Wildlife Expert Panel Red-Flags Western Ghat Rail Project Despite Aggressive Push by Karnataka  Ayaskant Das | 11 Feb 2023

The Standing Committee of NBWL has rejected the Hubbali-Ankola rail project through Western Ghats in its present form but has also queried if it can be developed as a double-lined corridor. My latest report for Newsclick https://www.newsclick.in/wildlife-expert-panel-red-flags-western-ghat-rail-project-despite-aggressive-push-karnataka...

In a meeting – the minutes of which were published on January 27 – NBWL members stated that the Railways has taken only its own concerns into consideration in the design of the environment mitigation plan of the project.. activists have raised concerns over the fact that during the aforementioned meeting, deliberations were held amongst NBWL members to consider if at all the project could be developed as a double-lined corridor. “ … the mitigation measures proposed in the project are not sufficient which have been proposed based on railway’s convenience and not by considering the wildlife movement. Therefore, the project proposal is not acceptable in the present form and the proposal requires a lot of modifications,” states the minutes of the Standing Committee’s meeting.

In Human Interest https://forceindia.net/guest-column/in-human-interest-feb-2023/
Democracy is threatened when refugees are targeted by right wing political agenda
Nandita Haksar

The government of India has stopped giving residential permits to even those refugees recognised by the UNHCR, a majority of these refugees do not have residential permits or long-term visas. As a result, they cannot apply for Aadhaar cards, which means they cannot open a bank account. Many of those who received financial support from friends abroad now cannot receive any money. They cannot get their children admitted to schools or get work. ..

The stand of the government of India is that there are no refugees in India, only illegal migrants. The fear psychosis has been fuelled by the media, which says that India is being infiltrated by foreigners and that the refugees are a security threat to the country. Some Security Council resolutions on terrorism make express reference to refugees and talk about the need for states to ensure the asylum process does not accommodate terrorists...

In India the issue of migrants has taken centre stage with the controversies surrounding the National Register for Citizens and amendments to the Citizenship Act in 2019. In those controversies the issue of refugee protection got lost in the debates around illegal migration. It is also true that this legal distinction between the refugee and the migrant is not always clear. But that is not an argument to abolish the category of refugees, rather there is a need to rethink these definitions.

The National Human Rights Commission is at present engaged in drafting a law to protect refugees in India and Shashi Tharoor has introduced a private members bill in Parliament on the subject. It is essential that the refugee protection law passed in India protects all refugees irrespective of their religion or community.

When refugees become targets of right-wing political agenda there is a danger to democracy and democratic values. Refugee protection is rooted in the idea of human solidarity and it is central to human civilisation.

https://youtu.be/sRYfhx3-b1E?t=126  , Arun Shourie, who is also a former editor of the Indian Express and a highly regarded and prolific author, says that the recent comments made by the Law Minister, about judges and the Supreme Court collegium, and by the Vice President, about the primacy and supremacy of parliament over the constitution, do not simply reflect the difference of opinion over how judges are chosen but constitute “a concerted attack on the judiciary” which is “deliberate and well-thought through”. Mr. Shourie says this is not just an attack on judges but an attempt “to denigrate” the Supreme Court, a fundamental and critical part of our constitution. He says the aim is to lower the image and standing of the Supreme Court in the eyes of the Indian people.

https://youtu.be/sRYfhx3-b1E?t=404 Judges v/s elected officials. Judges dont get swayed by public opinion and the constitution makes them unelected..  Executive trying to dismiss and undervalue judges as being unelected!