Indian mining state shifts from coal to forest fruits and flowers
Chennai, IndiaThomson Reuters Foundation In the forests of Bastar in eastern India, indigenous women have been busy plucking the tan-coloured fruits of the tamarind tree – a tangy staple of Indian cooking that earned them rare profits this year thanks to a bumper harvest. For decades, mining has eaten into the forests of mineral-rich Chhattisgarh. […]
At least 22 Indian security members killed in Maoist attack – government official
Reuters At least 22 members of Indian security forces were killed in a central Indian state by Maoist fighters, in one of the bloodiest attacks by the extreme left-wing insurgent group this year, officials said on Sunday. Security personnel belonging to the Central Reserve Police Force’s elite CoBRA unit, the District Reserve Guard, and the […]
In rare move, Indian state to return unused land to farmers
Thomson Reuters Foundation Farmers in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh are getting back land that was taken from them more than a decade ago by the government because it was not used, a rare move in a country riven by conflict over land. Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel of the Congress Party, which won a state […]
Indian Christian forum demands withdrawal of ‘bogus’ charges of forced conversions
World Watch Monitor The Christian Forum of Chhattisgarh state in India called on its political parties to commit to ensuring freedom of religion, as elections for the state’s legislative house took place on Monday, Catholic news agency UCAN reported. Meanwhile, several attacks on Christians were reported in the first week of this month, across a number […]
2017 saw 20 per cent increase in “atrocities” against Christians in India, says lawyer
World Watch Monitor Amid growing extreme Hindu nationalism in India, dozens of speakers have called for concerted action to uphold the country’s constitution and fundamental rights, at a conference to mark four years of government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “There is a grave threat to plurality,” Professor Ganesh Narayan Devy, a scholar on […]