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In order to check the increasing diversion of forest land for non-forest purposes, the Government of India enacted the Forest Conservation Act (FCA) 1980 which mandated the central government's prior approval for any such diversions. This Act applied to land notified as forest under the Indian Forest Act 1927 or any other law, and the forest under the control of the forest department. The Supreme Court order in Godavarman Case (1996) expanded the definition of a forest for applicability of FCA to all forests irrespective of recognition, classification, and ownership, and also those conforming to the dictionary meaning of forests. This created operational problems. The 2023 amendments to FCA 1980 exempt certain forest lands from its purview and exclude certain activities from the definition of non-forest purposes. The amended law shrinks the forest cover besides subverting rights granted to forest dwellers under Central laws.

Ashok Pankaj, Inclusive Development Through Guaranteed Employment: India's MGNREGA Experiences, Springer, 2023, 313 pp., ₹10,115.00, ISBN 9789811574429 (Hardcover).

Amitabh Rajan, Ethical Dimensions of Administrative Power, SAGE Publications, 2021, 228 pp., ₹550. ISBN 9789391370008 (Paperback).

Anand Chakravarti, Is This 'Azaadi'? Everyday Lives of Agricultural Labourers in a Bihar Village, Tulika Books, 2018, 280 pp., ₹750. Tulika Books, No 44 first floor, Shahpur Jat, New Delhi – 110049. ISBN 978-81-934015-3-8. Hardbound.

Compensatory afforestation means the afforestation of plantations of an equivalent area of non-forest land or of double the area of degraded notified forest to compensate for the loss of forests diverted for development activities. The user of this diverted forest is required to pay its 'net present value' to the forest department for this purpose. On the direction of the Supreme Court, a law has been enacted and rules framed to manage the money collected for afforestation. The contents of this legislation and the manner of its enforcement have, however, led to a severe reduction of the tribals' access to forest resources, forcible plantation on their village commons, pastures and even on patta land, and the relocation of their settlements from forests, thereby violating their rights in land and forests. It has also led to severely eroding their means of livelihood besides creating a perverse incentive for deforestation. This has created a new area of conflict between tribal communities and the state.

Lakshmidhar Mishra, Discovery of Truth and Nothing but Truth: Memoirs of a Civil Servant. New Delhi: Aakar Books, 2017, 318 pp., ₹2,572, ISBN: 9789350024911 (Hardcover).

The increasing ferocity and frequency of violence against Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) led to the enactment of the SCs/STs (Prevention of Atrocities) Act 1989. The law now forbade the practice of untouchability thus protecting marginalised communities against all forms of social injustice and exploitation. However, the ensuing years revealed many deficiencies in the Act and its enforcement leading to a demand to strengthen it. Subsequently, the SCs and STs Amendment Ordinance was issued in March 2014, followed by the enactment of the SCs and STs (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Act 2015 that came into force in January 2016. However, barely two years later, the Supreme Court, proceeding on the assumption that there was rampant abuse of the law by SCs/STs struck a crippling blow to the legislation. In oder to protect public servants from being falsely implicated in cases under the Act, the Supreme Court, in a recent ruling (Dr Subhash K. Mahajan vs. State of Maharashtra) introduced procedural safeguards of such a fundamental nature that the law has been virtually rewritten and will profoundly impact the dalit's fight for social equality and justice.

The Land Acquisition Act 1894 was comprehensively amended in 2013 which, among others, provided for prior consent of land owners in cases of acquisition for private companies and public partnerships, social impact assessment of all projects requiring land acquisition and restrictions on acquisition of irrigated agricultural land to accommodate some of the concerns of people affected by land acquisition. The ordinance promulgated in 2014 nullifies them to make land available to project authorities without hassles with a view to promoting growth. The changes carried out clearly demonstrate the clout of the industry in public policy making. Farmers and others dependent upon land for livelihood lose out in this contest of power.

The role of hybrid vigour in the enhancement of productivity is well recognized. Its application, however, has been restricted to a few crops and legume breeders could never take its advantage due to various seed production issues. Recently, plant breeders have succeeded in creating the world's first commercial hybrid in a food legume, popularly known as red gram or pigeonpea [Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp.]. This was possible due to success in breeding a stable cytoplasmic nuclear male sterility (CMS) system and exploitation of its partial natural out-crossing. This development has provided golden opportunities to break the decades-old yield plateau in this crop. Among the hybrid combinations evaluated, ICPH 2671 and GTH 1 were found most promising. In the on-farm trials ICPH 2671 recorded 46.5% superiority over the best available cultivar Maruti; while GTH 1 was 33.9% superior to the control, and it was released in Gujarat state in 2004; but for some reasons associated with its stability of fertility restoration it failed to reach the level of commercialization. The outstanding performance of hybrid ICPH 2671 led to its release by both, a private seed company as 'Pushkal' and by the state Government of Madhya Pradesh as 'RV ICPH 2671' in 2010. The journey of the evolution of hybrid pigeonpea technology was fascinating and challenging. It took a long time of over 39-years from its conceptualization to finally reaching Indian farmers. The impact of this breakthrough was visible when two more hybrids ICPH 2740 and ICPH 3762 were recently released in India. Since it is a path breaking research among food legumes, an attempt has been made here to archive the milestones of this historic plant breeding event.