Jagdish Patel* ‘The Mirror’, a well-known daily newspaper of Zimbabwe reported that Government of Zimbabwe muscling its efforts to reopen the Shabani Mashaba Mines (SMM) a principle supplier of Asbestos. The state-run company was shut down amid financial scandals back in 2004 but is set to reopen at full capacity employing up to 5,000 workers. The efforts have been stepped up because an Indian company has shown a keen interest in importing 50,000 tonnes of SMM’s Asbestos. It is important to note that, in recognition of its harmful effects asbestos mining is banned in India since three decades but industries exploit the loopholes and import it from elsewhere. Companies continue to import vast quantities of asbestos and produce various products directly increasing public health risks and, definitively, subject its workers to occupational diseases. Asbestos, when inhaled, causes Asbestosis (an inflammatory scarring of lung tissues which leads to permanent and irreversible damage to the r...

By Rajiv Shah That Indian policy makers have had little or no empathy for the social sector and they are more concerned about business interests is widely known. However, a top international survey of five nations has provided convincing data showing that 38% of India's policy makers have little or no knowledge of even the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for 2030. The report says, as many as 15% of Indian policy makers have no knowledge of SDGs, which is the highest among the five nations surveyed. Further, 23% said have "not much" knowledge about SDGs.

India's ranking among "competing" nations By Rajiv Shah Even as pointing out that India has slipped by one rank in the world competitive ranking from 39th last year to 40th this year, after massive upward swing over two previous years, the high-pofile Geneva-based World Economic Forum (WEF) in its new report has found India's ranking extremely poor in providing business environment to investors.

By Our Representative In a shocking revelation, the Government of India relies on more 16 year old data while calculating the number of minority students who should receive scholarship. A recent Government of India circular says that pre-matric and post-matric scholarship schemes for 2017-18 for the country's minorities is to be implemented by the Government of India is "as per the Census 2001".

By Cedric Prakash sj* ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ meaning ‘the whole world is one family’, is an ancient Sanskrit phrase found in the Maha Upanishad, one of the Sacred Texts of Hinduism. This important phrase underlines a basic tenet of Hindu philosophy, which includes welcoming, hospitality, tolerance, harmony, unity and adaptability. For several centuries, India as a country and a large percentage of Indians have been doing their best to live up to this ideal. India has been home to races, nationalities, tribes, religions and cultures from across the world. India has always been a welcoming home to refugees .During the bloody and painful days of partition, there was a steady influx of refugees into India. Thanks to the statesmanship of India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, several hundreds of thousands of Tibetan refugees (including the Dalai Lama) have made India their home for more than fifty years now. The Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971 saw another major influx into the ...

By Our Representative A civil rights organization has taken strong exception to Government of India (GoI) refusing to appoint any representative of the mining-affected communities in its recent committee formed to review the National Mineral Policy. Set up on August 16, the committee, says the advocacy group, has 29 members, of which 25 are government officials, and the rest of the four are representatives of private mining companies.

By Moin Qazi* A woman with a voice is by definition a strong woman. But the search to find that voice can be remarkably difficult. — Melinda Gates We live in a world in which women living in poverty face gross inequalities and injustice from birth to death. The global statistics on poverty are numbing. The real brunt has always fallen on women and sometimes it is very cruel. Women are commonly married young, quickly become mothers, and are then burdened by stringent domestic and financial responsibilities. Women bear the greater brunt of poverty. In India, where a patriarchal system is deeply entrenched, only 13 per cent of farm land is owned by women. The figure is even lower when it comes to lower caste Dalit women who are single. About 12 per cent of India’s female population is classified as single, including women who are widowed, divorced, separated, and older unmarried women, according to the 2011 census.About 41 percent of households headed by women in India do not own land, an...

By Sadhan Mukherjee* The Darjeeling hill flames are doused, or are they? Whatever may be the compulsion, after 104 days the bandh has been formally called off by Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) leader Bimal Gurung in response to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh’s appeal for talks.

Counterview Desk The All India Forum for Right to Education (AIFRTE) statement condemning the "vicious" and "lawless" action of the Uttar Pradesh police force in lathi-charging peaceful women students of Benaras Hindu University (BHU) on the night of 23 September 2017: The girls’ hostel students had for some months been engaged in petitioning the hostel and university authorities against the unconstitutional gender discrimination being practiced by the university. Girls were not allowed use of mobile phones after 10 p.m. and were denied access to WiFi in their hostels. They were not allowed out after 8 p.m. even to visit the library or their families. The girls’ hostel menu did not include non-vegetarian dishes although all these facilities were permitted in the boys’ hostels. The reason given for such absurd discriminatory rules was that women’s sexuality would be aroused in the absence of such restrictions and hence their `safety’ could not be ensured! The ...

By Our Representative Old wine in new bottle -- this is what Prime Minister Narendra Modi's new scheme, Saubhagya, is being described by knowledgeable circles. The "new scheme", seeking to provide free power connection to what are called "willing households", is called Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana or Saubhagya, and is nothing but just a copy of a scheme launched by the then UPA government in April 2005.

By Our Representative One of India's biggest civil rights networks of India, National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM), has alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi very much knew of the Banaras Hindu University girl students' demonstration and the police lathicharge on them well in advance, suggesting he did nothing to stop it.

Counterview Desk About 50 prominent activists attached with the National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM) have condemned “state repression” on Banaras Hindu University (BHU) women students, who were demanding a sexual-violence free campus, demanding criminal action against BHU’s vice chancellor for his omissions and commissions in the entire episode. Text of the statement: The National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM) condemns the Uttar Pradesh government’s violent, cowardly and indefensible crack down on the young women-students led movement in the Banaras Hindu University (BHU) campus, seeking a university space with equal rights for women and freedom from sexual harassment and violence. That the long standing and quite simple demands of the students were not being addressed and in fact survivors of sexual harassment were repeatedly being shamed by the male proctors, even as the identified perpetrators were being allowed to go Scot-free, compelled the students to embar...

By Our Representative Even as more than 400 families have already been evicted, an estimated 55,000 families are facing the danger of being evicted in the name of disaster management and restoration of water bodies in Chennai. Being resettled about 30 km away, this is being done allegedly under the shadow of the Madras High Court’s interim order, which has directed the Tamil Nadu government to take “expeditious steps for early removal of encroachments."

By Sadhan Mukjerjee* The election results in Germany show a dangerous portent. Though Angela Markel has become the 4th time Chancellor of Germany but her party CDU-CSU has got the lowest vote since 1949. It has lost substantial voter support. The CDU-CSU has won only a 33% vote, aer CDU-CSUH loss of 8.5%. Similarly, Social Democrats have lost heavily losing 5.2% votes and winning only 20.5%. It leader Martin Schultz has declared that the party will not join the Markel’s government, thus ending the Grand Coalition that ruled Germany. Many in that party felt that the party has not got its due in the coalition and hence it is better to operate as an independent entity. What is however a dangerous trend is Alternative for Germany (AfD)’s surge, winning 12.6% votes, a gain of 7.9%. This means it will not only enter the Bundestag (Parliament) for the first time but also become the third largest party in parliament. The German election has been described as an election of joy and despair, joy...

By Our Representative Even two months after massive floods hit North Gujarat, especially Banaskantha and Patan districts, killing about 220 people, with the Gujarat government subsequently announcing a Rs 1,500 crore package, virtually "no effort" has been made to scientifically assess the reasons responsible for what appears to be a natural disaster, or to reach out to the most needy sections, who have suffered the most.

Martin Macwan By Our Representative Taking its campaign to a new level, the Abhadcched Mukt Bharat Andolan (Untouchability Free India Movement): Mission 2047, launched by well-known Dalit rights activist Martin Macwan, has asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to accept the demand put forwand by Dr BR Ambedkar, made exactly 85 years ago, to provide separate electorate for Dalits.

N Our Representative One of India's topmost economists, Prof Prabhat Patnaik, has predicted that the total current account deficit for the financial year 2017-18 is likely to be anywhere between $30 to $40 billion, as compared to just $15 billion for 2016-17. In an incisive analysis of the state of the country's finances, he says that it is highly unlikely that the recent jump in the current account deficit to $14.3 billion, or 2.4% of the quarterly GDP (April-June) from 0.1% a year ago, will come down.

By Our Representative Calling one of India's most controversial TV journalists Arnab Goswami "prosecutor, judge, jury and executioner of the evil forces conspiring against India", yet another right-wing "icon" in journalism, R Jagannathan, editorial director, Swarajya, has accused the former Times Now anchor of "making" his channel, Republic TV, "more about himself than the news."

By Our Representative There is strong flutter in the top Government of India (GoI)officialdom on viability of the Japan-funded bullet train project, agreed upon by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japanese PM Shinzo Abe in Ahmedabad. As a reflection of this flutter, Delhi bureaucrats are circulating a Facebook post of an ex-GoI official, which tells the internal story of how the costly was considered not feasible in the past.

By Rajiv Shah Well-known investigative journalist Rana Ayyub, whose book "Gujarat Files", based on her sting operations of Gujarat government officials created a huge stir last year, has alleged that a new vicious round of character assassination against her has begun over the last one week, timed with the release of the Hindi edition her book.

By Fr Cedric Prakash sj* In a powerful speech to world leaders on September 19th, Antonio Guterres, the Secretary General of the United Nations, kicked off the UN General Assembly 2017. We are living in a world in pieces, he warned the leaders; going on to add, "our world is in trouble. People are hurting and angry. They see insecurity rising, inequality growing, conflict spreading and climate changing." Guterres went on to outline seven key threats facing the world, and the major challenges to resolving them: the risk of nuclear conflict, international terrorism, unresolved conflicts and violations of international humanitarian law, climate change, rising inequality, cybersecurity, and the refugee crisis. He concluded with an appeal, "my message to world leaders today: only together, as truly United Nations, can we build a peaceful world and advance human dignity for all." The words of the UN Chief which revolved around peace and human dignity, could not have come...

By Sadhan Mukherjee* Darjeeling Hills are still burning but there are indications that they are slowly cooling down. The fire is not that intense as before. At the same time, it seems that the union government and the West Bengal government are on different wave lengths for the solution of the problem.

By Nava Thakuria* Understanding the gravity of the situation where India loses nearly 10,000 people to electrocution deaths annually, a civil society group based in Northeast has raised voices for a total rearrangement of the power supply system in the country. 

By Our Representative On being ousted from the Congress for voting for BJP candidates for the Rajya Sabha Amit Shah and Balwantsinh Rajput, former Leader of Opposition Shankarsinh Vaghela, aged 77, has suddenly found that there is something fundamentally wrong with the Indian party system, and it has befallen upon him to reform it.

The Urdu school By Our Representative A hostile statement made by the Aam Admi Party (AAP) lawyer, in a proceeding relating to allotment of land and building to a minority Urdu medium institution, does not appear to have gone down well amongst the Muslims of Delhi. A large section this correspondent interacted with asked whether AAP is willing to deliver its promises magnanimously made by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

By Gagan Sethi* In the new economic scenario, the State is increasingly investing in the infrastructure sector at the cost of social sector. In fact, there is an increasing tendency to leave implementation of developmental programs for the vulnerable sections to contracted NGOs, especially those that are dependent on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). These NGOs are registered as public bodies and enjoy tax exemptions. Time has come to focus on their good governance, to bring them under public scrutiny. Till the mid-1980s, the civil society had three major roles: (a) Reaching out to the most vulnerable sections, and directly intervening in their lives by provisioning basic survival needs and/or special services through an empowerment lens, which seeks to fight dependency. (b) Work with people and technology to innovate and search for solutions with communities on issues of poverty, health, basic service delivery, so that communities begin controlling their own lives and move on to...

A minority ghetto in Ahmedabad By Our Representative A minority rights civil society organization has asked the Gujarat government to set up an independent minorities’ welfare department. Currently, all minority-related activities fall under the social justice and empowerment department of the state government, one reason why, the NGO, Minority Coordination Committee (MCC), feels there is no focused approach to ameliorate their plight.

By Our Representative In a statement issued in the aftermath of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's birthday bash, Medha Patkar, leader of the anti -dam movement Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA), has said the "dedication of the Sardar Sarovar Project (SSP) to the nation" on September 17 "was a complete failure", as the chief ministers of Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh did not turn up for the grand ceremony.

By Mehul Pandya and Vandana Chauhan* India and Japan individually and jointly offer a wide range of capabilities to protect Asia from disaster risks. The ongoing visit of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan to Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India for the Indo-Japan Summit offers an opportunity to enhance this leadership. In India-Japan Joint Statement during the visit of Prime Minister of India to Japan in November 11, 2016 the two Prime Ministers shared their intention to expand dialogue and cooperation in the defence sector, to cover exchange of observers in humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HA/DR) exercises, and exchange and train personnel in key fields of mutual interest. The statement acknowledged the importance of the World Tsunami Awareness Day to raise awareness, promote better understanding of tsunami risks and develop tools to address tsunami at least in Asia if not beyond. An MoU was also signed between the Government of Gujarat in India and Hyogo Prefectural Government in...

Counterview Desk 0pen letter to the President of India by Prakash N Shah of the People's Union for Civil Liberties, Gujarat, and Dwarika Nath Rath of the Movement for Secular Democracy: We the Indian citizens residing in Gujarat are here with submitting this memorandum with much concern and anguish. Of course it is all about the Narmada Project. Since the inception of this Project, Gujarat has passed through various phases, positive as well as negative. But the matter which causes the most anxiety is the present scenario wherein the very objective of the project has been changed. It’s basic objective was to make its water available for drinking and irrigation. And yet Gujarat is still thirsty and its fields are parched. In that case whom do the height the dam increased and the gates are ready for? Who are going to benefit? The recent factual details of the Narmada Project in Gujarat: The main objective of the project was to make its water available for drinking and to i...