Counterview

Counterview News   The advocacy group Nutrition Advocacy for Public Interest (NAPi) has rejected as inadequate and evasive the response it received from the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) to its August demand for a ban on junk food advertising , saying the government's reply sidesteps every substantive demand raised by the country's leading doctors and public health experts.

By Martin Macwan*  The combined populations of the BRIC countries—Brazil, Russia, India, and China—account for 41–42% of the world’s total population. With South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, the UAE, and Indonesia joining, the group now represents 49.5% of the global population. Originally conceived by an economist at a New York investment bank rather than by political leaders, the member states remain economically aligned rather than fully “united.”

By Ram Puniyani*  In contemporary India, we are witnessing many mechanisms of political propaganda that seek to influence social thinking. Food habits have increasingly become one of the components of divisive politics. The idea that Muslims are more violent because they consume non-vegetarian food is one such narrative. The politics surrounding the “Holy Cow” and beef consumption has also entered this discourse. We have witnessed the phenomenon of lynching in India, in which Muslims and Dalits have been among the major victims.

Counterview News   A comprehensive new study from the Capgemini Research Institute paints a troubling picture of corporate climate readiness, revealing that while executives increasingly recognize climate change as a material business threat, most organizations lack the fundamental capabilities to measure, manage, and adapt to its impacts.

Counterview News   The Earth is approaching a series of irreversible environmental thresholds that threaten the stability of life on the planet, but a landmark new study argues that the same systems science that predicts catastrophe also offers a blueprint for rapid, self-propelling recovery. 

By Deepanwita Gita Niyogi*  Amidst the catastrophe, Alton C Byers has arrived in Nepal for a six-week visit, driven by his profound love for mountains, especially the mystic Himalayas and its resilient people. Back in 2013, following over 40 years of working in mountain ranges all over the world, Byers decided to focus his career in the Himalayan ecosystem after experiencing a deep sense of belonging during field research.

By Sandeep Pandey  Devi Kashyap was a 33-year-old home cook. She used to cook food at people's homes in a middle-class locality, Indira Nagar, in Lucknow to earn her living. She was living separately from her husband with her 13-year-old son Abhishek, a Class VII student.

By Raj Kumar Sinha*  The incident involving Abhijit Dipke, founder of the Cockroach Janta Party, being surrounded and confronted by social media influencers in Balaghat, Madhya Pradesh, has become the subject of a major debate on the internet. There are two sharply contrasting views among social media users and the general public over whether the influencers’ conduct was justified.

By Rosamma Thomas*  Kerala's newly reconstituted State Planning Board has come under fire from social activists and academics, who allege its appointments are dominated by a single caste group and fail to reflect the state's social diversity. In an email to Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, prominent members of Kerala society said they had hoped the Congress government would champion inclusion — hopes they say have now been "belied" by the board's composition.

By Atul Chandra  At the BRICS Business Forum in Bharat Mandapam, Russian President Vladimir Putin read out the numbers. The eleven members of this grouping now produce more than 40 percent of the world’s output. The G7 produces 29. Over the last five years, BRICS countries generated more than half of all global growth . The G7 managed 18 percent. Narendra Modi, speaking at the same event, added that the bloc is home to half of humanity and a quarter of world trade.