A well-calculated compensation plan eases relocation pain of forest dwellers from the core area of Melghat Tiger Reserve. It’s not the kind of relocation story that one usually hears. Early last year three villages were uprooted from their traditional land in the core area of the Melghat Tiger Reserve to make way for free movement of the big cat. They did not protest, and walked away with their belongings and herds of cattle.

The PAC has blown the lid off probably the biggest mining scam of all times in Goa. It has found that almost half of the active iron ore mines in the state were illegal and have caused an estimated loss of Rs. 3,000 crore to the exchequer since 2005.

Just mention the large brown-and-white bird and the residents of Mardi village in Solapur burst out in anger. The district in Maharashtra is one of the few refuges for the rare Great Indian Bustard (Ardeotis nigriceps), endemic to the grasslands of India and Pakistan. Of the 30-35 birds remaining in Maharashtra, Solapur’s grasslands support the largest population—25. But residents are not keen to protect the bird, called maldhok locally, because they perceive the Great Indian Bustard sanctuary as the stumbling block to the region’s development.