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.

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

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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 – 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.

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.

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