Proactive civil society vital for healthy democracy Neera  Chandhoke https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/comment/proactive-civil-society-vital-for-healthy-democracy-485565/
G20 looks after an unequal monetary system that serves the interests of the global capital and political elite. It represents powerful interests, but disdains standing up for the powerless. Civil societies flourish in nations that cherish constitutional democracy. Even democratic govts have a tendency to augment power at the expense of people’s rights. This propensity has to be controlled by civil society.

Given that the state is a condensate of power, it is even more important that civil society protects the Constitution. In this context, the statement issued by people’s movements, trade unions and social associations on the eve of the meeting of the G20 foreign ministers in New Delhi is laudable. The statement points out that G20, which includes some of the most powerful governments in the world, fails to note the extent of poverty, ill-health and want in the Global South.

The Indian government, instead of banishing the poor and their hovels from public view to beautify cities, should use the forum to raise issues of injustice done to the disadvantaged people of the Global South.

There was a time when India led the Global South to challenge the agenda of powerful nations. Today, we are overexcited by the fact that it is India’s turn to take over a rotational presidency. The cost of the show that is planned to impress representatives of other countries is borne by those who, already wracked by want, have been deprived of shelter.

Former Civil Servants Write to PM Modi About ‘Climate of Fear Among Christians’ https://thewire.in/rights/constitutional-conduct-group-modi-christians
Noting the "increasing incidents of outright discrimination against Christians", the Constitutional Conduct Group said the Union government is doing little to protect religious minorities.

The open letter was signed by 93 former civil servants under the Constitutional Conduct Group, saying that though the principal allegation against the Christian community is of forcible conversion, its share in the position has remained more or less around 2.3% since the 1951 census. “It is an unfortunate but inescapable fact that there are elements amongst us who may feel that the denigration of others enhances themselves”.

 IIT Bombay suicide: Rights group says Solanki had told his sister about discrimination he faced at the institutehttps://www.mid-day.com/mumbai/mumbai-news/article/iit-bombay-suicide-rights-group-says-solanki-had-told-his-sister-about-discrimination-he-faced-at-the-institute-23273509  PUCL: Merely holding some individuals responsible for the acts of Caste discrimination and providing solutions within criminal justice system.. will only result in shifting the responsibility from society, Institutes and Governments to few individuals...  but provides no way forward to strike at the roots of Caste discrimination.

The statement said that what is required is to provide the students from marginalized communities academic institutes which are determined to counter caste hierarchy by institutionalizing measures and mechanisms to create an atmosphere which is inclusive. 

The rights group emphasized that in case of Darshan Solanki’s death the Special Investigation Team must be completely transparent in their functioning and provide all available information and statements of any persons concerning this enquiry with his parents.

For full statement https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1EiGhAFu8Xpt0LApwfw90RiDyFdn-c_88

The statement calls for Enactment of a new legislation to respond to caste‐based discrimination in HEls at all India
level.
The primary focus and basis of such a legislation as to be:
• Explicit recognition of caste-based discrimination in educational institutions
• Places onus of providing a safe and secure environment on the management of the educational institutions
• Lay out a dedicated mechanism for redressal of complaints for every educational institution to abide by.
• Along with emphasising redressing acts of caste-based discrimination there must be an equal stress on creating awareness around caste discrimination and setting up of mechanisms to enable prevention.
• Processes under this legislation must involve all sections of people from the institution to implement this legislation, thus making this a shared responsibility of everyone.
• Persons from marginalised communities representing all sections of students and staff of the institution must form the majority of members on all committees made for the implementation of this act.
• These committees must also have participation of representatives of civil society members who have been active in anti-caste struggles.

BBC पर UK विदेशमंत्री से भिड़े जयशंकर, UK Foreign Minister vs S.Jai Shankar on BBC Documentary https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnV56T0lf54 DESH NEETI  Mar 4, 2023

All entities must comply with laws, Jaishankar tells UK Foreign Minister on BBC tax ‘survey’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8MYLgpzxL8 https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/nation/uk-foreign-secretary-james-cleverly-raises-bbc-tax-issue-with-eam-jaishankar-484191 Last month, the Income-Tax authorities had carried out surveys at the BBC offices in New Delhi and Mumbai. The action by the tax authorities came immediately after the BBC released a documentary about the 2002 Gujarat riots which alleged inaction during the massacre by the then CM Narendra Modi.

‘Positive’ on India, UK ‘raises’ BBC https://www.telegraphindia.com/india/positive-on-india-britain-raises-bbc/cid/1919832 Indian sources said that when Cleverly brought the matter up, “he was firmly told that all entities operating in India must comply fully with relevant laws and regulations”. The Reuters news agency reported that Cleverly did not go into the details of what he said about the tax searches on the BBC.

“The conversations I had with him are best to keep with him. I did raise it,’’ Cleverly was quoted as saying. “One of the advantages of having such a strong and professional relationship with Dr Jaishankar is I am able to bring up, and indeed he brings up with me, some of these sensitive issues. I did raise it with him.”

We, the undersigned members of the filmmaking community in India, and supporters, are shocked to hear that the inaugural film festival organised by Film Society Ravenshaw at Ravenshaw University, Cuttack, was stopped from screening Debalina Majumder's Gay India Matrimony and Shabnam Virmani' s Had-Anhad.

Gay India Matrimony is a 2019 documentary which takes a tongue-in-cheek look at the problems and prospects of same-sex marriage in India, featuring the director herself and two others. Gay India Matrimony has been criticised by the opposing outfit Hari Om as "an attempt to corrupt the minds of yore ruth to steer away from family see values and tradition". In Had-Anhad (2008), Virmani traces the 15th century mystic poet Kabir's attachment with Ram, across the Indo-Pak border. In this case, Had-Anhad is charged with "romanticising the Indo-Pak right relationship".

Both films are well-known and have already been in circulation in film festivals and campuses in India and abroad. At a time when free speech is threatened across the country, journalists and mediamakers attacked, the forcible stoppage of the screenings of these two films only adds fuel to the rising intolerance in the country.

What is particularly dismaying is how an institute of higher learning, a University, finds documentary films that have been widely screened and acclaimed in many public fora unsuitable for its own students.

We are also appalled to hear that the outfit, Hari Om, objected to the screening of Pather Panchali (1955) by Oscar awardee and Bharat Ratna Satayjit Ray as "romanticising poverty in India" and to his equally classic cinematic work Charulata (1964) as "borderline incest". Such policing of Indian cinema through intimidation and threats of violence further shrinks the culture of free thinking and creativity. Universities and film societies are integral parts of our public spaces, their right to screen and discuss cinema needs to be upheld at all costs.

We strongly condemn this illegal vigilante action by self-appointed "guardians" of "morality" and culture.

We stand in solidarity with the filmmakers and the organisers of the film festival, and extend our unflinching support to them.

$1 trillion in the shade – the annual profits multinational corporations shift to tax havens continues to climb and climb https://theconversation.com/1-trillion-in-the-shade-the-annual-profits-multinational-corporations-shift-to-tax-havens-continues-to-climb-and-climb-200034 : February 23, 2023.  By our reckoning, corporations shifted nearly US$1 trillion in profits earned outside of their home countries to tax havens in 2019, up from $616 billion in 2015, the year before the global tax haven plan was implemented by the group of 20 leading economies, also known as the G-20. 

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a group of 37 democracies with market-based economies, developed a plan that consisted of 15 tangible actions it believed would significantly limit abusive corporate tax practices. These included creating a single set of international tax rules and cracking down on harmful tax practices. ..

following leaks like the Panama Papers and Paradise Papers – which shed light on dodgy corporate tax practices – public outrage led governments in the U.S. and Europe to initiate their own efforts to lower the incentive to shift profits to tax havens.

Our research shows all these efforts appear to have had little impact.

Adani and Modi | The Full Story of Fraud Allegations | Dhruv Rathee https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDEZSFNQmP0

 2=3=2023. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has always been accused of having links with Adani. People claim that Modi has provided favours to Adani multiple times. But what are the exact allegations? Why do people connect Modi to Adani? And is there any truth behind these claims? Watch this video by Dhruv Rathee to find out as he deep dives into these claims and explains the truth behind them.

2:44 Adani’s contribution to country? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDEZSFNQmP0&t=164s

5:40 Land Scam? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDEZSFNQmP0&t=340s

8:18 Airport Scam? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDEZSFNQmP0&t=498s

12:12 Coal Scam? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDEZSFNQmP0&t=732s 15:32 Sri Lankan Port project https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDEZSFNQmP0&t=932s

16:55 Alleged Tax Evasion https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDEZSFNQmP0&t=1015s

20:05 Shell Companies https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDEZSFNQmP0&t=1205s

Surveillance & Clampdown: 'NGOs to be linked to central data hub with unique ID' https://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2023/mar/02/surveillance--clampdown-ngos-to-be-linked-to-central-data-hub-with-unique-id-2552166.html
The MHA has directed the DGPs and IGPs of states and union territories to assign teams that are working in coordination with the central government wing to expedite the process of unique ID allocation

 02nd March 2023

In India, while the NGOs registered under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) are monitored by the MHA through a dedicated division, there are nearly 35 lakh NGOs which are not registered under the FCRA and are governed by nearly 40 different laws like the Society registration Act, The Companies Act, Public Trust Act and others, and are usually governed by the laws of the states.

“There have been instances, however, where both categories of NGOs have been indulging in violations like diversion of funds and money laundering,” ministry sources claimed.

As a result, the regulatory mechanism for all FCRA and non-FCRA are also being relooked into at the moment, while the process to link them centrally is being worked out.

100 Days agitation by 100 workers per day demanding 100 days’ work without hitches - Centre for Financial Accountability (cenfa.org) https://www.cenfa.org/100-days-agitation/ The World Bank which once called the scheme as ‘a barrier to development’ later lauded it as world’s largest social security scheme.

This Govt which was cynical of the scheme continued it because of the Covid 19 pandemic during which the migrant workers who walked home hundreds of kilometres could be given at least some days of work.

Now the workers organised under MGNREGA Sangarsh Morcha, a National Collective of Trade Unions are on Dharna at Jantar Mantar. They have decided that everyday 100 workers from different states will assemble at Delhi for 100 days continuously to press for various demands which include:

• Stop mandatory linking of the Job Card with Aadhar Card and Bank Account.  Even if there is a single mistake in one of them it is difficult to correct the link.

From February 1^st 2023 payments to MGNREGS beneficiaries were to be made only through Aadhar Based Payment System (ABPS). However as on 20^th February, only 44% of total workers registered under the scheme were eligible as per The Hindu dated 27.02.2023.