordance with a Supreme Court judgment of 2014, compensation of ₹10 lakh each is paid to the families of those who have died while cleaning sewers or septic tanks from the year 1993 onwards. New Delhi: A parliamentary standing committee has expressed disappointment over the delay in release of compensation to the families of 104 people who died while cleaning sewer or septic tanks manually, saying that there appears...