The tapes put on youtube.com. Click on the image to listen By Our Representative Fresh tapes released by an investigative news site, http://gulail.com/ have made further revelations on how Gujarat government under ex-chief minister Narendra Modi had controversially “snooped” on an innocent young Bangalore-based woman architect. It adds, what is new in the fresh set of tapes is, she was being “stalked like a criminal or a terrorist by the anti-terrorist squad and intelligence machinery” beyond the boundaries of the state.

By Rohit Prajapati* We are living in a world where a number of experts will readily state their opinions that particular chemicals “within prescribed norms” will have no adverse impact at all. One will find only very few experts ready to state that chemicals in excess definitely leads to particular health problem. Even research related to health problem vis-a-vis chemicals and particular industrial clusters is difficult to find and to my knowledge, there are no resources available for such research in India. The governments at the centre and state levels, and the government medical colleges and institutes lack the political will to take up such research. With practically no substantial resources for activists and whistle-blowers who try to pin-point the issues of health and environment with reference to industry based on Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS), activists are blamed by stating that these are ‘non-serious allegations’ against the industry and the state. People are victims of ...

By Kriti Sharma* The real test of a government is its commitment to its very own people, the adivasis, minoritie, sexual or religious, women and dalits. Reference here is not to the politics of doling out that turns up election fever, but the ability to ensure a life of dignity, equality and just entitlement to nation's subalterns. The most controversial bill of this year the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Amendment Bill 2015, however, attempts to rob adivasis, small farmers and forest-dwellers of just that. In one stroke it does away with first, the recognition of relationship of land with its people; second, the basic principle of allowing affected persons to give consent and have a say; and third, the requirement of 'social impact assessment' to fully understand the implications of land acquisition. Thus, it allows for redistribution of land from the poor to the non-poor in certain controversial projects i...

Counterview reaction By Our Representative Following is the text of the rejoinder to Tata Mundra article published (withdrawn) in www.counterview.net:    Serious concern with your article “Child labour on rise around Tata Mundra plant, teenage girls being forced into sexual abuse: Report” dated June 19, 2015 This is with reference to the article titled ‘Child labour on rise around Tata Mundra plant, teenage girls being forced into sexual abuse: Report’ published by Counterview on June 19, 2015.

By PVS Kumar* During the past one-year we have witnessed an unprecedented attack on scientific temper, rational thinkingand scientific establishment of the country. The assault has been four pronged: 1. Spreading and providing credibility to myths, superstitions, irrational beliefs among the masses; 2. Occupying spaces such as science congress, workshops and conferences and use the official and unofficial platforms for anti-science activities;

Karen Gabriel By Karen Gabriel and P K Vijayan* Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been reported as having stated, in an interview to Time magazine, that 'You don't need dictatorship in India, democracy is in our DNA'. Modi says, 'It is not just as per our Constitution that we are a democratic country, it is in our DNA.... I firmly believe that for us, democracy and belief in democratic values are a matter of faith.' He apparently also goes on to remark that acceptance of all religions was 'in our blood': “All religions and all communities have the same rights and it is my responsibility to ensure their complete and total protection. My Government will not tolerate or accept any discrimination based on caste, creed and religion. So there is no place for imaginary apprehensions with regards to the rights of the minorities in India” (Indian Express, 8 May 2015). What stands out in these observations is the use of the word 'faith'. This term has two broad...

By Fr. Cedric Prakash sj* Civil society activism is under attack in India as never before! A careful analysis of this past year clearly reveals that those who have accompanied the poor and the marginalised, the vulnerable and the victims of society have often to take up cudgels against the powerful and other vested interests; more often than not, it is also against the Government be it State or Central. Civil society activism in India today involves a whole range of stake-holders which include individuals, academic institutions, writers – scholars, human rights and other non-government organisations and in short anybody and everybody genuinely concerned about what is happening in the country today. There are individuals and institutions who work at the grassroots with Dalits and Adivasis, with women, children and LGBTs, with small farmers, with the displaced and refugees, with slum-dwellers and with the differently-abled and perhaps with every disadvantaged individual or group who have...

PM's residence By Our Representative Denial of information to Paragkumar Ashokkumar Patel, the Gujarat citizen who under the right to information (RTI) Act wanted the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) to tell him the dates of top Indian tycoon Gautam Adani's visit to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's residence, is all set to turn into full blown controversy. Patel has decided not to take things lying down, and has gone into an appeal saying that the denial runs counter to the RTI Act, alleging the PMO's Central Public Information Officer (CPIO) has done it under "pressure" from Modi.

By Our Representative Taking strong exception to the recently-released revised draft of the Post-2015 Development Agenda, proposed to be adopted at the UN General Assembly this September, a group of 18 top India-based non-government organizations (NGOs) has said that it fails to take into account the broader context of "declining role of the state vis-à-vis the private sector and businesses."

Replica of new Ahmedabad hospital By Our Representative Four independent members of the board of management, Chinai Maternity and VS General Hospitals, Ahmedabad, have strongly protested against the Gujarat government’s move to convert the hospital into a super-specialty unit. In a statement to the media, they have said, for two long years their plea not to convert it into super-specialty hospital is pending before the charity commissioner court, but without “any progress.”

Shailesh Patel By Pankti Jog* In Mahatma Gandhi’s dry state, even asking for information about illegal liquor trading has proved to be life snatching. Shailesh Kantilal Patel of Surendranagar district of Gujarat filed a right to information (RTI) application on June 15, 2015 at 12 noon at the district superintendent of police’s (DSP’s) office of Surendrangar district. He was murdered on the same day late night.

By Ram Puniyani* The coming to power of Narendra Modi in a way gave an open license to all the affiliates of RSS combine to indulge in open hate speech against the religious minorities. The current agenda behind the hate speech is to consolidate the communal polarization of the society along lines of religion. The well known case of MIM's Akbarudin Owaisi’s hate speech has been despicable and very rightly Akbarudin Owaisi had to be in jail for some time. The case against him should be pursued and the legal course of action must be pursued. At the same time what about the hate speech indulged in by the likes of Pravin Togadia, Subramaniam Swamy, Giriraj Singh, Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, Sadhvi Prachi, Sakshi Mahraraj, Yogi Adityanth, Sanjay Raut and company? Apart from these associates of Hindu right-wing patriarch, RSS, who are reported in the media, there are many more indulging in the divisive speech and worsening the communal situation. During this year they have started feeling emb...

By Fr Cedric Prakash sj* The long awaited encyclical on ‘environmental issues’ by Pope Francis is finally here! Released on June 18 in the Vatican, the encyclical is certainly not merely a defining moment for the Catholic Church but in fact for the whole of humanity. Entitled ‘Laudato Si’ (Praised be to you!) – ‘on care for our common home’, the first two words of a thirteenth century prayer written by St Francis of Assisi and called the ‘Canticle of the Creatures’ or the ‘Canticle of the Sun’. The words ‘Praised be to you’ refers several times in this beautiful prayer which praises and thanks God for giving us the whole of creation and particularly for ‘Brother Fire’ and ‘Sister Water’. Pope Francis already set the tone of his papacy when on March 13th 2013, the day he was elected Pope, he took his name from St. Francis of Assisi who is universally regarded as the Patron Saint of the environment and in his identification with poverty and with peace. ‘Laudato Si’ has come in when the w...