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Showing posts from June, 2013

Decision to raise height of Narmada dam is "political conspiracy" and is "illegal", alleges NAPM

Bhopal rally against Narmada dam By A Representative In a strongly-worded statement, the National Alliance of People's Movements (NAPM) has said that the Central authorities "cannot permit drowning of two lakh population without rehabilitation". The Narmada Bachao Andolan, led by top activist Medha Patkar, is one of the NAPM's major partners. The decision to permit raising of the height of the Sardar Sarovar Dam from the present height of 122 metres to the final height of 138.68 metres was taken by the Resettlement and Rehabilitation (R&R) sub-group of the Narmada Control Authority (NCA) on June 26.

Ahead of a crucial meeting, JAAG wants govt to answer queries on land acquisition in Bhechraji-Mandal SIR

By A Representative Ahead of a crucial meeting with a Gujarat government representative, a statement issued by the Jamin Adhikar Aandolan Gujarat (JAAG), signed by Sagar Rabari and Laljibhai Desai, has warned the Gujarat government it is “unhappy with government’s lies on the issue of Mandal-Becharaji special investment region (SIR)". Wanting the government to answer JAAG's several of the queries, a meeting of the Campaign Committee of the Mandal-Becharaji SIR at village Vanod, suggested that the people would by the explanation by the government that no land was being acquired.

Women and girls facing caste-based discrimination need special protections, says UN official

 UN meeting in progress By Kantilal Parmar* The United Nations member states should focus urgent attention and decisive action to improve conditions for Dalit women, four international non-governmental organisations said today. The combination of caste and gender makes millions of Dalit women extremely vulnerable to discrimination and violence, including rape, forced prostitution and modern forms of slavery. This was recognized at a high-level UN meeting in Geneva on June 7. “Many [Dalit women] experience some of the worst forms of discrimination,” said Rashida Manjoo, the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women in a written statement in Geneva. “The reality of Dalit women and girls is one of exclusion and marginalization, which perpetuates their subordinate position in society and increases their vulnerability, throughout generations.”

Union government writes to Gujarat governor, other governors to safeguard tribals from illegal mining

By Ashok Shrimali* The Union government has finally recognized that the scheduled V areas, where forest dwellers live, should be handled with utmost care, instead of allowing industrial and mining activities which may infringe upon the tribals' rights. A strongly worded letter by Union tribal affairs minister Kishore Chandra Deo to Gujarat governor Dr Kamala says that it is “a main challenge that is staring at us today” with “explosive situations prevailing in the Schedule V areas of our country”. He has also forwarded the letter to all governors, telling them that they should constitutionally safeguard the tribals' rights over the natural resources where they live.

World Environment Day: First to create climate change department, Gujarat now has no use of it

By A Representative Gujarat's civil society has taken strong exception to failure of the Gujarat government to have a State Action Plan, a requirement for every state under a Government of India direction. In statement, two NGOs, Paryavaran Mitra and Janvikas, on the eve of the World Environment Day, which falls on June 5, have said that not only is there no climate change website of the state government despite the fact that it claimed to be the first to have a separate department, it has not yet prepared the State Action Plan on Climate Change (SAPCC) to submission to the Centre for further action. Worse, the state government has still not set up Climate Change Trust Fund, which was announced two years ago and even finances were set aside for it.