Counterview

By Sandeep Pandey, Shashank Singh  On October 7, 2026, a bench of Justices Atul Sreedharan and Achal Sachdev of the Allahabad High Court did not mince words, remarking that the state of the police in Uttar Pradesh is a mess and that officers operate with the impunity of believing they can do anything and get away with it. Hearing a habeas corpus petition filed by a man named Deepak, the Court admonished the Assistant Commissioner of Police and the Station House Officer of Gautam Buddha Nagar. 

By Dr P.K. Gupta   Few ideas in Indian thought are as enduring, or as difficult, as dharma. It cannot be reduced to worship, doctrine, or membership of a religious community. It joins personal conduct with social duty, justice, compassion, and the preservation of life. Its meaning has never stayed fixed: across centuries it has been questioned, interpreted, challenged, and renewed. To trace that movement is to trace the ethical history of Indian civilisation itself.

By A.V. Yadappanavar*  As someone who has spent years within the walls of the National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj , I have watched this institution grow into what it is today: India's apex institute for rural development and capacity building. A SWOT analysis of NIRDPR , located in Hyderabad , Telangana, reveals both its enduring strengths and the challenges it must confront.

By Vijay Prashad   Brazil’s general election on 4 October delivered a severe warning to the Left. Flávio Bolsonaro, the presidential candidate of the Liberal Party (PL), finished ahead of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, with approximately 47 per cent against 45 per cent. Neither secured a majority, sending them into a runoff on 25 October. More troubling than this narrow presidential gap was the advance of bolsonarismo through Congress. The election has strengthened a political movement whose ambitions extend beyond defeating Lula to reshaping the institutions that obstruct its exercise of power.

By Vikas Meshram*  When the Swedish Academy announced Canada’s Anne Carson as the 2026 Nobel laureate in literature on October 8, it was not merely a victory for a singular talent. It was a resounding endorsement of literature that refuses to be confined. At seventy-six, the poet, essayist, and classicist receives literature’s highest honor, with the Academy citing her “bold and inventive” work and her “playful dialogue with the classical tradition.” 

By Harsh Thakor*  Eva Marie Saint, one of the last surviving stars of Hollywood’s Golden Age of the 1940s and 1950s, died on October 6, 2026, at her home in Los Angeles, aged 102. Her life and work embodied grace, intelligence and timeless artistic sensitivity. Few performers bridged so many chapters of entertainment history while bringing such extraordinary depth to their characters.

By Rajiv Shah   A comprehensive new report by Homes In The City (HIC), a Bhuj-based civil society programme, has revealed that despite late monsoon rains easing Kutch's immediate drought conditions, the region faces a deepening water security crisis — with Bhuj having lost more than half of its historic lakes and pastoral communities forced to migrate for the first time since 2018.

By A Representative   A severe toxic emergency has erupted in the Ambad area of Nashik, Maharashtra, as laboratory tests confirm that residential groundwater is contaminated with hexavalent chromium at levels more than 1,000 times the permissible safety limit. According to a recent press note by the South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People (SANDRP), the acute contamination is likely stemming from industrial discharge in the Ambad Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) area, turning local borewell water a bright yellow. 

By A Representative   The human rights group, Citizens for Democracy (CFD), has called for peaceful demonstrations demanding accountability from the Election Commission of India (ECI) over alleged irregularities in electoral rolls, while urging the Delhi Police and the administration to ensure that protesters can exercise their democratic rights without intimidation.