Counterview

UN special rapporteur on human rights defenders Michel Forst By  A  Representative Three top United Nations human rights experts have called on the Government of India to repeal the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA), which they say is being “increasingly used to obstruct civil society’s access to foreign funding”. They have said in a statement, the FCRA contradicts “international human rights norms and standards.”

By A Representative The declaration by Guntur district collector Kantilal Dande that Hyderabad Central University  (HCU) research scholar Rohith Vemula, who committed suicide allegedly because of intense political pressure, was indeed a Dalit, is all set to create a fresh flutter across India, with demands being raised tot take action against those who were responsible for it.

Soni Sori By A Representative Soni Sori, Chhattisgarh adivasi woman leader of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), has begun an indefinite fast outside Sukma collectorate because she and her team have been prevented from visiting a village where a young woman was killed in an encounter that villagers say is fake.

Global index ranking. Column B: 2016, Column C: 2015 By Rajiv Shah A recent report by top British consultants, AT Kearney, with branches all over the world, has suggested that Indian cities have far to go in case they wish to become smart. Titled “Global Cities 2016 ”, the consultants seek to answer the question: “Which global cities are performing best today, which have the best long-term potential, and what makes a smart city?”

By A  Representative Hindutva offensive against India’s reservation policy continues unabated, despite BJP and RSS making frantic attempts to deny they are against caste-based reservation. A well-known US-based Hindutva theorist and businessman, Rajiv Malhotra, hailed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for “glorifying our priceless heritage”, has now declared that there should not be any caste-based reservation in India.

By  A  Representative The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), the apex body of national trade union centres across the world, has characterized India as one of the worst countries from the angle of workers’ rights in its latest Global Rights Index (GRI), which seeks to rank 141 countries across the world on the basis of "97 internationally recognised" indicators.

By A Representative Baba Ramdev calling homosexuality a "disease" and a “mental disorder” against the backdrop of the gruesome killings in Orlando, in which 49 were killed, has sparked a row among some of the most well-known votaries of Hindutva joining those who stand by LGBT rights.

By  A  Representative Well-known civil rights organization, South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People (SANDRP), in a recent scrutiny , has said that “India’s hydropower generation has dropped by up to close to 20% compared to previous year in some of the months this year, even as installed capacity of hydropower projects keeps climbing relentlessly.”

By  A  Representative The most awaited monsoon may have knocked the doors of Mumbai, bringing cheers on the face of the city dwellers. But the rains are proving to be a curse to nearly 60,000 homeless persons, especially infants, the sick and the aged. A right to information (RTI) reply has revealed that, despite clearcut official guidelines, the government has not cared to build 124 community shelters to protect them.

Piped water to industry Counterview Desk Top anti-Narmada dam organization, Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA), has estimated that about eight lakh rural people are in the grip of severe drought in Bharuch district of Gujarat stretching in a 41 kilometres area up to the spot where Narmada river merges in the sea, thanks to lack of fresh water inflows in the river from the upstream.