New Forest Act rules will help corporates gain control of India's forests: Brinda Karat
New Delhi(PTI): CPI(M) politburo member Brinda Karat has written to Union Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Bhupender Yadav, opposing the new amended rules for the Forest Conservation Act and alleged it will help corporates to gain access and control of India's forests.
In the letter, Karat said the rules are "objectionable, condemnable and unacceptable."
"The changes in the Rules are so far-reaching in their aim to help corporates and private companies to gain access and control of India's forests that in honesty, the Government could well have brought a new law, so that people of India could understand the Government's priority.
"Indeed taking the Rules in their entirety, it is more suited for a Forest Corporatisation Act rather than a Forest Conservation Act," Karat said.
She highlighted the fact that whereas the earlier rules had provisions for diversion of 100 hectares or more, in the new rules the more has now been quantified as more than 1,000 hectares . She also said that the Ministry of Tribal Affairs had objected in 2019 to some of the provisions which had been suggested by MOEFCC.
"It is objectionable, condemnable and unacceptable how the amended Rules have totally eliminated the rights of gram sabhas and of tribal communities and other traditional forest dwellers living in forests," she said.
"Bhupender Yadav ji, this is totally against the constitutional guarantees given to tribal communities, it is in violation of the Fifth and Sixth Schedules, the PESA, the amended Wild Life Protection Act and finally and importantly the FRA. It is a violation of the Supreme Court judgement in the Niyamgiri mining case, 2013," Karat said.
She also objected to the violation of rights of forest dwellers and the certain provisions of handover of non-forest land to corporates for compensatory afforestation.
"The change in Rules are an opaque process without prior consultation or discussion with those who are affected. The procedure of Parliamentary approval is reduced to a mere formality. Given the consequences which will surely arise once these Rules are implemented, the government should put them in abeyance till there is a public discussion and opinions elicited from all those sections likely to be affected," Karat said.
She also demanded that the rules be sent for examination to the relevant Standing Committee of Parliament and the opinions of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, which is the nodal ministry for implementation of the Forest Rights Act, must be included.
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Real Madrid fines Valverde and Tchouaméni half a million euros each for altercation
Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.
The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”
Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”
Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.
After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.
“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”
Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.
Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay.
Chaotic end to a poor season
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The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.
Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
