In a significant move, Commissioners on the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) have raised concerns about the “sophisticated, systematic persecution” of religious minorities by the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a hearing on India in Washington DC.

A  new report  released by two global NGOs, BankTrack and the Toxic Bonds Network, has claimed to have come up with “a disquieting truth”: that Barclays, a financial heavyweight with a “controversial” track record, is deeply entrenched in a “disturbing” alliance with “the Indian conglomerate and coal miner Adani Group.” Believes the report, Barclays has held “the dubious distinction of being the top bond underwriter for the Adani Group in the five years leading up to 2021”, adding, “Even more astonishing is the fact that Barclays underwrote every USD- and Euro-denominated bond issued by Adani Group entities currently active in the market, totalling a staggering $8 billion.” Accusing Barclays of being “intertwined with the Adani Group's web of deceit, corruption, environmental degradation, and financial toxicity”, titled “Barclays’ Bond With Adani: Why Barclays’ Close Relationship With Adani Is A Huge Risk”, the report cites the Hindenburg Report to say how it sent shockwaves ...

  A new  report , “The Junk Push: Rising Consumption of Ultra-processed foods in India- Policy, Politics and Reality”, public health experts, consumers groups, lawyers, youth and patient groups, has called upon the Government of India to check the soaring consumption of High Fat Sugar or Salt (HFSS) foods or ultra-processed foods (UPF), popularly called junk food. Pre-packaged sugary beverages, juices, bakery products, cookies, chocolates, confectionary, health drinks, chips, ice-creams and pizzas, are a few examples, the report -- prepared by the Nutrition Advocacy in Public Interest (NAPi) and the Breastfeeding Promotion Network of India (BPNI), and authored by Dr Arun Gupta, Nupur Bidla and Reema Dutta -- said, adding, fear of depressing sales in the west, transnational food corporations descended fast into India post 1990s as markets opened up. According to the report, India faces a severe public health crisis of obesity and diabetes. As the 2023  ICMR-INDIAB  st...

  The Jan Swasthya Abhiyan (JSA) Rajasthan chapter, in a letter to Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, endorsed by more than 70 organisations and networks, has demanded framing and notification of rules to the Rajasthan Right to Health Act 2022, wondering why the law has not yet begun being implemented.

  By Our Representative  In a surprise move, the Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC), claiming to represent Muslim diaspora, said, it "supports" the US Department of State in urging India to cooperate with  “ a full and open investigation ”  into Indian government agents’ alleged assassination of Canadian citizen  Hardeep Singh Nijjar  on the Canadian soil.

  By Our Representative  During a Congressional Briefing held on Capitol Hill, Washington DC, Nadine Maenza, former Chair of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), has wondered why the Biden administration should raise issues of mass anti-minority mob violence  -- particularly in Haryana and Manipur -- with Modi. Modi should be told that if such violence continues, the US will be “compelled by law” to designate India as one of the world’s worst offenders of religious freedom, she urged.

A new study has blamed Gujarat’s powerful milk cooperative sector, known across the country as Amul, for failing to take into cognisance the need to place under its wings urban area pastoralists, popularly known as Rabaris, involved mainly in selling cow milk to individual consumers. The study insists, that this, coupled with the lack of any policy on the part of the Gujarat government to “rehabilitate and modernise” the Rabaris’ business, has pushed the pastoralists to the margins of urban society. Carried out by Dr Vidyut Joshi, professor emeritus, Gujarat Vidyapeeth, with the help of several pastoralist leaders and experts, and called “Raste Razhadti Gayo: Samasya ane Ukel” (Stray Cattle on Road: Problems and Solutions), the study in Gujarati encompasses as many as 20 areas of western Ahmedabad, which were previously common grazing grounds, but were acquired in the name of urban development over last few decades. In all, there were 104 common grazing grounds across the city – all of...

A well-attended civil society meet, drawing a parallel between what happened in Manipur and the recent violence in Mewat, has insisted that in Mewat, like in Manipur, one saw state was "complicit" towards the perpetrators. Speakers at the meet, organised by the Campaign Against State Repression (CASR), insisted that those "falsely implicated" in Mewat violence, most of whom were Muslims, should be released and compensation be paid to the "victims of demolitions". The speakers also sought arrest of Hindutva leaders like Bittu Bajrangi, Monu Manesar and others allegedly responsible for instigation of violence in Nuh and other places in Mewat. Called “Authority and Complicity: Exposing State Sponsored Violence from Manipur to Mewat”, a fact-finding report on Nuh violence titled “Persecuted for Resistance” was relelased at the meet. Initiating the meet, senior activist John Dayal, analysing the socio-political condition of Nuh, said, all the shops of Muslims i...