By Our Representative The recent Government of India decision to make its credit-linked subsidy scheme for urban housing more attractive for the middle income groups by offering them a higher carpet area than what hitherto was the case has come under sharp criticism of the country's top urban experts, who say, it would dilute the "core pro-poor character" of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's much publicised urban housing thrust.

By Our Representative In what is seen a victory for the top news portal "The Wire", which republished   an article by Paranjoy Guha Thakurta and three other journalists from the "Economic and Political Weekly" (EPW), "Modi Government’s Rs 500-Crore Bonanza to the Adani Group", Principal Senior Civil Judge Jaiminkumar R Pandit, Bhuj, Kutch, deciding on the interim application, has "rejected" the defamation plea against the publishers and authors of the article, even as directing them to remove a sentence and a word from it.

By Battini Rao* A minister in the Modi government has publicly attacked secularism and stated that his party is here to change the Constitution. At a public meeting of Brahman Yuva Parishad at the Koppal district of Karnataka on 25 December, Mr Ananta Kumar Hegde said that seculars ‘are like people without parentage, or who do not know their bloodline’. He also said that he is happy if people identify themselves with their caste and religion, but gets suspicious about seculars who refuse to do so. Meanwhile, after public criticism the Minister has apologized in the parliament and said that for him ‘Constitution is supreme’. This apology however should not fool anyone. Doublespeak is an old BJP/RSS tactic. Minister’s comments should be understood in the local context of Karnataka politics and the broader ideological beliefs in India which have lately helped Hindutva fascists expand their appeal. Karnataka has recently seen widespread public demonstrations and outrage against murders of

Gauri Lankesh By Nava Thakuria* As the year 2017 sets to bid adieu, India finds itself in an embarrassing situation with the annual statistics of 12 journalists either murdered or died in suspicious situations. The populous country, better known as the largest democracy in the globe, thus emerges as one of the hazardous place for media persons across the world after Mexico, Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia etc.

By Moin Qazi* For decades, balancing one’s checkbook has been the cornerstone of personal finance for conscientious adults in the developed world. I remember when I first opened an account of my own in my college days, I received a little booklet, the ubiquitous passbook, in which every deposit and withdrawal was acknowledged by the bank staff. I learned that keeping track of the bank balance was the personal hygiene of finance, like brushing your financial teeth. The implicit message, not just for me, but I think for society at large, was that the bank account was the locus of money management. All one’s main financial transactions would pass through the account, and the account would serve as a mirror of or financial health, showing not only income and expenses but also measuring solvency. This philosophy has been the cornerstone of personal finance for adults in the developed world. And it is now the key focus of governments in developing countries. Financial institutions are now en

By Rajiv Shah While the Narendra Modi government may want to fight gender inequality by passing the triple talaq bill in the Lok Sahba, a recent study has revealed that Delhi’s 75% of young Hindu women in the group 18-25 practice ghunghat. Based on high profile Social Attitude Research, India (SARI) survey, the study also finds that, in this young age, whopping 98% women in rural Rajasthan, 90% in urban Rajasthan, and 91% in rural Uttar Pradesh, and 90% in urban Uttar Pradesh practice ghughat.

By Adv Masood Peshimam The momentous decision of 128 nations to reject American President Donald Trump’s move to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and ignore the American threat of revenge and intimidation explains the American role in global politics. America has failed to understand that new multipolar world is emerging. In the complex emerging multipolar world China is a growing economy developing more muscle. Russia which had declined in the reckoning with the collapse of the erstwhile Soviet Union is back in the count with the growth of more leverage. Iran is weighing its options to sustain its missile program. India and Pakistan have their own nuclear weapons. North Korean has become an American headache articulating its nuclear teeth with an enormous belligerence and aggressive stance. The U.S. has a stake in making North Korean not to play the nuclear card. The U.S. would like more and more sanctions imposed on North Korea to deter it from developing the nuclear muscle.

By Our Representative In a major victory for the Vadodara-based advocacy group, People's Training and Research Centre (PTRC), the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has observed that the records presented to it regarding agate industry suggest the Gujarat government has "accepted that there has been epidemic menace of silicosis in the Khambhat region... and the adjoining regions."

By Moin Qazi* India grows enough food to meet the needs of its entire population, yet is unable to feed millions of them, especially women and children. The country ranks 100th out of 119 countries in the Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2017. In fact, it has consistently ranked poor. Even as millions of Indians go to sleep on an empty stomach, the country wastes food worth a whopping Rs 58,000 crore in a year — about seven per cent of its total food production. It is lost during production, processing, retailing and consumption. One of the major ways of addressing food insecurity is controlling wastage. It’s the most obvious place to start. India is the second largest producer of vegetables and fruit but 25 per cent to 30 per cent of it is wasted due to inadequate logistical support, lack of refrigerated storage, supply chain bottlenecks, poor transport and underdeveloped marketing channels. The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) puts this figure at around 40 per cent — worth around $8.

By Our Representative Taking a cue from President Ram Nath Kovind's recent " concern " over what he called “unacceptably low” representation of women, scheduled castes and tribes (SCs and STs), and Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in the higher judiciary, even as insisting on need for long-term measures to remedy the situation, a legal rights organization at a recent consultation wanted that the judiciary, the third pillar of democracy, should "follow the principle of reservation".

By Our Representative Raising a major policy issue, a top advocacy group, Mines, Minerals and People (MM&P) has regretted that the plight of the "mining children" is not the responsibility of the Ministry of Mines, Government of India, which looks after all the mines in India, and the result is a strange "mess": the lives of children as a result of mining has to be addressed by other departments like child welfare, education, tribal welfare, labour, environment and others.

By Our Representative A fresh calculation following the recent Uttarakhand government’s announcement that it is “ready” to pay six times what is called the “circle rate” as compensation payable to the projected affected families (PAFs) of the proposed 5,040 MW Pancheshwar Multipurpose Project (PMPP), has suggested that the distribution of the total amount – Rs Rs 6,520.1 crore – would be “highly skewed” and “unequal.”

By Our Representative Is India's "sidelined" foreign minister Sushma Swaraj at loggerheads with right-wing pro-Narendra Modi trolls, who make no stone unturned in attacking anyone criticizing the Prime Minister on the popular micro blogging site Twitter? It would seem so, if what is being termed as her recent "kneejerk responses" to some of the pro-Modi twitterati is any indication.

By Amaresh Misra* In 'Security Analysis of India’s Electronic Voting Machines', authors Hari K Prasad, J Alex Halderman and Rop Gonggrijp state clearly that "the Election Commission of India developed the country’s EVMs in partnership with two government-owned companies, the Electronics Corporation of India (ECIL) and Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL)...second-generation models were introduced in 2000...these machines moved the firmware into the CPU (Control Processing Unit) and upgraded...other components..." Wikipedia defines Firmware as "a specific class of computer software...that provides both standardized operating environment for the device's more complex software (allowing more hardware-Independence), or, for less complex devices, act as the device's complete operating systems, performing all control, monitoring and data manipulations functions..." Consider this: Firmware is a basic code written in C to do operations. Is this code vulnerable t

By Our Representative In a significant revelation, a former chairman of the National Commission for Minorities (NCM) has said that a report, prepared under him, recommending to the NDA government under Atal Behari Vajpayee that Hindus be treated as minorities in non-Hindu majority states of India was “pooh-poohed” by BJP leaders and “cold shouldered” by the government.

By Subhash Gatade* Can water catch fire? The question may surprise anyone in senses. Yet any person who keeps an open eye for social and political movements would know that when masses forge ahead, breaking millennia old chains of slavery, then not only sky can be pierced, but water too can catch fire.

By Our Representative Gujarat's well-known environmentalists and experts led by Rohit Prajapati have taken strong exception to sudden sharp rise in demolitions, tree felling and clearing of vegetation, dumping of debris, and discharge of sewage, dredging, digging, filling, levelling, construction, etc. along the Vishwamitri river in the state's cultural capital, Vadodara.

By Our Representative At a time when people appear to have forgotten Mirza Ghalib, to celebrate the 220th anniversary of the great poet, which would fall on December 27, a three-day programme was organized under the leadership of renowned Kathak dancer Uma Sharma and other eminent citizens, starting with candle light march on December 24 in Delhi.

By Our Representative In a major setback to the son of BJP president Amit Shah, Jay, who had filed a Rs 100 crore defamation case against "The Wire" for an article on meteoric rise ("16,000 times") in his business activities following the party's ascension to power at the Centre in 2014, the civil court, Mirzapur, Ahmedabad, has vacated the "ex parte ad interim injunction" imposed on the news portal.

Christophe Jaffrelot By Our Representative The Gujarat elections may be over, but the dilemma whether “angry” Patidar community – forming 12% of Gujarat – voted against the BJP remains strong.Young Patidar leader Hardik Patel, in a state of disbelief, says, this happened because the Electronic Voting Machines were tampered with, insisting, had it been a free and fair polls, the BJP’s tally couldn’t be more than 80-82, others do not seem to agree instead of 99 in a house of 182.

By Moin Qazi* The Gaekwad family lives in a single-room house on the outskirts of Mumbai. The family cooks, have meals and sleep in the same room—which is also used as a play area by their three-year-old child. Lack of credit has prevented the Gaekwads from getting loans to improve their living conditions. The Gaekwads are actually among the millions of Indians live on sidewalks and railway platforms, and in illegal slums and shanties. There is little more critical to a family’s quality of life than a healthy, safe living space. However, this section of India’s poor lives in inhuman conditions and is often under the threat of displacement, harassment and arrest. Over the last decade, India has substantially expanded its net of welfare policies, aimed at lifting its millions from poverty. It seems that the time has come, now, for the ‘right to shelter’. Priority for housing ought to be higher than education and health. Sustainable and inclusive housing solutions, indeed, could bolster

The airport-cum-aerotropis site at Jewar By Our Representative The Government of India’s recent “in principle” clearance to the international airport at Jewar, off Delhi, 16 years after the idea was first floated, is one of the several aerotrpolis projects proposed across the world, which have been cited by a top campaign organization as points of concern for massive evictions, affecting environment and livelihood.

By Moin Qazi* His speech if of mortgaged bedding, On his kine he borrows yet. At his heart is his daughter’s wedding. In his eye foreknowledge of debt He eats and hath indigestion He toils and he may not stop His life Is a long-drawn question Between a crop and a crop -- Rudyard Kipling, "The Masque of Plenty" As the world transitions away from the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for 2015 to meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030, help for small farmers will become key to the stating aims of ending poverty and hunger and promoting sustainable development. In India, small and marginal farmers -- those who work on less than two hectares (five acres) of land -- constitute 80% of all farm households, 50% of rural households and 36% of the total of all households. Sadly, the plight of these farmers is very distressing. Agricultural productivity levels have been stagnant for the past ten to fifteen years. An estimated 70% of the country’s arable land is prone

Vikas and his sister Kritika By Our Representative Pointing towards a whopping digital gender divide, UNICEF in a new report , has said that if globally, 12 per cent more men than women used the internet in 2017, "in India, less than one third of internet users are female." Elsewhere , UNICEF warns, "Recently, India has made a public push towards a more digitalized economy, including reducing dependency on physical cash. If girls and women remain digitally illiterate, they risk becoming further marginalized in society and at home."

Counterview Desk Open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi by Tiplang Syiem, 23 year old civil services aspirant from Shillong: Congratulations on your second visit to my beautiful state of Meghalaya. Hope you enjoyed your time and found it easier to breathe, unlike in Delhi. I had a fascinating conversation with someone from Delhi post your visit to my state which has compelled me to write this letter. As a Civil Service aspirant, I’m currently living in Mukherjee Nagar. Two days ago, I came back home from my classes to find my flatmate enquiring about my state. According to him, Meghalaya was a poor, illiterate state with zero infrastructure. In his words, “You have been gifted a road by Modiji.” His words were a shocking jolt to me as I realized your power and what kind of a narrative your speech can set. Instead of portraying Meghalaya in a good light, you chose to play petty politics. Modiji, I hope you take out some time and read this letter by a very hurt but proud citi

By Pankti Jog* The Gujarat government does not miss a single opportunity in praising itself for its ambitious Narmada project or the Sardar Sarovar Dam. Expenses behind this project have increased by many fold, yet, the fact is, in many parts of the state’s farmers are waiting to see Narmada water reaching their farms.

By Our Representative Amidst growing fear that the Election Commission (EC) of India has reached "the lowest point" in its history, especially after TN Seshan, as Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) in the first half of 1990s tried to turn in into "an independent institution", the smell of suspicion around EC appears to have exacerbated both among general public and sections of intellectuals, not excluding top officials, following the Gujarat polls.

By Fr Cedric Prakash, sj* One of the most meaningful features of the Christmas Season is that of gift-giving! Across the globe, people love to give gifts at Christmas to others and of course to receive gifts too! Gifts come in a whole range: from the inexpensive yet lovingly hand-made card to perhaps a gold-crusted diamond purchased from an expensive jewelry store! Santa Claus (a caricature of the saintly Bishop Nicholas who went round caring for the poor and the hungry) comes laden with gifts; Christmas stockings bulge with gifts and one can find gifts below the family Christmas tree. Children look forward to the Childrens Celebrations during the Christmas week when they will receive gifts- it does not matter if they are just trinkets; or some made-in China’ stuff; balloons or plastic toys!Giving gifts at Christmastime perhaps originated from the fact that when the shepherds ran in haste to worship Jesus they probably took with them the best of their flock to present to the new-born