Well-know British weekly, The Economist, has created flutter by  publishing  United Nations Children Fund's (UNICEF's) unpublished data which suggest that Gujarat's ranking in immunization of children has slipped from 16th to 21st position between 2001, when Narendra Modi came to power as state chief minister, and 2014, when he became India's Prime Minster, "riding" on a developmental agenda.

  Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s office does not think that it is obligatory on its part to reveal even elementary information about the date-wise number of visits made by a top tycoon to his official residence in Delhi. This has come from a right to information (RTI) plea by a Gujarat-based citizen by Paragkumar Ashokkumar Patel, who wished to “total number of visits, datewise” by Gautam Adani.

 In an important  research paper  having major policy implications for India, International Monetary Organization (IMF) has declared that the “trickledown theory” -- which believes that economic growth would take care of poverty alleviation – is proving to be counter-productive. Top pro-Narendra Modi economist Arvind Panagariya, new vice-chairman of Planning Commission’s fresh avatar Niti Ayog (Policy Commission), and his Columbia University mentor, Prof Jagdish Bhagwati, are well known advocates of trickledown.

  A recent study by an independent Delhi-based policy research institute has pointed to complete failure of Gujarat government’s coastal management authority to act against top corporates’ open violations of environmental norms in the coastal region. Giving instances of coastal projects undertaken by industrial groups of Adani, Reliance and Essar, the study says, though the Gujarat Coastal Zone Management Authority (GCZMA) may take cognizance of some violations, it would generally “drop” the cases citing “various reasons.”

Yellow box on left corner: flood level 146.64 metres, 2013 In a major revelation, an independent Fact-Finding Team on Sardar Sarovar Project's (SSP's) submergence areas has said, on the basis of its recent field visit to SSP-affected villages, that Government of India (GoI) has completely ignored in its calculations several of the areas in Madhya Pradesh which may face massive submergence because of unprecedented floods.

  Gujarat government’s claim that its social sector expenditure has been on a radical upswing – an urgent requirement considering the state’s known poor performance in health, education, water resources and poverty alleviation – appears to have gone phut. If the latest Reserve Bank of India (RBI) document “State Finances: A Study of Budgets 2014-15”, is any guide, Gujarat ranks 14th among 18 non-special category states in spending funds for the social sector, despite a high rate of growth.

While it is well known that Africans were taken as slave labourers to Americas in 18th and 19th century, few know that the British enslaved Indians, too, taking them all the way to Jamaica to work in sugar and banana plantations. A unique documentary, “Dreadlocks Story”, written, directed and produced by Linda Aïnouche, ethnographer-researcher and cultural analyst, has highlighted this unknown fact by tracing the cultural roots the Indians who over the last about two centuries have mixed with the Africans in Jamaica, a Caribbean island.

  Top international news agency Reuters' Breakingviews Index is all set to create a flutter: It has declared that one-third of India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth, as projected by Government of India, is "statistical mirage", adding, "Unless something has changed dramatically in recent years in how companies and consumers behave, the economy is more likely to be expanding at 5 percent, not the 7.5 percent claimed by the authorities."

  In an unusual scathing attack on the Right to Education (RTE) Act, passed by Parliament in 2009, renowned academic and educationist Anil Sadgopal has said that five years of its implementation has clearly shown that the law is nothing but a means to privatize India's education system. In a recent critique, forwarded to Counterview by Shiksha Adhikar Manch (Right to Education Forum), a Bhopal-based non-profit body, Sadgopal said Act is merely "meant to help corporates, NGOs and religious organizations to profiteer."