Counterview

Protest against Queensland govt By A Representative Australian environmental groups appear to be reconciled that top Indian business group Adani Group's ambitious $22 billion coalmining lease project for Carmichael may finally have its day. This became clear from a statement by top international NGO Greenpeace following Queensland's provincial government minister Anthony Lynham saying the project would continue.

Modi at Wembley By A Representative Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ambitious project to raise $1.5 billion from rupee bonds, about which he announced in London last autumn during his visit to London, has fallen flat. Top US business daily “Wall Street Journal” reports, “India’s attempt to diversify and deepen its corporate debt market has fallen flat, thanks to lack of demand and bad timing.”

Biometric impression taken in Pakistan for SIM card By  A  Representative A recent press meet with foreign correspondents in Delhi is likely to create a major sensation with its "revelation" that that Government of India’s ambitious Digital India project seeks to link mobile SIM cards with the unique identity number (UID) or Aadhaar, which has been "copied" from similar projects in Pakistan and Bangladesh.

By A Representative The Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) recent "submission" through an affidavit to the Supreme Court of India, in a sealed cover, a list of defaulters on loans, worth Rs 500 crore or more, taken from different banks, has created a flutter among pro-transparency activists.

By A Representative Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who addressed students at the Melbourne University on April 2, was preceded by students' and faculty members' protest against the controversial coalmining project, taken up by one of the most influential business houses in India, Adanis, in Australia's Queensland state.

By Venkatesh Nayak* Media reports indicate that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), India’s banker to banks (Central Bank) has submitted to the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India, in sealed cover, a list of defaulters on loans, worth Rs. 500 crore or more (USD 75.3 million approx at current exchange rate), taken from those banks. The Apex Court sought this information from the RBI after it reportedly took suo motu cognizance of a recent news report published in a popular English language daily about how a majority of the public sector banks had written off bad debts to the tune of Rs. 1.14 lakh crores (USD 17.18 billion at current exchange rate) between the financial years 2013-15. This national daily had sourced this data through The Right to Information Act, 2005 (RTI Act). In order to justify its action of submitting the names of loan defaulters in sealed cover, RBI argued in its affidavit that public disclosure would dent the ‘fiduciary relationship ‘ that it has with the commercial b...

Statement by Jamin Adhikar Aandolan Gujarat (JAAG) following the state assembly passing the controversial bill on March 31 bill which does away with consent and social impact assessment in land acquisition: The Government of Gujarat (GoG) has passed in the State Assembly the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Gujarat Amendment) Bill, 2016. What the the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Ordinance (in short LARR Ordinance), 2015 had proposed to do but could not, the GoG Bill is doing in Gujarat. With a few changes, the tone and tenor of the Gujarat LARR Bill is almost the same as the LARR Ordinance 2015. The meagre safety and rights that were guaranteed to the farmers by the LARR Act, 2013 are set to be snatched away, once and for all. The major amendments being brought by the GoG to the LARR Act, 2013 are (this is not a comprehensive list): (1) Amendm...

By A Representative In a sharp critique of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Gujarat Amendment) Bill, 2016, passed in the Gujarat state assembly on Thursday, Jameen Adhikar Aandolan Gujarat (JAAG), a land rights network of civil society organisations, has taken strong exception to "dropping" the consent clause and social impact assessment (SIA) provisions of the Central Land Acquisition Act (LAA), 2013.

Modi reaches Washington for Nuclear Safety Summit By  A  Representative The US-based Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) has raised the alarm that with the type of technology to be used for the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited’s (NPCIL’s) 6,000 MW N-power plant project in Gujarat’s Mithi Virdi region, its actual cost is likely to reach a whopping Rs 6.3 lakh crore to Rs 11.3 lakh crore, as against the official estimate of Rs 60,000 crore.

By  A  Representative A controversial legislation, introduced in the American House of Representatives, US-India Defense Technology and Partnership Act, claiming to underline "fundamental changes between today’s political environment", wants Indian soldiers to fight with other foreign soldiers "alongside US forces, thereby reducing the risk to American men and women."