By Vidya Bhushan Rawat*  The Rajya Sabha poll results have shown  vulnerability of political leaders and their readiness for cross over to BJP, whose muscle power is well known. It uses all methods to win an election, and right now it has all big agencies and money power under its disposal, hence it can easily influence things. Even the presiding officers are  ready to dance to the tune of BJP leaders, as evidenced from the Chandigarh Mayoral elections. It is clear that BJP will do everything to steal the mandate.  

By Harsh Thakor  On January 31, 2024, history was made with the formation of the (New) Communist Party of Canada (the (N)CPC), the successful completion of its Founding Congress, and the public release of its Political Program. A most sporadic development in turning course of Communist movement locally, and worldwide. It also pits a challenge to dogmatism or mechanical approach and stagnation. taps the revolutionary creativity of the masses and is major re-orientation towards shaping revolutionary class struggles and  the massline. The new Party was morally born  was born clandestinely over two years ago, in 2021, after the protracted Unity-Struggle Process of 2020-21 succeeded in binding together  communist revolutionaries from across Canada, old and new, with many veterans of what is being labelled  “third,” and even some from what we are calling the “second,” communist party-building movements in Canada, alongside a great many fresher or younger  proleta...

By Bharat Dogra*  It is often stated that seat adjustments at the time of elections by opposition parties are very important in India. However, these benefits are easier stated than realized, as satisfactory seat adjustments can be very difficult to achieve in the real-life political scene of the country. Even when leaders manage to work this out, this does not always have the intended or desired result.

Counterview Desk The civil rights network, Campaign Against State Repression (CASR)*, taking strong exception to allegedly “frivolous framing" and conviction of Bihar MLA Manoj Manzil and 22 others in the nine year old Badgaon murder case, has called the special court judgement awarding lifer to them as reeking of “conspiracy to suppress democratic dissent”.

By Sreevas Sahasranamam, Aileen Ionescu-Somers*  The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is the best place in the world to start a new business, according to the latest annual Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) survey. The Arab nation is number one for the third year in a row thanks to a big push by the government into cutting-edge technology in its efforts to diversify away from oil.

Counterview Desk  In a representation to the District Magistrate, Cooch Behar, West Bengal, human rights defender Kirity Roy has said that Border Security Force (BSF) personnel off Indo-Bangladesh border have prohibited farmers of Hemkumari Dangapara village from going to their own agricultural lands to either pick up the crops they have cultivated or grow paddy.

By Harsh Thakor  Over two hundred were killed in recent weeks in Ethiopia’s Oromia and Amhara region. After peace-talks between the Oromo Liberation Army and the Ethiopian government did not materialise tensions are escalating in the Oromia region. Earlier, on November 22, least 25 civilians were massacred in a government aerial drone strike, in Chawaka districts of the Buno Bedelle zone. This incident took place only two days after a fierce battle arose between the OLA and governmental troops in the Sulula Fincha district of the Horro Guduru Wollega zone. On 24th of November, 9 people were killed in Gidami district of the Kellem Wollega zone. The victims were affiliates of the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus. It is reported that unidentified armed men were responsible. While the government as well as the Church remain silent; allegations that government forces committed the killing went viral. In Shirka district of Arsi zone a total of 36 people were killed by unidentifi...

By Saurav Sarkar*  In December 1982, a geologist digging in India’s Central Narmada Valley found something he did not expect. Arun Sonakia, who at the time worked for the Geological Survey of India, unearthed a hominid fossil skullcap from the Pleistocene era. The discovery sent shockwaves through the field of paleoanthropology and put South Asia on the map of human prehistory. Some experts concluded that the skull likely belonged to a member of a predecessor species of ours, Homo heidelbergensis , or perhaps was a hybrid of homo species, while Sonakia himself suggested “ an affinity… to Homo erectus .”

By Parineeta Dandekar*  Most Indian languages have a saying which goes something like: “Do not go looking for a river’s origin or a Rishi’s lineage”. I thought this was because these stories become eclectic and frankly scandalizing as we trace them. But while looking at several origins of River Godavari on the Brahmagiri Mountain, I realized that the meaning can be much simpler (or much complicated): It is difficult to decide on a single origin for a river.

By Sudhansu R Das  Frequent natural calamities, unemployment, low farmers’ income, increase in crime rate and lack of quality human resources to strike a balance between growth and environment etc. continue to haunt the state. The state should delve into the root causes of poverty, unemployment and natural calamities.

By Divya Saini  In a strategic move to mitigate the impact of landslides during storms, the Odisha government in collaboration with Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham is gearing up to establish a user-friendly Landslide Early Warning System (EWS) in Gajapati district. This initiative aims to provide advanced information, especially regarding landslides caused by disturbances in the natural stability of a slope. Representatives from Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham engaged in discussions with the Odisha government regarding the system's implementation. Dr. Maneesha V. Ramesh, Dr. Maneesha V. Ramesh, Provost for Strategic Initiatives, Research & Innovation and Director, Amrita Center for Wireless Networks and Applications, along with the Center's geoscience consultant, Dr. Sudesh K. Wadhawan, met with state Chief Administrative Secretary Pradeep Kumar Jena to discuss the implementation of the Landslide Early Warning System. Dr. Sudesh K. Wadhawan emphasized the importance of proactive mea...

Counterview Desk  West Bengal-based human rights defender Kirity Roy, who is secretary, Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Manch, and is national convenor of the Programme Against Custodial Torture & Impunity, in a representation to the chairman, National Human Rights Commission, second within few days, has bought to light one more case of trespassing and destruction of a fertile banana plantation by BSF personnel along the Indo-Bangladesh border, stating, despite a written complaint to the police has taken "no initiative".

Counterview Desk    Human rights defender Kirity Roy, Secretary, Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (MASUM), in a letter to the Chairman, National Human Rights Commission, has in a complaint accused  BSF personnel of trespassing and destruction of a fertile banana plantation  on the lands of two marginalized farmers of Kaliyani village on the Indo-Bangladesh border, North 24 Paraganas district.

By Harsh Thakor*  Spirit of vengeance is simmering at a boiling point, with Punjab farmers appear determined to bring the killers to the book. Hundreds of enraged and grief-torn people -- women, men and even children -- with black ribbons hung tied and black flags in hand flooded  Punjab streets observing ‘Aakrosh Diwas’ to protest the death of young farmer Shubhkarman Singh on February 21 at the Khanauri borders during the ongoing Dilli Chalo agitation. 

By Rajiv Shah Funding in Tech startups in top business-friendly Indian states has witnessed a major fall, a data intelligence platform for private market research has said in a series of reports it has released this month. Analysing Tech startup data of Telangana, Maharashtra, Delhi NCR, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala, Tracxn Technologies Ltd , the Bengaluru-based research firm, finds that except for Kerala, funding witnessed a fall of anywhere between 61% and 85%.

By Harsh Thakor  Armed bandits called the “zero invasion movement” comprising of landowners, gunmen and police marched into   Bahia with support from the PM [Military Police]. On January 21st, indigenous Maria de Fátima Muniz, known as Nega Pataxó, shaman of the Pataxó Hã-Hã-Hãe people, was shot dead in the Caramuru Catarina Paraguassu Indigenous Land and chief Nailton Muniz was seriously injured by gunshots, as were others indigenous people during an attack by the notorious  paramilitary group. Furthermore, the gang of more than 200 landowners who organized themselves and prepared the attack, set fire to 2 cars and other belongings of the indigenous people. A young Pataxó who resisted the cowardly attack was ridiculously taken into custody by the military police, the very ones who disguised the cowardly action, as the videos prove. Bahia has the second largest indigenous population in Brazil, with more than 90% of whom residing outside their territories, making it t...

By Lakshmitha Raj*  Solar energy tech companies have already secured slightly over US$1 billion in funding in 2024 (till Feb 7, 2024) after total funding into Solar Energy companies in India fell 9% to US$1.55B in 2023 from US$1.7B in 2022. A total of 39 $100M+ rounds have been closed till date, with Delhi leading the city-wise funding, followed by Gurugram and Mumbai.

By DN Rath  Center for Democratic Rights and Secularism (CPDRS) unequivocally condemns the dubious role of Uttarakhand Government and its administration in the incidents that happened in Haldwani of Nanital district of the state. On 8 February 2024, the local administration of Haldwani carried out a demolition drive and razed down a mosque and a madarasa, the title suit of which is pending in the court. This obviously incited religious fury and frenzy. When people reacted according to their instincts, the administration further punished them by carrying out tyranny in the name of search operations and haphazard arrests. Not only that. The administration isolated the entire Muslim population area from other areas, slapped curfew and closed all the ways of the supply of necessary things, tortured women, children and old age people too. This series of incidents raises several questions in the mind of civilians: ·       Who authorized the administration to intervene...

Counterview Desk  The Indian Coordination Committee of Farmers Movements (ICCFM), a top network of farmers’ organizations in India, in a letter to Piyush Goyal, Minister of Commerce and Industry, has asked him to “safeguard food security and sovereignty, even as ensuring peasants' rights" at the 13th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO MC 13), to take place from 26 to 29 February 2024 in Abu Dhabi.

By Ram Puniyani*  The recent (22 January 2024) Pran Pratishtha (consecration) of Lord Ram in Ram Temple in Ayodhya has been a major spectacle. This has accompanied promotion of the mass display of religiosity in most parts of the country, more so in Northern India. This also saw the fusion of roles ‘chief of religion’ and ‘chief of political power’ into a single person, the Prime Minister. 

By Soumyadip Chattopadhyay, Arjun Kumar* Cities in India are envisioned as engines of growth. Any meaningful long-term vision for India would be incomplete without planning for the cities and quite rightly, urbanization is considered as one of the country’s top developmental challenges. Realization of full potential of cities depends crucially on their ability to provide ‘enabling’ environment especially in terms of sustained provision of a wide range of urban infrastructure and services.

By Shankar Sharma*  Two recent news items (click here and here ) have brought focus once again on our inability/ indifference to satisfactorily address the ever escalating threats due to climate change. Whereas it is true that a lot more needs to be done by India towards meeting its own declarations and implied obligations to its own people, as well as to the global community, in the context of climate change, it is equally critical that the political leaders and the bureaucrats in the govt. should do a lot more in developing and implementing suitable policies in sectors like energy, industry, transport and tourism, water management, forests etc. so as to minimise the environmental impacts.

By Harsh Thakor  St Petersburg -- previously Leningrad -- has been commemorating the 80th anniversary of its complete liberation from the Nazis and the conclusion of one of the most brutal sieges in history. 80 years ago, a spectacular turn of events in Leningrad played major role in shaping the destiny or determining the path of the Great Patriotic War. The Nazi siege of Leningrad lasted nearly two-and-a-half years until it was finally overpowered by the Soviet Army on 27 January, 1944.Approximately one million Leningrad residents perished  of hunger and air and artillery bombardment in one of the most horrifying episodes of World War II. Courage and endurance penetrated barriers heights rarely transcended in human history. .It was remarkable how the Soviet red army resurrected itself from the most dire straits to give the enemy a jolt. Creative endeavour in military practice and formulating tactics was scaled to sublime proportions when procuring supplies to the people by pe...

Counterview Desk  A citizen fact-finding team visited Haldwani on 14th Feb 2024 has said that the violent incident that occurred on February 8 was “not sudden” but an outcome of “steady rise in communal tempers in the state of Uttarakhand over recent years”, adding, “Haldwani which has a significant Muslim population has witnessed in recent months a series of small communal clashes and disputes.”

By Kavita Srivastava*, Dr V Suresh** The Supreme Court in its ruling on 7th February, 2024 in   `Gurvinder Singh v State of Punjab’ held that its own well-developed jurisprudence that "Bail is the rule and jail the exception" will not apply to those charged under the UAPA.

By Prem Singh*  About 15 days ago, I told a senior journalist friend that there are not even two   months left for the Lok Sabha elections, Rahul Gandhi is roaming around on a delectation (tafreeh). The friend probably found my comment exasperating and replied that he is not on a delectation trip. The conversation between us on this topic ended there. 

By Vikas Parasram Meshram  The economic disparity gap continues to widen with economic disparity.  A large portion of the population is dispossessed, while the poor continue to get poorer. They struggle to earn a minimum wage and access quality education and health care, suffering disinvestment from persistently low incomes. These widening gaps and growing inequalities have the greatest impact on women and children.  The Oxfam International report is known to have expressed concern that, on the one hand, the wealth of some people in the world is increasing at a rocket speed.  And the number of rich people is constantly increasing. As a result, the income of the common man is increasing very little, while the wealth of the rich class has increased manifold.  Not only in India but in many other countries of the world, the gap of economic inequality is continuously widening. Oxfam International in its annual report on economic inequality at the World Economic Forum...

By Ram Puniyani*   This January 22, a massive spectacle was created when Prime Minister Narendra Modi consecrated the idol of Lord Ram in Ayodhya. Declarations were made that Ram is the soul of India and is the one who united India. Just before this ceremony, some Muslim leaders warned that Muslims should avoid travel on January 22  as there would be large scale movement of Kar Sevaks during the day. 

By Vinay Shukla*  I am tempted to retell the story I had written about six month back on how Western media has been misleading narratives about Russia. My desire to do so arises from Facebook a few days back removing the image of my article published in the Indian quarterly, "Raksha Anirveda", because it contained what I thought was the actual situation in Russia. They declined to review their decision for "ensuring safety and security".  The article was carried in the journal's online edition on October 21, 2023, too. Here is the slightly updated version of the article: ***

By Shankar Sharma*  Whereas, the recent announcement about 1 crore households to be fitted with rooftop SPV systems is a great step in the right direction, questions are being raised as to why such a target could not have been much more ambitious, such as 15- 20 crore houses by 2035-40, along with some financial contribution by the house owners, which could also have reduced the financial burden of the state.  

By Manjari Chatterjee Miller*  The king of the Netherlands, Willem-Alexander, apologized in July 2023 for his ancestors’ role in the colonial slave trade. He is not alone in expressing remorse for past wrongs. In 2021, France returned 26 works of art seized by French colonial soldiers in Africa – the largest restitution France has ever made to a former colony. In the same year, Germany officially apologized for its 1904-08 genocide of the Herero and Nama people of Namibia and agreed to fund reconstruction and development projects in Namibia. .

By Vijay Prashad  On February 9, 2024, Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that his army would advance into Rafah, the last remaining city in Gaza not occupied by the Israelis. Most of the 2.3 million Palestinians who live in Gaza had fled to its southern border with Egypt after being told by the Israelis on October 13, 2023, that the north had to be abandoned and that the south would be a “safe zone.” As the Palestinians from the north, particularly from Gaza City, began their march south—often on foot—they were attacked by Israeli forces, who gave them no safe passage. The Israelis said that anything south of Wadi Gaza, which divides the narrow strip, would be safe, but then as the Palestinians moved into Deir-al-Balah, Khan Younis, and Rafah, they found the Israeli jets following them and the Israeli troops coming after them. Now, Netanyahu has said that his forces will enter Rafah to combat Hamas. On February 11, Netanyahu told NBC news that Israeli would provid...