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Call for Proposals: Europe Offers Grant to Civil Society Organizations
The total budget of 120,000 euros will be divided into three separate grants.
The Council of Europe’s Democratic Institutions and Civil Society Division has launched a grant for non-governmental organizations (NGOs). It aims to foster democratic culture and strengthen the engagement of citizens in decision making in their countries, and to enhance the mutual engagement between the Council of Europe and civil society organizations.
The total budget of 120,000 euros will be divided into three separate grants. This call for proposals aims to co-fund projects designed to strengthen the interaction, dialogue and exchanges between the Council of Europe and European civil society. The deadline for submitting offers is 1 December 2024. Project proposals must meet two main criteria:
raise awareness about the work and standards of the Council of Europe to make member states more resilient to pressures undermining democratic values, promote democratic governance and enhance civil participation in political decision-making, including the Reykjavik Principles for Democracy, and how these can be used by civil society actors to advance their causes
raise awareness about existing cooperation and interaction between the Council of Europe and civil society and help to identify new opportunities in this regard.
The projects shall be carried out by an international non-governmental organization (INGO), umbrella non-governmental organization or coalition or network of NGOs with strong expertise and experience in advocacy, policymaking, and representation of interests in the areas of democracy, human rights and/or the rule of law and with expertise in the Council of Europe standards and/or with experience in cooperation with the Council of Europe.
My house – 463, DPS Apts., Plot No. 16, Sector 4, Dwarka, Phase I, New Delhi 110 078 – being broken with lethal construction. Rakesh Raman
Why Is My House Being Broken in Delhi?
As I have been complaining against this criminal activity, I am receiving continuous threats including death threats from the criminals.
Friends, my name is Rakesh Raman. I am a journalist and live in Dwarka area of New Delhi. I have been facing extreme misery and numerous threats to drive me out of my home.
I am a victim of increasing corruption, illegal construction, environmental crime, and human rights violations as a citywide scandal led by builders’ mafia in connivance with senior government officials is happening in Delhi.
Thousands of children, men, and women (including senior citizens) are suffering because of this criminal activity. As this environmental crime has also been happening in my housing society (DPS CGHS, Sector 4, Dwarka, New Delhi) for the past 5 years, it has caused serious physical and professional damage to me.
In response to the complaints filed by me in this case, the government has initiated an investigation against some IAS officers. Also, in response to my complaint against this crime to the Supreme Court of India, a vigilance investigation has been initiated through the Delhi High Court against a judge, who is involved in this crime as he passed an order to resume construction that was declared unauthorized by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) in my housing society DPS CGHS.
However, despite a continuous exchange of letters from one government department to another, the environmental crime including lethal construction and corruption has not stopped in my housing society DPS CGHS.
Rather, the intensity of damage at my house is increasing exponentially as the haphazard construction has completely damaged my flat and it has become almost impossible for me to live in my own home.
My house (at 6th Floor) has been completely broken with illegal construction and it is risky for me to move out on the balconies which have been broken and left uncovered. Moreover, dirty water flows into my rooms making it difficult for me to even sit there.
The police have informed me that an FIR under Section 304-A and other IPC sections has been filed for lethal construction at DPS CGHS and because of which a construction worker died. However, the police deliberately did not include the names of the management committee (MC) members of DPS CGHS who are responsible for this death. And even after the death and multiple accidents in the building, the police, Registrar Cooperative Societies (RCS) Office of Delhi Government, and DDA have not stopped dangerous construction at DPS CGHS.
I have learnt that the previous DPS CGHS MC members have quit to avoid legal action, but the new MC members who have continued the criminal activity of damaging construction are equally responsible for causing harm to life and property in the society building. It is apparent that the criminal DPS CGHS MC members – supported by builders’ mafia – are bribing officials at Delhi Police, RCS Office, and DDA to continue this crime.
As I have been complaining against this criminal activity, I am receiving continuous threats including death threats from the criminals. I have reported about these threats to different authorities including the police and the National Human Rights Commission of India (NHRC). But the police have not taken any action against the culprits.
Now I appeal to all honest government officers and citizens to help me save my house from lethal construction so that I could live and work peacefully.
This painful story is of Rakesh Raman who is a national award-winning journalist and founder of the humanitarian organization RMN Foundation in Delhi. You can support him in this campaign to protect his house and right to live freely in Delhi. Thank You.
Contact
Rakesh Raman Editor, RMN News Service [ Website ] Founder, RMN Foundation [ Website ] 463, DPS Apts., Plot No. 16, Sector 4 Dwarka, Phase I, New Delhi 110 078, India WhatsApp / Mobile: 9810319059 | Contact by Email
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Recommendations to Restore the Credibility of the Indian Judiciary
The excerpts from the “India Judicial Research Report 2024: Decline of the Indian Judiciary” are given below.
In order to restore the credibility of the Indian judiciary, some of the recommendations are given below.
Screening of Judges: The judges should not be appointed without proper live-streamed interviews with them by select committees of honest judges and reputed citizens after making the profiles and records of candidates public on a dedicated website. The open interviews with candidates should be on the lines of congressional hearings in the United States. This method should be applied to the existing judges also. Only those judges should be appointed in high courts and the Supreme Court who would not take government jobs or any other undue benefit after retirement.
Qualification of Lawyers: Only those people should be allowed to operate as advocates in courts who have obtained their law degrees from top colleges or universities. They should first clear a proper test comprising English, communications, law, technology, etc. before allocating a court to them. Their record and the fee they charge should be publicly available on a government-monitored website.
Lateral Entry: The courts can provide lateral entry to qualified professionals and domain experts to work as lawyers. Such lateral entry is already being provided in Indian civil services where professionals from the private sector are allowed to work as Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Police Service (IPS), and Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officers.
Academic Courses: The law colleges and universities should revamp their courses and pedagogical methodologies to produce professionals who can work in the evolving legal ecosystem driven by new technologies and communication systems.
Formation of Juries: Since at present, the judges and lawyers are not fully qualified, there should be a mandatory provision to form independent juries to deliver the final verdict in certain types of cases. A jury is a group of qualified people who participate in a court trial to decide if a person is guilty or not guilty, or to decide a claim.
Technology for Judgments: In order to minimize the human intervention in the process of court decisions, artificial intelligence (AI)-based technology expert systems should be deployed in each court to evaluate the correctness of judgments. The litigants should be given the option to use the AI expert systems to get the court decisions vetted. Action should be taken against judges whose judgments fail the AI test repeatedly.
Legal Aid: It should be made compulsory for fully qualified advocates to provide free legal aid in all types of courts. These advocates must be selected after properly testing their communication skills, language skills, technology skills, and knowledge of law. There should be a proper mechanism for clients to complain against the dishonest or unskilled advocates.
Online Court Cases: At present, the e-filing systems are almost extinct. The digital interfaces to accept and manage court cases must be simplified so that more litigants can use them without hiring the services of advocates. Since the free email services such as Gmail, Hotmail, and Yahoo Mail are behaving erratically, the litigants should be given the option to simply upload their documents on all court websites with acknowledgement sent back to the litigant.
Courage of Judges: All judges should work courageously without any fear of the criminal politicians. They should get inspired from judge Loya who died in mysterious circumstances, but many believe that he was murdered because he did not succumb to threats from certain politicians who were facing criminal cases.
Committee of Domain Experts: Instead of forming committees of traditional bureaucrats or court staff to supervise various legal processes, the Supreme Court and the government should form a top-level committee of domain experts who understand law, technology, communications, and public relations. This group of experts should redevelop and revamp the court processes.
You can click here to know more about the “India Judicial Research Report 2024: Decline of the Indian Judiciary”.
Contact
Rakesh Raman Editor, RMN News Service [ Website ] Founder, RMN Foundation [ Website ] 463, DPS Apts., Plot No. 16, Sector 4 Dwarka, Phase I, New Delhi 110 078, India WhatsApp / Mobile: 9810319059 | Contact by Email
Donation: Indian donors can click here to donate online to RMN Foundation / RMN News Service and you can also click here to donate with PayPal.
U.S. Commission Recommends Action on Modi Government
The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has recommended a harsh penalty on India for continuous attacks on religious minorities including Sikhs in the country and transnational repression.
Canadian PM Justin Trudeau alleged Indian authorities’ involvement in the killing of Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada, which was followed by a plot to kill Gurpatwant Singh Pannun in the United States. Like Pannun, Nijjar also supported the demand for a separate Sikh state, Khalistan.
Senior citizens in a group housing society of Dwarka in New Delhi urge the government to save them from dust and noise pollution of extended FAR construction activity. Photo and Campaign by Rakesh Raman / RMN News Service (file photo)
RTI Application to Seek Floor Area Ratio (FAR) Construction Information from DDA
As a journalist and environmental activist, I have been running citywide campaigns to stop FAR construction.
Floor Area Ratio (FAR) Construction in Delhi’s Cooperative Group Housing Societies (CGHS) is a dangerous work which spreads harmful pollution and causes accidents in housing complexes where people (men, women, children, and senior citizens) are living.
As a journalist and environmental activist, I have been running citywide campaigns to stop FAR construction. In March / April 2024, I had sent RTI applications to various departments including Delhi Development Authority (DDA), Delhi Police, Registrar Cooperative Societies (RCS) of Delhi Government, and Delhi Fire Service (DFS) to seek FAR information.
But none of these departments gave me the information that I demanded in my RTI applications because FAR work is a massive construction-cum-corruption scheme being run in Delhi by builders’ mafia in connivance with criminal management committee (MC) members of housing societies and corrupt government officials.
Again, I sent the following RTI application to DDA.
To October 3, 2024
The Public Information Officer (PIO) Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), Government of India / DDA
Subject: RTI Application to Seek Information under the Right to Information Act 2005 Name of the Applicant: Rakesh Raman
Dear PIO at MoHUA / Delhi Development Authority (DDA),
Please provide me with the following information under the RTI Act:
1. List of Cooperative Group Housing Societies of Delhi where Floor Area Ratio* (FAR) construction has been approved / sanctioned during 2018 to 2024.
2. List of Cooperative Group Housing Societies of Delhi where Floor Area Ratio (FAR) construction has been stopped during 2018 to 2024.
3. List of Cooperative Group Housing Societies of Delhi where Floor Area Ratio (FAR) construction projects are being carried out by Design N Design Architects.
4. List of Cooperative Group Housing Societies of Delhi where Floor Area Ratio (FAR) construction projects are being carried out by Om Star Constructions Pvt Ltd.
5. List of Cooperative Group Housing Societies of Delhi from where residents have complained against Floor Area Ratio (FAR) construction during 2018 to 2024.
6. List of Cooperative Group Housing Societies of Delhi from where residents have filed court cases against Floor Area Ratio (FAR) construction.
7. Give me the official / DDA website address on which all FAR information is uploaded.
*Floor Area Ratio (FAR) or extended construction to add more rooms, balconies, etc. in occupied housing societies of Delhi. You can click here to watch a video and click here to read a report on FAR construction.
If this information is not available in your office, please forward my application to the concerned public information authority to seek information and provide it to me.
Note: Delhi residents who oppose FAR construction can send me their complaints on the “Clean House” service that I have been running for the past 7 years to report about crime and corruption in housing societies. You can click here to know the process for filing your complaint.
ByRakesh Raman, who is a national award-winning journalist and social activist. He is the founder of the humanitarian organizationRMN Foundation which is working in diverse areas to help the disadvantaged and distressed people in the society.
Rakesh Raman Editor, RMN News Service [ Website ] Founder, RMN Foundation [ Website ] 463, DPS Apts., Plot No. 16, Sector 4
Dwarka, Phase I, New Delhi 110 078, India WhatsApp / Mobile: 9810319059 | Contact by Email
