Women-led and women’s rights organizations are on the frontlines of today’s humanitarian crises—but many are at risk of disappearing. As global needs rise due to conflict, climate change, and displacement, deep cuts to foreign aid are threatening organizations that provide life-saving services for women and girls. In March 2025, UN …
the proposed dam on the Pedhi river in Maharashtra has sparked protests in the state. People of Bhatkuli tehsil in Amravati district have threatened to intensify agitation against the proposed irrigation project after they learnt that they had been "duped' about a "non-existent committee supposedly looking into the issue'. "After …
the International Day of World Indigenous People was observed on August 9. It was observed to support the demands of tribals for the urgent implementation of the Scheduled Tribes and other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Bill, 2006. They were supported by ngos and grassroots organisations. The day …
Exclusionist policies of forest conservation, of which preservation via dislocation is an extreme manifestation, need to be situated within the broad canvas of the conservation-poverty-rural livelihood interface. Prima facie, a clear correlation seems to exist between access to natural resources and forests and the incidence of rural poverty, especially in …
the impact of biomass extraction on the species diversity of a scrub forest has not been studied adequately in India. A study by the Centre for Wildlife Studies in Bangalore and the Council for Social Development in Delhi has done exactly this. The researchers say it's the first of its …
central aid has finally been approved to revamp Mumbai's stormwater drainage system by 2011. But experts are sceptical whether the project is still relevant. The Brihanmumbai Storm Water Drains (brimstowad) project was conceived after the monsoon floods in 1985. A plan with recommendations was prepared by 1993. But the recommendations …
It was a bright sunny morning when I reached the Bakhira lake. Bakhira is reputed to be the biggest natural wetland in Uttar Pradesh and is known for its purple swamphens. The birds are known to be shy. I nurtured hopes of spotting them, nevertheless. They were soon belied. It …
The Group of Ministers on the draft resettlement and rehabilitation policy had its third meeting on July 19, where it considered increasing the state governments' role in land acquisition for private businesses. It recommended that states can purchase up to 30 per cent of the land required, while industries can …
the draft Resettlement and Rehabilitation Policy has hit a roadblock for the second time. The group of ministers (gom) debated the draft policy brought out by the Union ministry of rural development (mord) on July 3, after failing to reach consensus the first time on June 20. The problem areas …
Pangulu Pahada owes a lot to Ramakanta Pradhan and his 60 students for its existence. The hill would have become a neglected barren mount if the headmaster and his flock from an upper primary school in remote Orissa had not decided to protect it, helping a 121-hectare forest on the …
that the non-confrontational Lepchas are on an indefinite hunger strike against dams in north Sikkim shows how much of a threat they perceive these projects to be. The surge of support from across the north east again brings to fore the vexed issue of big dams in this socio-politically complex …
Lanjigarh block, Kalahandi, Orissa, May 17: At its summit, the northeastern ridge of the Niyamgiri hill range has a bald patch, typical of hilltops with bauxite deposits. A dense tree cover that provides a welcome shade to climbers struggling some 8 km up the steep forest path gives way to …
there is tension brewing in three villages in Maharashtra's Melghat Sanctuary over rehabilitation measures. The sanctuary, within the Melghat Tiger Reserve, is being freed of people to protect forests and to check declining tiger population. There is a debate over the rehabilitation package with ngos claiming it does not follow …
"i don't know what is uranium, I don't know if it's good or bad. I'm only happy that the public hearing went off peacefully,' says Tina Thongenirit from Wakhaji, a village 120 km from Meghalaya's capital Shillong. Wakhaji is 15 km from Nongbah Jynrin, the village where the public hearing …
People living near the Tehri dam on the Bhagirathi river in Uttarakhand are in trouble. Villages on the slopes overlooking the reservoir are threatened by increasing landslides and those living downstream, once ousted for the building of the dam and rehabilitated, are losing their new homes to an airport expansion …
Industrialist Ratan Tata has reportedly written to the prime minister cribbing about delays in implementing big buck projects. In his capacity as the chair of the government's investment commission he says over us $50 billion is tied up because of delays in allocating land and resources. His list includes major …
orissa's rich mineral resources have turned the state into a veritable battleground. On May 11, 2007, three Pohang Steel Company (posco) officials were kidnapped in Govindpur village in Jagatsighpur district. One of the officials was released immediately and two others were released after 10 hours of grilling and after giving …
vendata's proposed mining project in Orissa was a matter of intense legal debate in the Supreme Court (sc) from May 16 to 18. Initially, the company, and its lawyers, seemed to have answers to every conceivable hindrance that the opposition, in this case the Central Empowered Committee (cec), might throw …
Gujarat has received encomiums from many quarters for its rapid industrialisation. Industries have mushroomed all over the state, thanks to investment campaigns like
thousands of saltpan workers, called Agarias, from 107 villages in Gujarat's Rajkot, Surendranagar, Patan and Kutch districts face displacement with the Gujarat forest department serving them an eviction notice in December 2006. The workers were asked to leave the area, which falls under a wild ass sanctuary and told that …
