G20 Summit | Grand show, no deal  https://www-deccanherald-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.deccanherald.com/amp/story/opinion%2Fg20-summit-grand-show-no-deal-2682528  Subhash Chandra Garg 12 September 2023 India rustled up and announced two new international alliances — the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) and the Global Biofuel Alliance. India produced the longest-ever Leaders’ Declaration with 83 paragraphs and 39 annexed documents running into thousands of pages. However, there is no single ready-to-implement agreement/actionable point in it.

The G20 Summit at the president’s/prime minister’s level was borne in the global financial crisis in 2008 to co-ordinate immediate rescue of the international financial system, and find durable solutions for its stability to generate sustained economic growth.  In the last 15 years, the G20 succeeded in delivering at least three major real deals. First, quick, and functional co-ordination smothered the global financial crisis and spawned new institutions and rules to bring about better financial stability. Second, the G20 built consensus on major taxation reforms, ushered in the Multilateral Convention on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS-MLI), and agreements on minimum taxation of multinational corporations and taxation of digital economies. Third, it did thrash out deals for infusion of capital in the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The G20 Leaders’ Summit, however, got diverted into numerous other tracks — growth, taxation, trade, global warming, financial inclusion, infrastructure, digital economy, terrorism, money laundering, and everything under the sun. Instead of finding solutions for the big and pressing economic and financial problems, it degenerated into a body that produced a lot of verbiage.

CoP-28 is beset with problems even before it has begun https://www.livemint.com/opinion/online-views/cop28-is-beset-with-problems-even-before-it-has-begun-11695557670450.html Rajrishi Singhal  24 Sep 2023 the UAE’s special envoy for climate change and CoP-28 president-designate, Sultan Ahmed Al Jabar, has requested CoP-28 to focus on four paradigm shifts: fast-tracking the energy transition and slashing emissions by 2030; setting a new climate finance template by delivering on old promises while developing a new financing framework; putting nature, people, lives and livelihoods at the heart of climate action; and mobilizing the most inclusive CoP ever.

Battered by inflation and faltering demand, India's consumer goods industry is ailing https://www.businesstoday.in/magazine/deep-dive/story/battered-by-inflation-and-faltering-demand-indias-consumer-goods-industry-is-ailing-399174-2023-09-21 

 “Discretionary spending was cut as most households were under pressure because their overall purchasing power was down drastically. We were expecting [to] be out of the inflationary cycle and that consumer spending [would make a comeback] in 2023. But that has not happened. The inflationary trend continues, and the mass segment has not really come back. Therefore, we have witnessed a [contraction] in mass market categories in the last six months,” - Steep inflation and faltering demand have hit consumer goods makers hard in the past three years. There seems to be little respite as a fresh inflation surge and uneven spread of the monsoon could disrupt the firms' recovery- Kamal Nandi, the Business Head and Executive Vice President of Godrej Appliances

"As prices of raw materials like palm oil, skimmed milk powder, and crude oil rose by 50–120 per cent between December 2020 and December 2022, manufacturers had no option but to hike the prices of packaged goods. And volumes faltered as most low-to-middle-income households baulked at the idea of increasing their expenditure. - Sanjiv Mehta, former CEO and MD of consumer goods major Hindustan Unilever

What is Dhai Aakhar Prem? | Prasanna https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzAL9EupP_c Sep 21, 2023 What is the concept behind this? Why are we doing this?  National Cultural Jatha is a journey of dialogue with our countryfolks, and to understand the the rich folk-art, traditional art and people’s art forms of our country. Pursuing the slogan, peoples’ theatre stars the people, the 'Jatha' (march) over 120 days will walk on foot in 22 states and union territories in a phased manner. The Jatha will meet thousands of children, youth, women, elders, peasants, toiling people, workers, artists and artisans, and micro-entrepreneurs and share the values of love, equality, justice, humanity and fraternity. The March is starting from Bhagat Singh’s birth anniversary to Mahatma Gandhi’s martyr day (28th September 2023 to 30th January 2024)

Another case of BJP ticket fraud comes to light in Karnataka; swamiji accused of taking Rs 1 crore  https://www.coastaldigest.com/news-top-story/another-case-bjp-ticket-fraud-comes-light-karnataka-swamiji-accused-taking-rs-1
September 23, 2023 Shirahatti taluk's Ranatur Gram Panchayat Development Officer Sanjay Chavdala who has been suspended for dereliction of duty filed a cheating complaint with the Mundaragi Police Station on September 18 against Abhinava Halaveerappa Swamiji.

In his complaint, "I requested the pontiff to get a BJP ticket to contest from Shirahatti Reserved Assembly Constituency. I had paid Rs one crore in three installments to the seer", Superintendent of Police B S Nemagouda said Sanjay has given a written complaint alleging that Hirehadagali's Halashri Swamiji had taken Rs one crore promising him of getting a ticket to contest from Shirahatti Reserved Constituency. He has been issued a notice to furnish the documents to substantiate his allegations. An FIR will be registered if the documents are furnished and a probe will be conducted

Women and men in the informal economy: a statistical picture ILO

https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---dcomm/documents/publication/wcms_626831.pdf

Globally, 15.7 per cent of employees in permanent full-time employment hold informal jobs, i.e. having no employment related social and labour protections. The proportion of employees in informal employment increases significantly among part-time employees (44.0 per cent), and among employees in temporary employment (59.6 per cent) and is highest for employees in “temporary part-time jobs” (64.4 per cent), especially among men (68.1 per cent). Women part time employees are less likely than men to be informal. Just above one-third of women employees working less than 35 hours a week are in informal employment, as compared to 54.2 per cent among men

The proportion of workers in time-related underemployment is higher among workers in informal employment in most countries. Workers in informal employment are even more likely to work excessive hours (more than 48 hours a week or even more than 60 hours a week), especially employees. This phenomenon in Asia and the Pacific is extreme, but working longer hours when holding informal jobs seems to be the reality for half of all employees in the developing and emerging world. This reality is significantly different from the situation of employees in developed countries, as less than 16 per cent work long hours, without any difference between formal or informal employment. Own-account
workers show a different picture, as own-account workers owning formal economic units tend to work longer hours than their counterparts operating informally.

Court directs govt to appoint special public prosecutor in trial against police officers
 https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/mumbai/agnelo-valdaris-custodial-death-case-cbi-pocso-act-trial-against-eight-police-officials-in-grp-theft-case-8953366/

Special Judge S M Menjoge said that Agnelo had died in police custody and the high court has directed to frame charges against the accused police personnel including under Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code. “This court cannot differentiate the directions given by Hon’ble High Court that it is not in respect of custodial death in other cases. Custodial death means custodial death,”     The CBI in its probe had said the death could not be considered a murder and sought for the accused police personnel to be charged for assault and sections of POCSO. The high court had, however, directed the trial court to charge the police officials for murder.

In Satara, murder during a prayer https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/in-maharashtras-satara-murder-during-a-prayer/article67334686.ece
On September 10, ... According to the police, the violence was alleged ly triggered by two ‘objectionable’ messages — one about Lord Rama and Sita and another about Shivaji Maharaj — posted by two young Muslims on a social media platform. As soon as the social media monitoring team of the local police came across the post, they picked up one of the men, while the other, a native of Pusesavali, was traced to Kolhapur. “While the police were questioning a young man about the post at the outpost, some people began to create a ruckus outside the out post. They started moving towards the mosque.
It all happened within a few minutes,” says a senior police officer, who is privy to the investigation. The officer says at least 10 policemen suffered injuries. The mob torched a couple of police vehicles, he says. The mob, which allegedly consisted of Hindu men from Pursesavali and the neighbouring villages of Thorvewadi NV and Wadgaon Jairam Swami, reached the mosque and began rioting.

Former Maharashtra Chief Minister and Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan has raised concerns over police inaction in the Pusesavali riot, labelling it a “preplanned and predetermined coldblooded murder.” Chavan claims that the State government has been actively polarising people through social media in the leadup to the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections. He said to The Hindu: “During my visit, the people informed me that the rioters
continuously chanted, “‘Hamara Home Minister hai, kuch nahi hoga” (Our Home Minister is with us; nothing will happen to us)’. I believe this incident is part of a pogrom and I demand a judicial inquiry into the riot. Chief Minister Eknath
Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis should visit the bereaved family. The rioters wanted to terrorise the Muslim community.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yI6WHnm220I भारत बना माइनॉरिटी पर अत्याचार का हब_रिपोर्ट में बड़ा खुलासा, UN report On Indian Minorities, pm modi

Full text of submission by Fernand de Varenes: UN Special Rapporteur https://www.uscirf.gov/sites/default/files/Fernand%20de%20Varennes%20Testimony.pdf Human rights defenders, lawyers and journalists, face harassment, surveillance or even detention under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. Nongovernmental organizations have also been targeted and in some cases closed under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act.
Let me repeat: India risks becoming one of the world’s main generators of instability, atrocities and violence, because of the massive scale and gravity of the violations and abuses targeting mainly religious and other minorities such as Muslims, Christians, Sikhs and others. It is not just individual or local, it is systematic and a reflection of religious nationalism.

Official silence over violent attacks and rhetoric is encouraging majority nationalist groups to even more brazen violence with a religious tint.  The violence in Manipur is also a warning of the dangers of inaction.

A study noted a 786% increase in hate crimes against minorities between 2014 and 2018 - Dominance of Majoritarian Poltics and Hate Crimes Against Religious Minorties in India, 2009-2018, Deepankar Basu, Political Economy Research Institute. https://scholarworks.umass.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1274&context=econ_workingpaper

Disturbing visuals https://youtu.be/JZpSINiulDg