on january 1, 2008, the government after much vacillation notified the rules of Scheduled Tribes and Other Tradi- tional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act. The day before, it had notified "critical tiger habitats' in 28 existing and eight proposed tiger reserves. It scored on both tiger conservation and protection of tribal rights.

gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi's attempt to appease tribals has backfired. On Gandhi Jayanti Modi handed over the ownership of forestland to 30 tribals and also promised to regularize the 2,204 claims over forestland. This, experts say, was in clear defiance of the Supreme Court ruling which barred any diversion of forestland without its nod.

the Supreme Court on August 24, 2007, ordered Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh governments to respond to a petition to clarify the status of at least 1.2 million hectares (ha). Called Orange area

While the group of ministers has started deliberations on the pros and cons of the proposed national tribal policy, activists have raised questions about its utility. The policy aims at social,

in what is seen as a vindication of the struggle for land rights, and a political victory, the police in Uttar Pradesh's Sonebhadra district withdrew nsa (National Security Act, 1980) charges

Thousands of tribals in Madhya Pradesh's Rewa district are on the run after they were allegedly attacked by the local administration and upper caste landlords. On April 19, 2007, tribals in Ghateha

Life may soon return to the dusty 19th century palace grounds of the Raja of Sandur in the Ramandurga hills near Hospet in Karnataka. A well-known private company is likely to buy the property and possibly restore the old buildings for offices. It will do this not for the site's historical worth, but for the value of what juts out of the ground around it: a thick vein of high-quality iron ore.

PIL over forest slapped down

Villagers in Pench National Park sent packing