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...

KEY TRENDS   • Oxfam India's 2023 India Supplement report on poverty and inequality in India reveals that the gap between the rich and the poor is widening. Following the pandemic in 2019, the bottom 50 per cent of the population have continued to see their wealth chipped away. By 2020, their income share was estimated to have fallen to only 13 per cent of the national income and have less than 3...

-The Hindu The Housing Ministry had informed Parliament that 66 proposals had been received A Parliamentary panel has asked the government to clarify how many of the 66 proposals received under the Affordable Rental Housing Scheme launched for the urban poor, especially migrant workers, during the COVID-19 pandemic have been approved by their respective local urban bodies. The Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation had informed Parliament that 66 proposals have been...

-The Telegraph A total of 16,71,724 rural families were provided livelihood by connecting them with Sakhi Mandals during the Covid pandemic between 2020 and 2021 Jamshedpur: There has been a five-fold increase in the number of rural families connected to livelihood projects of the Jharkhand government in the last three years of the Hemant Soren-led JMM-Congress-RJD alliance government.  According to data shared by the state public relation department on Tuesday evening, between 2012...

-Down to Earth Funds allocated in July for diesel subsidy haven't reached many farmers yet; irrigation projects needed, say locals The agriculture department of the Bihar government has allocated Rs 100 crore in diesel subsidy October 14, 2022 to help distressed farmers get diesel subsidy.  The plan announced in a public address by the newly appointed agriculture minister of the state, Kumar Sarvajeet, is in line with the state’s action plan to help...