A Bill that seeks to amend the existing law governing exploration and production of oil and gas as well as delink petroleum operations from mining operations was passed by the Lok Sabha on Wednesday (March 12, 2025). The Oilfields (Regulation and Development) Amendment Bill, 2024, is aimed at boosting investment …
In a major climb down for the ministry of environment and forests (MoEF), the ministry has agreed to discuss the coal projects on a case-by-case basis. The issue came up for discussion at the meeting of the Group of Ministers (GoM), headed by the finance minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, which …
Ending months of uncertainty over the fate of around 150 stranded coal projects, a Group of Ministers on Tuesday finally recommended against the ‘go, no-go’ system — devised by the ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) for mining in coal bearing areas. Instead, the GoM has asked for fresh demarcation …
“MGNREGS should move from relief work mode to one that blends natural resources and labour” to build productive assets The Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council (NAC), which went into hibernation in the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson's absence, has been reactivated. On September 14, it despatched its recommendations on strengthening …
The JFM programme faces existential crisis. On the one hand, pieces of legislation like the Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006, and the Panchayat Extension to Scheduled Areas (PESA) Act, 1996, have come into existence, giving rights to tribals and forest dwellers over forest resources and their management. On the other …
MONTHS before its expected date of becoming operational, the Koodankulam nuclear power plant in Tamil Nadu’s Tirunelveli district has earned the ire of people living nearby. On August 15, three gram sabhas passed resolutions asking for its closure. About 60,000 people live within 10 km of the 2,000 MW plant, …
The growth of militant left radicalism, known as the Naxalite movement in official documents and civil society discussions, has acquired considerable prominence in the public policy discourse, media coverage and interaction with social scientists. The subject has also been deliberated upon in seminars across the country. The Government policy to …
The fresh cool forest breeze and the greenery appears to act as a magic wand on the residents of village Ghati. Middle-aged men and women who just a few minutes ago had been involved in hard-core legal talk suddenly speak like children. Forty-something Gyaneshwar Sahare, who had been pouring forth …
Gadchiroli in Maharashtra may have acquired the model district status for clearing a record number of community forest rights (CFR) claims, but its 298 villages are angry with the forest department for stripping them of the basic right to manage forest produce. http://www.downtoearth.org.in/content/forest-department-s-cheat-act
GADCHIROLI in Maharashtra may have acquired the model district status for clearing a record number of community forest rights (CFR) claims, but its 298 villages are angry with the forest department for stripping them of the basic right to manage forest produce. The department has also burdened them with conditions, …
Proposal unacceptable as it is against Forest Conservation Act: Minister at GoM meet The meeting of group of ministers on “go-no go areas”, or environmental issues relating to mining, saw Environment Minister Jayanthi Natarajan rejecting the dilution of forest clearance process suggested by the BK Chaturvedi panel. The Chaturvedi committee …
There have been problems with the implementation of the Forest Rights Act, a landmark legislation of the UPA-I government. The problems have been to a great extent on account of discrepancy in rules. By nature, rules are supposed to supplement and complement the law. I will resolve these discrepancies. For …
The Khandadhar waterfalls is a favourite picnic destination of many college students in Odisha. But it may soon be a pleasure of the past. The falls spring out from the Khandadhar hills that are home to 69 working sponge iron units. And with more than 150 mining projects approved, the …
CALL it a pressing need to meet the growing thirst of the Mumbai metropolitan area or plain negligence, but the Maharashtra government is building a dam in a quake-prone zone. Worse, work is going on without environmental clearance or the consent of people who stand to lose their homesteads, livelihoods …
AMID countrywide agitations over land acquisition and growing food security concerns, the Ministry of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj is considering reserving land for agriculture. The ministry has suggested a bill that would make it mandatory for all states to declare the most fertile land (or category I agricultural land) …
Report in the matter of: Writ Petition (Civil No.196 OF 2001) People's Union for Civil Liberties vs. Union of India & Ors on public distribution system.
In 1964, the Madhya Pradesh government nationalised the tendu leaf used in bidi-making to stop exploitation of the tendu gathering tribals by private traders. Nearly five decades later, the tribals now get just Rs 65 for collecting, drying and packaging 1,000 leaves in a day, way less than the daily …
Party fears any major shift from the UP policy could lead to a loss of face for the government The Congress may be running down the governance template of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati, but it wants the Centre to emulate her land acquisition policy. Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh, …
In what could set a precedent for forest rights struggles, six villages in Madhya Pradesh have stalled a government plan to notify their forest as wildlife sanctuary. Gram sabhas of these villages have passed resolutions against the proposed Katthiwada wildlife sanctuary in Alirajpur district. While the government is yet to …
DISTRICT collector of Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh cancelled the lease to mine China clay in the area on May 16. The move was in response to the sustained protests by tribal residents, who say land was allotted to outsiders without their consent. The collector, J Syamala Rao, said action would …
