Counterview

By Bhabani Shankar Nayak*  The 2026 Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel—commonly known as the Nobel Prize in Economics—has been awarded to Prof. Robert E. Hall and Prof. Michael Woodford "for microeconomic foundations of macroeconomic stabilisation."

By Bhabani Shankar Nayak*  The Lancet Commission's report on "21st Century Global Threats to Health" identifies seventeen interconnected crises threatening life on Earth: air pollution, antimicrobial resistance, childhood malnutrition, the collapse of development and health assistance, conventional conflicts, high alcohol use, high blood pressure, income inequality, low educational attainment, the malicious use of AI, nuclear conflict, obesity, pandemics, poor mental health, smoking, and unhealthy aging.

By Vikas Meshram*  The Vagad region of Rajasthan, encompassing the districts of Banswara and Dungarpur, is a land of rich biodiversity, fertile soil, and plentiful water, deeply intertwined with the cultural identity of the Bhil community. Yet, for decades, unsustainable farming practices had silently eroded this natural wealth, shrinking crop yields and deepening the grip of poverty. 

By Bharat Dogra   The Ken River is a vital lifeline for the Bundelkhand region of Central India. As an important tributary of the Yamuna, it forms part of the larger Ganga-Yamuna system. For countless villages along its banks—especially riverside communities renowned for their skill in growing vegetables and fruits—the Ken is not merely a water source. It is life itself. The river is also home to many spots of exceptional beauty and heritage.

By Lohit Sharma*  The Siang Upper Multipurpose Project (SUMP), a proposed hydroelectric project on the Siang River with an estimated installed capacity of 11,000–12,500 MW, has raised significant concerns about its potential impact on the ancestral lands, cultural heritage, livelihoods, and ethnic identity of the Adi people.

By A Representative  The civil rights coalition,Campaign Against State Repression (CASR), has condemned the detention of four activists from Arunachal Pradesh under the Arunachal Pradesh Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (APUAPA), 2014, for opposing pre-feasibility report studies for the proposed 11,000 MW Siang Upper Multipurpose Project (SUMP). The organisation has demanded their immediate and unconditional release, the withdrawal of security forces from the affected areas and the scrapping of the proposed mega-dam.

​By Vidya Bhushan Rawat*  ​We live in revealing times. When a television reporter recently confronted renowned development economist Jean Drèze and asked him who he was, social media erupted into debate. Many asked: what is so egregious about a reporter not recognizing someone? But aren't journalists expected to understand the public sphere, its key actors, and their backgrounds? Predictably, an establishment media figure rushed to frame Drèze merely as a former member of the UPA-era National Advisory Council headed by Sonia Gandhi.

By Harsh Thakor*  The intellectual world has lost a towering figure whose work reshaped how we understand capitalism . Anwar Shaikh , who passed away on October 6 at 80 in New York after a prolonged illness, was among the most influential Marxist economists of the past half-century. His contributions transcended the boundaries of conventional economic thought, offering a framework that bridged classical political economy with rigorous empirical analysis. For over four decades, Shaikh stood at the forefront of efforts to develop a coherent alternative to mainstream economics —one grounded in the realities of competition, conflict, and crisis rather than abstract models divorced from actual capitalist dynamics.

By Sandeep Pandey, Niya Tapo  The Arunachal Pradesh government had been claiming that the majority of people in the Siang Valley were in favour of the Pre-Feasibility Report (PFR) survey being carried out to determine the viability of a proposed Siang Upper Multipurpose Project, envisaging a large dam on the Siang River with a capacity of 11,000–12,500 MW. However, a visit by Chief Minister Pema Khandu to Yingkiong, the district headquarters of Upper Siang, towards the end of September provoked people to burn several government vehicles, set fire to a Central Armed Police Forces camp comprising CRPF, ITBP, SSB, RAF and IRBM personnel, vandalise the house of MLA Alo Libang in Yingkiong, and prevent Deputy CM Chowna Mein, Cabinet Ministers Ojing Tasing and Nyato Dukam, and Advisor Ninong Ering from attending the CM’s meeting with government officials and community representatives. 

By Rajiv Shah   A comprehensive new report by Homes In The City (HIC), a Bhuj-based civil society programme, has revealed that despite late monsoon rains easing Kutch's immediate drought conditions, the region faces a deepening water security crisis — with Bhuj having lost more than half of its historic lakes and pastoral communities forced to migrate for the first time since 2018.

By A Representative   A delegation of participants scheduled to attend a "Course on Green Socialism" in Pasighat, East Siang District, has been barred from entering Arunachal Pradesh by local district authorities. The event, organized jointly by the Socialist Party (India), India Greens Party, and Voters’ Party International, was set to take place from October 7 to 11, 2026. However, the plans were halted following written orders issued by the Deputy Commissioner-cum-District Magistrate of East Siang, Sonalika Jiwani.

By Vikas Meshram*  In the tribal heartland of Banswara, four women have turned small family gardens into layered sources of nutrition, income and self-respect. At the southern tip of Rajasthan, where the Mahi River curls around a landscape of hills, slopes and small fields known as Vagad, lies Banswara. According to the 2011 Census, about 76 per cent of the district's population belongs to Scheduled Tribes, the Bhil being the largest community, and most households live off the land. In Anandpuri block, four women have each found their own way of drawing a livelihood from this terrain: Kokila Devi Damor of Seranagla, Kuni Devi Pargi of Navagra, Chhagan Devi Patel of Bawdi and Laxmi Garasia of Ubapan.

By Dr A.V. Yadappanavar *  In a small village called Takli, not far from the temple town of Pandharpur in Maharashtra, there is a home where children who were once abandoned because of their HIV status now find food, medicine, education, and something even rarer — love without fear. The home is called Palawi, and it was founded in 2001 by Mangal Shah, affectionately known as Mangaltai, a social worker who could not look away from children rejected by their own families.

Counterview News Findings from 540+ data leaders and practitioners across 65+ countries show trusted data, business context and governance are lagging behind enterprise AI adoption *** As enterprises race to move artificial intelligence from experimentation into daily operations, the data foundation holding these systems up is emerging as the critical weak link, according to the latest Modern Data Report: 5 Emerging Trends in Enterprise Data & AI , released by The Modern Data Company .

By Kvita Sharma*  Every monsoon, the Himalayas deliver the same lesson in mud, water and rubble: fragile mountains do not forgive careless development. Floods, landslides and other extreme events are no longer distant warnings but recurring disasters, and the voices urging caution are growing louder. Among them is Sunita Narain, Director General of the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), who has repeatedly argued that climate change can no longer be treated as an abstract threat, and that disturbing fragile ecosystems in pursuit of an aggressive development model carries a heavy price.

By Dr. A.V. Yadappanavar   As the floodwaters of the 2026 monsoon finally begin to recede across Assam, the state is left to survey yet another season of devastating ecological and economic ruin. Every year, the Brahmaputra River basin overflows, driven by a toxic mix of intense monsoon rainfall, fragile Himalayan topography, and unchecked human encroachment. But as the recent deluge has starkly demonstrated, our traditional approach to flood management—building higher and thicker concrete walls—is no longer sufficient. 

By Rajiv Shah  ​I was recently forwarded a complaint by social activist Jatin Sheth , who leads Abad Amdavad , an Ahmedabad-based civic rights NGO. The organization regularly takes up municipal grievances in a city that aspires to be a cutting-edge metropolis—one eyeing to hold the Commonwealth Games , followed by the Olympics . It is quite another matter that independent international studies have ranked Ahmedabad among the environmentally least resilient when evaluated alongside 72 global cities.

By Vikas Meshram*  In the hills of southern Rajasthan, where small farms cling to rocky slopes and morning smoke curls above mud houses, a quiet revolution is taking root. The village is Seranagla, in Anandpuri tehsil of Banswara district. Among its residents is 65-year-old Kankudevi Kama Damor, known across the region as Beej Mata or the "Seed Mother." For years, she has been collecting, conserving and sharing indigenous seeds, safeguarding an agricultural heritage that many feared would disappear forever. Her work is not merely about farming. It is about memory, culture, nutrition and resilience in a changing climate.

By Bhabani Shankar Nayak*  The ruling classes and their allies in various spheres of life—from half-baked intellectuals in universities and think tanks to yellow journalists in the media—openly loathe welfare budgets that exist for the mere survival of poor people across the world. The poor are routinely described as lazy and "work-shy." 

By Sudhansu R Das*  India’s ancient civilization was built on a foundation of rigorous discipline, which fostered self-confidence, moral strength, and phenomenal achievements in architecture, war strategy, navigation, Ayurveda, and mathematics. Ancient temples, manuscripts, and archaeological findings stand as mute witnesses to this historical success. However, in the modern era, a pervasive lack of civic and systemic discipline has become a significant roadblock to the nation's progress.