18 tribal villages in Maharashtra get tendu rights, finally

After a wait of two years, tendu harvest and sale rights in Maharashtra are finally being transferred to gram sabhas under the Forest Rights Act. This year, 18 gram sabhas—12 in Gadchiroli district, five in Gondia and two in Amravati district—have begun collecting tendu leaves under the new system. The tendu units in which the FRA forests of these villages fall had earlier been withdrawn from the state forest department's tendu units' auction process.

MPS, a rare disease with costly cure

Dharmesh, 22, is in 12th grade. He is short for his age and overweight. He looks drained even if he has to take a few steps. It is not because of heat. Dharmesh suffers from a rare disease, called mucopolysaccharidosis (MPS) I. His five-year-old brother, Vijay, also suffers from the same disease. 

'Will fight POSCO till last breath'

Twenty-three-year-old Jharana Sahoo is filled with feelings of revenge.

Forest advisory committee clears way for mining in Saranda

The Forest Advisory Committee of the Union environment ministry has paved the way for another private company to mine iron ore in the biodiversity-rich Saranda forest division of Jharkhand. In its meeting held on May 9-10, the committee that advises the ministry on forestland diversion, recommended clearance of almost 100 ha of forestland for mining in the favour of Rungta Mines Limited. See also:  function mineral() { var popurl="http://www.downtoearth.org.in/dte/userfiles/images/17_20120430.jpg" winpops=window.open(popurl,"","width=520,height=460,scrollbars=yes") } Saranda and its mineral deposits Photo Gallery: Operation Saranda: from Maoists to Miners    

Green tribunal orders closure of 18 polluting industries in Noida

Eighteen highly polluting industries in Noida have been ordered to shut down by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) for failing to comply with environment standards. 

Green tribunal orders removal of debris from Delhi Ridge

Pulling up authorities for failing to maintain the Ridge reserve forest area in Delhi, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has ordered the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) and Delhi government's Public works department (PWD) to clear all the debris dumped there. 

Environment ministry revokes stop work notice on Dhari Devi temple relocation

The Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) today revoked its ‘stop-work order’ to relocate a temple dedicated to deity Dhari Devi on the banks of the river Alaknanda in Uttarakhand. The ministry issued this revocation after the Supreme Court of India castigated it for issuing this notice, saying that the final order on this relocation case has been reserved by the court.

India granted 'observer' status in Arctic Council

India has been granted the status of an observer in the Arctic Council, an organisation of global nations that coordinates Arctic policy. With the melting of Arctic ice, new waterways are emerging, creating opportunities for countries to tap the region’s so far inaccessible resources. There is growing competition over the untapped oil, natural gas, minerals and fish resources of the region.

Monsoon to hit Kerala coast on June 3

Monsoons are expected to hit Kerala on June 3. India Meteorological Department (IMD) today informed that its model suggests the date of onset of southwest monsoon over Kerala as June 3 with a model error of plus or minus four days. Even though southwest monsoon normally advances over Andaman Sea around May 20 with a standard deviation of about one week, this year under the influence of tropical cyclone Mahasen, currently located over the central Bay of Bengal, low level cross equatorial monsoon flow has appeared over south Andaman Sea and adjoining south Bay of Bengal.

Over 300 million Indians still defecate in the open: WHO-UNICEF report

One-third of the world’s population, about 2.4 billion people, will remain without access to improved sanitation in 2015, according to a report recently published  jointly by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the United Nations International Children’s Education Fund (UNICEF). The report says that three south Asian countries, including Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nepal have shown significant improvement in the past 20 years. In India, however, more than the quarter of the population still practices open defecation.