Counterview

By N.S. Venkataraman*  Around the world, policy makers and scientists agree that the long-term solution to environmental degradation and the climate crisis lies in scaling up renewable energy and launching eco-friendly projects such as green hydrogen, green ammonia, and green methanol. These initiatives are seen as vital in reducing harmful emissions of carbon dioxide, sulphur dioxide, and nitrous oxide by moving away from fossil fuels. On paper, the idea is flawless. In practice, however, the future of these projects is clouded with uncertainties.

By Syed Ali Mujtaba*  Before coming to power, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was among the strongest critics of the Congress-led government’s encouragement of beef exports, often referring to it as the “Pink Revolution.” He had accused the Manmohan Singh administration of promoting the trade for political reasons and promised to curb it if elected. More than a decade later, however, India’s beef export industry has not only continued but also expanded under his tenure. Since 2014, exports have risen by about 16 percent.

By A Representative   The Little Rann of Kutch in Gujarat has reportedly witnessed major losses after continuous rains for over 10 days, leading to large salt stockpiles being washed away. Reports from Santalpur suggest that around 300 salt producers (agariyas) and more than one lakh tonnes of stored salt have been submerged or damaged by floodwaters, resulting in losses worth crores of rupees. The region has been badly affected as water entered storage yards and salt pans. Large heaps of harvested salt dissolved in rainwater, leaving producers in despair. “This is not the first time,” local salt workers are quoted as saying. They point out that monsoon and untimely rains often damage stored salt. However, no permanent measures or compensation frameworks are in place to protect small producers from recurring losses. Despite repeated appeals, agariyas claim they have not received any financial assistance. “Nearly 300 salt farmers have lost their entire season’s hard work...

By Harsh Thakor*  Andrew Smith’s Which East is Red? The Maoist Presence in the Soviet Union and Soviet Bloc Europe, 1956–1980, is a rigorously researched study that challenges the popular belief in a uniform and monolithic Marxism across Eastern Europe during the Cold War. It explores how Maoist ideas, despite the obstacles of authoritarian control and heavy surveillance, penetrated the Soviet Union and its satellite states and offered an alternative revolutionary path to many disillusioned with Moscow’s direction after the Twentieth Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1956.

By Nidheesh J. Villatt  I vividly remember reading Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai's classic Malayalam novel Randidangazhi in high school. Set in 1940s Kuttanad, Alappuzha—Kerala's rice bowl—it depicts the brutal socio-economic conditions of Dalit agricultural workers and impoverished tenant peasants, alongside communist-led resistance against imperialism and landlords. For my generation, the novel's portrayal of extreme exploitation and violence—like normalized sexual abuse of peasants—was unimaginable. Yet by 1999, when I read it, Kerala's class relations had transformed so significantly through communists' "agrarian revolution," that those events seem foreign to us. This shift echoed the strategy in the Communist International's Fourth Congress resolution on 5 December 1922, "Theses on the Eastern Question," overseen by Lenin: “The communist workers’ parties of the colonial and semi-colonial countries have a double task: both to fi...

By Dilip Patel*  The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has slammed the Bhupendra Patel-led BJP government in Gujarat for turning the state’s Building and Other Construction Workers’ Welfare Board into a tool that benefits builders and contractors while neglecting the welfare of labourers. According to the CAG’s findings, successive BJP governments since 2004 have violated laws, ignored accountability, and diverted workers’ funds, leaving thousands of labourers without safety, health care, or basic welfare schemes.

By N.S. Venkataraman*  In democratic countries across the world, a growing impression is that politicians are much the same everywhere. They are expected to frame policies in line with national, social and economic interests, yet too often these lofty objectives are intertwined with self-interest, nepotism, and corruption. The result is that even in functioning democracies with electoral systems in place, the political sphere is seen as compromised.

By Dr. Manoj Kumar Mishra*  The Goods and Services Tax (GST) underwent rationalization and democratization in the first week of September this year, but its journey began much earlier. Introduced in July 2017 by the BJP-led NDA government, GST was hailed as the most significant indirect tax reform since independence—an outcome of years of discussions, negotiations, compromises, and eventual all-party consensus. It replaced multiple state and central taxes with the idea of “One Nation, One Tax.” 

By A Representative   The Dalit Shakti Kendra (DSK), a technical school dedicated to Dalit empowerment and training teenagers in vocational skills near Sanand town in Ahmedabad district, has launched a solidarity initiative for the people of Palestine. In response to the mounting humanitarian crisis, where more than 65,000 lives have been lost in military action and many children are dying from hunger due to obstructed food supplies, DSK is calling upon individuals and organisations to express support and compassion.