By Tathya Macwan*  In a world where humans have taken over the animal world, some places are setting a different example. Feral pigeons (Columba livia) are known worldwide for their notorious behaviour. They occupy buildings and houses and breed quite fast and make things dirty too. People set up nets and other protection to ward off these pests, but to no avail. They are found abundantly in almost every city. Many other birds are chased off by these feral pigeons and hence are not able to build their nest in their territory. In the Anandnagar area of Ahmedabad city, there is a different trend, however. Just opposite the shattered and unused Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority (AUDA) garden, sprawling with mosquitoes, is a reasonably large area where pigeons thrive. The credit goes to the residents living around this place. People throng to this place during mornings and evenings along with their little kids and family members; just to feed these winged wonders. A female vendor h...

By Venkatesh Nayak* A recent major development at the international level received very little attention in the Indian media. While the Indian electronic media went gaga over the Prime Minister’s visit to the United States of America (just as the US media was going gaga over the visit of Pope Francis to that country), very little reporting is available locally about the recent adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals by the United Nations General Assembly. At the turn of the millennium the UN General Assembly adopted 8 Millennium Development Goals resolving to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger; promote gender equality; reduce child mortality; achieve universal primary education; improve maternal health; ensure environmental sustainability; combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases and form a global partnership for development. That exercise ended up with a mixed bag of results with countries doing quite well on some goals and defaulting on others. Now the world leaders have...

By A Representative Facts trickling in from San Jose, California, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a massive 18,000-strong Indian community reception on September 27, suggest that local politicians avoided going to the high-profile event, though invited. Around 3,000 anti-Modi protesters gathered outside the SAP Center, where Modi addressed the Indian diaspora.

By A Representative In a major victory for the country’s powerful anti-Narmada dam organization led by Medha Patkar, the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA), the Supreme Court has dismissed the application of the Madhya Pradesh (MP) government denying the right of land to thousands of adult sons of the dam’s oustees.

By Nachiketa Desai* A month ago, a tribal girl in Vyara, the district town of Tapi in South Gujarat, was molested by her employer, and a video of the act was circulated widely on social media. The person who captured the video was another tribal girl in the employ of the accused, who runs a non-government organization (NGO), which receives grants from the state government for running Mahila Sashaktikaran (women’s empowerment) programmes.

By A Representative The Uttar Pradesh government on Saturday morning swooped on several activists, trade union and left leaders, including senior activist Medha Patkar of the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA), after it refused permission to take out a farmers' protest rally off Allahabad in protest against the allged refusal of the UP government to provide a viable compensatory package to those being displaced because of the power plants being constructed to meet the state's power needs.

Daniel Altman By A Representative In a clear effort to provide boost to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a top US journal has called India as the most important investment destination in the world. The latest rating provided by the high-profile Foreign Policy magazine, which is owned by the FP Group, a division of Graham Holdings Company, formerly the Washington Post Company, has “the big story in the Baseline Profitability Index (BPI) this year is India. coming out on top.”

By A Representative Social media, especially Twitter and Facebook, is ripe with sharply-worded comments on Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the allegation that he has “insulted” the national flag by signing on it. According to reports from New York, the signed flag was to be handed over by celebrity chef Vikas Khanna to President Barack Obama, whom plans to meet Modi after the latter’s visit to Silicon Valley. Khanna is said to be a four-time Michelin-starred chef. He reportedly cooked a feast on Thursday evening, which included sandalwood saffron sherbet, paneer ravioli, saffron sheermal and mango-ginger soup. Many of the dishes were from his coffee table book on festival cuisine in India, which, too, he was to present Obama.

Bose with Japanese PM Hideki Tojo, 1944 By A Representative An online petition , floated by Mission Netaji, one of the most prolific organizations campaigning for declassifying secret documents related with Subhas Chandra Bose, even as criticizing the Government of India for being “most casual” in taking any steps towards releasing the files, has refused to touch the crucial issue: What are the foreign relations with other countries that would be harmed in case these are declassified.

By A Representative Is the powerful Adani Group on way to finally get clearance from the Australian government for its controversial coal mining project? It would seem so, if sources in the top environmental watchdog are any indication. A Greenpeace spokesperson has been quoted as saying, “We are expecting the Federal Government to make an announcement next week or so regarding re-issuing approval for the mine.”

Ravi Shankar Prasad By Fr Cedric Prakash sj* The oft-quoted saying “eternal vigilance is the price of liberty” has been attributed to several people across the ages; who used these words first is irrelevant. The truth of the matter is that in India, the world’s largest democracy, these immortal words not only carry great weight today but also hold a direction for all Indians.

Online campaign slogan By A Representative The US-based Alliance for Justice and Accountability (AJA) has begun an online campaign to gather support for its proposed protest in the "safe permitted free speech areas" next to the SAP Center in San Jose, California where the Indian community has planned Prime Minister Narendra Modi's public reception on September 27.

South Gujarat tribals against Central order By A Representative In a major development, the Government of India’s proposed notification, calling for declaring the seven kiloemtre area around South Gujarat’s one of the most well-preserved Shoolpaneshwar sanctuary as eco-sensitive has zone, has ignored participation of local tribal representatives in the proposed master plan to “develop” the region.

Government building in Amravan By A Representative A small village of about 200 in Central India, a majority of whose residents is dependent on mining as the main source of livelihood, is all set to become a major focal point, nationally and internationally. Reason: Allegations of refusal of the Madhya Pradesh government to protect them from forcible eviction from their land.

By Fr Cedric Prakash sj* It’s September 21 once again, a day which is observed the world over as the International Day of Peace. Since September 1982, on this day, the United Nations has been calling upon world leaders to remember that the UN as an organisation was created in 1945, with a primary aim: to end all wars and to ensure enduring peace. The day once again will be full of activities and programmes perhaps high profile commemorations. These activities are perhaps needed. We need, however, to go beyond tokenism and cosmeticization. The grim and painful reality however remains: several parts of the world are still caught up in war and hostilities; in hate and violence; in division and discrimination. Everything in fact, which is the antithesis of peace! So much so, the UN Secretary General Ban-ki Moon, in a message for the day, makes a passionate plea, “I call upon all warring parties to lay down their weapons and observe a global ceasefire. To them I say: Stop the killings and ...

By Ashok Shrimali* A fresh tribal rebellion is brewing in South Gujarat. As many as 6,000 adivasis of 121 villages in and around Soolpaneshwar wildlife sanctuary, situated just next to the controversial Narmada dam, have gone on warpath. They are protesting against the Government of India’s decision to declare the entire sanctuary and the area next to it – about seven kilometers radius surrounding it – as “eco-sensitive zone.”

Shivanand Jha By A Representative In a second clampdown in less than a month’s time on the use of internet in Gujarat, the Gujarat government has banned the use of mobile internet and SMS services in Ahmedabad and Surat cities starting at 11.00 am. An order signed by Ahmedabad police commissioner Shivanand Jha said, the services will not be available till September 20 midnight. Landline broadband, however, has been allowed to function normally.

By A Representative In a fresh development, a section of the Patidar community living in the USA has declared its “wholehearted welcome” to Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his upcoming visit to the USA. Suggesting that the community is now intensely divided, the development comes less than 48 hours after a top community leader, Alpesh Patel, sought police permission for a rally against Modi near UN headquarters on September 25.

By A Representative Well-known farmers' leader Sagar Rabari of Jameen Adhikar Andolan has stepped up his campaign against the high profile special investment region (SIR) being planned for Dholera by acquiring 50 per cent land from the farmers of 22 villages.

By RK Misra* He that sleeps feels not the tooth-ache. An India in somnolent slumber after voting for development in 2014 may wake up to find itself saddled with an archaic agenda riding astride a society in strife. For starters, take meat. As if on cue, state after BJP-ruled state has suddenly woken up to the overarching religious need for keeping meat and fish shops as well as abattoirs closed on Hindu and Jain festival days.

By Venkatesh Nayak* Earlier, I had written (click HERE ) about a new template that the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) has developed for capturing data about instances of attacks on RTI users, social activists, whistleblowers and media persons. Thanks to a diligent colleague who drew my attention to the existence of this template, I was able to bring this new development to your attention. I had pointed out some lacunae in the template which if refined, could become a major tool for collecting authentic data from the police stations about attacks on such socially sensitive citizens as a first step to towards reducing their occurrence. Having read that details of the article, Baijayant (Jay) Panda, Member of Parliament in the Lok Sabha from the State of Odisha, took upon himself the task of writing to the NCRB with suggestion that the template be revised. Kudos to him for his sensitive approach to this burning topic. He wrote a letter to the Director General (DG), NCRB. Apart from...

By A Representative Flutter in the Indian American community in the US around Prime Minister Narendra Modi's upcoming visit to the the US, especially Silicon Valley on September 27, 2015, has intensified, following the Alliance for Justice And Accountability (AJA) – a broad coalition of progressive organizations – declaring that it will hold a campaign to hold Modi “accountable” for past and present attacks on the freedoms and human rights of Indian communities.

By A Representative In a major fillip to the Narmada Bachao Andolan's (NBA's) campaign against the Gujarat government going ahead with raising the height of the Narmada dam from 122 to 139 metres, a high-profile people's tribunal consisting of four retired justices of various high courts have called upon the Supreme Court and the Government of India to “urgently review” the status of displacement, submergence and rehabilitation of the Narmada dam oustees before allowing the dam construction to continue.

Rostrum of the RSS-sponsored meet By Nachiketa Desai* Journalists and press photographers from Ahmedabad were invited to attend the inaugural session of a two-day all-India workshop of the women volunteers and office-bearers of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) at a Hindu temple-cum-educational institution complex at Pirana village, some 25 km away from the city.

Bharatsinh Solanki By A Representative One day after Gujarat's upcoming farmers' organization, Jameen Adhikar Andolan Gujarat (JAAG), accused the Congress of adopting a lackadaisical attitude towards new land laws being brought by the state BJP rulers for favouring industrialists, the state Congress leadership has asked the Gujarat Governor not to sign the controversial Gujarat Agricultural Land Ceiling (Amendment) Bill, 2015, calling it anti-weaker sections.

Dholera area By A Representative In a surprise move, the powerful Gujarat farmers' body Jameen Adhikar Aandolan Gujarat (JAAG), has taken strong exception to the main opposition party in the state, Congress, for being completely “lackadaisical in discharging” its “constitutional duty” of standing farmers against the state government latest land acquisition moves.

Modi with RSS chief Bhagwat By RK Misra* Politicians and pundits enjoy floating pretentious bubbles when chasing power and pelf. Once in, the remaining time is spent either in denial, deceit or demagogy. India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi is no exception. A political pugilist akin to Mohammed Ali, Modi as chief minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 had also incorporated the one time World Champion’s classic slogan ‘float like a butterfly, sting like a bee’ into his style sheet.

By A Representative In a move without precedence, the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), Gujarat, has knocked at the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) doors to inquire into “police atrocities” on the Patidar agitators following their powerful rally in Ahmedabad on August 25. The move is significant, as many Gujarat activists and human rights defenders alike had till now considered Patidars – or Patels – as a “wealthy” and "exploitative" caste.

By A Representative A new United Nations (UN) report has suggested that India hasn’t yet achieved its millennium development goal (MDG) for 2015, of 42 under-five mortality (U5M) every 1,000 births. Stuck at 48 U5M down from 126 in 1990 and 91 in 2000, India is still a little away from the MDG by 6 points.

By Darshan Desai* These are no isolated cases in Gujarat… >Gordhan Chauhan, 52, received a phone call at his Ahmedabad home in the afternoon of February 25 that his youngest brother Soma had fallen on the road and died of severe head injuries in their native village Kharad in Ahmedabad district’s Dhandhuka taluka (tehsil). On reaching there, along with relatives, he was aghast to find that Soma, somewhere in his mid-twenties, was murdered by an upper caste man and his goons.

By A Representative In an important twist to South Gujarat police questioning well-known tribal farmers rights activist Romel Sutariya following his complaint to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) about police-politician-contractor nexus into “illegal” sand mining, a top advocacy group, Human Rights Defenders Alert (HRDA), India, has sought urgent NHRC intervention, asking it to carry out an “an independent investigation” into the “reprisal for approaching NHRC”.

A uranium mine in South Australia By A Representative In a setback to India, a new report by the Australian Parliament’s treaties committee has said that there are “some significant risks” in selling uranium to India. India sealed an agreement for the supply of uranium for “peaceful uses of nuclear energy” during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Australia in September 2014.

Jats of Mewat By Ashok Shrimali* People of the Mewat region of North India are feeling the pinch of the proposed Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC), which includes a rail corridor stretching between Alwar in Rajasthan and Panipat and Meerut via Delhi in Uttar Pradesh.

By A Representative Expressing solidarity with the protesting Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) students against the appointment of Gajendra Chauhan to chair the top Pune institute, the All India Forum for the Right to Education (AIFRTE), the well-known educationists' body, has asked the Government of India to take "immediate corrective action" against his appointment and other "appointees to the governing council".

The Chinese paper cartoon By A Representative Two recent commentaries in China’s state-controlled English language newspaper, “The Global Times” have talked of “rampant violence in Ahmedabad” in the wake of the Patidar agitation on August 25, pointing towards how they were the result of poor governance under Prime Minister Narendra Mod’s state.

Illegal mining: Sutariya's evidence By A Representative In a weird letter, a South Gujarat tribal rights activist, Romel Sutariya, has been asked by the Gujarat police to remain present in the police station of Chhotaudepur, a South Gujarat town, to answer queries on complaints he has made to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) regarding widespread illegal mining in the nearby riverbed with the active involvement of a top cop.

By A Representative Following the announcement by the Commonwealth Bank to withdraw from financing the powerful Indian Adani Group’s controversial Australian coalmining project, the National Australia Bank (NAB) has declared it too is “withdrawing.” The National Australia Bank has announced that it will “not fund Adani’s Australian Carmichael coal mine project”, a highly placed source in Australia said.

By A Representative In an important move, the Narmada dam oustees in Madhya Pradesh have demanded that the order to acquire their housing and agricultural lands should be “cancelled” and they should be given “full ownership rights” of the lands they possessed following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement that the 2013 Land Acquisition Act (LAA) will not be amended any more.

By RK Misra* The demand of the Patidar (Patel) community for caste-based reservation under the Other Backward Class (OBC) category has led to turmoil in Gujarat. And there is more in store. The community is seeking statutory guarantees for government jobs and admissions to educational institutions despite being numerically very strong and economically quite influential.

By Venkatesh Nayak* In January this year, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs sent me details of the funds claimed by the Government of Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) from the security-related expenditure (SRE) scheme launched by the Government of India’s Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in J&K. Now the Office of the Deputy Commissioner of Poonch district has sent me the list of beneficiaries under the SRE scheme for the last three years. After obtaining the documents submitted by the J&K Government to the MHA for claiming reimbursement under SRE scheme, we wrote to the Governor, J&K requesting that the manner of spending of SRE funds and the names of beneficiaries be made public because the media coverage of the RTI intervention had made it look like Kashmiri Pandits were the main beneficiaries of this scheme. The RTI data did not reveal the identity of the beneficiaries, except to say that some of them were Kashmiri migrants. The Governor’s office acted quickly and issued dir...

By A Representative National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM), the apex body of tens of mass organizations, has wondered if the Narendra Modi government has “encouraged” Gujarat to bypass the "progressive" Land Acquisition Act, 2013, by coming up with its own legislation, Gujarat Agricultural Land Ceilings Bill, in order to allow corporates to buy up farmers’ land without any hindrance.