Counterview

By A Representative   A student organisation has alleged that the University of Madras cancelled the admission of one of its members in retaliation for his involvement in campus-related activism, calling it "casteist vendetta." According to a statement issued by the Revolutionary Students–Youth Front (RSYF), the student, who had completed an M.A. in Public Administration at the university, had enrolled in the M.A. Indian Philosophy programme for the 2026–2028 academic year and had been attending classes for two months.

By A Representative   A group of 77 former civil servants has raised concerns over what it describes as the steady weakening of statutory safeguards for India’s forests, wildlife and environment. In an open letter dated September 17, the Constitutional Conduct Group, comprising former members of the All India and Central Services, said large-scale diversion of forestland for development projects was causing increasing ecological risks. The group said it was non-partisan and committed to impartiality, neutrality and the Constitution of India.

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat*  India’s “vegetarian” supremacism is increasingly turning into an absurd competition among its “devotees,” each seeking “international” recognition for their “great” culture and “diversity.” Over the last decade, we have seen how these so-called “cultural warriors” are paraded in various Western capitals whenever Narendra Modi visits.

By Bhabani Shankar Nayak*  There is no doubt that AI is transforming different spheres of life and society, influencing every sector of the economy, politics, culture, individual life, infrastructure, and industrial growth. AI-led ICT is shaping governance, policy, and decision-making debates unlike any other period in history. Yet the AI race has not produced the efficiency it promised; it has not accelerated productivity as claimed; it has not generated the profits it claimed it would. Investors are not making money.

By Dae-Han Song  The Lee Administration leaked the possibility of deploying Korean forces to the Strait of Hormuz on 03 September. The backlash was immediate from Korean civil society that opposes any type of support for Trump’s war of aggression. Furthermore, recent polls reveal that even 55 percent of Lee’s supporters oppose the dispatching of forces. And while the Lee administration has publicly backtracked, stating that nothing has been decided, it is, nonetheless, quietly undergoing the process of deployment : more than simply an assessment of the security conditions on the Strait of Hormuz, the Lee administration sent a team to check key military bases and ports that could be used at the United Arab Emirates.

By Donald Ramotar   Latin America and the Caribbean countries are being re-colonised. This time it is not by Britain, the Netherlands, Spain, France and Portugal, but by the United States.

By Stephanie Weatherbee Brito, Vijay Prashad   Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro is innocent. This is a statement of law and fact, since Maduro has not been convicted of any crime. He has pleaded not guilty to every charge brought against him, and the accusations made by the United States remain precisely that: accusations. Under the presumption of innocence – recognised in the United States Constitution and in Article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights – the burden rests entirely upon the prosecution to prove guilt. It is not Maduro who must prove his innocence, but it is the United States government that must prove his guilt.

By Prabir Purkayastha  On 4th September, the United Nations General Assembly adopted an African proposal for a new world map, which shows countries’ true size relative to one another. It aims to correct the view of the world shaped by the widely used world map based on the Mercator Projection, created by Gerardus Mercator, a 16th-century Flemish cartographer.

By Rajiv Shah The other day, I was talking with a non-resident Indian (NRI) in a middle-level city off the eastern coast of the United States. The tête-à-tête took place as we were returning from a religious ceremony at a well-established Hindu temple, where several hundred NRIs had participated, many of them actively.