By Our Representative The Gujarat government appears to sit pretty, and is happy, that there is virtually “no protest” against its ban on mobile internet, continuing across the state since August 26, when violence broke out following the five-lakh-strong Patel rally for reservation in Ahmedabad. A senior Sachivalaya official told Counterview that there has been “no representation” against the ban, despite isolated voices regarding e-business having been “adversely affected”, hence “why worry?”

Wendy Doniger By Our Representative As many as 125 academics from across the Unites States, associated with the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), have come down heavily on what they call “uncritical fanfare being generated over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Silicon Valley to promote Digital India on September 27, 2015.”

By Nandini Oza*  Just out of college, equipped with a degree in social work, and many dreams, I took up my first job in an NGO working in the rural areas of Gujarat. The NGO mainly focused on soil and water conservation, agriculture extension, installation of biogas plants, and so on. I was placed by the NGO at one of the branch offices in the Junagadh district of Gujarat. During my work in the organisation, I realised that some of the rural communities were not only more resourceful but also more progressive than the others. Patels were one of them, or rather they topped the list. I also found it very easy to work in the Patel dominated villages as they were cohesive. In fact, we were able to turn one such Patel-dominated village into a model village with nearly all houses having a biogas plant.

Sri M, spiritual leader, Manav Ekta Mission, with Modi By Our Representative Walk of Hope, a well-publicized  7,500-km-long padayatra undertaken with the claimed aim of ushering in an era of “peace and harmony”, will soon be reaching Godhra, the epicentre of the communal riots which broke out across Gujarat on February 27, 2002, via Ahmedabad. One of the aims at Godhra, as in Ahmedabad, said spiritual leader, Mumtaz Ali, popularly Sri M, would be to find out the “real truth” behind  communal carnage.

Patel leader Hardik Patel with VHP chief Pravin Togadia By Our Representative In an interesting turn, the Cabinet under Prime Minister Narendra Modi has "cleared" four sub-castes to be included in the Government of India's list of other backward classes (OBCs). The move, said to be largely symbolic, comes amidst the powerful Patel agitation, which rocked Gujarat, for reservation within the OBC framework. Two of the sub-castes given the OBC category are from Gujarat, while the other two are from Uttarakhand.

By Martin Macwan* The Patidars, popularly known as ‘Patels’, are far from ignorant to know that to acquire other backward class (OBC) status for securing reservation in Gujarat (each State has its own commission and list of its own castes), they have to file a claim before the permanent OBC commission set up by the Government of Gujarat. Knowing well they stand no chance to prove themselves as ‘an educationally and socially backward caste’ before the OBC commission, Patidars have chosen a path of popular show of muscles to bend the Gujarat Government headed by the first woman chief minister and a Patidar herself to agree to their demand. Patidars have also threatened the BJP Government of Gujarat as well as Narendra Modi, the OBC Prime Minister of India that they may fall if their demands are not met. Patidars claim that without their critical support both the rise of BJP government of Gujarat and Modi as the Prime Minister of India was not possible. The prominent personalities and org...

By RK Misra* Society is like a stew. If you don’t stir it scum floats to the top. But those who do so must bear the burden of the stink. Both stirred and shaken, Gujarat is going through turmoil-filled days as its affluent and numerically strong Patidar (Patel) community mounts a fierce assault for other backward class (OBC) reservation that is straining the fabric of inter-community harmony to its tensile limits.

By Our Representative In a move that may invite strong reactions in Gujarat, well-known academic Yogendra Yadav, who leads the nascent political outfit, Swaraj Abhiyan, has declared that the Sardar Sarovar Project (SSP) “is symptomatic of the obnoxious political culture of the country”. Yadav was addressing an anti-dam Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) rally in Badwani, Madhya Pradesh.

By Our Representative In an important move, the central information commissioner (CIC), the right to information (RTI) watchdog on the Government of India (GoI) and its agencies, has ordered, in a ruling, that concession agreement for a public-private partnership (PPP) project should be disclosed after “severing those portions relating to commercial confidentiality”.

By Our Representative A well-represented Dalit advocacy delegation from Nepal, visiting India to take stock of the type of laws made in the country and how they are being implemented to “safeguard” Dalit rights, has alleged that the new draft Nepalese constitution has “failed” to take a serious view abolition of the dreaded haliya system of bonded labour, prevailing in large parts of the country.

By Venkatesh Nayak* Readers may remember the major controversy over the coverage of Public Private Partnerships (PPP) under The Right to Information Act, 2005 (RTI Act) during the tenure of the United Progressive Alliance Government. While the Central Information Commission (CIC) wanted them to be covered by the RTI Act, the now defunct Planning Commission was hesitant to act immediately. Pursuant to this controversy, in August 2011, I had filed an RTI application with the Department of Ports, Puducherry asking for the Concession Agreement relating to the PPP project. After four years, the CIC has ordered that the Concession Agreement be disclosed after severing those portions relating to commercial confidentiality. Despite the order being passed in June 2015, the Department of Ports, Puducherry has neither sent me the information nor issued notice challenging the CIC’s decision in the High Court. Thanks to the very vocal demand made by the RTI fraternity in India and the numerous case...

By Our Representative Nobel laureate Amartya Sen, who was “pressured” to resign from the chancellorship of the Nalanda University, has said that national and international hue and cry over the Modi government’s effort to interfere in the work of the prestigious international university has finally worked and that it has helped its “revival”, though wondering how long will non-interference last.

By Hitesh Chavda If things move the way they are moving, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Gujarat is heading for a major confrontation between upper caste reservationists and other backward castes (OBCs). This seemed clear enough from the well-represented OBC rally in Ahmedabad on Sunday, which warned the Patidars, wanting an OBC status, that their demand would not be taken “lightly”.

By Our Representative A top pro-Narendra Modi international politics expert, Prof Rajesh Rajagopalan, has advised the Government of India to consider adopting "military options to respond to Pakistan's transgressions", instead of limiting its options to "calling off talks each time Pakistan engages" India in terrorist activities.

By Our Representative Facts have come to light suggesting that there are no separate provisions in the Central budget in the “special mega package” for Rs 1.25 lakh announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the “development” of Bihar, and the funds that he has said he “allocated” are actually mainly on-going infrastructure projects, which will take 10 years to complete.

Amitabh Kundu By Our Representative Foremost economist Prof Amitabh Kundu has come down heavily on the Socio Economic and Caste Census (SECC) saying that the information on income that has been collected in the SECC has been done “in a very cavalier manner.” A demographer and an authority on urbanization, migration patterns and labour market, Prof Kundu has especially taken exception to collecting income data of the highest earning member of the family.

By Our Representative Even the powerful Gujarat-based Adani Group is all set to seek fresh mining lease to enable it to go ahead with its controversial $20 billion coal mining project in Australia's Queensland province, the view has gone strong that the a final recommendation on whether to allow it is “not expected” until the end of the year.

Original: Obama and Michelle; morphed: with Modi By Munir Ahmed Facts have come to light with strong suggestions that the Gujarat Forensic Science Laboratory is “ill-equipped” to authenticate the sex-video, cited by the state government to issue show-cause notice on suspended IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt on the charge of moral turpitude. The state home department had issued a show cause notice on Bhatt, seeking an explanation within 10 days for allegedly having a “relationship with a woman other than his wife”. A 1988 batch IPS officer, Bhatt had filed an affidavit before the Supreme Court, claiming that he had attended a meeting on February 27, 2002 at Narendra Modi’s residence in Gandhinagar, where he claimed the then chief minister told his officers to “allow Hindus to vent their anger”.

By Our Representative In yet another scathing editorial , the influential American daily 'New York Times' (August 17) has again accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of severely undermining freedom of expression. The top daily says, "Since his election in May 2014, Modi has trumpeted India’s open society and vibrant democracy when he speaks to foreign heads of state and business leaders. But, at home, his government is seeking to restrict freedom of expression."

Patidar leader Hardik Patel, 22 By Rajiv Shah  A well-informed official source close to the establishment has conveyed to the Government of India, particularly the Prime Minister’s Office and the intelligence-gathering network working for it, that Narendra Modi’s former detractors in Gujarat BJP are behind the current Patidar (or Patel) caste stir for reservation that has engulfed the state.

By RK Misra* The front is on fire and the back is burning. Quite literally. Up in front, the country’s current Parliament session has gone up in smoke-logjam over GST, Land Bill and all. Down under, in the Prime Minister’s backyard, Gujaraj, a Patel ignited prairie fire – akin to the Gujjar reservation stir in Rajasthan – rages unhindered, threatening to engulf the government of his protégé, Anandiben Patel.

By Rajiv Shah Amidst major hue and cry around “time lost” during the recently-ended Parliament session, with accusations flying high that the tax-payers’ money is being “wasted”, data of Lok Sabha sittings suggest that the last session when the BJP was in opposition saw the highest per cent of time lost since 1991.

Construction of household toilets (Nos) By Our Representative Is Prime Minister Narendrda Modi's Swacch Bharat campaign, launched on August 15, 2015, beginning to flounder? A recent analysis of the official figures of the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation says, the target for household toilets was set at 98 million more toilets by 2019, which would require constructing 46 toilets per minute. However, in 2014-15, just 11 toilets were constructed per minute.

By Our Representative Nobel laureate Amartya Sen has said that it is not just the BJP-led government which is neglecting health and education. In a blog-interview with Oxford University Press (OUP), the top economist believes, the neglect was the hallmark of earlier governments, too, only "with Modi, it has got worse, because the government has further cuts" in the two sectors.

Campaigners gather at Narmada bank in Badwani, Madhya Pradesh By Our Representative In a major boost to the Narmada Bachao Andolan’s (NBA’s) ongoing campaign against the Gujarat government and the Centre to raise the Sardar Sarovar dam’s height by 17 metres, 40 prominent recipients of the Stockholm-based Right to Livelihood Award have sought United Nations (UN) intervention for urgent review of the mega project. The award is also known as “Alternative Nobel Prize”.

By Our Representative Medha Patkar-led six-day padyatra along Narmada river in Madhya Pradesh has ended after activists led by her moved from village to village, through lush green fields and thickly populated bastis meeting thousads of Sardar Sarovar Dam-affected oustees, apprising them of the dangers of submergence because of taking the dam from 121.92 metres to full reservoir level of 139 metres.Called Jeevan Aadhikar Yatra, on reaching Badwani's Raj Ghat they began indefinite satyagraha with the participation of farmers, landless workers, fisher people, others both in the submergence affected villages and resettlement sites of Badwani and Dhar districts.

By Venkatesh Nayak* According to media reports , the three-Judge Supreme Court Bench hearing the Aadhaar-related (UID) batch of petitions has decided that these petitions and the issue — whether people have a fundamental right to privacy and what is its scope and ambit — should be decided by a Constitution Bench. The pleadings of the Attorney General of India (AGI) appear to have prevailed over those of the Petitioners who argued that the right to privacy is undoubtedly a fundamental right. The AGI cited Constitution Bench judgements of the Court which are 5-6 decades old to argue that the right to privacy was recognised by Benches of lesser strength and therefore the matter should be authoritatively decided once and for all. Last week I commented on the incredulity (if not the fallacy) of the AGI’s arguments. Those comments as well as the core issue of the right to privacy and the legality of Aadhaar became the subject of a major debate on a TV Channel as well. How large is the Const...

RK Misra*  Politicians in power allure by denying and entice by delaying. Dangling bones ensure jumping ‘dogs’ and protean promises make for leaping ‘frogs’. And thereafter you have yoga for the masses, as if they haven't had enough. Walk the talk has been a popular TV show hosted by a top print media editor, but talking while walking leads to breathlessness.

By Rajiv Shah A new Government of India report has revealed that, despite huge claims of rise in livelihood standards over the last one decade, the use of firewood and chips as the chief source of cooking is higher in Gujarat compared to most of India. In Gujarat, 79.7 per cent of rural and 15.9 per cent of urban households use firewood and chips as against the all-India average of 67.3 per cent and 14 per cent respectively.

By Krishnakant* A case-appeal has been filed against the order of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) and others granting CRZ clearance for establishment of intake and outfall facility for proposed 6000 MWe Nuclear Power Plant at Mithi Virdi, District Bhavnagar, Gujarat by Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) vide order in F 11-23 /2014-IA- III dated March 3, 2015. The case-appeal in the National Green Tribunal at Western Bench at Pune is filed by Shaktisinh Gohil, Sarpanch of Jasapara; Hajabhai Dihora of Mithi Virdi; Jagrutiben Gohil of Jasapara; Krishnakant and Rohit Prajapati activist of the Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti. The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has issued a notice to the MoEF&CC, Gujarat Pollution Control Board, Gujarat Coastal Zone Management Authority, Atomic Energy Regulatory Board and Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) and case is kept for hearing on August 20, 2015. Appeal No. 23 of 2015 (WZ) is filed, a...

Alang yard By Our Representative The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has issued a notice to the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC), Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB), Gujarat Coastal Zone Management Authority (GCZMA), Atomic Energy Regulatory Board and Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited for granting coastal regulatory zone (CRZ) clearance for intake and outfall facility for the proposed 6000 MW on Saurashtra coast of Gujarat.

By Our Representative India's former energy secretary EAS Sarma has strongly put forward the case against coal mining, considered by powerful coal-fired power company owners of India as the panacea to end “India's energy poverty”. In an article in the wake of the Australian Federal Court calling environmental nod to the Adani Group's coalmining project in the country as “invalid”, he says, social and economic costs of sending power to all the nooks and cornder of India are “huge” and far “outweigh” the perceived benefits of coal.

By Our Representative The Narmada yatra to protest the ongoing construction of the Narmada dam, which is being raised 121.92 metres to 138.64 metres, began at Khalghat in Madhya Pradesh on August 6 under the leadership of Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) leader Medha Patkar. Being carried out along the Narmada river, and targeting villages that come on way, padyatra participants warned villagers that the construction, when completed, will mean “watery grave” to them.