On Gandhi Jayanti, Gujarat governor launches book praising Modi non-violence, following Mahatma's footseps

By Our Representative
In a controversial move, Gujarat governor OP Kohli on the Gandhi Jayanti Day unveiled a book which claims to highlight "ideological parallels” between Mahatma Gandhi and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on “key themes” of non-violence, nationalism, poverty and inclusive development.
Titled ‘Mahatma Gandhi to Modi’, the book has been authored by Rajeshkumar Acharya, a specialist in pharmaceutical chemistry and a practicing lawyer with focus on intellectual property rights, and Girishchandra Tanna, a retired government official. The book was being offered a 30% concession in order to “promote” it.
During the book launch ceremony, neither Kohli, nor the two authors, once recalled Modi's role – positive or negative – in the 2002 Gujarat riots, in which more than 1000 people died, nor did they refer to his other controversial decisions, such as refusal to provide scholarship to minority students, calling it “appeasement.”
Without also referring to criticism on Modi, under attack within the country and abroad for “stifling” dissenting voices and civil society, and remaining silent on “increasing” attacks on minorities and the marginalized, one of the authors, Acharya, said the Prime Minister has set “new precedents for people striving for liberty and equality across the globe.”
Acharya also talked of how Modi's ideas included the idea of “a single unified nation, non-violent struggle, self-reliance and inclusivity” – something that Gandhi stood for. It is not known whether the book as a special chapter of violence that occurred during the 2002 riots and its aftermath, leading to thousands of minority community people becoming displaced.
Claiming that there has been a vacuum so far on Gandhi's thoughts and ideologies about “education, health, rural development, employment, female development, and industrial development”, which have remained “untouched” in the intellectual sphere, the authors suggest, this is one reason why they had decided to come up with a book on Modi's quest to follow the Mahatma.
Charactering the book as "thought-provoking”, Kohli, launching it at a Raj Bhavan ceremony, praised the authors for having "narrated the convictions and commitments" of Modi, adding, "They have highlighted the accomplishments of Modi, deeply inspired by Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Patel and Swami Vivekanand."
The authors believe the proof of Modi being inspired by Gandhi lies in his admiration of the Mahatma Gandhi in his “speeches”, adding, the development model Modi has chosen from Gandhi's ideology are – Swachh Bharat, or Clean India, Mission on October 2nd, 2014, the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
However, they did not refer to the critics' contention that the Swacch Bharat Mission is singularly silent on the plight of manual scavengers, for whom Gandhi stood all this life.
Other “Gandhian” steps of Modi, he authors believe, are the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojna for financial inclusion, and the Make in India campaign as a replica of the Swadeshi doctrine of Mahatma Gandhi.
The book has been published by Nanoland Publishers, a division of little-known Nanoland Group, which claims to be a “knowledge pool of rising talents" working on the role of nanotechnology in “the advancement of space technology and demystify the unexplored universe.”

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Green revolution "not sustainable", Bt cotton a failure in India: MS Swaminathan

Counterview Desk
In a recent paper in the journal “Current Science”, distinguished scientist PC Kesaven and his colleague MS Swaminathan, widely regarded as the father of the Green Revolution, have argued that Bt insecticidal cotton, widely regarded as the continuation of the Green Revolution, has been a failure in India and has not provided livelihood security for mainly resource-poor, small and marginal farmers.
Sharply taking on Green Revolution, the authors say, it has not been sustainable largely because of adverse environmental and social impacts, insisting on the need to move away from the simplistic output-yield paradigm that dominates much thinking. Seeking to address the concerns about local food security and sovereignty as well as on-farm and off-farm social and ecological issues associated with the Green Revolution, they argue in favour of what they call sustainable ‘Evergreen Revolution’, based on a ‘systems approach’ and ‘ecoagriculture’.
Pointing out that Evergreen Revol…

World Bank clarifies: Its 26th rank to India not for universal access to power but for ease of doing business

By Our Representative
In a major embarrassment to the Government of India, the World Bank has reportedly clarified that it has not ranked India 26th out of 130 countries for providing power to its population. The top international banker’s clarification comes following Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal’s claim that India has “improved to 26 position from 99” in access to electricity in just one year.

Some Hindu bodies in US defending BJP-RSS' divisive, violent activities: Agnivesh

Counterview Desk Last week, Washington DC saw speakers at a religious freedom roundtable, chaired by the US Ambassador for Religious Freedom, Sam Brownback, express concern over "eroding" space for religious freedom in India. Dr Mike Ghouse, executive director, of the Center for Pluralism in Washington DC, referring to the roundtable, said in an email alert that Indian-Americans have "a moral duty to prevent India from being labeled as a Country of Particular Concern by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF)".

Rejoinder: Inescapable to have Central Water Commission as strong technical body in India

By BN Navalawala*
This is with reference to Counterview Blog (December 5, 2018), "Modi govt 'shelves' water reforms report, shows 'no interest' in its recommendations", below mentioned are my comments/observations thereon:
A committee was constituted under the Chairmanship of Dr. Mihir Shah, Former Member, Planning Commission, for restructuring of Central Water Commission (CWC) and Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) for optimal development of water resources in the country in the backdrop of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM).

Murder of Tamil Nadu teenage Dalit girl: "Stoic silence" despite #MeToo movement

Counterview Desk
Brinelle D'souza, who is with the Centre for Health and Mental Health, School of Social Work, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, has prepared a strong statement to protest the brutal murder of 13-year-old Rajalakshmi. "Other than a few media reports, this gruesome killing has not caught national attention despite a very vibrant #MeToo campaign currently underway", regrets D'souza.

Preventing childhood deaths: India performs worse than Bangladesh, "equals" Pakistan

By Rajiv Shah
A just-released study, “The Pneumonia and Diarrhea Progress Report 2018”, prepared by the International Vaccine Access Centre (IVAC) at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, has identified India among 15 other countries which are still far off the mark in achieving the targets of the Global Action Plan for the Prevention of Pneumonia and Diarrhea (GAPPD).

60 ex-civil servants seek release of CAG reports on Rafale, demonetisation before 2019 polls

Counterview Desk
As many as 60 retired civil servants have asked President Ram Nath Kovind to expedite the release of Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) reports on demonetisation and the Rafale deal. The letter, signed mainly by former Indian Administrative Service, Indian Foreign Service and Indian Police Service officers, regrets that the status of the audit is "unclear”. According to them, “An impression is gaining ground that CAG is deliberately delaying its audit reports on demonetisation and Rafale deal till after the May 2019 elections so as not to embarrass the present government”.

India's rewritten textbooks talk of demerits of democracy, praise Hitler, underrate Mughals

Counterview Desk
A detailed, 3,800-word review of the books rewritten under directions of the BJP rulers across India since Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power in May 2014 has suggested that one of aims of the books is to instill a sense of doubt about India’s democratic polity among the country’s young minds. Reviewed in the prestigious US journal, “The New York Review of Books”, in its latest issue (December 6, 2018) by Alex Traub, the scrutiny insists, the effort has also been to paint Indian history from the angle of “Hindu triumphalism”, even as creating “Islamophobia”.

Govt of India "tarnishing" NGO reputation, dossier leaked selectively: Amnesty

Counterview Desk
Amnesty International India has said that a deliberate attempt is being made to tarnish its reputation by leaking a dossier, supposedly made by investigating agencies, to media without giving it access to any such information. The high profile NGO’s claim follows a Times Now report about proceedings launched by investigative agencies, including Enforcement Directorate (ED) against the rights body for “violations” of rules pertaining to overseas donations.

Four children die after poor UP Dalit, Muslim families forced to flee to forest area: PVCHR

Counterview Desk
Peoples’ Vigilance Committee on Human Rights (PVCHR) has said that the forest department police’s crackdown, allegedly without any prior notice, on Dalit and Muslim households in Dakhin Tola, Churk Bazaar, Sonbhadra district, Uttar Pradesh, beating up “children and old people, women, and men in an inhuman way”, has led to “forced displacement, starvation and discrimination”. This has reportedly affected about 350 people.

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