The controversy over the Gadgil and Kasturirangan reports on ecological preservation in the Western Ghats has brought about a churn in politics in Kerala. P N Venugopal wonders if this will determine the decisions of the electorate in the Lok Sabha elections.

Atum Welly, a former Congress minister in Arunachal Pradesh who switched to the BJP, alleges that a fraudulent move threw him out of the election process, as the Election Commission of India accepted a forged letter of withdrawal. What’s more, he is not alone! Ramesh Menon reports.

The choice for the last remaining Communist party on this planet is clear. It either reinvents itself, as its brethren around the world have repeatedly done. Or it walks off into the JNU sunset.

Now that the numbers are out and it is nowhere near as spectacular as expected/feared by some or hyped by many -- it is Narendra Modi's lowest in three elections -- it is a sobering thought. Is this the best he can do, wonders Saisuresh Sivaswamy.

The Treasury and Democrats say they are close on a new rescue deal for small businesses, debate over lockdowns ramps up as the U.S. coronavirus death toll tops 40,000, and what to expect from earnings this week. WSJ’s Jason Bellini has the latest on the pandemic. Photo: David Poller/Zuma Press

Fishermen oppose a new notification by the Environment Ministry that would open up the coast to industrial development. Their state governments agree, but the Centre and the World Bank are pushing ahead nonetheless. Kanchi Kohli reports.

Based on data collected from 92 coal power plants in India, a 2012 study that went largely unreported estimated the mortality impact of electricity generated from coal at 650 deaths per plant per year! Shiva Prasad Susarla analyses the key findings of the report and the remediation measures suggested.

India's energy set-up requires a major overhaul in order to keep up with the growth imperative, but there may be no quick-fix solutions. Ashok Sreenivas and Sreekumar N outline the critical areas of concern that call for focused solutions beyond the ambit of private investment.

The success of Operation Sarp Vinash must be understood from independent scrutiny of the Army's claims, as well as analysis of new military strategy, says Firdaus Ahmed.

Until women are provided adequate access to information, both about their rights and available budgetary resources, Joint Forest Management (JFM) programmes will only lead to more disempowerment for them, says Madhu Sarin.

For eight years, the Supreme Court has been taking a proactive role in forest conservation. But the court's rulings have been most controversial in the north eastern states, where its actions have been misread as reinforcing centralised power over local communities, say Ritwick Dutta and Kanchi Kohli.

In Kerala's Marayoor forest, the sandalwood tree faces an uphill battle against destruction. With politicians implicated in illegal cutting, and forest officals' hands tied by inadequate legislation, the last remaining tract of the fragrant tree in the state faces elimination. Deepa A reports.

The widening rift in the conservationist movement has allowed the bigger and more powerful forest encroachers to hide behind the public controversy over tribal lands and sharing of forest resources. While activists for and against 'tribals in forests' argue and bicker, the rich squat pretty on encroached forest lands, says Keya Acharya.

Buried within the new law's sweeping recognition of the rights of forest dwellers is a thicket of legislation that effectively makes these gains difficult to obtain, in practice. What the law has achieved is to move the struggle for these rights to a higher political plane, notes Aparna Pallavi.

For some time now, the Central Empowered Committee of the Supreme Court has been reviewing the decisons of the Forest Advisory Committee, which grants permission for converting forest land for non-forest use. But this oversight may be coming to an end. Kanchi Kohli reports.

A new Bill introduced in the Lok Sabha, ostensibly to re-green India, is actually a blow to the environment. Rather than conserve forests, it advocates market mechanisms to make money off afforestation in degraded lands. Kanchi Kohli writes.

Defining a clear land-use policy, integrating indigenous people along with their skills, encouraging mutual exchange between tribals and the outside world can help make the process of change easier for the indigenous folk. Malini Shankar digs deeper.

The central government is pushing state governments to give forest rights to tribals by the end of this year. Kanchi Kohli cautions that the intent behind settling these rights claims under the Forest Rights Act in such haste is not what it appears to be.

Plantations or reforestation cannot replace natural forests, which provides an essential ecosystem. Unless policy makers realise this, our natural forests will continue to be used for various purposes shrinking the forest cover further, says Meenal Tatpati.

The green bench of the Supreme Court transferred several forest cases to different institutions for decision making, in order to expedite the disposal of these long pending cases. Kanchi Kohli explains how this could influence forest governance in India.

When a large hydropower projects results in the conversion of forest land, or its submergence, what is the right amount of money to be paid as compensation for this ecological loss? Himanshu Upadhyaya finds that developers are seeking creative arguments to lower the costs to themselves.

The report of a high level committee under BJP MP Shanta Kumar proposes radical restructuring of the PDS and reduced coverage of the food security act. But is the estimate of leakages in the report flawed in itself? Shambhu Ghatak presents alternative findings.

Wage delays, inadequate manpower and the indifference of authorities to real issues on the ground are stripping the employment guarantee programme of its strong potential to improve rural lives, and budget cuts have only made it worse. Ankita Aggarwal reports from Jharkhand.

Blank Noise, begun as Jasmeen Patheja's personal reaction to street sexual harassment, has grown to record women's experiences in creative ways. The latest of these is a clothes collection effort to tackle the misconception that women's attire invites harassment. Vasudha V reports.

When this social communication event hit Kolkata in 2002, the entire ambience spilled over with empathy and a deep understanding for films – documentary, fiction and docu-fiction – made on or about the marginalised and the oppressed. Very little of all that was in the air during the 2007 version, writes Shoma Chatterji.

Kasturi Das makes a strategic case for a shift to organic agriculture in India.

A vicious cocktail of weak purchasing power among the hundreds of millions of poor people, and a systems failure in tackling supply side challenges is driving food prices beyond the reach of many, writes Sarosh Bana.

As Munnabhai has already tackled the callousness of our health system, and the greed of real estate sharks, how about tackling the one Indian tradition that refuses to die — that of dowry? I could imagine that such a film could work very well, says Kalpana Sharma.

Girish Karnad's clear-eyed, unsentimental and even self-deprecatory view of the city seems rare in the Indian narrative imagination, which continues to nurse the notion of ‘the village innocent’ vs ‘the city corrupt’.

The entire weight of technical opinion has been to proceed with caution on the Interlinking of Rivers. An extract of Jairam Ramesh's speech in the Rajya Sabha debate on the working of Ministry of Water Resources on 20 April 2005.

A new report from TERI, the first of its kind for India, argues that compliance with environmental, social and governance criteria would better differentiate Indian stocks in comparison to issuers from other emerging markets for high quality investors. Rajni Bakshi has more on why India must care.

Against the wishes of the local people, and even the State government, a salt factory is proposed to be established on land that has been used freely by 20,000 villagers for decades. In the face of shifting politics, the residents are determined that they will protect their livelihoods. Aparna Pallavi reports.

With its recent move to let banks determine their own rates of interest paid to savings account holders, the Reserve Bank of India opens up new turf in the battle between banks for consumers.

Given our Constitutional mandate to "endeavour to eliminate inequalities in status, facilities and opportunities," Shankar Jaganathan explains why reintroduction of the Inheritance Tax may be a step worthy of serious consideration.

Despite privatisation in the power sector, consumer interests are professed to be safeguarded through competitive processes and independent regulatory authorities, but a recent order in favour of Adani Power Ltd. dents such assertions. Shripad Dharmadhikary analyses the implications.

In the second and concluding part of his exposition on India’s skill development efforts, Shambhu Ghatak traces the journey under the UPA and NDA governments, only to find that while the thrust remains the same, the end is far from sight.

The locking up of the notorious poacher and wildlife trader Sansar Chand was proof that India's police officers could make a difference. But stopping wildlife trade needs more, writes Malini Shankar.

If all of India's tiger terrain was protected very well, including from cattle grazing conflicts from forest dwellers, it could potentially support 20,000 tigers, say some experts. Malini Shankar has more.

A filming crew's damage to the Kambalakonda wildlife sanctuary is brought before the courts. But how did it get this far in the first place? Kanchi Kohli reports.

A CAG audit report finds that despite the revocation of clearance for forest land diverted to a public sector power company, the land continues to be used by them. Himanshu Upadhyaya details this and other findings, which show thegloomy picture of forest governance in West Bengal.

In search of new funds to keep the growth story alive, the Centre opens the doors to foreign investment a little further.

Eleven young women in Maharashtra have chosen to become Foresters. These women Foresters are mostly from rural Maharashtra. From places such as Chandrapur, Gadchiroli, and Yavatmal and not from the big cities. P Sainath reports.

Dilip D'Souza comments on the climate for investigative reporting and public expectations of it.

Often, the deaths of our military officers raise questions. The answers? That's the hard part, says Dilip D'Souza.

Governments have been changing the rules of the RTI Act, trying all sorts of things to dilute its provisions. Most of these are done without consulting the public. Navya P K reports.

A new information service sets out to update citizens and specialists about the latest developments at the Supreme Court on forest related cases, reports Rasika Dhavse.

In the last two decades, a variety of petitions filed before the Supreme Court over illegalities concerning large dam and irrigation projects have all had a common result. Project proponents have gotten the judicial go-ahead. What is the point of overcrowding laws with more 'enabling' provisions then, asks Videh Upadhyay.

Who can live in forested areas? What rights to they have over lands they have lived in for generations? Can they be relocated, and if so on what terms? Legislation in Parliament attempts to balance forest dwellers' rights with economic and environmental objectives. Kaushiki Sanyal presents a legislative brief.

The Domestic Worker's Bill, if passed, will be an important step toward securing the rights of a large chunk of the unorganised workforce. But as with all laws, the real test of this legislation will be in its implementation, writes Anuja Agrawal.

It is not just the loose definition of Section 66A of the IT Act, its frequent clubbing  with sections of the IPC relating to cognizable offences poses a grave threat to the freedom of all citizens, finds Tanvi Bhatikar.