Decision by Chavan comes after agitations by CPI(M), Kisan Sabha

Responding to the agitations by the CPI(M) and the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS), the Maharashtra government has agreed to re-examine around two-lakh rejected claims of land rights made under the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006.

Twenty two out of 29 states in India have failed to meet their Renewable Purchase Obligation (RPO) targets which lead to loss of more than 25% electricity that was expected to be generated from renewable energy sources in 2012, said the recently released report ‘Moving Ahead with Renewables: Leaders and Laggards,’ prepared by Greenpeace with its research partner Infraline Energy.

The national capital, Delhi, has stood out as worst state in this respect as it has virtually no renewable energy in it supply chain. Other states which are at the bottom are Maharashtra, Punjab, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.

The Act grants legal recognition to the rights of traditional forest dwelling communities

The Additional Collector’s headquarter here was abuzz even before its gates opened on Monday morning. Around 100 tribals from various villages in the Jawhar tehsil had already queued to begin what they had aptly named as first of its kind ‘RTI Satyagraha’ against the alleged unlawful implementation of The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006.

27,000 families in Satara on an indefinitesit-in at Koyna dam site

First, a dam, then an earthquake and finally a tiger reserve — families in Satara district’s Koyna have been displaced thrice in one generation. In 1960, the people had to move, paving the way for the Koyna dam; in 1967 following the earthquake and then for the Koyna tiger reserve in 1985, says Jagannath Vibhute, an activist of the Shramik Mukti Dal and one of the many farmers displaced by dam projects.

The company plans to switch from gas to coal to fuel its 500 MW unit in Trombay

The public hearing called by the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board on Monday to discuss the environmental impact of Tata Power Company’s plan to switch from gas to coal to fuel its 500 MW unit in the Trombay Thermal Power Station was disrupted by activists of all the major political parties in the State. The officials wrapped up the hearing, claiming it was impossible to conduct the proceedings.