Kavitha Iyer

The tribal development department subsequently launched the Van Mitra programme to first train officials on the law and then to clear or reopen tens of thousands of pending or erroneously rejected claims and appeals.

The three-day people’s convention on infrastructure financing will be held on June 21, 22 and 23, before the AIIB meets in Mumbai on June 25 and 26.

The FRA accords rights to forest-dwelling communities including Individual Forest Rights and Community Forest Rights.

Records show that of the 3,59,745 claims for Individual Forest Rights (IFR) submitted under the law that came into force in 2006, 2,24,874 claims, or 62.5 per cent, were rejected in a three-tier process involving local bodies.

The bullet train project, planned after discussions between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe, is being built with a Rs 88,000-crore soft loan from Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

The bullet train project, kicked off after discussions between PM Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe, is being built with a Rs 88,000-crore soft loan from Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

Nearly half of Dhamni dam’s irrigation water promise not met, tribals want project to divert water for Mumbai’s two satellite towns cancelled

While promising to protect coastline features including beaches, estuaries, mudflats and mangroves, it proposes adding over 3,700 hectares of land currently marked as no-development zones, including salt-pan lands, for various segments of affordable housing.

To be launched under a campaign titled ‘Van Mitra’ or ‘friends of the forest’, the training module designed by the Tribal Research and Training Institute (TRTI) in Pune will kick off in the first week of May.

The promise of better access to processing industries has not borne fruit for vegetable farmers — the capacity of processing industries is barely 2 to 3 per cent of the crop.

Farmers, including tribals, hold hunger strike against MMRDA’s project to supply 403 MLD water to Vasai-Virar, Mira-Bhayander from irrigation dam

For the thousands of farmers from Maharashtra’s tribal districts who walked to Mumbai, the demand for land ownership is tied to their hopes for a better life — that they can dig wells, take loans and live without the fear of eviction. “We went for our stomachs,” they tell The Sunday Express.

On the Mimimum Support Price as prescribed by the Swaminathan Committee, the government said the Centre has already committed this. Their concerns on water conservation projects and the Nar-Par and Damanganga and Girnar river-linking projects were also taken into account.

Large numbers of the tribals who have gathered in the Mumbai are not seeking a loan waiver, but the implementation of the vision envisaged in Forest Rights Act, a legislation enacted by Parliament in 2006.

The January 1 violence against Dalits and their protests mark the deepening of a social and political fault line in Maharashtra. Indian Express on what led to Bhima Koregaon and what could follow

Maharashta Bandh: The issue of children participating in the Dalit protests, especially in stone-pelting incidents, has begun to draw attention after a video of a boy, barely four or five years old, walking on a street in Pune with a stone in either hand surfaced.

The suspension of five officials for lapses in giving permissions to the restaurant where 14 died in a fire has been followed by demolition of illegal structures in pubs and eateries across Mumbai. Municipal Commissioner Ajoy Mehta tells The Indian Express what else is on the anvil in the new year.

Glitches plus inconsistencies plus Aadhaar have added up to delay in credit showing up in farmers’ loan accounts. The Indian Express explains

The annual Hornbill Festival is currently on in Nagaland, with a host of cultural performances, displays of sacrificial rituals, farewell songs, war dances, fire-making rituals, as well as some fun elements such as pineapple and Naga Chilli eating contests.