New year came with rather distressing news for India’s forests and our environment with the approval of the Cabinet Committee on Investment (CCI). To be headed by the Prime Minister himself, the CCI is expected to grant fast track clearances to large scale infrastructure projects above 1000 crores (180 million USD) investment. The slow GDP growth is dictating Government policies and in the case of CCI, irrational and dangerous policies! Initially called the National Investment Board (NIB), the proposal stirred up a hornets nest with the environment ministry taking serious offence to such a proposal that devalues the role of …