The importance of George Soros’s Open Society  https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/george-soros-indian-democracy-modi-remarks-open-society-8454825/  an open society is that in which any one group neither claims to have all the answers nor gets the power to push through those ‘answers’, crushing all opponents along the way....in the 20th century the most serious contest was not between the ‘right’ and the ‘left’ or capitalism and communism. It was between open and closed societies.

Market fundamentalism, Soros argued, is a mindset which reduces virtually all human interactions to transactional, contract-based relationships that must be valued in terms of a single common denominator, money.

Read more …

https://youtu.be/3tTSfbiu_QE

Tu Zinda Hai , to zindagi ki jeet par yakeen kar
Agar Kahin hai Swarg to, Utar la zammen par
Tu Zinda Hai , to zindagi ki jeet par yakeen kar
Agar Kahin hai Swarg to, Utar la zammen par
Tu zinda hai…

Ye gam ke aur char din ,  sitam ke aur char din…
Ye din bhi jayenge guzar, guzar gaye hazar din..
Ye gam ke aur char din , sitam ke aur char din…
Ye din bhi jayenge guzar, guzar gaye hazar din..
Kabhi to hogi is chaman pe bhi bahar ki nazar
agar kahin hai swarg to , utar la zameen par
Tu zinda hai , tu zindagi ki jeet par yakeen kar
agar kahin hai swarg to , utar la zameen par
Tu zinda haaaaai…

Subah aur shaam ke range hue gagan ko choom kar
Tu sun zameen ga rahi hai , kab se jhoom jhoom kar
tu aa mera shringar kar , tu aa mujhe haseen kar
agar kahin hai swarg to , utar la zameen par
Tu zinda hai , tu zindagi ki jeet par yakeen kar
agar kahin hai swarg to , utar la zameen par
Tu zinda haaaaai…

Hazar desh dar par aaye, maut tere dwar par
Magar tujhe na chhal saki , chali gayi wo haar kar
Hazar desh dar par aaye maut tere dwar par
Magar tujhe na chhal saki, chali gayi wo haar kar
Nayi suabh ke sang sada tujhe mili nayi umar
agar kahin hai swarg to , utar la zameen par
Tu zinda hai , tu zindagi ki jeet par yakeen kar
agar kahin hai swarg to , utar la zameen par
Tu zinda haaaaai

Bombay HC Quashes Charity Commissioner's Circular Banning Anti-Corruption Phrases In Trust Names https://www.freepressjournal.in/mumbai/bombay-hc-quashes-charity-commissioners-circular-banning-anti-corruption-phrases-in-trust-names
The Bombay High Court on Friday quashed a circular issued by the Charity Commissioner prohibiting use of the phrases on corruption for the names of charitable organisations and trusts observing “Naam mein kya rakha hai” 

The bench highlighted that fighting corruption and protecting human rights align with the legal definition of “charitable purpose” under the Maharashtra Public Trusts Act. They reasoned that these causes serve the public interest, stating, “Corruption has significant negative effects on all areas of human wellbeing and is perceived as one of the major problems, jeopardising economic development, the functioning and legitimacy of government institutions, the rule of law, and the validity of the State itself.

The RSS Must Confront Its Crisis of Vision   https://thewire.in/religion/the-rss-must-confront-its-crisis-of-vision  Harish Khare 03/Dec/2024 Even Bhagwat has felt compelled to restrain the more extreme elements within his fold, admonishing them against searching for a trishul under every mosque. But therein lies the problem.

The RSS has built a vast ecosystem of respectability. This includes eminent personalities – retired Supreme Court judges, generals, bureaucrats, IPS and IFS officers, middle-class professionals, and even housewives and grandmothers – singing the tune of a “Hindu renaissance” scripted in Nagpur.

The organisation is now reduced to banalities, such as advocating for Hindus in Bangladesh or urging families to “produce three children.”

Global Risks 2024: Disinformation Tops Global Risks 2024 as Environmental Threats Intensify https://www.weforum.org/press/2024/01/global-risks-report-2024-press-release/  The nexus between falsified information and societal unrest will take centre stage amid elections in several major economies that are set to take place in the next two years. Interstate armed conflict is a top five concern over the next two years. With several live conflicts under way, underlying geopolitical tensions and corroding societal resilience risk are creating conflict contagion.

the report also explores other types of action that need not be exclusively dependent on cross-border cooperation, such as shoring up individual and state resilience through digital literacy campaigns on misinformation and disinformation, or fostering greater research and development on climate modelling and technologies with the potential to speed up the energy transition, with both public and private sectors playing a role.

Solidarity is our Strength 

The recent raid on APCR’s Delhi office and the unjust targeting of Nadeem Khan is a blatant attempt to intimidate activists . Charging him with “promoting enmity” and “criminal conspiracy” for highlighting constitutional guidelines against mob lynching and punitive demolitions is a direct attack on free speech and democracy. Such acts of state overreach aim to silence dissent and criminalize activism. We must stand united against this repression of human rights activists . Advocating for justice is not a crime— Let’s collective resist these undemocratic actions and safeguarding the values of freedom and equality.

Gaza ~ 7th October Truth

@GenFlynn #October7Massacre #Hamas_Is_Isi
"Someone held the military and gave an order from above not to do anything in a 7-hour window so that Hamas could complete the mission. This is not a coincidence."

First time a senior American security official claims there was betrayal in the IDF. Gaza ~ 7th October Truth

 I’m Used To It But ‘Endangering Sovereignty’ Is Too Much’: Fact Checker Mohd Zubair Faces Gravest Criminal Case Yet
Betwa Sharma  https://article-14.com/post/-i-m-used-to-it-but-endangering-sovereignty-is-too-much-fact-checker-mohd-zubair-faces-gravest-criminal-case-yet--674d39ead4fec 

After the Supreme Court granted him bail in the UP cases in July 2022—23 days after he was arrested—and disbanded the special investigation team in UP and moved the matters to the Delhi police. The new section 152 BNS, which the police had invoked was the gravest yet, and regarded by lawyers and human rights activists as the new avatar of the colonial era section of sedition under the IPC. 

    “He was never asked to join the investigation in the other FIRs. It has been more than two years. No chargesheet has been filed. They are lying dormant,” said Vrinda Grover, one of India’s most famous human rights lawyers who is representing Zubair. “That tells us there was nothing ever serious in terms of investigation that was required.”

As Zubair has persisted with his work, not only have his supporters have grown but also his detractors and with them the narrative that he is “anti India” and “anti Hindu”, a trope used by the  right wing to discredit and harass people who question or criticise the ruling party, its allies, and Islamophobes who spew hate against minorities. 

India banned a Chinese app four years ago. Government agencies are still using it https://restofworld.org/2024/india-banned-camscanner-government-agencies/  The Election Commission is not the only Indian government-adjacent entity still using this banned scanning app. Rest of World found 30 other instances of documents uploaded by government departments and ministries that were scanned with CamScanner .

the Indian government has not clearly communicated to the public why it has banned the app. Raman Jit Singh Chima, Asia Pacific policy director and senior international counsel at Access Now says.. “The CamScanner blocking was a political action and less a cybersecurity one, Most experts agree that bans aren’t the best way to protect national security, especially when they target tech from a single nation of origin. “The way to go forward is to have policies in place that all companies, all applications have to follow,” Rajmohan said, adding that India needs to have robust national cyber security policy and data protection laws that foreign and domestic firms must comply with.