The Forest Rights Act of 2006—also known as the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act—came after considerable and bitter opposition from conservation groups. They said the Act, which would grant land rights to tribals and other forest dwellers, would destroy forests and wipe out wildlife. Worse, the rights would…
German Heinrich Boll Foundation (HBF) has supported C-NES in conducting a year long study on the Impact of Conflict on Women, in Assam and Nagaland.The focus is on the suffering and trauma of women at times of conflict and the extent of post trauma stress syndrome (PTSS) and post trauma stress disorder (PTSD).The major aim…
A new scientific discovery has been reported on the remarkable communciation skills of the bottle nose dolphins, the sea cousins of the fresh water Gangetic dolphins of Assam, West Bengal and other parts of India as well as Bangladesh and Nepal. The research was carried out off Sardinia in the Mediterranean Sea as reported in the…
Dear friends, Samrakshan, with the support of local communities of the Balpakram Baghmara landscape in Meghalaya, India, has launched a nature-based tourism programme in collaboration with Titli Trust (www.titlitrust.com). This initiative is aimed at providing the local community with an economic incentive to conserve the landscape. We invite you to join the first butterfly tour in…
Agencies of the State and the private sector are collecting a variety of data on individuals. Adequate regulatory measures are needed to rein them in and safeguard individual privacy and data protection, says VENKATESH NAYAK, discussing government consultations on a proposed privacy law. Read more: http://www.thehoot.org/web/freetracker/story.php?storyid=149§ionId=62
Dear all, A short while ago I sent you an preliminary analysis of the Public Interest Disclosure and Protection of Persons Making Disclosure Bill, 2010 (the Whistleblower Bill) has been tabled in the Lok Sabha (Lower House of India's Parliament) yesterday (26th August 2010). Here is an additional facet to the complex issue. The Department of Personnel which prepared this Bill…
Participants at a seminar in Guwahati stressed the need for improved coordination between Panchayats, Anganwadi workers and ASHAS (Accredited Social Health Activists) if the health conditions of women in rural Assam, suffering from the worst maternal mortality rate in the country (MMR olf 480), are to improve. The seminar, organized by C-NES to present findings…
The elderly owner of the guest house in the upper Assam tea town of Dibrugarh was worried. It was near midnight and his young guests were not in yet. A search party set out, a frantic search began. They were finally located at the only restaurant open, watching the Greece, Nigeria soccer World Cup group…
Floodwaters ravage the remote island of Lamba Sapori in Assam’s Dhemaji district as the monsoons rage. Trapped in their water logged home, Punyadhar and Oipuli Morang are in dire distress. Their two-year child has had an acute asthmatic attack. There is little they can do but hope. Time ticks off, each moment’s breath a greater burden…
The Government of India obviously believes in governing through Groups of Ministers (GoMs) for major policy issues (the Finance Minister, PranabMukherjee, is a very overworked man – he heads not less than 35 GoMs) while the Prime Minister remains amazingly silent on critical issues, breaking that maun very rarely. The other thing it does is…