The illegal trade in red sanders wood, which sells for up to Rs 80 lakh a tonne in some Asian countries, involves a complex nexus of smugglers and impoverished woodcutters.
As India gears up to honour its pravasis on January 9 to mark their contribution in the nation's development, rediff.com presents perspectives from eminent writers on the Diaspora. Kicking off the series is Ambassador T P Sreenivasan, who points out that the change of the Diaspora policy put in place by Rajiv Gandhi following the military coup in Fiji and his decision to stand by them, was the one defining moment in India's dealings with its overseas family.
'Defaulters like Mallya can't be offloaded, but activists like me are. And that too for raising questions.' 'Today, what is the meaning of development?' 'Take over land, water and forest from the Adivasis and hand it over to corporates.' 'I am surprised how a minister who is supposed to protect the forests and the environment is happy reaching out to investors for more and more clearances.'
Apollo and Cooper are yet to make the customary rounds of courts to settle termination charges and break-up fees, but the mood already is buoyant among institutional investors who had red-flagged the highly leveraged transaction agreed upon by the Indian company.
Read the full transcript of President Obama's State of the Union address on Wednesday at the US Capitol in Washington.
Born and abandoned in Mumbai, reborn in Sweden, Erika Sandberg says she is Indian on the outside but feels Swedish on the inside. Vaihayasi Pande Daniel narrates her tale.
At seven, Laxman Singh was one of the first children to be rescued by Kailash Satyarthi from bonded labour. Through his story, the author traces the Nobel Peace Prize awardee's campaign
Sanjeeb Mukherjee, who was eight years old when the deadly gas leaked from Union Carbide's factory, gives his account of living in the city during that fateful period
India Inc has few leaders who are likely to grab headlines in 2015.
Pranjul Bhandari, Chief India Economist, HSBC, speaks about a range of issues ranging from inflation, to how Goods and Services Tax and land acquisition bills can help India hit double digit growth, and her impressions about economic growth in the last one year after Narendra Modi took over as India's Prime Minister.
