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Showing posts from February, 2018

Gujarat riot victims are told they're not true Muslims, hence they suffer: 'A conspiracy to displace us again'

Mir Khan Mir Khan, who lives in the Hussainabad resettlement colony off North Gujarat town Himmatnagar, feels like a Muhajir, the term "derogatorily" used for those Muslims in Pakistan who left India soon after partition in 1947. "We started living in the colony after we were forced to leave our residence following the communal violence that erupted 16 years ago, on February 28, 2002, little knowing that we too would treated like Muhajirs, outsiders", he said.

16 years after Gujarat riots, 3380 families live in 83 rehab colonies without housing rights, basic amenities

Data compiled by several of Gujarat's civil society organizations, who have worked for the rehabilitation of victims of 2002 communal riots, in which about 2,000 people, most of them Muslims, died, have revealed that, as of today, as many as 3,380 displaced families -- or about 17,000 persons -- continue to live in 83 rehabilitation colonies in the state.

Govt of India refuses to make public black money reports citing RTI's confidentiality clauses, Parliamentary privilege

Prime Minister Narendra Modi may have  compared  his government's efforts to flush out black money with his Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. But the ministries and departments operating under him appear to believe that reports prepared by them on black money cannot be made public because they were covered under secrecy clauses of the Right to Information (RTI) Act.

351 incidents of anti-Christian violence in India, 2017 was "most traumatic" after 2007-08 Kamdhamal pogrom

  In a strong critique of the Narendra Modi government, which is likely to have a major impact on the so-called Christian world, India's national alliance of evangelical Christians has qualified the year 2017 "one of the most traumatic for the Christian community in India since the mass targeted violence of the Kandhamal pogrom in 2007 and 2008" in Odisha.

India's trust level falls by 13 points, one of the highest in world, as China "takes over" India's No 1 position: Report

A new report, “2018 Edelman Trust Barometer”, has said that with an aggregate 13-point decline India has found itself among the six top countries that have experienced one of the highest trust losses among the 28 countries it has analyzed. The calculation is based on India’s trust-level slipping in three of the four categories analyzed – government institutions, media and NGOs.

Govt of India using adjudication bodies to "help out" corporate defaulters of banks: TU-civil society meet

  A joint meeting of civil society and trade union organizations has accused the Government of India of making frenzied attempts of pushing nationalized banks through Reserve Bank of India to take defaulting companies to the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), and start bankruptcy proceeding. This, the meet said, is a major reason for a sharp rise in non-performing assets (NPAs) of banks.

India slips two ranks in corruption index: Report finds country among "worst" offenders for persecuting journos, activists

Ranking for the year 2017 Even as India is shown  slipping  by two points to the 81st rank among 180 countries from 79th a year earlier, the new Corruptions Perceptions Index (CPI) for 2017 has regretted that the country finds itself in the company of the Philippines and Maldives for being “among the worst regional offenders” where “journalists, activists, opposition leaders and even staff of law enforcement or watchdog agencies are threatened, and in the worst cases, even murdered.”

Revoke, apologize for "unceremonious" deportation of ex-Swiss diplomat from India: Sushma Swaraj told

Kurt Vögele Forty-five civil rights leaders, academics and professionals have asked India’s foreign minister Sushma Swaraj to immediately revoke what they call “unceremonious” deportation of veteran ex-Swiss diplomat and an old India hand, Kurt Vögele, from the Ahmedabad airport on January 22, seeking an apology from the government for the “unreasonable” treatment meted out to him.

Gujarat's developmental expenditure to grow 2% in 2018-19, non-developmental by 20%: State budget papers

Gujarat budget papers released by the state government in the assembly on Tuesday suggest that while the “developmental” expenditure for the forthcoming financial year, 2018-19, would rise by just about 2.46% over the previous year, 2017-18, the “non-developmental” expenditure, on the other hand, would grow by a whopping 20.2%.

97% don't want Direct Bank Transfer for food from ration shop, 25% didn't receive cash, says Jharkhand survey

Jharkhand officials "testing" biometric system for PDS A recent survey, carried out by student volunteers in the Nagri block in the outskirts of Ranchi, capital of Jharkhand, has found that a huge 97% of the sample households have opposed Direct Bank Transfer (DBT) against the subsidies they should be getting by using the public distribution (PDS) system ration shops. The survey was coordinated by well-known academic  Jean Dreze   and researcher  Nazar Khalid .

Dalit women are top victims of domestic violence; more women justify husband beating wife than men: GoI report

A Government of India (GoI) report, likely to create a major flutter among sociologists, women's rights activists and feminists, as also those claiming to be Dalit and tribal rights activists, has said that a whopping 24.6% scheduled caste (SC) women aged 15-49 have experienced physical violence during the 12 months preceding a survey carried out to ascertain empowerment issues they face.

23% of India thirsting for electricity: US foundation calls it a private business opportunity

At a time when the Government of India (GoI) has claimed that 99.4% of the country's villages have been electrified, but the GoI's powerful thinktank electrification, Niti Aayog, has pointed out that there are 304 million people who still lack access to electricity in its draft National Energy Policy (NEP), released in mid-2017, top US business interests have begun to see it as an opportunity.

With Land Acquisition Act, 2013, pace of land grab has increased vastly: Chhattisgarh legal rights NGO

In a surprise note, the Janhit Peoples' Legal Resource Centre in Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh, which seeks to provide legal aid to peoples' movements, village committees, NGOs, and trade unions, has qualified the 2013 Land Acquisition Act (LAA) as providing only "notional protection", insisting that for people the only benefit it provides is the "right to register objections..."

Gujarat's 22% rural girls fail to attend school, worse than all states, including UP, Bihar: Govt of India report

A Government of India (GoI) report, released recently, has found that, despite much hype around girl child education through Kanya Kalavani Mahotsav – the annual school enrolment event launched by Narendra Modi as chief minister in Gujarat way back 2004 – the “model” state’s rural girls fare worse among all 21 major Indian states in schooling.

Shifted from Gujarat to Andhra, questions raised on N-project's viability

DiaNuke.org, a team of dedicated researchers and activists claiming to be a one-stop resource for nuclear information, analysis and discussions, has strongly protested against the proposed visit of officials of the US-based nuclear corporation Westinghouse to "resuscitate" the plan the Kovvada nuclear project planned on Andhra Pradesh coast, saying, the local communities see it as a threat to their environment, health, livelihood and traditional lifestyle.

Top ex-Swiss diplomat Vögele deported from Ahmedabad airport as Modi opposed protectionism at WEF, Davos

A day before Prime Minister Narendra Modi mounted a powerful defense of globalization at the World Economic Forum (WEF) at Davos, Switzerland (January 23), in a little known development, India's immigration officials deported a veteran Swiss ex-diplomat from Ahmedabad airport, allegedly without providing any reason as to why they were doing so.

Child care? Gujarat No 1 in institutional deliveries, but one of the poorest in other health indicators: GoI report

In a curious disclosure, a top Government of India (GoI) study, “Healthy States, Progressive India Report on the Ranks of States and Union Territories”, has found that, while “model” Gujarat ranks No 1 in institutional delivery of babies, in sex ratio at birth it is one of the worst – 854 girls as against 1000 boys.

Govt of India's PM crop insurance thrust a "scam" to help corporate sector: Agro-budget

  Even as the Government of India is seeking to portray the 2018-19 budget as pro-farmer, a civil society analysis has alleged that the Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers' Welfare allocation by 11.58%, from Rs. 41,855 crore in 2017-18 to Rs. 46,700 crore in 2018-19, is mainly aimed at helping the corporate sector.

Kerala Left admin, Sangh Parivar "come together" to oppose protest against anti-Dalit "caste wall" around temple

  Is Kerala’s Left government, headed by CPI-M, taking the same stance as that of Sangh Parivar on the contentious issue of Kerala’s Nair Service Society (NSS) allegedly forcibly seeking to occupy a public ground surrounding the Vadayambadi Temple in Vadayambadi in Ernakulam district, Kerala, being opposed by the Dalit rights group Bhoo Avakasha Samara Munnani?

More underweight, stunted children in Ahmedabad, Surat than other top Indian cities: Industry-sponsored study

A top Indian industrial house-sponsored study has found that, in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “model” city Ahmedabad, 19.4% children aged 0-59 months are stunted, which is the highest among the 10 cities studied – Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Kolkata, Surat, Pune and Jaipur.

Boost to Modi? Assam journos' forum wants regulatory body to curb alternative media

Jagdamba Mall In a surprise move, a top mediapersons’ association of the North-East, Journalists’ Forum of Assam (JFA), has demanded a regulatory authority over what has come to be known as alternate media, urging the Government of India to go so far as to “empower” the Press Council of India with “the inclusion of electronic and social media” for this.

European Union told to ask India to "stop" child, forced labour in granite mine units exporting stone to West, China

  Prajapati, 14, a migrant boy belonging to the Adipathi scheduled tribe (ST), works in a granite quarry in Telangana. Belonging to Thapagada village in Malkangiri district, Odisha, he completed his primary school and dropped out. His father received an "advance" of Rs 2000 from a middleman, and sent Prajapati along with some other boys of his village for work in a granite quarry at Bahupet village in Telangana.

Democracy Index: India slips 10 ranks, rise of right-wing "Hindu forces", vigilantism, anti-minority violence blamed

The latest Democracy Index 2017 report, released by the Economist Intelligence Unit (IEU), attached with the powerful British journal "The Economist", has said that "India fell ten places in the rankings, from 32nd to 42nd to place, after its score deteriorated by 0.58 points", from 7.81 a year earlier to 7.23, on a scale of 10. The IEU data show this was the lowest score since 2006, when the IEU first brought it's Democracy Index report.

Did Gujarat's city dwellers drank away 19% of Narmada water after November 2017? Farmers' leader wonders

Modi watching Narmada water flowing to Saurashtra With the Narmada dam’s water levels coming down to 112.32 metres as on February 2 – and a mere 181 Million Cubic Metres (MCM) of water available for use (click  HERE ) – top farmers’ leader Sagar Rabari has asked a pointed question: Where has all the water stored in the dam ahead of the Gujarat elections disappear?

India's bribery rate is 69%, highest in Asia Pacific; Pakistan's 40%, China's 26%, Sri Lanka's 23%, Japan's 0.2%

A recent report by a Berlin-based non-profit, Transparency International, has qualified India as the most corrupt country in the Asia-Pacific region. Based on interviews with 21,861 people in 16 countries of the region, the report says that while the “bribery rate” in India was highest at 69%, it was the lowest in Japan, 0.2%.

Gujarat govt "allowing" untreated effluents to be discharged into sea, "refuses" to penalize defaulting industries

  Latest figures, released by well-known Vadodara-based environmentalist Rohit Prajapati, have revealed that the Gujarat government has been allowing the release of industrial wastewater into the Gulf of Khambhat off its industrial estates in Vadodara and South Gujarat without ensuring that the effluent treatment plants maintain the norm required for the release.

Lukhi Murmu, 30, dies of starvation in Jharkhand: Aadhaar authentication "failure" on ration card

Phulin, Lukhi Murmu's sister A poor Jharkhand woman has allegedly died of undernutrition and exhaustion in Jharkhand after she was denied of Public Distribution System (PDS) ration for four months due to the failure of Aadhaar-based biometric authentication. Bringing this to light, the advocacy group Right to Food Campaign, Jharkhand, said, the woman, 30, passed away on January 23, 2018.