India's chief justice to hear on Aug 8 plea against "forcible" displacement of Narmada dam oustees of Madhya Pradesh

NBA activists in support of Medha Patkar's hunger strike

By Our Representative
In a major relief to the anti-dam Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) led by well-known social activist Medha Patkar, the Chief Justice of India will be hearing Sardar Sarovar project-related cases on August 8, 2017, especially the NBA plea that there cannot be any forcible displacement without full compliance with all the orders by the Supreme Court.
The decision follows the Supreme Court on Monday hearing what the NBA considers as "serious concerns" over massive displacement due to the decision to take waters in the Sardar Sarovar dam to the full reservoir level, 138.64 meters, by closing the dam's 30-odd gates.
A special leave petition (SLP) against the interim order of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh -- where the NBA claims 40,000 project affected families (PAFs) are yet to be rehabilitated -- contented that the the resettlement and rehabilitation (R&R) sites in the state do not have all basic amenities and hence it is impossible for thousands of families to shift to such sites.
The SLP said, the state government has still not complied with the Supreme Court order dated February 8, 2017, and R&R packages for farmers have not been implemented in at least 50% of cases. It added, instead of R&R amenities, temporary resettlements of tin sheds in thousands have been planned. Besides, the PAFs' cultural and religious needs are not being taken care of in the proposed sites.
The writ petition under Article 32 (right to life) was filed by eminent persons, including former Justice Panachand Jain, Kuldip Nayar, Aruna Roy, Hanan Mollah, Manoranjan Mohanti, Soumya Dutta and Annie Raja, with the prayer to save all the displaced farmers and landless.

Protest in Indore against "forcible" displacement

The petitions was listed before Justice R Nariman and Justice S Kaul, but the bench forwarded it to the Chief Justice, whose order of February 8, 2017 is under reference.
The Chief Justice heard senior advocates Sanjay Parikh and Prashant Bhushan, assisted by advocate Clifton Rozario immediately. He was told about "serious crisis" and "huge scale" of displacement and impact on up to 40,000 families as and when floods take place.
The Chief Justice agreed to hear the case, in spite of a writ petition pending before the High Court, and fixed the date of August 8, 2017.
In a communique, the NBA said, it welcomes the openness shown by the Apex Court by taking cognizance of the serious issues and situation that would lead to violation of right to life and devastation of age-old communities and their resources.
NBA further said, the Government of India, and the governments of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, must "immediately decide against any violence and brutal forcible eviction of a few lakh people. There should be no filling of reservoir with water to drain the life and livelihood."
Meanwhile, the hunger strike by Patkar and others activists. Those on hunger strike include Gayatri Bahen, Kadmaal, Vimla Bhai, Khaparkheda, Dharmendra Kanhera, Khaparkheda, Bhagwati Bahen, Nisarpur, Manjula Bai, Nisarpur, Pushpa Bai, Nisarpur, Rameshwar Awalda, Bau, Awalda, Rukmani bai, Nisarpur, Chota Badda, Sevanti Bai, Chota Barda, all c.aiming to be representatives of various sections and categories of the displaced Sardar Sarovar affected families.

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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.

Modi model? "Refusal" to build Narmada's micro canals, keep Kutch dry; help industry

By Medha Patkar*
This is the latest photograph of the Kutch Branch Canal (KBC) of the Sardar Sarovar, as of April 8! What does it show, expose, and what memories do you recall? Is it dry or dead? Is it a canal or a carcass of the same?

Bill Gates "promoting" GMO, Bt cotton, like cartels that have roots in Hitler's Germany

By Our Representative
World-renowned environmental leader and ecologist Dr Vandana Shiva has expressed concern that Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft Corporation, has joined the bandwagon of “a poison cartel of three" – Monsanto and Bayer, Syngenta and ChemChina, Dow and DuPont – all of whom allegedly have “roots in Hitler’s Germany and finding chemicals to kill people”.

Indian talc products contain "contaminated" asbestos structures, can cause cancer: Study

Counterview Desk
A recent study, using polarizing light microscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), electron diffraction, and X-ray analysis on multiple over-the-counter Indian talc products for the presence of asbestos, has concluded that large quantities of body talc products are likely to pose a public health risk for asbestos-related diseases, especially for the cancers related to asbestos exposure.

Why are you silent on discrimination against Dalit jawans? Macwan questions Modi

By Rajiv Shah
Close on the heels of releasing his book in Gujarati, "Bhed Bharat", which lists 319 cases of atrocities against Dalits and Adivasis across the country over the last five years, well-known Gujarat Dalit rights leader Martin Macwan has shot an open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, telling him the reasons why he does not want vote for the BJP.

Jharkhand Adivasi lynched to death by mob "chanting" Jai Shri Ram: Fact-finding team

Counterview Desk
On April 10, 2019, Prakash Lakda, a 50-year old Adivasi of Jurmu village of Gumla’s Dumri block, was lynched to death by a mob of men from the Sahu community of neighbouring Jairagi village. Three other victims from Jurmu – Peter Kerketta, Belarius Minj and Janerius Minj – sustained severe injuries due to the beating by the mob. A fact-finding team of Jharkhand Janadhikar Mahasabha (JJM), comprising of several activists and representatives of member organisations, conducted a fact-finding inquiry into the incident on April 14-15.

Investigation shows Narmada downstream "seriously" polluted. Reason: apathy, greed

By Rohit Prajapati, Krishnakant, Swati Desai*
Our investigation regarding quality of water flowing in the Narmada river downstream of the Sardar Sarovar Dam (SSD), dated April 6, 2019, between 11.00 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. reiterates, what is commonly known now, that the Sardar Sarovar Project (SSP) is planned without considering its impact on the downstream Narmada River stretch of 161 kilometres, its ecology, biodiversity and fishery, and lakhs of people living close to and dependent on the river directly or indirectly. This, in turn, has led to its present disastrous state.

Emergence of a rare Dalit teacher in IIT-Kanpur "disturbed" certain faculty members

By PS Krishnan, IAS (Retd)*
Dr Subrahmanyam Sadrela, a faculty member in the Department of Aerospace Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Kanpur since January 1, 2018, and one of the rare Dalit members of the faculty in IIT group of institutions, is facing the threat of revocation of his PhD thesis, and thereby also jeopardizing his job and career.

RTE in remote areas? Govt of India "plans" to close down 2.4 lakh schools

By Srijita Majumder*
The Right to Education (RTE) Act, 2009, came into effect on April 1, 2010, for the first time made it obligatory on the part of the State to provide free and compulsory education to all children from 6-14 years of age in India. The Act, despite its limitations, had progressive elements like neighbourhood schools, community participation, ban on corporal punishment, no detention, continuous and comprehensive evaluation and it hence it appeared that India was not far from achieving universal elementary education.

Election Commission suffering from worst-ever "credibility crisis": Ex-bureaucrats

Counterview Desk
In an open letter to President Ram Nath Kovind, a group of ex-bureaucrats have lamented ‘weak-kneed’ responses of the Election Commission of India (ECI) in the run up to the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Citing various violations of the model code of conduct, and pointing towards how ECI has taken little action, the letter asks the President to tell ECI to “conduct itself in a manner where its independence, fairness, impartiality and efficiency are not questioned.”

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