'Hate crime': Minorities in Gujarat face targeted attacks; report reveals 55 incidents in 2022 https://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2024/Jan/26/hate-crime-minorities-in-gujarat-face-targeted-attacks-report-reveals-55-incidents-in-2022  Report by the Minority Coordination Committee (MCC)  documents a total of 55 unsettling incidents, with 53 assaults directed towards Muslims and two incidents targeting Christians, prompting a closer examination of the challenges faced by minority groups in the state.

The MCC report titled 'TARGETED: DOCUMENTING INCIDENTS AFFECTING MINORITIES IN GUJARAT' was released in October 2023, with seventy leaders from various areas of the state collaborating to acquire and compile material and produce the study.

Report for 2023: \6246 -Targeted_Report 2023.pdf" (to be uploaded)

‘Serious job’: How a collective in election-bound India fights hate speech  https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/5/7/how-a-collective-in-indias-karnataka-is-standing-up-to-hate-ahead-of-polls  Hate Speech Beda trains volunteers from across the southern state of Karnataka on using the law to combat hate crimes. It’s an uphill battle, but they’re not giving up.

India: Increased Abuses Against Minorities, Critics...
https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/01/11/india-increased-abuses-against-minorities-critics
The Indian government undermined its aspirations for global leadership as a rights-  The BJP government’s discriminatory and divisive policies have led to increased
violence against minorities, creating a pervasive environment of fear and a chilling effect
on government critics,” said Meenakshi Ganguly, deputy Asia director at Human Rights
Watch. “Instead of holding those responsible for abuses to account, the authorities
chose to punish the victims, and persecuted anyone who questioned these actions.”
In the 740-page World Report 2024, its 34th edition, Human Rights Watch reviews
human rights practices in more than 100 countries.

'EVMs more robust than Hezbollah pagers': EC shoots down Cong claim' https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/evms-more-robust-than-hezbollah-pagers-ec-shoots-down-cong-claim/articleshow/114262468.cms

WA by SS:  It's a constitutional body speaking or the IT Cell??? Mark the tone, tenor and the language.

It's quite another thing that Rashid Alvi's demand under the obtaining circumstances is stupendously stupid and utterly suicidal. The "Chandigarh Mayoral poll" is enough of an illustration. The EC must of course come clean on the complaints and the demands, as regards the Haryana state poll, of by far the largest opposition party in the state, and also the main opposition party nationally, within a reasonable timeframe.
If it doesn't, no stone should be left unturned to make it discharge its mandated task.

The Right to Live Under the Grip of UAPA  Eenadu 15.10-2024

Professor Saibaba, who languished in prison for ten years for a crime he did not commit, passed away last Saturday. With a 90% disability, he endured a hellish experience in a dark cell. He was not even allowed to see his mother one last time when she passed away. 

The Bombay High Court, which determined that there was no evidence to support the charges against Saibaba, overturned his life sentence last March, describing the criminal proceedings against him as a 'judicial failure.' 

Read more …

India rejects EU demand to audit Indian Financial Firms. RBI, SEBI reject EU's jurisdiction.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHoUK-poBws 11 oct 2024

https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/markets/indian-regulators-may-follow-2013-formula-to-deal-with-europe-regulator-on-clearing-corporations/article66104661.ece  Last week, ESMA de-recognised six Indian CCs due to “no co-operation arrangements” between ESMA and the Indian regulators and set April 2023 deadline for the European banks to stop doing business with them. But the view in India is that an agreement with the ESMA would give it the power to deeply supervise Indian CCs, which have a status of core (also sensitive) market infrastructure institutions. Nov 2022

India Will Not Let Europe Audit Domestic Financial Settlement Firms: https://www.ndtvprofit.com/business/indian-financial-regulators-not-to-give-in-to-europes-auditing-demands-report-3506303 Report  10 Nov 2022

Finance lobbies call on India and EU to cut a deal amid RBI-ESMA rift over clearing houses  https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/banking/finance/banking/finance-lobbies-call-on-india-and-eu-to-cut-a-deal-amid-rbi-esma-rift-over-clearing-houses/articleshow/97786695.cms

https://www.naavi.org/wp/india-stands-up-against-eu-demand/  Four EU banks namely, Credit Agricole, Societe Generale, Deutsche Bank, and BNP Paribas have sought RBI and ESMA (European Securities and Market Authority) to resolve the differences. The point of controversy is that ESMA wants a right to audit CCIL (Clearing Corporation of India) in order to allow the EU Banks invest in Indian securities through CCIL.,,

According to the report in Business Standard the concerns revolve around client confidentiality, in the context of third-party clearing, especially for custodian banks tasked with holding securities on behalf of other financial entities.

Banks have now sought an extension of at least 6 months from their national regulators to provide extension of the current deadline.

 हरियाणा में भयंकर धांधली का खुलासा, कांग्रेस ने सौंपी रिपोर्ट, फंसा चुनाव आयोग! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XnT0YBMfrA  
13.10.2024 Congress prepares report on EVM rigging in Haryana elections, actual figures will blow your mind! Election Commission badly trapped in its own game, will it be forced to do re-counting? 
 The names of these 20 seats include the assembly constituencies of Haryana where Congress has accused irregularities Narnol Karnal Bawali Rewari Hodal Kalka Panipat City Indri Badkhal Faridabad NIT Nalwa Rania Pataudi Pallav Vallabhgarh Barwala Uchana Kala Gond Kausli and Badshahpur.

The Imaginal Cells of the Solidarity Economy: Community Ownership https://nonprofitquarterly.org/the-imaginal-cells-of-the-solidarity-economy-community-ownership/ Mindy Barbakoff, Minnie McMahon, Amaha Sellassie and Steve Dubb 

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVgPpN9i9pQlyoW43AoR5Pq9yqzkOB6C0  

 The Imaginal Cells of the Solidarity Economy: Politics & Policy https://youtu.be/vbxAi7i_4wY?list=PLVgPpN9i9pQlyoW43AoR5Pq9yqzkOB6C0  Sep 26, 2023   The Imaginal Cells of the Solidarity Economy will showcase the myriad ways that solidarity economy practices are providing models and pathways to build a more cooperative, democratic, equitable, and sustainable world--one in which many worlds fit.   joined by David Cobb, Lydia Lopez, Jyoung Carolyn Park, Kali Akuno, and

Participatory Budgeting Project by Petula Hanley https://youtu.be/vbxAi7i_4wY?list=PLVgPpN9i9pQlyoW43AoR5Pq9yqzkOB6C0&t=233

Freefall In India’s Academic Freedom Ranking Is Reflected In Cancelled Lectures At IIT Bombay & Elsewhere https://article-14.com/post/freefall-in-india-s-academic-freedom-ranking-is-reflected-in-cancelled-lectures-at-iit-bombay-elsewhere-670749ce2fd0f   Since November 2023, IIT-Bombay has prohibited teachers and students from organising events that “may be viewed as political” without permission. Talk by at least four prominent intellectuals and experts, including environmentalist and historian Ramachandra Guha and cultural activist Ganesh Devy. In three cases, the events were called off at the last minute. 

The Academic Freedom Index , released by the FAU Institute of Political Science in Germany and the V-Dem Institute in Sweden, placed India in the “completely restricted” category—countries where restrictions on academic freedom are consistently applied across all academic disciplines.  From 2013 to 2023, India’s AFI ranking slipped from 0.6 to 0.2 on a scale of 0 to 1.  India was in the bottom 30% of 179 countries, lower than Pakistan, Congo, and Russia.

Recording Conversation With Officer In Police Station Is Not An Offence Under Official Secrets Act: Bombay High Court  https://www.livelaw.in/high-court/bombay-high-court/bombay-high-court-recording-conversation-in-police-station-official-secrets-act-271880 A division bench of Justices Vibha Kankanwadi and Santosh Chapalgaonkar, sitting in Aurangabad, quashed an FIR lodged against two brothers, one of whom works as a Constable with the Mumbai Police
Narsi Benwal

https://www.the420.in/bombay-high-court-official-secrets-act-recording-police-station/ According to the court, a police station does not qualify as a “prohibited place” under Section 2(8) of the Act, which defines where breaches of official secrecy can be charged. Additionally, the court emphasized that Section 3 of the Official Secrets Act deals with “Penalties for spying,” and the activities conducted in a police station do not fall under its purview.

The court quashed the spying charges but declined to interfere with the charges under the IPC, allowing the criminal conspiracy charges to be further examined in a lower court.

https://www.scconline.com/blog/post/2024/10/08/making-audio-recording-of-conversation-in-police-station-no-offence-u-s-3-official-secrets-act-bomhc/ Counsel for respondents opposed the application and submitted that Applicant 1 was unnecessarily making video and Applicant 2, who was also in police service, was threatening the informant and other police persons present in the police station.... The Court opined that contents of FIR did speak about insult or intimidation and thus, it was left open to the Court concerned to see whether charge needs to be framed under Section 120-B or Section 34 of IPC....

Why the Vote For Democracy report was important https://indjournals.in/why-the-vote-for-democracy-report-was-important/ 
by Vinod ChandOctober 8, 2024

https://votefordemocracy.org.in/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/FINAL-VFD-Report-July-30-2024.pdf   BJP got away with murder of democracy via a allegedly compromised Election Commission. The opposition did not raise a hue and cry and did not even go to court with this report. It accepted the verdict and allowed Narendra Modi to form a government and that emboldened him and the EC to do what it has done in Haryana. there is a lesson for the opposition, especially Congress, in this. They should not any opportunity go by to expose the EC and the BJP. If they let go of such opportunities, then they will face the same fate as they are now doing in Haryana.

Maharashtra and Jharkhand are next. In both these states too, journalists and commentators are painting a sorry figure for BJP.

With the help of EC and with the sops that are being handed out, BJP may well pull a rabbit out of the hat and surprise the opposition.