By Our Representative The revived Khudai Khidmatgar, the social harmony front originally founded by Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, has announced it would celebrate the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi by holding a "people meet rath yatra from Chennai to Rameshwaram via Coimbatore. In a statement, Khudai Khidmatgar convener Faisal Khan said, the year 2019-October to 2020-October, would be "a better opportunity for all the peace loving, progressive thinkers those strongly believes in the freedom of every human being in this world." Insisting that the aim of the yatra is to connect with the large population with a strong message to stand up for equality, protection, justice, peace and maximum humanitarian values with the environment we live, Khan said, "Through this yatra we will connect with at least one lakh people by organizing 150 village level meetings, 150 college level meetings, 150 school level meetings, 150 civil society organizations. "At last

JICA India office chief meeting farmers' representatives in Ahmedabad  By Rajiv Shah Chief representative of Japan International Co-operation Agency’s (JICA) India office Katsuo Matsumoto, who visited the office of senior Gujarat High Court advocate Anandvardhan Yagnik in Ahmedabad on August 30, has handed over a crucial report  it had prepared on its December 8-9, 2018 meeting with Gujarat and Maharashtra farmers, affected by the high-profile Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project, as also senior activists.

By Our Representative The Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) has criticised the Congress government in Madhya Pradesh for failing to do enough to ensure that the Narmada dam oustees do not suffer because because of the rising water level in the river. A statement issued on NBA leader Medha Patkar's hunger strike entering the sixth day for 32,000 oustee families' rehabilitation said, "Although the Kamal Nath government of Madhya Pradesh has started a process of dialogue with NBA, it has failed to comment on the order of the Gujarat government and the Narmada Control Authority by which gates of the dam have been closed and the water level is continuously rising in the submergence area." Mea while, support for Patkar's hunger strike grew, members of the MGNREGA Mazdoor Union staging protest in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Parliamentary constituency, Varanasi, outside the district collector's office. Union representatives submitted a memorandum to the colle

Excerpts from the chapter “Gender and Police” in the recently released report, “Status of Policing in India Report 2019”, Published by Common Cause & Lokniti – Centre for the Study Developing Societies (CSDS), which is based on a countrywide sample of 2416 (20%) women out of the total of 11836 police personnel interviewed: The representation of women in the Indian police continues to be poor, at 7.28 percent in 2016. Police forces in India lack gender sensitivity, failing to address the needs of women within the police forces. The lack of women’s representation in the police further contributes to reinforcement of gender stereotypes, and intensified biases, against both, women within the police as well as women who have an interface with the police. While the numbers have improved over a decade, going up from 3.89 percent in 2007 to 7.28 percent in 2016, the question is–is this pace good enough? Further, the question that we attempt to address in this chapter is whether we are prov

By Our Representative Recognising that in Jharkhand six out of 10 girls drop out of school and become child brides, and the state is among the worst in human trafficking, bonded labour and malnutrition, making it a challenging place to empower women, Happy Ratio, an Indian health startup, has launched #YehHaiMeriLife, what it calls “an impactful digital campaign.” Focusing on the importance of complete nutrition for girls in sports, the startup said in a statement, young girls in India face multiple challenges on a daily basis such as social inequality, lack of opportunities, malnutrition and trafficking. “With the support of partners, Happy Ratio, in collaboration with Yuwa, an NGO in Jharkhand, it is providing girls 100,000 complete nutrition drinks.” Launched on August 29, the campaign coincides with India’s National Sports Day. Asserting that gender stereotypes have had “a huge impact on the girls in India”, the statement said, “While India’s women athletes have been breaking recor

Medha Patkar with supporters on the bank of Narmada Counterview Desk A separate petition to Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath, floated by the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA), close on the heels of a similar plea by “Friends of Narmada” to the President, the Chief Justice of India, and the Prime Minister, has sought “immediate action” to rehabilitate thousands who have been displaced due to the Sardar Sarovar project in Gujarat.

Counterview Desk An open petition floated by what have been called “Friends of Narmada”, addressed to the President of India, the chief justice and the Supreme Court and the Prime Minister, has asserted that the people of Narmada valley are facing an unprecedented crisis, claiming, nearly two lakh people are “threatened” with submergence as the Narendra Modi government is slated to close the Sardar Saovar dam gates within a few weeks.

By Rajiv Shah In a surprising assertion, Andy Levin, who represents Michigan’s 9th District in the United States Congress, and is also a foreign policy expert, has gone a long way to suggest that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Kashmir move -- to take away the state's special status -- wouldn't face opposition from influential quarters internationally.

By Our Representative Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) leader Medha Patkar has rejected Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath's plea that she should end her hunger strike, which has entered the fifth day. On satyagraha along with her NBA supporters at Chhota Badda in Barwani district against "illegal drowning" of Narmada dam oustees, 10 more activists joined her hunger strike on Thursday. The ten persons who joined Patkar belong to the affected villages of Bhavati, Bijasan, Ganpur, Chhota Badda, Rajghat and Gangli. A statement issued by NBA said, the Centre and the Government of Gujarat remain insensitive to the point of thousands of families in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat, who are forced to face drowning without policy-driven rehabilitation. It added, the Narmada Control Authority (NCA), a central government agency, is deliberately trying to drown the peasant-tribals, cattle herders, potters, and landless laborers without rehabilitation by increasing the dam&#

Child climate change activist Greta Thunberg, her mother opera singer Malena Ernman By Sandeep Pandey* On August 20, 2019 the "Indian Express" e-paper carried   an unusual advertisement by the Northern India Textiles Mills Association about Indian spinning industry facing a huge crisis. The spinning mills are incurring huge loses, they are not in a position to buy Indian cotton, livelihood of 10 crore people, directly or indirectly, dependent on textile industry and a larger number of farmers who produce cotton are in jeopardy.

Fact-finding team talks to villagers Counterview Desk A Jharakhand Janadhikar Mahasabha (JJM)-supported fact-finding team, consisting of senior civil rights activists, has insisted, on the basis of a spot inquiry, that Pathalgadi, an adivasi movement in the state, is “non-violent response to specific policies of the government, primarily attempts to change land laws”.

By Rajiv Shah  A recent report, “Status of Policing in India Report” (SPIR) has found that 14% police personnel feel Muslims are ‘very much’ naturally prone to committing crimes, while 36% feel they are ‘somewhat’ naturally prone to committing crimes. Also, 25% personnel, according to survey (to a large extent and somewhat combined), feel that “natural for a mob to punish the culprit in case of cow slaughter.”

Senior environmental activists Rohit Prajapati and Krishnakant of the Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti, Vadodara, Gujarat, in a letter to the secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC), have insisted that concerned authorities should not renew the Consolidated Consent and Authorization (CC&A) dated January 6, 2015 to the Vadodara Enviro Channel Limited’s (VECL), and implement the closure order dated December 13, 2018 of the Gujarat Pollution control Board (GPCB) under section 33 A of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974. Text: *** The Vadodara Enviro Channel Limited’s (VECL) has continued non-compliance of GPCB’s prescribed norms, terms and conditions of its Consolidated Consent and Authorization (CC&A) dated January 6, 2015 since its inception. It clearly demands that their Consolidated Consent and Authorization (CC&A) needs to be cancelled. A copy of the same is attached herewith . CC&A of VECL clearly mentions: “…VECL have

By Our Representative Madhya Pradesh home minister Bala Bachchan called on Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) leader Medha Patkar, who is on fast for the last four days to demand opening of gates of the Sardar Sarovar dam to ensure that the water levels in the dam are kept at 130 metres so that there is minimum submergence of villages in the upstream. Even as expressing concern over the health of Patkar, who has been fasting for the last 4 days, Bachchan promised to resolve the demands by taking them to chief minister Kamal Nath. Parkar and her supporters told the minister that the dam’s water levels, which have already reached 134 metres, should be reduced to 130 meters. Taking the water levels to the full reservoir level, 138.68 meters without rehabilitation would mean end to a living civilization, which would also mean infringement of the Narmada Tribunal award and various court orders, they asserted. NBA activists said, the state government should push for a timetable for filling up Narm

Gujarat Khedut Ekta Manch president Sagar Rabari’s letter to the Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate Change, Government of India, seekingcancelation of the Environment Clearance certificate granted to M/s Ultratech Cement Ltd for Talli and Bambhor village in Bhavnagar District, Gujarat: Reference your communication dated 5th January, 2017 to M/s. Ultratech Cement Ltd, as a non-profit farmers’ organization working on issues of agriculture and rural economy, we would like to draw your attention to the very serious issues emerging in the wake of limestone mining lease granted to M/s UltraTech Cement Ltd. in Talli and Bambhor, of Talaja taluka of Bhavnagar district in Gujarat. We write to draw your attention to the fact that the Environmental Clearance (EC) has been granted on the basis of:the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Report prepared which contains false information, misreporting and misleading interpretation of data, and, concealment of facts; Flouting o

By Shankar Sharma* India has embarked on plans for a massive addition to its nuclear power capacity. The Parliament was informed by the concerned minister on 3rd January 2019 that 21 nuclear power reactors, with an installed capacity of 15,700 MW was under implementation, envisaged for progressive completion by the year 2031. Whereas it looks very ambitious to plan to add 15,700 MW of nuclear power in the next 12 years as against about 6,780 MW which was actually added in the last 60 odd years, what is even more astounding is the plan to take India’s total nuclear power capacity to 250,000 MW by 2075, as per an official plan by the department of atomic energy (DAE). Such a plan to add enormously large capacity in the next few decades at humongous financial, economic, social and ecological costs to the country should make anyone worried about the overall impacts on our communities. Whereas, the global experience since the Fukushima nuclear disaster has been one of the decision to deco