50,000 people can’t be uprooted overnight: Supreme Court stays Haldwani eviction

Hindustan Times | Jan 05, 2023

The Supreme Court stayed the Uttarakhand high court order of Haldwani eviction and asked for a workable arrangement to address the ‘land encroachment’ issue. The matter will be heard next on February 7.

The Supreme Court on Thursday stayed the planned eviction of the railways in the ‘encroached’ land in Uttarakhand’s Haldwani and said a workable arrangement has to be devised as 50,000 people can’t be uprooted overnight. In its order, the Supreme Court said the government will have to provide full rehabilitation of the people of the area. “In the meantime, there shall be a stay of the directions passed in the impugned order,” the Apex Court said barring any new construction or development on the land.

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Modi govt’s proposed geoheritage bill protects sites capturing Earth’s history. What it means

The Print | Jan 05, 2023

Geoheritage Sites & Geo-relics (Preservation & Maintenance) Bill lets govt declare a site to be of national importance, with 100m area around it ‘prohibited’ & 200m area ‘restricted’.

New Delhi: India’s rich geological monuments that capture the Earth’s tumultuous, evolving history in the form of rocks, sediment, and fossils, are at the grave risk of being wiped out, experts have said, highlighting the need for a law to protect these from erosion.

The warning has not gone unheeded, with the Narendra Modi government putting out a draft bill last month, for the preservation and maintenance of India’s geological heritage sites and relics. The draft Geoheritage Sites and Geo-relics (Preservation and Maintenance) Bill, 2022, published for “public consultation” by the Ministry of Mines on 15 December, aims to protect and preserve these sites for “geological studies, education, research, and for future generations as it is a non-renewable asset”.

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Odisha Govt Initiates Steps To Launch ‘Ama Hospital’ Programme Under 5T

Odisha Bytes | Jan 04, 2023

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government on Wednesday launched steps for implementation of ‘Ama Hospital’ programme under 5T initiative to transform and strengthen the Community Health Centres, Sub-divisional Health Centres and District Headquarter Hospitals.

In a letter to all the district Collectors, Health and Family Welfare Secretary Shalini Pandit said that the state government has decided to launch the initiative for 5T transformation of identified hospitals as ‘Ama Hospital.”

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National Commission for Scheduled Tribes’ position on new Forest Conservation Rules ‘will be same’

The Hindu | January 02, 2023
Remark by national body’s Chairperson follows government’s dismissal of their concerns that the 2022 rules will invariably violate the Forest Rights Act, 2006

In a sign of escalating conflict between the government and the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes over the Forest (Conservation) Rules (FCR) 2022, NCST Chairperson Harsh Chouhan on Monday said that the ST body’s position on the new rules being violative of the Forest Rights Act, 2006 “will be the same” even as the Environment Ministry has dismissed these concerns.

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Union Education Minister flays Odisha govt over misuse of DMF fund

The New Indian Express | Dec 30, 2022

Says there is no clarity or transparency in its utilisation in Angul

ANGUL: Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Thursday attacked the state government over the ‘misuse’ of the district mineral foundation (DMF) fund in Angul. Speaking at a public meeting here, Pradhan criticised the way in which DMF collections were being spent in the Angul district without a tender process.

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made provision of DMF funds for mining-affected areas which should be utilised on drinking water, healthcare services and other welfare activities. But in Angul, the fund is being misutilised. There is no clarity or transparency in its utilisation,” he alleged. Angul gets Rs 700-Rs 800 crore DMF funds per year.

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