Order of the Supreme Court in the matter of Sugra Adiwasi & Others Vs Pathranand & Others dated 29/04/2025. The bench of Justice Pamidighantam Sri Narasimha and Justice Joymalya Bagchi directed the state of Madhya Pradesh as well as the central government through the the Ministries of Tribal Affairs and …
The Indian paper industry (325 paper mills with a total installed capacity of 3.3 million t) meets around 60 per cent of its fibrous raw material requirements from bamboo, supply of which has been dwindling. Busy wooing the industry, state governments have often given bamboo forests 0 lease at throwaway …
AT THE latest meeting of the Conference of Parties to theConvention on Biodiversity (CBD) at Jakarta (Indonesia) inNovember 1995one of the issues that held the centrestage wasthe"rights of indigenous peoples. The focus on this issue hadfollowed the Rio Earth Summit agreement (1992) that indigenous peoples were a "major group"who should …
The prospect of an International legal Instrument recognising Indigenous peoples, rights to self-determination has had Asian governments in a tizzy. These governments have taken the stand that international human tights standards deny collective rights and consensus politics. Instead, they have insisted that since all Asians are 'Indigenous' to Asia, an …
Bamboo, the big brother in the Graminae (grass) family is often the first vegetation that sprouts in a degraded forest or a patch left after slash-and-burn agriculture. Most bamboo species flower gregariously in 15-60 year cycles. in Arunachal Pradesh's local fore, bamboo flowering is associated with famines. K M Vaid, …
A GOVERNMENT decree which had put the indigenous lands of Brazil up for grabs, is being contested for demarcating 70 indigenous areas and reserves. Till this date, more than 1, 100 actions have been registered with the National Indigenous Foundation (Funai) in this regard. This is seen as a direct …
A letter of protest Was written on May 9, to the World Bank (W8) president James Wolfensohn, by the International Rivers Network and the human rights group Witness for Peace, calling for an independent investigation into the WB's involvement in the building of Guatemala's infamous Chixoy dam, which saw hundreds …
Vesta Dama Pawra and Bhamta Tukya Padvi, two tribals from the Sardar Sarovar submergence zone villages in Dhule district of Maharashtra, alongwith the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) leader Medha Patkar, went on an indefinite fast in front of the office of the Dhule collector since May 17. Supported by the …
Instead of the usual scenes of gaiety to celebrate the 'Discovery of Brazil' on April 22, Brazilian Indians undertook protest demonstrations to display their anger against an administration which has systematically created more hardships for them. Even as President Fernando Henrique Cardoso along with local leaders of the Pataxo area …
THE practice of tribal or generic medicines is a school with a difference. The practitioners are still found among the Irula tribals of Attapadi near Pallakkad in Kerala. Recently at a camp organised by the Prakrithi Sastra Vijnana Kendram at Nadavardmpu near Irinjalakudda, more than 2,000 people were given tribal …
Death stalks the Wichi, an indigenous Indian group of Salta province in Argentina, impoverished by the invasion of their lands by non Indian settlers (criollos). The coming of the criollos led to the disappearance of forests, animals and plants sustaining the Indians. Matters have worsened with the government planning a …
Kenya and Sri Lanka are an ocean apart. But they are also wide apart from each other in their strategies for wildlife conservation. While the former is moving towards involving the community, the latter remains stuck in anti-people conservationist strategies. In order to protect the world's biodiversity, the Sri Lankan …
The new Decree 1,775/96 signed by President Fernando Cardoso on January 8, allows Brazilian states, municipalities and other parties to contest and oppose the delimitation of indigenous lands (Down To Earth, Vol 4, No 19). Says Beto Borges, Amazon Campaign Coordinator of the Rainforest Action Network (RAN), "Brazil has taken …
IT WAS victory for the people, particularly the tribals, who have for long lived on 'the fringes of political centrestage. In a belated move, the Central government agreed to the demand of the adivasis to take steps to ensure adivasi 'self rule' after an indefinite hunger, strike by tribal activists …
I WOULD like to strongly denounce the message sent by Rajesh Pilot to this august assembly to discuss people's management of the Riljaji National Park by the Van Gujjars. It appears from his message that he has completely missed the purpose of this gathering. The minister is trying to push …
TRIBALS and patent rights activists have something to cheer for. In the first instance of its kind, the Kani tribe dwelling in the Agastyar hills in southern Kerala, will get the rights over an anti-stress drug developed by the Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Institute (TBGRI). The tribe had helped …
THE aftereffects of a forest felling movement started in Singhbhum district of Bihar in 1978 had created a none-too- happy situation for tribal forest dwellers of the region, who felt that the core of their existence was being damaged indiscriminately. This was coupled with the Porahat (a forest territorial division …
In Uisiya village of Noamundi block, a group of young enthusiasts undertook the task of protecting the adjoining degraded sal forests in 1988. Laguri jee and Niranjan Bobonga, the traditional headpersons of the area, rallied the people into preventing cattle from trespassing into the region. They successfully convinced the people …
On his selection of anthropology for a career: I started my career in 1958 as an Indian Administrative Service officer in Chhota- nagpur. While working there, I could not but help develop an interest in anthropology. The subject is all about people and I wanted to work with them. Therefore, …
