Counterview

By  A  Representative Strongly reacting to the Supreme Court judgment that the anti-atrocities law has become an instrument to “blackmail” innocent citizens and public servants, the National Coalition for Strengthening SCs and STs (Prevention of Atrocities or PoA) Act () has said that it would dilute "provisions related to anticipatory bail and immediate arrest under the SCs and STs (PoA) Act 1989" as also it's 2016 amendments.

By Anand K Sahay* Since the Modi dispensation is not above disregarding convention and rules (it smuggled in its fundamentally altered Aadhaar template as a money bill in order to escape scrutiny in the Rajya Sabha where its numbers were deficient), it should occasion little surprise if Speaker Sumitra Mahajan does not allow the no-confidence motion for which notices have been given. Ordinarily, if procedurally sound in having the backing of at least 50 MPs, a no-confidence motion must be taken up at the first opportunity- effectively speaking Monday morning as the Lok Sabha meets, in this case. The opposition, which is on the warpath, can’t bet on this not happening. A simple trick is all that is needed to be performed. Since there aren’t so many working days left before the Budget Session ends, with the help of some of its supporters the BJP can finesse the movers of the motion with ease by citing unruliness in the House. If the House is not brought to order, a no-confidence motion c...

By Rajiv Shah Data released by the London-based WaterAid, a high-profile international non-profit organization, which "supports" the Narendra Modi government's programmes like Swachh Bharat Mission and National Rural Drinking Water Programme, show that India is behind all its neighbours, including Pakistan and Bangladesh, in providing “basic access” to clean water.

By Moin Qazi* India has long undervalued one of its most precious resources — water. The country’s chronic mismanagement of water is staring at it now. Over 600 million Indians rely on the monsoon to replenish their water sources and the unpredictable nature of rain leaves them vulnerable. The country breaks out in a cold sweat every time the monsoon is delayed. Despite these alarming signals we continue to abuse and use water so profligately. Complex and capricious, the South Asian monsoon which is regarded as the most powerful seasonal climate system on Earth, impacting nearly half the world’s population — has always been hard to predict. With global warming skewing weather patterns, it’s not just the scientists who are confounded. Farmers, who have for generations used the Panchangam, a thick almanac detailing the movement of the Hindu constellations for determine understanding the monsoon lament that their system has lost its reliability. We have ourselves witnessed in some citie...

By A Representative In a new move amidst what are widely considered as increasing attempts to "manage" the country's media, by the Narendra Modi government is now thinking of coming up with a regulatory framework, if possible a legislation, to control online media, which has seen a sharp spurt in the country ever since it came to power in May 2014.

By A Representative One of the most prominent names in modern Indian history, Ramachandra Guha, has qualified the act of pulling down VI Lenin's statues in Tripura as the "price of dogma" paid by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) or CPI(M), wondering, "What if the CPI(M) had installed statues of Bhagat Singh in Tripura? Would they have been vandalized by the BJP cadre after the CPI(M) was voted out of power in that state?"

Mumbai By A Representative Coming down heavily on the way Indian cities are managed, a new report has said that not only are they bogged with a huge staff vacancy – on an average 35% in the 23 metropolitan centres surveyed – what is worse, those who are responsible for running them, such as municipal commissioners, have little or no experience in urban management.

By A Representative A recent report by international NGO Greenpeace has said that, out of 280 Indian cities for which it obtained data to assess air pollution levels, as many as 228, or 80%, are found to be not complying with the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS), as prescribed by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

By Syed Mujtaba* On 10 September 2014, the UN General Assembly decided that the Report of the Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals would be the main basis for integrating the SDGs into the post 2015 development agenda. The first of the seventeen proposed SDGs is “End poverty in all its forms everywhere”. The following suggested targets are associated with the goal:

By Rajnish Gambhir A hamlet which has been fighting for about a decade to be recognized as a forest village, Dilawar Nagar in Kachauna block in Hardoi District of Uttar Pradesh, has been razed to the ground for the third time. On the morning of March 18, at 9:00 am, a bulb mysteriously burst inside one of the straw houses and a spark is said to have caused the fire that engulfed the entire village.