By Shaktisinh Gohil* Death of infants in the Civil Hospital of Ahmedabad was due to criminal negligence of the government. Facts and figures in the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report has made it clear that civil hospital of Ahmedabad does not have basic facility for the health of children. The 24 hour child care was needed in the Neo Natal ICU ward. A child cannot complain his problems like fever and vomiting. In view of this, through letters of 18/12/2013 and 12/06/2015, it was suggested that the ward must have high tech facility like 24 hour CCTV. But no such arrangements have been made. The video of the labour ward and neo natal ward clearly supports this claim. In its report, CAG has noted, ICU and trauma care centre were very sensitive for the needs of serious patients. There should be right temperature and measures to ensure that infection does not spread. But the air conditioner of trauma centre is in repair most of the time and there are no dust /air filters which are...

By Venkatesh Nayak* Earlier this month, the Central Information Commission (CIC) refused to direct NHPC Ltd to open up details of negotiations regarding the return of hydel projects it operates in Jammu and Kashmir. The CIC treated NHPC — the Respondent in my second appeal matter, as a ‘third party’ as well and held that information about the negotiations would fall under the category of “commercial confidence” under Section 8(1)(d) of The Right to Information Act, 2005 (RTI Act). Ordinarily, while disseminating information about my RTI interventions, I only circulate the CIC’s order along with the relevant RTI documents without commenting on the decision, out of respect to the wisdom of the CIC. However, in the latest case, the CIC’s interpretation of Section 8(1)(d) of the RTI Act requires detailed comment. Further, the NHPC’s efforts to maintain secrecy about the negotiations contradict the repeated assertions of the Union Ministry of Power, since March 2015 that the Central Gover...

By Sanjeev Kumar* Amidst a sudden demolition drive undertaken by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) in the heart of the country’s capital, a police cracked down on the protesting people of Kathputli Colony, leading to severe injury to a senior women's leader, National Federation of Indian Women’s (NFIW's) Annie Raja. She has been admitted in Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) hospital.​

By Our Representative Why did hundreds of shanties go up in flames amidst the demolition drive undertaken by the Mumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Friday? In a strongly-worded statement, the Ghar Bachao Ghar Banao Andolan (GBGBA), a Mumbai-based civil rights organization, has blamed it on accidents caused by gas cylinders getting exploded and a "response" to the surprise BMC more.

By Moin Qazi* The recent years have seen a growing realisation among countries for evolving a doctrine of social responsibility. Like individual citizens who have moral and social responsibilities, business houses are perceived as corporate citizens. Thus they too have r social responsibilies. Apart from the socialist countries which consider this doctrine as a vital element of their policies and programme, the capitalist countries also feel that industries, banks and business corporations should commit a part of their time, talent and resources for the welfare of the society from which they draw their sustenance. This idea has now been corporatized under the appellation, ‘Corporate social responsibility’ (CSR It ) is a way of managing a business by considering the impact of activities on customers, suppliers, employees, shareholders, communities and other stakeholders, as well as the environment. India has a unique law: It’s Companies Act, 2013, and the Corporate Social Respons...

By Sadhan Mukherjee* The final battle lines appear to have been drawn between Catalonian independence and Spain’s resistance to it. The Catalonian regional parliament has opted for independence while the Spanish Republic has indicated that it will oppose Catalonian secession by all might. The Spanish government is attempting to negate the Catalonian choice by trying to hold an election in Catalonia hoping for a people’s verdict against Catalonia’s session. Already the Spanish government is planning to seize control of Catalonia. But this appears to be an uphill task as many Catalonians believe that staying with Spain anymore is counter-productive. The point is will Spain go for other means if the election verdict, if not boycotted by Catalonian people, will give a verdict in favour of Spain. It presumes that the people of Catalonia think differently than their own legislators. In any case, this confrontation shows the degree of disillusion of Catalonian people with Spain in its 40-year...

By Moin Qazi* "How many deaths will it take ‘til he knows That too many people have died The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind, The answer is blowin’ in the wind." –Bob Dylan, Nobel Laureate India’s economy may be soaring as it glows as the new poster-child of emerging markets, but agriculture remains its Achilles heel. It is the source of livelihood for hundreds of millions of people but a contributor of just a fraction of the nation’s total economy and a symbol of its abiding problems. Large swathes of cotton farms in the central India have been the epicentre of a debt crisis that has gripped the rural population. For years now, it has driven thousands of farmers to commit suicide. These suicides are debilitating scars on a nation’s development canvas. While debates continue to rage on reforming the agricultural sector to improve the economic conditions of the farmer, there has not been any serious attempt to focus on the possible psychological problems arising out ...

By Our Representative A recent fact-finding report on how the Bihar floods this year affected the marginalized communities in Araria and Kishanganj districts, jointly prepared by National Dalit Watch, National Campaign on Dalit human Rights, All-India Dalit Mahila Adhikar Manch and Jan Jagran Shakti Sangathan, has said that there was gross neglect of "huge population of Muslims and Dalits in giving them relief and rescue."

By Rajiv Shah A new study of gender bias in India’s Bollywood movies suggests that whether it is plots, posters or trailers, a male is mentioned around 30 times in a plot while a female is mentioned only around 15 times, adding, “There is a consistency of this ratio from 1970 to 2017(for almost 50 years).”

An Australian protest against the project By Our Representative In a major boost to India's powerful industrial giant, Adani Goup's worth $22 billion Australian coalmining venture, the country's Turnbull government is said to have written to the Chinese government seeking the latter's support for the controversial project in the Queensland state, saying it would generate jobs and investment.

Journalists' protest in North-East against murder of Shantanu By Nava Thakuria* For more than one reason, India remains a hazardous place for hardcore journalists irrespective of the regimes in power at the national or province capitals. The populous country witnesses the murder of around five media persons annually and that has not been improved for decades. The land of Bhagwan Vishnu, Mahamuni Buddha and Gandhi Mahatma has not succeeded in resolving any of those journo-murder cases legally or logically.  The media fraternity of the world’s largest democracy observed an unusual Gandhi Jayanti as scores of scribes across the country organized protest demonstrations in different locations with sole demand for ensuring safety, security and justice to the working journalists. Different press clubs, journo-media-bodies along with other institutions formed human chains, symbolic protests and also took out processions in support of the demand. The reason behind in demonstrating angers o...

The Rann of Kutch, Gujarat: A community gathering By Pankti Jog* Would Gujarat’s Rann of Kutch agariyas, or saltpan workers, who migrate, live and work on what has now come to be popularly known as Survey No Zero for six months starting with September, exercise their voting rights this December, when the state goes to polls?

By Anil George* Demonetization was a calculated scam. The first purpose was to disable party's that were contesting the UP election by blocking their cash and creating mayhem in political circles. The second purpose was to exchange unofficial cash through manipulation of the banking system. For this the governor was changed and direct new currency supply lines were established. Cash was exchanged at a discount ranging from 5% to as high as 50% and then eventually tapering to 5% towards the end of the program. Temples and Trusts that receive cash also opened discount windows to exchange the money. Midway during the program, Congress found some explosive material on Modi and threatened to expose him through an earthquake but this was prevented after a meeting between Rahul Gandhi and Modi and issuing of executive order that all political party's could deposit cash into their own bank accounts. After this all political parties got busy with opening similar discount windows through...

AK Joti, chief election commissioner By Anand K. Sahay The extent of devotion shown by the Election Commission to the ruling party in the run-up to the upcoming Gujarat Assembly election is quite extraordinary -- and many will have little difficulty classifying this sorry spectacle as a command performance. How Gujarat voters view the skulduggery will be known only when we have the results, but it is reasonable to expect that, here on, the EC is likely to seek to confer on the party in power, through the permitting of irregular practices, as many advantages as possible over its rivals. This is because it seems to be under undue pressure from the powerful, and it has succumbed instead of standing up and showing itself to be a pillar of Indian democracy. The conduct of the Gujarat poll -- and also of the election in Himachal Pradesh, which should have gone to the people simultaneously with Gujarat -- will therefore have to be placed under tight watch by the people as the very notion of f...

By Our Representative In a unique move, women of Kaptapally village in Nuagaon block of Nayagarh district in Odisha have launched a new Forest Rights Information Centre, second in the region, as an an important resource hub in their long drawn out battle for community and individual forest rights, recognized under the Forest Rights Act (FRA).

PM Narendra Modi with Jay and Amit Shah By Our Representative In a major embarrassment for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), one of the world's most prestigious associations of mediapersons, has come down heavily on the decision of "India's judiciary to proceed with a criminal defamation complaint against The Wire and issue an injunction preventing the news website from reporting about Jay Shah, the son of the ruling BJP party's president Amit Shah, while the defamation case is being heard."

By Our Representative As the Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) on the for River Valley Projects, under the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC), deliberated on the proposed Pancheshwar project in Uttarakhand as the world's second highest dam on Tuesday, a group dissenting protestors outside insisted, they too should be heard.

By Our Representative Former environment minister and rock music icon Peter Garrett in a prestigious National Press Club address in Canberra, has sharply criticised the Australian government for supporting Adani’s coal mine which he says will accelerate climate change and threaten the World Heritage listed Great Barrier Reef, reports South Asia Times (SAT) from Melbourne.

Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje By Our Representative In an interesting revelation, one-and-a-half months after it was promulgated, the Criminal Laws (Rajasthan Amendment) Ordinance, 2017, has not been put up for public view on the website of the state's Home or the Law Department. Worse, even the Rajasthan Raj Bhawan (Governor’s) website, last updated on the September 11, has not listed the ordinance in its list of Acts and Ordinances.

By Adv Masood Peshimam Former American President Bill Clinton while sighting the Taj Mahal erupted in joy and amazingly said that he has classified the world into two categories as those who have seen Taj Mahal and those who have not seen Taj Mahal. This was the statement of the most powerful President of the most powerful nation. Such was the statement of a person whose country has made the tremendous strides in science and technology.

By Our Representative Amidst rising demand from civil society advocates for a zero tax regime for handmade products, placed under the Goods and Services Tax (GST), well-known scholar, Dr Ashoke Chatterjee, has said in a recent paper that the sector, which is the second biggest source of livelihood following agriculture, remains "characterised by a pervasive mood of neglect, loss and anxiety."

Counterview Desk The National Alliance of People's Movements statement in support of the indefinite fast undertaken by Prasanna demanding "Zero Tax" on handmade products: Noted theatre and social activist Prasanna has been on an indefinite fast from 14th October 2017 demanding “Zero Tax” on handmade products. He took the decision to launch the Satyagraha as several actions nation-wide making this just demand were not responded to by the GST Council of India. The National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM) stands in solidarity with Prasanna and the demand made in support of the millions of the working class people of this country. The Satyagraha has captured the imaginations of millions nation-wide and brought in a new awakening in the consumer. There is a growing collective demand to ensure India's governance keeps the promises made in the Constitution of India and the Freedom Movement, when making products by hand was to resist the forces of colonisation, ...

By Aparajita Sharma* Govt’s drive on making Aadhaar compulsory is excluding millions and killing many. Why is the Government silent? The Right to Education (RTE) Forum highly condemns the tragic death of 11 year old girl in Jharkhand. She was denied of her right to food and eventually died of starvation because her family’s ration card was not seeded with Aadhaar number. The process got further delayed because it got caught in a tech glitch over Aadhaar. Serious questions are being raised on the government’s drive in making Aaadhar compulsory. Why is this unnecessary hurry which is excluding millions of poor and threatening life of many including women and children who are living on the margins? Several activists and researchers working in the field have warned the govt on several occasion and the govt have carelessly paid no heed and on the contrary acted against the Supreme Court guidelines. In its haste to enroll all citizens - of which children form a large untapped population - un...

People in Rakhine state protest against Sino-Mayanmar pipeline By Nava Thakuria* As the world media continues focusing on Rohingya crisis in Myanmar, its giant neighbour China is not just maintaining aloofness. It is utilizing, full scale, two fuel pipelines, originating in the trouble-torn Arakan (also known as Rakhine), province of western Burma (former name of Myanmar).  The China-Myanmar gas and crude oil pipelines connect Kyaukphyu port of Rakhine – lately in news for the gory clashes between majority Buddhists and Rohingya Muslim settlers – with the Kunming city in south-western part of China. The pipelines are designed to shift crude oil from the Middle-East and Africa through Myanmar with the aim of feeding the world’s second-biggest oil consumer nation. Thanks to these pipelines, the Chinese authorities no longer need to depend on the troublesome cargo shipping through South China Sea (around 5,000 km sailing) for its crude oil imports for the China National Petroleum C...

Source: Labour Bureau, Shimla By Rajiv Shah A top Government of India document has said that, in “model” Gujarat, the real wages of both male and female agricultural workers in 2016-17 were worse than most major Indian states. At Rs 223 per day, Gujarat’s male agricultural wages were lower than all but three of 15 major Indian states; and for females agricultural workers, Rs 202, they were worse than all but five of 15 major Indian states.