The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India, in its recent report on Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSE), has qualified public sector undertakings’ (PSUs') funding the 182-metre world’s highest Sardar Statue, currently being constructed in the Narmada river downstream of the Sardar Sarovar dam as an “ineligible” corporate social responsibility (CSR) activity.

  Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state, Gujarat, which he propagated as the “model” for other states to follow, is facing a major challenge on the health front: If the World Health Organization (WHO) is to be believed, Gujarat’s immunization coverage of one-year olds is one of the worst among Indian states – 72.8% as against the national average of 78.8%.

  In what might sound music to India's corporate honchos and their political supporters, the International Labour Organization (ILO) has calculated that the trade union (TU) density in India among wage workers, both casual and regular/salaried, has fallen since 1993–94, by 3 percentage points to 13.4 per cent. Worse, the top Union Nations (UN) body, headquartered in Geneva, further notes, the “density among regular/salaried workers has fallen precipitously since 1993–94, by 17.7 percentage points to 28.8 per cent.”

  What Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, the BJP's Hindutva icon, said about religious books should completely shake those who think that scriptures are a gospel truth and shouldn't be criticized, and there is nothing beyond them. Quoted by Narendra Dabholkar, a Pune-based rationalist who was  shot dead  allegedly by a Hindu fanatic on August 20, 2013, Savarkar had said, “The Vedas, the Avesta, the Bible and the Koran are but man-made tomes and should be studied accordingly...”

  A recently-released Report of the Committee on Real Sector Statistics, published by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, Government busted the myth that the rate of economic growth under Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been higher than the earlier two terms of the UPA government headed by Manmohan Singh. The report has made available Gross Value Product (GDP) data 1993-94 onwards, calculated on the basis of the new series, implemented in January 2015, which show, according to expert calculations, that India's GDP annually grew on an average at 8.34% and 7.67% under Singh's two terms as Prime Minister, in 2004-05 to 2008-09 and 2009-10 to 2013-14, respectively. The calculations further show that under the two phases when the BJP-led governments -- under AB Vajpayee and Modi -- the average growth rate was 5.73% per annum (1998-99 to 2003-04) and 7.34% (2014-15 to 2017-18). Average annual growth rate The new series calculated GDP at 2011-12 prices, and till ...

A new study carried out by the Bandhkam Mazdoor Sangathan (BMS), Gujarat’s biggest non-government organization (NGO) working for the welfare of construction workers in the state, has found that none of the workers working for the high profile Ahmedabad metro project , currently being implemented across the city, has been registered with the Gujarat Building and Other Construction Workers’ Board. The board is supposed to look after various social welfare schemes for the benefit of construction workers, ranging from providing assistance for children’s education, maternity assistance and medical health aid, to death compensation if a worker suffer from fatal accident at a construction site. However, they avail of the facilities only in case they are registered with the board. Awareness of social security While the registration on paper is mandatory, ironically, so far only 30% of about 12 lakh construction workers in Gujarat have been registered with the board. The result is that, while ...

  State Bank of India (SBI) has once again refused to divulge details, sought under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005, of the Electoral Bond (EB) sale data of donors and recipient political parties, even though admitting that whatever little information it had was “goofed up” while handing it over to senior RTI activist, Venkatesh Nayak, during his earlier appeal.

  India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra), the top Indian subsidiary of the Fitch Group, a global leader in financial information services, believes if the declining trend of household saving continues, it may pose a "serious challenge to the gross domestic product (GDP) growth and macroeconomic stability."

US-Mexico border An explosive report by the US newspaper “Los Angles Times” (LAT) has revealed, quoting Federal Bureau of Prisons figures, that of the 680 migrants detained in early August at the federal prison in Victorville, California, a state in south-western US, a whopping 380 were Indian nationals. LAT adds, about 40% of the detainees at Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Imperial Valley facility, also in California, are Indians, and nearly 20% of detainees at ICE Adelanto processing centre, again in California, too, are Indians.

Oil spill at Nagrol beach, Gujarat How very roughshod could Gujarat government be in offering consultation with stakeholders for preparing the Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMP) for the state could be seen from what has been called “CZMP predraft maps” for eight coastal districts – Bhavnagar, Probandar, Devbhumi Dwarka, Gir Somnath, Amreli, Junagadh, Ahmedabad and Anand – for comments and suggestions before finalizing them.

  Even as stating that Gandhi’s association with industrialists can’t be compared with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s because “Gandhi was not in the government”, well-known activist-researcher  Nandini Oza  has, in a controversial article, taking issue with Modi critics,  said  that the Mahatma’s relations with India’s tycoons wasn’t just limited to accepting donations.