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

(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 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

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.

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.