February 1-15, 2023 Issue of The Unrest Magazine

Human Rights

Crimes in Politics

Judicial Officials’ Persecution in Guatemala Myanmar Faces Extreme Crisis: UN Corruption in India

New BBC Documentary on Gujarat Riots Crime, Corruption, and Impunity in India

Global Conflicts

Research Project on Corruption in India

Delay in the Corruption Case of IAS Officers

Dirty Politics

Measure Response to Bharat Jodo Yatra

Discussion on Present Status of Education

Russia Urged to Release Alexei Navalny Stories of Politics and Unrest in the World People and Protests

FAR Construction and Pollution in Delhi Impact of Economic Slowdown on Workers

Economic Slowdown: Workers to Accept Lower Quality Jobs in 2023

The current slowdown means that many workers will have to accept lower quality jobs, often at very low pay, sometimes with insufficient hours.

A new International Labour Organization (ILO) report says that the current global economic slowdown is likely to force more workers to accept lower quality, poorly paid jobs which lack job security and social protection.

The ILO’s World Employment and Social Outlook: Trends 2023 (WESO Trends), also projects that global employment growth will be only 1.0 percent in 2023, less than half the level in 2022. Global unemployment is slated to rise slightly in 2023, by around 3 million, to 208 million (corresponding to a global unemployment rate of 5.8 percent). The moderate size of this projected increase is largely due to tight labour supply in high-income countries. According to ILO, this would mark a reversal of the decline in global unemployment seen between 2020-2022. It means

Battery-operated electric rickshaws provide employment to many people in New Delhi

Photo: Rakesh Raman / RMN News Service

that global unemployment will remain 16 million above the pre-crisis benchmark (set in 2019).

In addition to unemployment “job quality remains a key concern”, the report says, adding that “Decent Work is fundamental to social justice”. A decade of progress in poverty reduction faltered during the Covid-19 crisis. Despite a nascent recovery during 2021, the continuing shortage of better job opportunities is likely to worsen, the study says.

The current slowdown means that many workers will have to accept lower quality jobs, often at very low pay, sometimes with insufficient hours. Furthermore, as prices rise faster than nominal labour incomes, the cost-of-living crisis risks pushing more people into poverty. This trend comes on top of significant declines in income seen during the Covid-19 crisis, which in many countries affected low-income groups the worst.

The report also identifies a new, comprehensive measure of unmet need for employment – the global jobs gap. As well as those who are unemployed, this measure includes people who want employment but are not actively searching for a job, either because they are discouraged or because they have other obligations such as care responsibilities.

According to ILO, the global jobs gap stood at 473 million in 2022, around 33 million above the level of 2019.

New BBC Documentary Explains Modi’s Role in Gujarat Riots

While about 2,000 Muslims were killed in the Gujarat riots, there were incidents of rape, robbery, and widespread destruction of property affecting Muslims.

A new BBC documentary, ‘India: The Modi Question,’ sheds light on the role of India's prime minister (PM) Narendra Modi in the Gujarat violence of 2002 when Modi was the chief minister (CM) of Gujarat.

The first part of the series aired in the United Kingdom on BBC Two channel on January 17. As usual, without any substantiation, the Indian government has termed the BBC documentary a propaganda film, saying it aims to discredit Modi. It may not be allowed for viewing in India.

The second part of the documentary was shown on BBC Two on January 24. The Wire report says the BBC documentary claims that Modi is hugely divisive and India is currently in a religious turmoil under Modi.

On January 23, The Caravan magazine published the text of the report of inquiry conducted by the UK government into the 2002 Gujarat violence, which was cited in the BBC documentary on Modi.

Although the BBC film is about Modi’s role in the Gujarat violence, the Modi government is projecting it as an attack on the Indian state and trying to block the screening of the film by hook or by crook. The Modi government under its draconian laws to censor online content directed YouTube and Twitter to take down links of the BBC documentary and both the social media sites succumbed to the government's pressure and blocked the film.

Photo: Screengrab of BBC Documentary ‘India: The Modi Question’

However, some media outlets have given details of the alternative channels that can be used to watch both the episodes of the two-part docuseries, India: The Modi Question.

On January 24, international human rights organization Human Rights Watch tweeted parts of the film and said, “India has banned a BBC documentary about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s role in the 2002 riots in Gujarat state. The documentary highlighted a report that found Modi “directly responsible” for the “climate of impunity” enabling the violence.”

GUJARAT VIOLENCE CASE

According to media reports, the documentary shows facts which ascertain that Modi was directly responsible for the Gujarat massacre that targeted Muslims in the state. The BBC film reveals that after the Gujarat violence, the British government had imposed a diplomatic boycott on Modi for his apparent failure to stop the genocidal crime against Muslims.

As expected, the Supreme Court of India on June 24, 2022 dismissed an appeal against the exoneration of Modi in the 2002 Gujarat riots case. With random comments against the appeal, the judges said it is “devoid of merits” and filed “to keep the pot boiling.”

Zakia Jafri, the widow of Ehsan Jafri the Congress MP murdered in the Gujarat riots of 2002 had challenged the acquittal of Modi who was the prime accused as the CM of Gujarat when the massacre happened.

The Supreme Court had reserved its verdict on the petition seeking a fresh probe into the 2002 Gujarat riots filed by activist Teesta Setalvad and Zakia Jafri who told the top court in December 2021 that she is seeking justice without trying to implicate Modi. Ms Jafri – through her lawyer Kapil Sibal – had contended in the Supreme Court on November 10, 2021 that the Special Investigation Team (SIT)

probing the Gujarat riots ignored evidence and drew conclusions without any investigation.

Ms Jafri, 81, argued that the SIT did not record statements, seize phones, check how bombs were manufactured, and filed closure reports to exonerate Modi surreptitiously.

She has been fighting for justice for the past many years, as her husband Ehsan Jafri was among the 68 people killed at the Gulbarg Society in Ahmedabad on February 28, 2002 a day after a train was burnt at Godhra in Gujarat, killing 59 people that led to the mass murder of Muslims. Without proper investigation, it was declared that Muslims had burnt the train.

GUJARAT POGROM

The SIT had exonerated Modi of all charges in the Gujarat pogrom against Muslims. In a “summary closure report,” the SIT had said there was no “prosecutable evidence” against Modi, who was among 62 persons named in the complaint filed by Jafri and the humanitarian organization Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP).

According to a detailed report published on December 9, 2021 by the CJP, which has compiled the investigative material in the Zakia Jafri case, the petitioners made several submissions countering everything the SIT had put before the court and referred to all such material that required further investigation.

The CJP through its Secretary Teesta Setalvad was also the second petitioner in the case after Zakia Jafri. Just a day after the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal against the exoneration of Modi, co-petitioner in the case Ms Setalvad was arrested by the anti-terrorism squad (ATS) of the Gujarat Police in June 2022 from her house in Mumbai. It was a kind of revenge of the Modi government against Ms Setalvad because she had tried to get the Gujarat riots case opened in the Supreme Court. Later, in September, the Supreme Court granted interim bail to Ms Setalvad.

With the aim to destroy the evidence, a prime witness Haren Pandya - who was the Home Minister of Gujarat and who informed about Modi’s role in the Gujarat riotswas murdered in 2003 in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.

The Outlook magazine quoted Pandya who had revealed to the magazine in May 2002 that on the night of February 27, 2002 Modi had held a meeting at his residence. In the meeting, Modi ordered the bureaucrats and police officers to allow "people to vent their frustration and not come in the way of the Hindu backlash” against Muslims after the mysterious Godhra train burning incident. The investigation into the murder of Pandya was not done properly so that the evidence could be destroyed.

A number of other key witnesses in the Gujarat riots case either died in mysterious circumstances or jailed on frivolous charges so that Modi could be acquitted in the case.

That is why police, bureaucrats, court judges, and other witnesses prefer to stay silent even when they know the truth. Similarly, after Haren Pandya’s murder, politicians in the opposition parties and Modi’s own party are scared to talk about Gujarat riots. This is the main reason that Modi and his accomplices have not been prosecuted properly.

While the BBC documentary has discussed the Gujarat violence case thoroughly, most Indian media outlets are terrified to report about Modi’s role in the Gujarat riots. As a result, instead of getting prosecuted or convicted, Modi is ruling the country as a king and the witnesses have been either murdered or jailed.

Since the police, bureaucrats, court judges, opposition leaders, and journalists are scared, they do not discuss other cases of crime and corruption in which Modi is allegedly involved. These include the Rafale corruption case, PM-CARES Fund case, electronic voting machine (EVM) fraud case, Pulwama terror attack case, and others.

MURDER OF MUSLIMS

While about 2,000 Muslims were killed in the Gujarat riots, there were incidents of rape, robbery, and widespread destruction of property affecting Muslims. It was alleged that the killings were executed at the behest of Modi. Although Indian courts have exonerated Modi in this case, most Muslims in India still believe that Modi was responsible for the Gujarat massacre. The less said about the Indian courts, the better.

According to Human Rights Watch, the attacks against Muslims in Gujarat were actively supported by state government officials and the police. Police told Muslims, “We have no orders to save you.”

As a result, the U.S. administration denied visa to Modi in view of the allegations of human rights violations against him in the 2002 incidents of riots and carnage. But as he has become the PM of India, Modi is visiting the U.S. frequently because now he enjoys political immunity. [ Click here to watch a related video. ]

On October 26, 2021, after multiple adjournments, the Supreme Court had begun hearing a Special Leave Petition filed by Ms Jafri and CJP. The case was before a bench of Justices AM Khanwilkar, Dinesh Maheshwari, and CT Ravikumar which rejected the case against Modi arbitrarily.

It is being increasingly observed that the Supreme Court of India judges are scared of crooked politicians who virtually control them. When the case is against the government politicians or top officials connected with the politicians, the judges do not take any decision that may displease their government bosses.

In the past, multiple cases have been either ignored by the Supreme Court arbitrarily or the judgments have gone in favor of the Modi government. These cases include Ayodhya temple case, Rafale corruption case, electronic voting

machines (EVM) fraud case, PM-CARES Fund case, Article 370 case on Kashmir, Judge Loya death case, Gujarat riots case, Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) case, electoral bonds case, judicial corruption case, sextortion case of former Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, environmental crime case, Pegasus spyware case, and a number of other cases which still await justice. Thus, the Supreme Court of India has lost its credibility and relevance. If you evaluate the Supreme Court judgments (involving the Modi government) through an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based expert system, you will find that almost all the judgments or delays are biased in favour of the Modi government.

But there is no system to punish the judges who pronounce judgments influenced by their surreptitious links with politicians rather than any judicial reasoning.

As most judges behave like demigods, there is no accountability for their own lawlessness and misconduct in the courts. Dishonesty is so rampant in the Indian courts that the judges shamelessly accept unsigned notes given in sealed covers to acquit politicians in serious criminal cases. Technology can help address such arbitrariness in Indian courts, but the courts are reluctant to use technology because they want to work in an autocratic manner.

In fact, the Supreme Court’s judgment in the Gujarat riots case should also be tested on an AI-based expert system to know the objectivity or truthfulness of the court decision.

COMPLICIT POLICE AND WEAK COURTS

Usually, the police and courts do not take action against Modi, the Modi government, and the leaders of Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The police officers have seen the horrific cases of Haren Pandya’s murder and Gujarat riots whistleblower Sanjiv Bhatt who tried to raise their voice against Modi. Bhatt – who was a senior police officer – has been implicated in a custodial death case of 1990

and serving life imprisonment under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Shweta Sanjiv Bhatt, the wife of Sanjiv Bhatt, maintains that it is a fabricated case in which her husband has been falsely implicated.

Similarly, most judges must be scared after witnessing the fate of judge Loya (Brijgopal Harikishan Loya) who had died in mysterious circumstances. In this case, BJP leader Amit Shah – who is now the Home Minister of India – was the prime accused.

But no investigation or investigating officer can dare to point the finger at Amit Shah who controls the police and other law-enforcement agencies. Judges and investigating officers know that if judge Loya can die in an inexplicable manner, they also can be made to face the same fate.

Earlier it had happened in the Vyapam scam case in which, like Amit Shah, another BJP leader and Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan was an accused. As the investigation into the Vyapam case was progressing, the witnesses and others familiar with the case started disappearing.

A Special Task Force (STF) submitted a list to the high court in 2015 informing that 23 people died “unnatural death.” Some media reports claimed that more than 40 people associated with the Vyapam scam had died under mysterious circumstances.

Obviously, most witnesses, police officers, and judges will not dare to go against the will of Modi and his accomplices. This may be the reason that Modi has been acquitted in the Gujarat riots case. In all autocratic regimes, the rulers silently control and use courts to get all decisions in their favour.

In fact, Modi’s entire career in politics is founded on violent events such as the train burning in Godhra and Gujarat riots of 2002. Such anti-Muslim events helped Modi win votes of Hindu voters in a country where nearly 80% voters are Hindus.

Since Modi is an illiterate and uncivilized politician, he does not deserve any position in the government. Initially, he would have won in Gujarat with Hindu votes. But at the national level, only a miniscule fraction of real Hindus support Modi’s divisive communal actions.

Therefore, since the Lok Sabha election of 2014, Modi and his party have been winning most elections with the selective manipulation of electronic voting machines (EVMs).

The opposition groups - including political parties, civil society, students, and journalists - are so terrified of Modi’s violent behavior that they do not challenge his hostile actions.

So, despite unprecedented corruption, inflation, unemployment, and religious animosity under his rule, Modi will keep running the country as a one-man regime. In the past 9 years of his rule, Modi has tarnished India’s image in all parts of the world and the BBC film has proved once again that Modi is not fit to run the country as its PM.

Meanwhile, a #BBCDocumentary hashtag has been trending on Twitter since January 19, 2023. The BBC documentary has tried to show the truth of Gujarat violence, but it will not have any impact on Modi or his government in India.

Volker Türk Expresses Concern at Persecution of Judicial Officials in Guatemala

Justice officials and other individuals involved in fighting impunity or in anti-corruption processes have been investigated, detained, charged and even convicted for abuse of power, obstruction of justice and conspiracy.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk on January 18 expressed deep concern at repeated intimidation, harassment and reprisals against justice

officials and other individuals involved in efforts to combat impunity for human rights violations or working on anti-corruption cases.

“It is dramatic, given Guatemala’s history, that those fighting for accountability for gross human rights violations are the ones now being persecuted,” said Türk. “Equally concerning are the attacks against those trying to combat one of the worst viruses to afflict any society: corruption.”

Justice officials and other individuals involved in fighting impunity or in anti-corruption processes have been investigated, detained, charged and even convicted for abuse of power, obstruction of justice and conspiracy. In addition, several others have left the country out of fear for their safety.

Between 2021 and 2022, the UN Human Rights Office in Guatemala documented a more than 70 percent increase in the number of justice officials facing intimidation and criminal charges for their work on corruption or human rights violations, particularly those that occurred in the context of the armed conflict that took place between 1960 and 1996. On 16 January this year, the Chief of the Special

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk Photo: UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights

Prosecutor’s Office against impunity (FECI – Fiscalía Especial contra la Impunidad) announced warrants of arrest against three justice officials.

One was a staff member of CICIG, the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala, a UN-backed body charged with investigating and prosecuting serious crimes in the country. The Government closed down CICIG in 2019.

Between 2007 and 2019, CICIG assisted the national judicial system in dealing with more than 100 high-profile cases of alleged corruption and other criminal offences involving Government officials, members of Congress and the Courts, and several individuals in the private sector.

Upon the disbanding of CICIG, there has been a steady increase in the number of cases of harassment and criminal charges against its former officials, and prosecutors.

“These judicial processes and the lack of due process guarantees undermine the rule of law in the entire country,” said the UN Human Rights Chief. “I call on the authorities to take appropriate measures to strengthen and guarantee the independence of the justice system and provide the necessary protection to justice officials.” Courtesy: UN Human Rights Office

Rahul Gandhi Fails to Measure Response to Bharat Jodo Yatra

In order to conceal the lack of political acumen in Rahul Gandhi, Congress measures the response to Yatra by the few hundred people who walk with him.

When you ask Congress leader Rahul Gandhi about the performance of his Bharat Jodo Yatra (or Unite India March), he always says the response is very good. But he could never tell how he measures the response to the 5-month-old foot march. In fact, a response to an activity can only be measured in relation to a target that the activity plans to achieve. When your Yatra does not have any target, how can you measure its response?

The bearded Congress leader had been leading the Bharat Jodo Yatra since September 7, 2022 from Kanyakumari. The Yatra - which was criss-crossing aimlessly different cities and towns of India - was supposed to cover over 3,500 kilometers to reach Kashmir in 5 months - by the end of January 2023.

Congress which is facing extinction actually began the Bharat Jodo Yatra as a last-ditch attempt to resuscitate the dying party. The Yatra is supposed to woo the voters in different areas of India for Congress so that it could put an end to its repeated defeats and win some elections.

But Rahul Gandhi and his toadies who travel with him falsely assert that the Yatra has no political objective. Rather, they claim that the daily stroll will innocuously highlight the issues such as inflation, unemployment, and religious hatred in the country under the regime of prime minister Narendra Modi.

[ Video: You can click here to watch a related video on RMN YouTube Channel ]

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi – along with his supporters – is travelling across the country on foot for his Bharat Jodo Yatra. Photo: Congress

This is an absurd argument because Congress itself does not have any strategy to combat these issues that are troubling 1.4 billion Indians. Congress has deliberately kept the objective of the Bharat Jodo Yatra vague so that it should not expose the incompetence of Rahul Gandhi.

In order to conceal the lack of political acumen in Rahul Gandhi, Congress measures the response to Yatra by the few hundred people who walk with him. But Congress ignores the fact that this kind of thin crowd can even be seen around some snake charmers who keep showing their tricks in different streets of India.

While there is hardly any true media response to Rahul Gandhi’s insipid Yatra, a few ordinary Hindi YouTube channels - who are probably paid by Congress - keep praising Rahul Gandhi and his Yatra in repeated programs that lack content.

In today’s cut-throat world, the Key Result Areas or KRAs are specified to measure the progress of every worker or project in an organization. But Congress - which exists like a family fiefdom - has not fixed any KRAs for Rahul Gandhi and his Yatra so that he could say without any substantiation that the response to Yatra is good.

And that is what the ageing Congress leader is doing. He has been giving self-conceited assessments of Bharat Jodo Yatra to praise himself and his aimless venture. Actually, the Bharat Jodo Yatra is a failure. Rather, an utter failure, which will not help Congress revive itself and win elections.

RMN Foundation Urges Russia to Release Jailed Kremlin Critic Alexei Navalny

As Navalny is perhaps the only leader who can challenge Putin’s attempt to rule forever, it is believed that the Russian regime is trying to kill him slowly in jail.

The humanitarian organization RMN Foundation is expressing its deep concern at the continuing arbitrary imprisonment of Alexei Navalny in Russia. Kremlin critic Navalny, 46, is a fierce political opponent of Russian President Vladimir Putin. He

was arrested in Moscow by the Russian authorities on 17 January 2021 immediately after his return from Germany where he was recovering from a failed poisoning attempt.

Navalny is currently serving a harsh prison sentence after recovering from the assassination attempt, which was allegedly made with orders from Putin.

“The Russian authorities should immediately release Navalny from jail and drop all the politically motivated charges against him,” said Rakesh Raman, founder, RMN Foundation. He added that the UN bureaucrats, human rights organizations, and the world leaders have failed miserably to get Navalny released and punish the Russian dictator Putin for the continuous human rights violations.

[ Video: You can click here to watch a related video on RMN YouTube Channel ]

In June 2021, the Russian government had also outlawed Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK) by declaring it an “extremist” outfit. Navalny’s FBK has been declared a “foreign agent” under another draconian law.

Photo: Alexei Navalny / Instagram

The hostile action against Navalny has been taken despite a slew of sanctions and censure statements by the U.S. and European leaders against Russia. It is alleged that after sending him to jail under frivolous charges, the Russian regime is slowly trying to murder Navalny, who is serving a torturous prison sentence.

He is not being provided proper medical treatment as Navalny continues to be sick in solitary confinement where he is kept by the Russian authorities. On 10 January 2023, over 400 doctors in Russia signed an open letter to President Putin demanding that prison authorities stop abusing Navalny. But Putin has no respect for such humanitarian appeals.

As Navalny is perhaps the only leader who can challenge Putin’s attempt to rule forever, it is believed that the Russian regime is trying to kill him slowly in jail. Putin has signed a new legislation that will allow him to stay in power until 2036, while his second consecutive and fourth overall presidential term ends in 2024.

With the aim to thwart Navalny’s political challenge to Putin, in 2021 a new law in Russia banned Navalny from running for any elected post for a period of 5 years.

“Russian President Putin continues to work in a dictatorial manner and ignores the feeble punitive actions taken by the world community against his autocratic decisions,” said Rakesh Raman of RMN Foundation. “In other words, the world leaders have completely failed to tame and punish Putin and get Navalny released from illegal detention.”

The European and the U.S. leaders have been imposing sanctions on various states and their functionaries over human rights violations, crimes against humanity, and other criminal activities.

But such sanctions are simply ignored by the rogue states and their leaders who continue to commit crimes against their citizens with full impunity. RMN Foundation

believes that the imposition of sanctions is an ineffective measure to stop state crimes.

Meanwhile, on 17 January 2023, the Council of Europe called on the Russian authorities to honour the European Court of Human Rights’ judgment on Navalny case so that he could be released from jail. But the Russian authorities are again expected to ignore the appeal from the Council of Europe.

In the given situation when all the civil appeals are being rejected by Putin, RMN Foundation urges the UN and the international community to take some joint military actions against Russia.

RMN Foundation is the humanitarian initiative of Raman Media Network (RMN) News Service. It runs various projects and campaigns in the areas of human rights, environment protection, school education, and corruption prevention.

Attacks on Journalists

Today, there is no organization in the world that is working effectively to protect journalists from state excesses and police brutality. Although UNESCO and other UN agencies keep releasing loose statements and random reports about media freedom, they too have failed miserably to protect journalists in different countries (Photo: UNESCO)

Similarly, the NGOs such as Reporters Without Borders (RSF), Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and various journalists’ associations – that claim to be working for press freedom and protection of journalists - mostly exist to collect huge donations and funds for their shady operations.

While these so-called protectors of press freedom are not doing any tangible work to protect journalists, they operate only as secondary news outlets. They lift news from here and there about attacks on journalists and simply publish it under their own banners on their websites or issue casual condemnation statements. They cannot influence and change the brutal decisions of the authorities that are unleashing terror on journalists ~

Rakesh Raman

Short Stories of Politics and Unrest in the World

Former President Donald Trump kicked off his 2024 White House bid with stops on January 28 in New Hampshire and South Carolina, events in early-voting states marking the first campaign appearances since announcing his latest run more than two months ago. “Together we will complete the unfinished business of making America great again,” Trump said at an evening event in Columbia to introduce his South Carolina leadership team. Read More

Indian billionaire Gautam Adani saw more than $20bn (£16bn) wiped off his fortune on January 27, after investors fled his companies for a second day prompted by fraud claims made by a US investment firm. The Adani Group has dismissed the report as malicious, but the response has failed to stem the uproar. The firm's publicly listed companies have lost about $50bn in market value. Read More

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says that allowing Russia to compete at the 2024 Olympics in Paris would amount to showing that "terror is somehow acceptable". He said he had raised the issue with French President Emmanuel Macron. Moscow must not be allowed to use the Olympics for propaganda, he added. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has said Russian and Belarusian athletes could compete as neutrals at the Olympics. But Ukraine has threatened to boycott Paris 2024 if Russian and Belarusian athletes are allowed to compete. Read More

ChatGPT is smart enough to pass prestigious graduate-level exams – though not with particularly high marks. The powerful new AI chatbot tool recently passed law exams in four courses at the University of Minnesota and another exam at University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business, according to professors at the schools. Read More

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has signalled that Ankara could accept Finland into NATO before taking any action on the membership of its Nordic neighbour Sweden. Erdogan was speaking just days after Ankara suspended NATO accession talks with the two countries after a protest in Stockholm in which a far-right politician burned a copy of the Quran. Read More

Research Project on Corruption in India Launched for 2023

While India is already perceived to be one of the most corrupt countries in the world, bureaucratic and political corruption is still increasing dramatically in the country.

However, there is no reliable information available on the extent of corruption. This research project - being carried out by the humanitarian organization RMN Foundation - aims to compile a comprehensive report - under the title India Corruption Research Report 2023 (ICRR 2023) - on diverse aspects of corruption in India.

The findings of the report will help the central as well as state governments in the country make actionable strategies to combat corruption. The report will also be equally useful for other stakeholders including businesses, political parties, and international organizations.

The report ICRR 2023 will be the second annual report which will be published by the RMN Foundation - which is the humanitarian initiative of RMN (Raman Media Network) News Service. The first report ICRR 2022 was released in October 2022.

[ You can click here to study the ICRR 2022 in ebook format. ]

The research project is being spearheaded by Rakesh Raman who is a national award-winning journalist and founder of RMN Foundation. People and organizations from all over the world are invited to join hands with RMN Foundation as donors, volunteers, and partners for the ICRR 2023 project and other humanitarian activities for diverse communities.

You can click here to know about the ICRR 2023 project and donation details.

Stop Lethal FAR Construction, Corruption, and Pollution in Delhi

Illegal floor area ratio (FAR) construction in Delhi housing societies

These days, a harmful floor area ratio (FAR) construction is happening in India’s capital New Delhi. The FAR scheme of the government allows Delhi’s cooperative group housing societies (CGHS) to carry out massive construction in occupied housing societies.

Since the FAR construction which runs for years spreads lethal dust pollution, noise pollution, and air pollution in housing complexes, hundreds or thousands of children, men, women - including senior citizens - who live in these houses have been suffering for the past few years.

The citywide construction-cum-corruption racket – termed as Widehouse Corruption Scandal – is being run by local criminals who operate as management committee (MC) members of housing societies.

Senior citizens in a group housing society of Dwarka in New Delhi urge the government to save them from dust pollution, noise pollution, and air pollution of extended FAR construction activity. Photo and Campaign by Rakesh Raman / RMN Foundation

The MC members collude with crooked politicians, corrupt bureaucrats, complicit police officials, dishonest members of judiciary, and builders’ mafia to carry out FAR construction.

“After the criminal enterprise of Nazi Germany during the Holocaust for the genocide of millions of European Jews, the Widehouse Corruption Scandal is believed to be the largest organized massacre not only in India but also in the world,” said Rakesh Raman, founder, RMN Foundation.

In this criminal attack, millions of people are victims of a single crime which is being brazenly supported by the Indian government to harm its own citizens. If not stopped, the harmful construction will continue in Delhi for many years – even until 2030. This scandal has been given the name Widehouse, because it is being run under the garb of widening the occupied houses where men, women (including senior citizens), and children are living. The expansion of existing houses is being imposed on residents to extort massive money from them.

Although a number of departments and officials are involved in this scandal, the criminal MC members mainly collude with the corrupt officials of Delhi Development Authority (DDA), Registrar Cooperative Societies (RCS) office of Delhi Government, Delhi Fire Service (DFS), Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC), and Delhi Police.

RMN Foundation urges the law-enforcement agencies in India and abroad to intervene and get this genocidal crime stopped so that people of Delhi could live in a clean environment. [ You can click here to watch a related video on RMN YouTube Channel. ]

Delay in the Investigation and Prosecution of the Corruption Case of IAS Officers

As a result of the state impunity provided to government functionaries, they are committing acts of corruption blatantly without any fear of punishment. I sent the following complaint to the authorities.

To January 18, 2023

Mr. Rajiv Gauba

Cabinet Secretary

Cabinet Secretariat, Government of India

New Delhi

Kind Attention: Mr. D.K. Jain, Under Secretary (VCC), Cabinet Secretariat, Room No.

207, Vigyan Bhawan Annexe, New Delhi 110 001

Copy for Urgent Action:

Dr. Jitendra Singh

Minister of State, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions

Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) / Prime Minister Office (PMO)

Government of India, North Block, New Delhi 110 001

Kind Attention: Ms. Nila Mohanan (Director), Administrative Vigilance Division-I / DoPT

Subject: Delay in the investigation and prosecution of the corruption case of IAS

officers

Complaint by: Rakesh Raman

Dear Officers,

In response to the complaints filed by me, the DoPT has been repeatedly directing the Cabinet Secretariat to investigate the corruption case of 10 IAS officers [ See

Exhibit 1, Exhibit 2, Exhibit 3, and Exhibit 4 given below. ] But the Cabinet Secretariat did not take any action.

The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) has sent multiple such letters to Mr D K Jain, Under Secretary (VCC), Cabinet Secretariat, Government of India But no action has been taken

|

As the investigation and prosecution in this case was getting delayed, I filed an RTI application dated October 12, 2022 to the Cabinet Secretariat [ reproduced below ].

In response to my RTI application, the Cabinet Secretariat informed me with its letter dated 10.11.2022 that the matter regarding DoPT’s OMs is under process. [ See Exhibit 5 given below. ] But I am sorry to say that still no action has been taken in this case.

As a journalist and anti-corruption activist, I have been observing that the government anti-corruption agencies keep tossing the corruption complaints between different departments or keep sending the perfunctory letters to the complainants. But they never dare to formally investigate the accused officials. The investigations happen only when some political angle is involved. That is why corruption is increasing rapidly in the country.

I have stated some of these facts in the “India Corruption Research Report 2022 (ICRR 2022)” that I have compiled and released recently. [ You can click here to download and study the report. ]

As a result of the state impunity provided to government functionaries, they are committing acts of corruption blatantly without any fear of punishment. Therefore, I request you again to begin a formal investigation and prosecution in this corruption case of IAS officers so that they could be convicted and imprisoned at the earliest.

In order to stop corruption and environmental crimes in which these officers are allegedly involved, they must be immediately jailed because their presence in the public poses a serious threat to the citizens who want to live in a corruption-free and pollution-free environment. [ You can click here to download and study the case details. ]

Note: I will be available for online meetings / video conferencing to explain various aspects of the case to the investigating officers.

[ You can click here to download and read the complaint. ]

Request for an early response.

Thank You

Rakesh Raman

New Delhi

India

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.

Cabinet Secretariat Case

Prime Minister Office (PMO) Case

DoPTCase

Economic Offences Wing (EOW) Case

Delhi Govt Case

NHRC Case

Environmental Crime Case

Judicial Corruption Case

AAPCorruption Case

NHRC Case at UN HRC

CPGRAMS Cases

IAS Corruption Record

Delhi Police Case

RCS RTI Violations

Ministry of HomeAffairs (MHA) Case

Delhi Lokayukta Case

CBI Case

Supreme Court Case

Delhi Petitions Committee / CVC Case

School Education Case

Lokpal Removal Case

RCS Corruption Case

Widehouse Scandal

IAS Group Corruption Case

PGMS Cases

UNCAC Petition

DoPTProcesses

DDACorruption Case

Petitions and Representations by Rakesh Raman. Up to January 2023

Myanmar Faces Extreme Crisis: UN Human Rights Chief

Credible information indicates that over 34,000 civilian structures, including homes, clinics, schools and places of worship, have been burned over the past two years.

Two years after the Myanmar military launched a coup against the democratically elected government, the country has sunk deeper than ever into crisis and has undergone a wholesale regression in human rights, UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk said on January 27.

“By nearly every feasible measurement, and in every area of human rights –economic, social and cultural, as much as civil and political – Myanmar has profoundly regressed,” he said, reflecting on the spiralling crisis since the attempted coup of 1 February 2021.

“Despite clear legal obligations for the military to protect civilians in the conduct of hostilities, there has been consistent disregard for the related rules of international law. Far from being spared, civilians have been the actual targets of attacks –

Aung San Suu Kyi, General Secretary of the National League for Democracy of Myanmar, addresses a meeting at the United Nations in New York Photo: UN / Rick Bajornas (file photo)

victims of targeted and indiscriminate artillery barrages and air strikes, extrajudicial executions, the use of torture, and the burning of whole villages.”

“At this somber time, I want to acknowledge the courage of all those whose lives have been lost in the struggle for freedom and dignity in Myanmar, and the continuing pain and suffering of their families and loved ones.”

According to credible sources at least 2,890 people have died at the hands of the military and others working with them, of whom at least 767 were initially taken into custody. This is almost certainly an underestimation of the number of civilians killed as a result of military action.

A staggering further 1.2 million people have been internally displaced, and over 70,000 have left the country - joining over one million others, including the bulk of the country’s Rohingya Muslim population, who fled sustained persecution and attacks over the past decades.

Credible information indicates that over 34,000 civilian structures, including homes, clinics, schools and places of worship, have been burned over the past two years. Myanmar’s economy has collapsed with nearly half of the population now living below the poverty line.

Since the coup was launched, the military has imprisoned the democratically elected leadership of the country and, in subsequent months, detained over 16,000 others – most of whom face specious charges in military-controlled courts, in flagrant breach of due process and fair trial rights, linked to their refusal to accept the military’s actions.

“There must be a way out of this catastrophic situation, which sees only deepening human suffering and rights violations on a daily basis,” said Türk. “Regional leaders, who engaged the military leadership through ASEAN, agreed a Five-Point Consensus that Myanmar’s generals have treated with disdain.”

“Two of the critical conditions that were agreed - to cease all violence and to allow humanitarian access - have not been met. In fact, we have seen the opposite. Violence has spiralled out of control and humanitarian access has been severely restricted.”

The High Commissioner pointed to other measures that would be crucial to a political foundation for resolving the crisis: the release of all political prisoners, including State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and President U Win Myint, as called for by the UN Security Council; inclusive dialogue with all parties involving both the ASEAN Chair and the UN Special Envoy; and allowing the UN Human Rights

Office meaningful access to the country to monitor the situation independently and impartially.

“Restoring respect for human rights is a key to ending this crisis, to end this situation where Myanmar’s generals are trying to prop up through brute force a decades-old system in which they answer to no-one but themselves,” said Türk.

Online Discussion on the Present Status of Education

Need for School Education Reforms. All parents, students, teachers, and others are requested to support this school education reform campaign.

As a journalist and social activist, I have been running various campaigns to spread education awareness among different stakeholders. In my constant endeavour to get the school education systems of India revamped, I held a detailed online / virtual discussion with a few teachers from Chandigarh on January 26, 2023.

The discussion was ably anchored by Mr. Arun Bansal of the Social Substance group which handles diverse social activities. The discussion revolved around the identification of current bottlenecks in the education delivery mechanism and the steps that can be taken to improve the education standards. The participants also discussed the new alternative education model that I have developed and included in a comprehensive research report that I have compiled recently.

The online discussion was recorded and produced in a video so that it could be shared with others who could not attend the online meeting. [ You can click here to watch the video on RMN YouTube Channel. ]

All parents, students, teachers, and others are requested to support this school education reform campaign.

Rakesh Raman

Advertising and Marketing Options on RMN News Sites

Raman Media Network (RMN) Company has been working in diversified content creation, management, and distribution businesses on a global scale for the past more than 10 years. Among other content-based activities, the company runs 4 global news sites and produces digital magazines and research reports on different subjects. RMN Company offers various advertising and marketing options to companies, organizations, and brands in all parts of the world.

You can click here to study the details.

Photo by Rakesh Raman (Representational Image)

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. Currently, he is also working as an editor for Wikipedia, which is a free online global encyclopedia.

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 download and read his full profile.

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

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 Rakesh Raman

Founder

RMN Foundation

463, DPS Apts., Plot No. 16, Sector 4 Dwarka, Phase I, New Delhi 110 078, INDIA Call: 9810319059 | Contact by email