April 16-30, 2023 Issue of The Unrest Magazine

Akal Takht chief Giani Harpreet Singh holding a meeting on March 27, 2023 in Amritsar.

Photo: SGPC

Rakesh Raman

Human Rights in Punjab

Global Conflicts

Appeal to Protect Human Rights in Punjab Human Rights Violations in Punjab

Political Campaigns

Dirty Politics

CoE Urges for Human Rights Judgments ITU to Host Robot Press Conference

Financial Turmoil

AAP’s Show Your Degree Campaign India Should Stop Using EVMs in Elections

Crimes in Politics

Donation for Corruption Research Project IMF Reports Financial Sector Turmoil

Rahul Gandhi Exposes Modi-Adani Nexus Situation in Ukraine = Situation in India

Finland Joins NATO as 31st Ally Sanction on Russians for War in Ukraine

After Bangladesh, India Should Stop Using EVMs in Elections

If the opposition parties really want to stop the use of EVMs like Bangladesh has done, they should hold street protests against the ECI in front of the ECI office and the state election commission offices.

While there have been numerous complaints about the vulnerability of electronic voting machines (EVMs) in Bangladesh, the country has decided to discard EVMs for want of funds to buy and maintain these machines.

Opposition political parties holding a press conference on April 14, 2019 to raise the issue of election frauds on EVMs in India (file photo)

According to reports, the Bangladesh Election Commission (EC) has decided not to use EVMs in the next parliamentary election which is expected to take place in January 2024.

The Bangladesh EC has announced that paper ballots and transparent ballot boxes will be used in all 300 parliamentary constituencies during the upcoming election. But the Election Commission of India (ECI) has been ignoring the constant

complaints of the opposition parties and research findings about the vulnerability of EVMs to persist with these insecure machines.

Rather, in December 2022, the ECI announced plans to expand the use of EVMs in Indian elections by introducing a new Multi-Constituency Remote Electronic Voting Machine (RVM).

The opposition parties complain that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of prime minister (PM) Narendra Modi colludes with the ECI to manipulate EVMs and win elections deceptively.

But the ECI – which is completely controlled by the Modi government – ignores the opposition complaints and holds elections on EVMs and mostly BJP wins. And the defeated opposition parties willy-nilly accept the election results and wait for the next elections.

As the doubts about the fraudulent use of EVMs have been increasing, ChatGPT (or Generative Pre-trained Transformer) - which is an artificial intelligence or AI-based online tool - confirms that there are several ways in which EVMs can be hacked and manipulated.

[ You can also click here to watch a related video on RMN YouTube Channel. ]

OPPOSITION COMPLAINTS

The opposition party Congress complained about the EVM frauds even in the recent elections. When Congress was defeated by the BJP in the Gujarat election in December 2022, a Congress leader Digvijay Singh blamed the fraudulent use of EVMs. But he did not reveal any plan to stop the EVM manipulation.

Simultaneously, a Congress spokesman Pawan Khera held a comprehensive briefing to explain how EVMs were manipulated by the BJP of PM Modi to win the

Gujarat election. But he too did not discuss any specific strategy to combat the alleged EVM fraud by BJP in elections.

Congress complains that EVMs are not safe even when used with the Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) option. It is also observed that when EVMs malfunction, they vote only in favor of Modi’s BJP which runs with Lotus election symbol.

Obviously, BJP will always oppose paper ballots and any investigation into the misuse of EVMs. And it goes without saying that the Election Commission – which is a toothless outfit – will always obey Modi.

However, top tech experts believe that it is very easy to tamper with EVMs in India and change the election results fraudulently in favor of certain candidates.

FRAUDULENT USE OF EVMs

In their study on EVMs in India, security researchers from India, the United States, and the Netherlands argue that “contrary to claims by Indian election authorities, these paperless electronic voting systems suffer from significant vulnerabilities.”

The researchers also have found that even brief access to the machines could allow dishonest election insiders or other criminals to alter election results. They have developed a video to demonstrate their claims.

Tech experts observe that besides other manipulations, the chip used in the EVMs is not of the OTP (One Time Programmable) category. That means, it can be programmed in each EVM to change the vote count in favor of a particular candidate.

Since opposition parties have been raising the EVM vulnerability issues repeatedly, now it is believed that the BJP manipulates EVMs in some crucial state elections and Lok Sabha elections in which Modi himself contests.

Since most politicians in opposition parties are illiterate, they cannot fully understand the manipulation that can be done with the EVMs. Therefore, after some weak verbal protests, they accept EVM election results in which mostly BJP wins.

Now, with the introduction of new EVMs that the ECI has proposed, it will become extremely difficult for opposition parties to win elections and prove the vulnerability of the new machines.

If the opposition parties really want to stop the use of EVMs like Bangladesh has done, they should hold street protests against the ECI in front of the ECI office and the state election commission offices.

As the ECI will again ignore the demands to discard EVMs and use paper ballots in elections, the opposition parties should boycott the future elections - including the Lok Sabha election 2024 - instead of complaining about EVMs after every election defeat.

Despite Russian Opposition, Finland Joins NATO as 31st Ally

The Finnish national anthem and the NATO hymn were played, as Finland’s flag was raised outside NATO Headquarters for the first time.

Finland became NATO’s newest member on 4 April 2023, upon depositing its instrument of accession to the North Atlantic Treaty with the United States at NATO Headquarters in Brussels.

NATO Allies signed Finland’s Accession Protocol on 5 July 2022, after which all 30 national parliaments voted to ratify the country’s membership.

“We welcome Finland to the Alliance!,” said NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, as Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto deposited Finland’s

instrument of accession with the government of the United States, represented by Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

“Sweden is also a strong and capable partner that is ready to join NATO. We encourage Türkiye and Hungary to ratify the accession protocols for Sweden without delay so we can welcome Sweden into the Alliance as soon as possible,” Blinken said.

The NATO Secretary General welcomed Finnish President Sauli Niinistö to NATO Headquarters for a flag-raising ceremony to mark the country’s accession to the Alliance.

Speaking ahead of the ceremony, the Secretary General thanked President Niinistö for his outstanding leadership and for leading Finland into the most successful Alliance in history. “I am deeply proud to welcome Finland as a full-fledged member of our Alliance and I look forward to also welcoming Sweden as soon as possible,”

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of Türkiye, President Sauli Niinistö of Finland, and Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson of Sweden met in Madrid on 28 June 2022 under the auspices of NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. Photo: NATO (file photo)

he said. “Joining NATO is good for Finland, it is good for Nordic security and it is good for NATO as a whole,” he added.

The Secretary General also noted that Finland’s accession shows the world that President Putin failed to “slam NATO’s door shut.” “Instead of less NATO, he has achieved the opposite; more NATO and our door remains firmly open,” he said.

The Finnish national anthem and the NATO hymn were played, as Finland’s flag was raised outside NATO Headquarters for the first time, in the presence of President Niinistö, Foreign Minister Haavisto, Defence Minister Kaikkonen, the foreign ministers of all NATO Allies and invitee Sweden.

Simultaneous flag-raising ceremonies took place at Allied Command Operations (SHAPE) in Mons (Belgium) and Allied Command Transformation in Norfolk, Virginia (United States).

After Calling PM Modi Illiterate, Kejriwal’s Party Launches ‘Show Your Degree’ Campaign

It is expected that the AAP will also ask its leader Bhagwant Mann who is the CM of Punjab to show his degree because it is assumed that Punjab is facing extreme unrest because Bhagwant Mann is not properly educated.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) of Delhi chief minister (CM) Arvind Kejriwal has launched a strange campaign in which the AAP leaders will publicly show the degrees of their educational qualifications.

Launched on April 9 under the banner ‘Show Your Degree’, the AAP campaign asks the leaders of other political parties also to show their degrees. Since Kejriwal and Delhi Lt. Governor (LG) Vinai Saxena are always at daggers drawn with each other, the campaign also urges the LG to show his degree openly to the public.

It is expected that the AAP will also ask its leader Bhagwant Mann who is the CM of Punjab to show his degree because it is assumed that Punjab is facing extreme unrest because Bhagwant Mann is not properly educated.

The main idea behind the AAP initiative is to particularly highlight the fact that the prime minister (PM) of India Narendra Modi is an uneducated man. Recently, the Gujarat High Court fined Kejriwal as he asked for Modi's degree through a Right to Information (RTI) application.

As expected, the court said that this information is not required to be furnished and surprisingly fined Kejriwal Rs. 25,000 for demanding details of Modi’s qualification.

In a Hindi tweet posted on March 31, Kejriwal asked if the people of the country do not have the right to know how much their PM is educated. He lamented that those who are asking for Modi’s degree are being fined. The Indian courts cannot dare to take any decision that may displease Modi.

In 2016, the Central Information Commission (CIC), responding to the RTI request, had directed the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), the Gujarat University, and Delhi University to provide information on Modi’s graduation and post-graduation

“Modi Hatao Desh Bachao” Poster Photo: AAP

degrees. The Gujarat University challenged the CIC order in the High Court and Kejriwal could not get the information.

For the past few days, Kejriwal has been repeatedly saying that Modi is the most corrupt and uneducated PM that India has seen in 75 years of its independence. In a speech delivered in Delhi Assembly on March 28, Kejriwal presented detailed data on Modi’s corruption and exposed his alleged criminal nexus with oligarch Gautam Adani.

Recently, Kejriwal said that today there is a need to save the country from an uneducated PM Modi who is behaving as a dictator. In a video interaction on March 24, Kejriwal said that Modi is trying to establish a one-nation-one-party rule by destroying the opposition political parties and their leaders.

These days, Kejriwal’s AAP is also running a nationwide campaign under the banner “Modi Hatao Desh Bachao” or remove PM Modi to save the country. The AAP campaign of “Modi Hatao Desh Bachao” includes posters in 11 languages which are being distributed in different states of India.

In the next phase, the party plans to engage with students in various universities with the message that the country’s PM should be an educated man unlike Modi.

As Kejriwal says, Modi is perhaps the most naïve and illiterate PM that India has ever seen. He cannot utter even a single word about any modern subject. His level of knowledge is not more than that of a bumpkin.

Since Modi is illiterate, 1.4 billion Indians are suffering in his regime under unprecedented poverty, corruption, inflation, unemployment, and religious

animosity. He has been hoodwinking the voters - most of whom are illiterate like him - with false slogans and vulgar rhetoric delivered through his monologues.

It is also believed that Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) win most elections by selectively manipulating electronic voting machines (EVMs) in collusion with the election authorities.

There is a huge controversy in India about the educational qualifications of Modi and almost all people in India and abroad know that Modi is not an educated man and cannot talk on any intellectual subject.

Picture this: Even when Modi reads the speeches written for him by others, it is difficult to make heads or tails of his meaningless utterances as he is uneducated and speaks in broken English.

In fact, Modi cannot speak even a single sentence in any language properly and needs constant help from a teleprompter. [ You can click here to watch a related video in which Modi fumbles. ]

The patriotic Indians – excluding a handful of Modi’s deaf and blind followers – feel ashamed of having an uneducated prime minister. In order to hide his illiteracy, Modi often appears in colorful costumes at some inauguration events or irrelevant office meetings which even a donkey or a monkey can also handle.

Since Modi is illiterate, he has not held even a single press conference in India during the nine years of his rule in the country and refuses to talk to journalists when he goes abroad. Thus, he has tarnished India’s image in all parts of the world.

Now, in order to progress in the knowledge-driven world, India needs a properly educated prime minister who could speak fluently on different topics of intellectual relevance.

Donate: You can click here to donate to RMN News Service.

Short Stories of Politics and Unrest in the World

Elon Musk said on April 12 that he did not know "what exactly happened" when Twitter took down content related to a documentary critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier this year, adding that some rules related to social media content were "quite strict" in India. Read More

The US believes the UN Secretary General is too willing to accommodate Russian interests, according to fresh revelations in classified documents leaked online. The files suggest Washington has been closely monitoring Antonio Guterres. Several documents describe private communications involving Mr Guterres and his deputy. It is the latest from a leak of secret documents, which US officials are scrambling to get to the bottom of. Read More

Holding up his family history as an example, President Joe Biden on April 13 told lawmakers in a packed parliament building that the story of Irish immigrants setting sail for the U.S. is at the very heart of “what binds Ireland and America together.” Read More

Alexey Navalny, Russia’s most prominent opposition politician, is suffering from a mystery ailment in jail and has lost 8kg (17.6 pounds) in a little more than two weeks, his spokeswoman said. An ambulance was called for Navalny at the maximum-security IK-6 penal colony at Melekhovo, about 250km (115 miles) east of Moscow. Read More

Former President Donald Trump is suing Michael Cohen for $500 million in damages for allegedly breaching his contract as Trump’s former personal attorney. The lawsuit, filed in a Florida federal court on April 12, accuses Cohen of spreading false information about Trump and breaching his contractual obligations to the former president in Cohen’s public statements, published books, podcast series and other media appearances. Read More

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock was on day two of a three-day trip to China on April 14 to hold strategic talks in Beijing. "Conflicts must be solved peacefully. A unilateral, violent change of the status quo would not be acceptable for us Europeans," she said after meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang. She warned China against the use of force in Taiwan, and said Berlin was monitoring tensions in the Taiwan Strait. Read More

Donation Appeal for Research Project on Corruption in India

As I am working alone on this project, I need your financial support in the form of a donation so that I could complete this project without any hindrance.

I am a national award-winning journalist and founder of the humanitarian organization RMN Foundation in New Delhi, India.

I run various anti-corruption campaigns and also publish an international magazine The Integrity Bulletin that covers corruption-related news and issues.

After publishing the India Corruption Research Report 2022 (ICRR 2022) in October 2022, I am in the process of compiling the 2023 edition of the research report. As I am working alone on this project, I need your financial support in the form of a donation so that I could complete this project without any hindrance.

I have provided the concept note on this project and the link of the PDF document of ICRR 2022. You can click here to know about the project as well as donation details. You may please contact me if you have any query.

You can click here to donate online. Request for an early response.

Thank you.

Rakesh Raman

Council of Europe Urges Member States to Implement Human Rights Judgments

The report shows that 2,352 (38%) of the cases pending at the end of last year concerned the Russian Federation.

The Secretary General of the 46-nation Council of Europe (CoE), Marija Pejčinović

Burić, has urged member states to show increased political will to implement

judgments from the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), and to improve their capacity for doing so.

“Complying with court rulings is essential to the rule of law. Over the years, our member states have made consistent progress in putting the European Court’s judgments into practice, but the Court is now dealing with more and more cases of increasing complexity,” said the Secretary General.

“Across Europe, the human rights convention has progressively changed people’s lives for the better. In order for this positive impact to continue, our member states must demonstrate the political will to implement judgments fully and consistently.”

According to the latest annual report from the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers on the execution of ECHR judgments, 1,459 new cases were transferred by the European Court to the Committee of Ministers, which supervises their implementation by member states, in 2022. A total of 880 cases were closed during the year, including 200 ‘leading’ cases requiring specific and often wide-ranging

Secretary General of the 46-nation Council of Europe (COE), Marija Pejčinović Burić.

Photo: CoE

measures by member states to prevent similar violations happening again. Some 6,112 cases had yet to be fully implemented by the end of 2022, including 1,299 leading cases.

The report shows that 2,352 (38%) of the cases pending at the end of last year concerned the Russian Federation, which was excluded from the Council of Europe on 16 March 2022 due to its aggression against Ukraine. Russia ceased being a party to the European Convention on Human Rights six months later but remains obliged, under international law, to implement rulings from the European Court.

According to a CoE statement of April 6, Russia’s war of aggression also affected Ukraine’s capacity to implement the Court’s judgments in 2022. Nevertheless, Ukraine made significant progress during the year, in addition to the ratification of the Council of Europe’s Istanbul Convention on violence against women, underlining its commitment to the ECHR system in extremely difficult circumstances. The implementation of judgments from the European Court of Human Rights is expected to be an important theme of the Council of Europe Summit of Heads of State and Government, which will take place in Reykjavik on 16 and 17 May 2023. Courtesy: CoE

Situation in Ukraine = Situation in India

While Russia has invaded Ukraine, China has invaded India. Therefore, both the countries are facing the same predicament But there is a marked difference in response Ukraine's bold President Volodymyr Zelensky has decided to fight against the Russian forces

But the timid and illiterate prime minister of India Narendra Modi has decided to surrender before the Chinese soldiers who have occupied large swathes of Indian territory Reports suggest that despite more than a dozen rounds of military talks, the Chinese have not withdrawn from several Indian areas that they illegally occupy after breaching the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh

Therefore, as an anti-national politician, Modi is working against the interests of Indians, and there is a possibility that he is secretly selling Indian land to China

Crime, Corruption, and Impunity in India

Politicians, bureaucrats, police, and judges have formed a criminal gang in India. The following cases depict how they collude with criminals and commit crimes and corruption with impunity while the ordinary citizens are suffering. Click the following links for details.

UN Petition on Punjab Unrest RCS-EOW Case

Cabinet Secretariat Case

Prime Minister Office (PMO) Case

Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) Case

Delhi Lokayukta Case

DoPT Case CBI Case

Economic Offences Wing (EOW) Case Supreme Court Case

Delhi Govt Case Delhi Petitions Committee / CVC Case

NHRC Case Petition on School Education

Environmental Crime Case Lokpal Removal Case

Judicial Corruption Case

RCS Corruption Case

AAP Corruption Case Widehouse Scandal

NHRC Case at UN HRC IAS Group Corruption Case

CPGRAMS Cases PGMS Cases

IAS Corruption Record UNCAC Petition

Delhi Police Case DoPT Processes

RCS RTI Violations DDA Corruption Case

Petitions and Representations by Rakesh Raman. Up to March 2023

UN Appeal to Protect Human Rights in Punjab

During the past few days, the police and security forces have arrested and imprisoned hundreds of Sikhs arbitrarily without giving them the opportunity to defend themselves. I sent the following petition to the UN office and some other international authorities.

To March 24, 2023

Mr. António Guterres

United Nations Secretary-General

United States

Subject: Case of Arbitrary Deprivation of Liberty, Human Rights Violations, and Ethnic Cleansing in Punjab, India.

Dear Mr. António Guterres,

I am a national award-winning journalist, social activist, and human rights defender based in New Delhi, India. Today, I have sent a petition (reproduced below) to Mr. Volker Türk, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights for his immediate intervention to protect the human rights of people in Punjab.

These people who mostly belong to the Sikh religion are facing extreme persecution and threats by the current Punjab Government in collusion with the Central government of India. During the past few days, the police and security forces have

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres. UN Photo/Jean-Marc Ferré (file photo)

arrested and imprisoned hundreds of Sikhs arbitrarily without giving them the opportunity to defend themselves.

Internet services have been shut down in most parts of Punjab and local citizens who want to protest peacefully to get the arbitrarily arrested people released are facing severe police brutality and false police cases filed against them. The police are randomly searching the houses of residents and terrorizing them in order to suppress their voice against the state atrocities.

Although I have sent my petition (given below) to the UN Human Rights chief Mr. Volker Türk, I request you to take up this case on an urgent basis so that peopleincluding men, women, children, and senior citizens - who need immediate assistance could be saved from persecution and harassment perpetrated by police and state administration.

You can click here to read the full petition. Request for immediate response.

Thank you.

Rakesh Raman

Editorial Note: In all autocratic regimes that work under the garb of democratic systems, the rulers silently use complicit courts to impose their own decisions on citizens and opponents to suppress all kinds of dissent.

Download All Issues of The Unrest Magazine

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[ VIDEO: Akal Takht Chief Giani Harpreet Singh on Khalistan vs. Hindu Rashtra ]

World Economic Outlook: IMF Reports Financial Sector Turmoil

The WEO report aims to study the evolution of the natural rate of interest across several large advanced and emerging market economies.

The baseline forecast is for growth to fall from 3.4 percent in 2022 to 2.8 percent in 2023, before settling at 3.0 percent in 2024. Advanced economies are expected to see an especially pronounced growth slowdown, from 2.7 percent in 2022 to 1.3 percent in 2023.

These are among the findings of the April 2023 World Economic Outlook (WEO) released by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). In a plausible alternative scenario with further financial sector stress, the IMF report says global growth declines to about 2.5 percent in 2023 with advanced economy growth falling below 1 percent. Global headline inflation in the baseline is set to fall from 8.7 percent in 2022 to 7.0 percent in 2023 on the back of lower commodity prices but underlying

A consumer bazaar in India’s capital New Delhi. Photo: Rakesh Raman / RMN News Service (Representational Image)

(core) inflation is likely to decline more slowly. Inflation’s return to target is unlikely before 2025 in most cases.

According to the WEO analysis, the natural rate of interest is important for both monetary and fiscal policy as it is a reference level to gauge the stance of monetary policy and a key determinant of the sustainability of public debt.

The WEO report aims to study the evolution of the natural rate of interest across several large advanced and emerging market economies. Public debt as a ratio to GDP soared across the world during Covid-19 and is expected to remain elevated.

The report also examines the effectiveness of different approaches to reducing debt-to-GDP ratios. Supply-chain disruptions and rising geopolitical tensions have brought the risks and potential benefits and costs of geoeconomic fragmentation to the center of the policy debate.

It studies how such fragmentation can reshape the geography of foreign direct investment FDI and how it can affect the global economy.

Modi-Adani Nexus: Rahul Gandhi Must Go from Tweets to Streets

Rahul Gandhi - who was speaking alone against the possible criminal collusion between Modi and Adani - has given up.

Congress - which is almost a defunct political outfit - has failed to raise the criminal nexus issue of prime minister (PM) Narendra Modi and his business partner Gautam Adani effectively.

After an initial noise made by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in the parliament over the alleged Adani scam, the dying Congress party has reduced one of the biggest corruption scandals in the world’s corporate history to some random tweets on Twitter. Now, Congress is posting the edited versions of some old speeches of Rahul Gandhi on Twitter, which is an utterly useless platform for mass messaging as

Twitter has very few users among the potential target audience of such a huge topic of public interest.

Congress workers protesting against PM Narendra Modi and Adani Group on February 6, 2023. Photo Congress (file photo)

In other words, Rahul Gandhi - who was speaking alone against the possible criminal collusion between Modi and Adani - has given up. The ageing Congress leader has failed again in the Modi-Adani case, as he had failed to highlight the Rafale corruption case in which Modi is an accused.

In order to expose corruption in the Rafale deal, Rahul Gandhi used ‘chowkidar chor hai’ (PM Narendra Modi as watchman of the country is a thief) slogan extensively before the 2019 Lok Sabha election to discredit Modi for his alleged involvement in the deal.

Rahul Gandhi often called Modi a “thief” for stealing Rs. 30,000 crore (~ US$ 4 billion) in the Rafale deal which was handled by Modi in a secret manner. However,

after a shady court judgment, Rahul Gandhi had to willy-nilly accept that there was no corruption in the Rafale deal and Chowkidar Modi is not a chor.

Now again Rahul Gandhi is asking about the source of Rs. 20,000 crore invested in the Adani Group through shell companies. But he fails to understand that nobody will answer this question for him on Twitter.

Rahul Gandhi needs to be more clear in his communications. Instead of asking for the source of dubious funds in the Adani Group companies, he should demand an investigation into the multi-billion dollar scandals such as the Rafale deal and the PM-CARES Fund that Modi established secretly.

These cases have never been probed properly. Since the Supreme Court of India has formed a deceptive committee to acquit Adani and Modi surreptitiously, Rahul Gandhi should approach the international political and judicial forums to get all these grand corruption cases investigated.

He should also question the amount of money that Modi and his party collect through secret electoral bonds. There is a distinct possibility that the money generated through the Rafale deal, PM-CARES Fund, and electoral bonds has been invested in Adani Group through the shell companies.

In fact, Delhi chief minister (CM) and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal has clearly stated that Adani is only a manager of corruption money that Modi has been looting for the past nine years of his rule in the country. And Kejriwal adds that the Adani Group is only a frontal outfit set up to hide Modi’s corruption money.

Kejriwal did not mince his words when he said that Modi is the most corrupt prime minister that India has seen in 75 years of its independence. Rahul Gandhi should be as direct in his communications as Kejriwal is in the Modi-Adani case. And the Congress leader should not rely on his communications team as Congress spokespersons are highly unskilled who deliver misleading messages.

As most other Congress leaders around Rahul Gandhi are also dishonest, they will not support him in this battle. Rather, he will have to pay more price for raising the Adani issue like he has been thrown out of parliament by disqualifying him under flimsy charges.

Although it is being projected as a court decision to disqualify Rahul Gandhi from parliament, he must understand that in all autocratic regimes that work under the garb of democratic systems, the rulers silently use complicit courts to impose their own decisions on opponents to suppress all kinds of dissent.

Even if Rahul Gandhi is acquitted in the ongoing defamation case, he will be implicated with more frivolous complaints filed through mercenary petitioners against him so that he is not able to raise his voice against the anti-people actions of Modi.

Likewise, Rahul Gandhi would have seen that the so-called Congress allies in other opposition parties are so corrupt that they would support Adani rather than asking for an investigation into the alleged Modi-Adani scandal through a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC).

Under the given circumstances, Rahul Gandhi has very few options. He must realize that he will have to fight alone and instead of staying in the Congress party of the corrupt, he should form a new group of only honest men and women and take this battle to the streets.

Since autocrats fear only chaotic streets, Rahul Gandhi need not follow the passive resistance philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi as he did in his failed Bharat Jodo Yatra which was a useless event and had no impact on the Modi regime. He should understand that Twitter and other social media channels are his biggest enemies as

they make him lazy. So, it will be good for him if he deletes his social media accounts and permanently occupies the streets.

Also, it would be a mistake to think that Congress or a group of opposition parties can win the 2024 Lok Sabha election. Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will easily win the next Lok Sabha election because their victory is determined by the selective manipulation of electronic voting machines (EVMs), hate campaigns, anti-Pakistan rhetoric, and violence against Muslims and their mosques.

So, Rahul Gandhi should never hope to win the Lok Sabha election. Rather, his selfless struggle should aim to protect 1.4 billion Indians who are suffering in the Modi regime under unprecedented poverty, corruption, inflation, unemployment, and religious animosity.

ITU to Host First-ever Robot Press Conference in Geneva

The AI for Good Global Summit will demonstrate how new technologies can support the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The International Telecommunication Union's (ITU’s) upcoming AI for Good Global Summit will include the world's first press conference featuring humanoid social robots.

At this media event, nine robots and their creators will be available for questions from reporters in Geneva on 7 July. Over 40 specialized robots demonstrating capabilities ranging from fighting fires and building houses to providing healthcare and farming sustainably will also be on display during the full event running from 6 to 7 July at the International Conference Centre Geneva (CICG).

Robots scheduled to meet with reporters include:

Beonmi – the world's first fully functional general-purpose humanoid robot (Beyond Imagination)

Nadine - one of the world's most realistic humanoid social robots (University of Geneva)

Sophia - first robot Innovation Ambassador for the United Nations Development Programme (Hanson Robotics)

Geminoid – ultra-realistic humanoid robot from Japan (Hiroshi Ishiguro)

4NE-1 – one of the world's most advanced cognitive humanoid robots designed to collaborate with humans (Neura Robotics)

Ai-Da Robot – first ultra-realistic robot artist (Aidan Meller)

Grace – the world's most advanced humanoid healthcare robot (SingularityNET)

Desdemona – the rockstar robot of the Jam Galaxy Band

Ameca – one of the world's most lifelike humanoid robots (Engineered Arts)

The AI for Good Global Summit will demonstrate how new technologies can support the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in areas such as combatting the climate crisis and bolstering humanitarian response.

Generative AI and human-machine collaboration will be key themes of discussion in view of the recent surge in public interest in AI resulting from the release of large language models such as ChatGPT and other generative AI tools.

The event will emphasize networking to build new projects, calls to action, and partnerships. It will feature talks from thought leaders as well as demonstrations of state-of-the-art AI solutions that could achieve global scale with the support of the international AI for Good community.

AI for Good's show floor will include AI-inspired performances and artwork, with highlights this year including the global premieres of Jojo Mayer's "Me/Machine"

real-time AI drumming performance with Harry Yeff's (REEPS100) "A.I and The Machine Inspired Voice" performance.

The event will also host the final round of the AI for Good Innovation Factory where start-ups from around the world will pitch their AI solutions to advance the SDGs.

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is the United Nations specialized agency for information and communication technologies (ICTs), driving innovation in ICTs together with 193 Member States and a membership of over 900 companies, universities, and international and regional organizations.

U.S. Imposes Sanctions on Russians for Invasion of Ukraine

The United States says it will continue to take action against Russia and those supporting its war in Ukraine.

The U.S. Department of State and the Department of Treasury imposed sanctions on more than 120 entities and individuals across more than 20 countries and

AI for Good Global Summit Photo: ITU

jurisdictions in connection with the Russian Federation’s “unlawful and unprovoked invasion” of Ukraine, including facilitators of sanctions evasion.

“More than one year into Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, the effects of our globally coordinated sanctions have forced the Russian Federation to search for alternate routes to finance and fuel its war machine,” said U.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken.

In coordination with the United Kingdom, the U.S. is targeting a sanctions evasion network supporting one of Russia’s wealthiest billionaires, Alisher Usmanov, who was sanctioned by the United States last year. In addition to the Usmanov-linked evasion network the U.S. is also targeting USM Holding, the primary entity through which Usmanov owns and controls the majority of his companies.

Additionally, the Department of State is sanctioning two Russian entities that support Russia’s efforts to undermine the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine through the militarization and indoctrination of school children: The All

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Photo: Department of State

Russian Children’s and Youth Military Patriotic Public Movement Youth Army, and the State Budgetary Educational Institution of Additional Education of the Republic of Crimea Crimea Patriot Center.

According to a statement issued on April 12 by the State Department, the action also includes the designation of several entities operating in the defense sector of Russia’s economy and entities supporting Russia’s war against Ukraine. These include a new Russian private military company and a People’s Republic of China (PRC) based firm that has provided satellite imagery of locations in Ukraine to entities affiliated with the Wagner private military company that is fighting in Ukraine on Putin’s behalf.

Finally, the U.S. is designating additional persons associated with the Russian State Atomic Energy Corporation, Rosatom. Russia uses energy exports, including in the nuclear sector, to exert political and economic pressure on its customers globally.

According to the statement, the United States will continue to take action against Russia and those supporting its war in Ukraine, including further implementing the G7’s commitment to impose severe consequences on third country actors who support Russia’s war in Ukraine.

U.S. Lawmaker Ilhan Omar Expresses Concern Over Human Rights Violations in Punjab

Akal Takht chief Giani Harpreet Singh said that the demand for Khalistan by Sikhs is equivalent to the call for establishing Hindu Rashtra in India.

U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) has expressed deep concern over increasing human rights violations in the Indian state Punjab, which has a large number of people belonging to the Sikh minority community.

Ms. Omar urged the U.S. administration to protect the human rights of all, particularly the rights of all religious and ethnic minorities.

In a statement released on March 30, 2023, Rep. Omar - who represents Minnesota's 5th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives - said that she is profoundly concerned about the human rights situation in Punjab, India.

“The Indian government has enacted a draconian communications shutdown, arrested hundreds, and blocked the Twitter accounts of civic leaders, journalists, including the BBC Punjab and a Canadian Member of Parliament,” Ms. Omar said in her statement.

She adds that the ongoing trouble in Punjab has unmistakable echoes of the crackdown in Kashmir, and the sweeping response to the farmer’s protests in India. For many Punjabis and Sikhs, she says, it also bears unmistakable echoes of the brutality against their community in 1984.

Thousands of Sikhs were murdered in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots after the assassination of Indian prime minister (PM) Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards.

Akal Takht chief Giani Harpreet Singh holding a meeting on March 27, 2023 in Amritsar.

Photo: SGPC

In revenge, hooligans killed Sikhs mercilessly, raped Sikh women, and looted the Sikh properties during the massacre particularly in India's capital New Delhi.

After the 1984 pogrom, Sikhs have been demanding a fully autonomous state called Khalistan in Punjab. The demand for Khalistan has gained intensity under the current government of Punjab chief minister (CM) Bhagwant Mann who is an illiterate and incapable politician. [ You can click here to watch a related video. ]

The Khalistan movement is a Sikh separatist campaign that seeks to create a homeland for Sikhs by establishing a sovereign state, called Khālistān (‘Land of the Khalsa’ or the Land of Purity), in the Punjab region.

Recently, Akal Takht chief Giani Harpreet Singh said that the demand for Khalistan by Sikhs is equivalent to the call for establishing Hindu Rashtra in India. Located in the Harmandir Sahib (Golden Temple) complex in Amritsar, Punjab, the Akal Takht is the highest temporal body of the Sikh community.

In his speech on March 27, 2023, Giani Harpreet Singh said that the stringent laws such as the National Security Act (NSA) are being used to arrest Sikhs who demand a separate Sikh state Khalistan. He added that the same laws should also be applied to those who give open calls to make India a Hindu Rashtra.

In fact, the government of PM Narendra Modi is accused of making India a Hindu Rashtra where other minorities like Sikhs, Muslims, and Christians will be persecuted and will not enjoy equal rights.

In the ongoing unrest in Punjab, the government of CM Bhagwant Mann – in collusion with the Modi government – is incarcerating Sikhs arbitrarily under the NSA and other harsh laws.

The Bhagwant Mann government has also unleashed police terror on peaceful protesters – including men, women, and senior citizens – who are demanding the release of Sikhs who have been arrested illegally.

The protests against the Bhagwant Mann government are not only being held in Punjab, but Sikhs are protesting in different parts of the world against his repression of innocent Sikhs.

Since Punjab is facing an unprecedented turmoil under the Bhagwant Mann regime, many Sikhs demand a properly governed state Khalistan so that peace and prosperity could be brought back to Punjab.

As a journalist and human rights defender, I (Rakesh Raman) sent a detailed petition on March 24, 2023 to the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres and other international authorities to protect human rights of the people in Punjab.

The petition under the title “Case of Arbitrary Deprivation of Liberty, Human Rights Violations, and Ethnic Cleansing in Punjab, India” urged the UN officials and other lawmakers to save Sikhs from persecution and harassment perpetrated by police and state administration.

Subsequently, U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar raised the issue of human rights in Punjab. "We hear a lot about how our relationship with India’s government is based on mutual values of democracy and human rights, in spite of their quadrupling trade with Russia since the invasion of Ukraine. We hear this in spite of their constant violations of human rights,” Ms. Omar said in her statement.

"With right-wing authoritarianism on the rise across the globe, the United States should stand unequivocally for the protection of universal human rights, in particular the rights of all religious and ethnic minorities," she adds.

Last year (2022), Rep. Omar had introduced a resolution to condemn human rights violations and violations of international religious freedom in India, including those targeting Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Dalits, Adivasis, and other religious and cultural minorities.

The resolution called on the U.S. Secretary of State to designate India as a Country of Particular Concern under the International Religious Freedom Act, which has been recommended by the independent, bipartisan U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) for the past three years.

However, the U.S. administration is being run by dishonest politicians. The U.S. –which is the self-styled promoter of democracy in the world – has been downplaying the demise of democracy in India. The U.S. leaders frequently hobnob with PM Modi and his colleagues despite their regular criticism of Modi’s autocratic idiosyncrasies.

The U.S., in fact, exploits human rights abuses in India for its commercial interests, as the U.S. believes that India is a big market for its products and services.

Now, in order to protect the human rights of people in Punjab, the world community must get its act together and press the Modi government in India as well as the Bhagwant Mann government in Punjab to strictly follow the universal human rights laws.

About the Editor

The editor of The Unrest news magazine Rakesh Raman is a national award-winning journalist and founder of the humanitarian organization RMN Foundation. Besides working at senior editorial positions with leading media companies, he was writing an exclusive edit-page column regularly for The Financial Express (a daily business newspaper of The Indian Express Group).

Nowadays, for the past 12 years, he has been running his own global news services on multiple news sites. He runs various environment protection, education awareness, and anti-corruption campaigns, and publishes digital magazines and research reports on different subjects. Earlier, he had been associated with the

United Nations (UN) through the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) as a digital media expert to help businesses use technology for brand marketing and business development.

At present, Rakesh is associated with the Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) Project as a Country Expert for India to provide expert research inputs on multiple topics pertaining to democracy and governance. The V-Dem Project is managed by V-Dem Institute under the University of Gothenburg, Sweden.

In order to inform the Indian citizens and the global community about the extent of corruption in India, he compiled and released in October 2022 a comprehensive report on corruption in the country. Under the title “India Corruption Research Report 2022 (ICRR 2022),” the research report covers diverse aspects of corruption in India. He has also been publishing The Integrity Bulletin news magazine since 2018 to cover local and international corruption issues to engage with different stakeholders who are trying to combat corruption in the world. He has also announced the new project for 2023 to compile the India Corruption Research Report 2023 (ICRR 2023). You can click here to know about the project and support it financially with your donations.

He has launched a nationwide campaign to introduce social democracy in India in order to build an egalitarian society in which all citizens could enjoy equal rights, opportunities, freedoms, and access to justice. He is running an editorial section / microsite “Power Play: Lok Sabha Election 2024 in India” to cover the election news, events, and political campaigns. He is also running a nationwide campaign to save school students of India from directionless education so that students could acquire modern skills that can help them in the job market. In his anti-corruption activities, he participated in a global petition led by Germany-based international organization Transparency International to call for the UN General Assembly Special Session against Corruption, UNGASS 2021, to direct all countries to set up central, public registers of beneficial ownership.

He runs a community-driven anti-corruption social service “Clean House” to help the residents of Delhi raise their voice against the growing corruption and injustice in housing societies where millions of people suffer because of rampant corruption and lawlessness. He has also formed an environment protection group called Green Group in New Delhi, which is the most polluted national capital in the world.

As Rakesh has been facing constant threats including death threats for his editorial and anti-corruption work, the Paris-based international organization Reporters Without Borders (RSF) that defends freedom of journalists has urged the Indian government to save him from threats and persecution. You can click here to read his full profile.

Collaboration with the Project

THE UNREST news magazine is being published by RMN Foundation, which is the humanitarian initiative of RMN News Service. It is being circulated among different UN agencies, government departments, leading global politicians, international political organizations, colleges / universities, law-enforcement agencies, civil society organizations, social activists, and others in India and abroad.

As the founder of RMN Foundation and editor of RMN News Service, I am managing this project independently without any financial or other support. RMN News Service is looking for sponsors and collaborators across the world who can help it expand the content creation activity around this editorial initiative. Contact

Raman Founder