Counterview

By A Representative In a clear signal that things may not be smooth for Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to Britain next week, well-known expert Dr Kalpana Wilson, a visiting fellow in gender theory, globalization and development at the prestigious London School of Economics (LSE), has noted in a blog on the LSE website that several “campaign organisations, academics and individuals are coming together to protest increasing violence against minority groups” in India.

By A Representative Less than a week before Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s forthcoming visit to Britain, the influential British weekly “The Economist” has said “it is puzzling that in a few short weeks” the government he heads has “alienated not just India’s non-Hindu minorities and its liberal intelligentsia, but broad swathes of domestic and foreign opinion”. It warned , “The ugliness of Indian politics threatens to scupper Narendra Modi’s grand visions.”

By  A  Representative In a controversial article which is likely to raise many an eyebrow, brought to light by well-known rebel topcop Sanjiv Bhatt on his Facebook page to mark the ghastly murder of Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984 and the subsequent mayhem of anti-Sikh massacre, top RSS ideologue late Nanaji Deshmukh has said that Indira Gandhi had secured “a permanent place at the doorstep of history as a great martyr.”

By A Representative The Coalition for Genetically Modified (GM) Free India, the apex body of tens of organizations fighting for promoting organic food, suspects that the recent application made for the approval for commercialization of GM mustard, moved with the apex regulatory body Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC), which is under the Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate Change, may be accepted.

By A Representative The US-based independent institute Freedom House's "Privatizing Censorship, Eroding Privacy: Freedom on the Net 2015" has thanked the Supreme Court of India for a slight improvement in India's Internet freedom index from 42 to 40 over the last one year, pointing towards how the apex court struck down "Section 66A of the IT Act in 2015, which had been the cause of several arrests for online speech, particularly on social media".

By  A  Representative The World Bank’s latest report , “India Development Update”, has said that India may have taken advantage of the “sharp decline in global oil and commodity prices to eliminate petrol and diesel subsidies and increase excise taxes”, hence the country’s economic growth will “very likely remain above 7 percent in the next fiscal year”. However, it warns that “uncertainty about its momentum is high and downside risks ample.”

By A Representative The National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM), apex body of tens of mass organizations of India, has strongly protested against the Odisha Govermnent’s reported attempt to conduct Gram Sabhas in the Niyamgiri area to allow the MNC Vedanta to begin mining of bauxite for its Rs 50,000 crore aluminia refinery project, calling the move as "illegal and contempt of the Supreme Court order".

By  A  Representative A new report , “Global Wealth Databook 2015” by top a global financial services firm based in Zurich, Credit Suisse, has found the existence of huge wealth differences in India. The report says that 755,563,000, or 95.4 per cent of adults in India, own wealth less than $10,000, while a minuscule 185,000, or 0.023 per cent of Indian adults, own more than $1 million.

Dholera SIR farmers By A Representative In a setback to the Gujarat government, the Gujarat High Court has set aside the state police decision to bar farmers of the prestigious Dholera Special Investment Region (SIR) from taking out a six-day long padyatra or footmarch to oppose the proposal of smart city in the largely rural area. The foot march was to begin on Thursday.

By Rajiv Shah Even as ranking India 130th in the ease of doing business among 189 countries, up from 134th a year ago, the latest World Bank report, “Doing Business 2016: Measuring Regulatory Quality and Efficiency” has quietly suggested that all’s not well on the social front in India. It has pointed towards “unreliable electricity supply”, which has adverse “consequences for a society’s well-being and living conditions.”