Counterview

By Shankar Sharma*  Scores of pumped storage plant (PSP) proposals are being considered not only in the Western Ghats but across many other river valleys of India, and they raise serious ecological and social concerns. In the course of my ongoing examination of the ecological impacts of these proposals, I found a shocking number of them in Maharashtra alone. I find it extremely worrisome that a single state is considering so many PSPs within its boundaries. Almost all are located in river valleys and need diversion of forest land. The cumulative impact on the ecology and welfare of the state, and of the entire Western Ghats on which the water security of peninsular India depends, should concern all of us. Many of the listed projects have already received environmental clearance or are in advanced stages of the process, yet state governments and the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) seem nonchalant about the consequences for the whole...

By Mohd. Ziyaullah Khan  Some tragedies provoke public anger; others force a society to confront its systemic blind spots. The alleged assault on a six-year-old girl by an eight-year-old classmate inside a government school in Panchkula, Haryana, falls squarely into the latter category. 

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat*  In an era where digital capitalism turns dissent into a brand, true anti-caste politics must resist binary thinking and protect its historical independence *** Every modern protest creates a new image for the masses. Politics has devolved into event management, where every action generates thousands of social media "reels." A new business model has emerged from growing public unrest—an unrest that is itself a symptom of the failures of modern capitalism. Yet, digital profiteers ensure that the core issue is diluted while the spectacle is magnified. They do this not out of sympathy for the cause, but because controversy yields impressions. We have all become victims of this system, and in many ways, enslaved to it.

By Raj Kumar Sinha*  The rally of the opposition INDIA bloc, held on November 1 at Delhi's Ramlila Maidan, is a significant development in Indian politics. It was not limited to questions about the Election Commission and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. It also raised several questions about leadership, unity and future strategy in opposition politics. Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi and other opposition leaders have described it not merely as a political fight but as a direct battle to save the Constitution and democracy. The Congress believes the issue is tied directly to the future and rights of ordinary citizens. The presence of Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, Akhilesh Yadav, Mamata Banerjee, Tejashwi Yadav, Farooq Abdullah and leaders of the Left parties alongside Rahul Gandhi conveyed a message of opposition unity. One important political aspect of the event was that parties with different ideologies, regional inte...

By Bharat Dogra   This century has witnessed widespread participation of youth in many social movements, continuing right up to this day. This article discusses such movements up to the previous year, 2025 (but not ongoing ones, as these are still evolving), in order to learn from them.

By Bhabani Shankar Nayak*  Authoritarianism, lack of transparency and curtailment of individual liberties are among the criticisms most often directed at China and the Communist Party of China (CPC). Supporters of the Party argue that many of these criticisms are politically motivated and understate the achievements of the Chinese people. 

Counterview News  A progressive and potentially fatal lung disease is tearing through the global workforce involved in stone cutting and polishing, sparking international bans and mounting lawsuits in the United States. Yet, while American politicians debate corporate liability, the crisis remains a deadly, underreported reality for millions in India, particularly among agate and ceramic workers.

Counterview News   Official quick estimates say SME-heavy sectors drove growth in tier 2 and 3 cities, but the figures remain unverified amid wide apprehensions over the reliability of Government of India data — and a one-month festive-season bump cannot be generalised as a durable industrial recovery. 

By Prof. K.S. Chalam*  More than sixty books on Subhas Chandra Bose exist in English alone, and many more in Hindi, Bengali and other languages. Much of this literature is hagiography, and some of it has been bent to serve political ends. Vidya Bhushan Rawat's new study ,  "Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, INA and India's Freedom Movement",  tries to cut through the fiction using archival records, declassified files and interviews with people who knew Bose or his associates. Published by Institute of Objective Studies, New Delhi, the book has twenty chapters in three broad parts. The first covers Bose's upbringing and early entry into the freedom movement. The second follows his adventurous wartime career and the Azad Hind Fauj. The third deals with his last journey and its aftermath, followed by an epilogue, endnotes and an index. Rawat opens by explaining how rumours about "Netaji files" have been circulated by "WhatsApp universities" ...