"It is their duty to bring such shortcomings to the fore.... But, as much as the media has the right to criticise, it also has an equally important responsibility to bring positive news to the fore," Modi exhorted.
He was speaking at the bicentennial celebrations of 'Mumbai Samachar' -- a Gujarati daily, published from Mumbai continuously for the past 200 years and now ranking among the 50 oldest newspapers in the world.
In this context, Modi lauded the manner in which journalists worked like 'karmayogis' during the past 2 years of the Corona pandemic which will be remembered forever.
"The positive contribution of India's media helped India a lot in dealing with this biggest crisis of 100 years. He also lauded the media's role in promoting initiatives like digital payment and Swachh Bharat Abhiyan," said Modi.
The Prime Minister said that this country has a rich tradition that is carried forward through the medium of debates and discussions.
"For thousands of years, we have conducted healthy debate, healthy criticism and right reasoning as a part of the social system. We have open and healthy discussions on very difficult social topics. This has been the practice of India, which we have to strengthen," he said.
In his address, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray expressed amazement that a Gujarati language newspaper could be published for a staggering two centuries in a state where Marathi is the main language of the masses.
"This is the beauty of Mumbai which has assimilated all languages and cultures which thrive here... we also know the challenges and travails of running a newspaper," said Thackeray, lauding 'Mumbai Samachar' for its contributions to the city, state, nation and the overall media, and vowing to start reading it from "tomorrow".
On the occasion, Modi released a commemorative India Post stamp on the two-century old paper, which the city's Gujarati-speaking communities comprising Gujaratis, Jains, Dawoodi Bohras, Khojas, Memons and others, swear by.
'Mumbai Samachar' started as a weekly on July 1, 1822 by Fardunjee Marzbanji, and later after several 'avatars', became a daily in 1832, and has been continuously printed and published from its headquarters in the Fort area of south Mumbai for the past 200 years.
The journalist named Mukesh Gupta was having his dinner late Thursday night when he was shot at, they said.
He was rushed to Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College Hospital, police said.
Pramod Kumar, another journalist who was present on the spot when the attack took place, told PTI, "The assailant walked up towards us and asked two of us to move out of the way while he threatened to put Mukesh in the proper place. He placed his pistol on Mukesh's neck and later fired towards his lower abdomen."
The Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Mohammad Asad told PTI that the patient "is out of danger as the bullet missed vital organs."
He expressed confidence that the patient will pull through.
The unidentified gunman chased Pramod and two other journalists present there but they managed to escape from the spot and inform police about the incident.
"Our teams are narrowing down on the likely assailant involved in shooting at a journalist," Senior Superintendent of Police Kalanidhi Naithani told PTI.
Police have initiated an investigation into the matter, they added.
RSF said the threats, interrogations and arbitrary arrests of journalists have increased. These actions are in violation of Afghanistan's press law, it said.
According to RSF, since the Islamic Emirate regained power in August last year, at least 50 journalists and media workers have been detained, lasting from several hours to nearly a week.
"Threatening to rip out journalists' tongues in order to prevent them from covering certain subjects is completely unacceptable," said Reza Moini, the head of RSF's Iran-Afghanistan desk. "Journalists must be able to practice their profession without being under a permanent threat of arrest and torture. These unlawful threats, which violate Afghanistan's media legislation, are all the more horrifying for coming at a time of growing harassment and increasingly restrictive rules for the right to news and information."
According to RSF, the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice has also issued a decree in November last year defining certain rules for media in Afghanistan.
The International Federation of Journalists also raised concerns on the status of media in Afghanistan, saying at least 318 media outlets have closed since the fall of the Western-backed government in 33 of 34 provinces in Afghanistan.
"The crisis has hit newspapers the hardest with just 20 out of 114 continuing to publish," the report read. "Fifty one TV stations, 132 radio stations and 49 online media outlets have ceased operations according to the report compiled for the IFJ."
Critically injured, Satyasundar Bhanja has been admitted to the Capital hospital for treatment. As per reports, two miscreants came in a bike and tried to snatch the cell phone from Satyasundar.
An altercation ensued and when he resisted, the duo murderously attacked him with an iron rod and fled the scene with the mobile phone.
Victim Satyasundar has suffered injuries on his head and received eight stitches, but he is currently stated to be out of danger.
The accused has been identified as one Raghunath Sahu alias Raja, chief of the Bhubaneswar-based web channel operating out of Raghunathpur. As per reports, the police had been hunting for him since ever since the case was filed on August 28. Sources said the police busted his hideout following a protracted operation that continued for about nine days.
On August 28 (Saturday), the Commissionerate Police had arrested five persons, including a woman journalist working for the private web channel on charges of kidnapping and torturing a businessman and his associate.
The accused allegedly held the duo hostage at an isolated place in the outskirts of Bhubaneswar and demanded an extortion of Rs 10 lakh for their release.
The kidnapped duo was allegedly tortured and beaten up by the accused for two consecutive days. The duo was released only after their family members reportedly paid a ransom amount of Rs 50,000 to the abductors.
Briefing media about the arrest of the kingpin, DCP of Bhubaneswar, Uma Shankar Dash on Monday said, “A Special Squad was formed to nab the accused who is the Chief Editor and owner of the web channel in Bhubaneswar. As per the preliminary investigation, he was the mastermind behind this crime.”
“Further investigation into the case is being carried out and we can only be able to say about their modus operandi after completion of the probe,” Dash added.
She lodged the FIR against the duo at the Mahila Police Station in Bhubaneswar alleging harassment by them by publishing news stories about her character and the performance at the Games.
Meanwhile, Chand also moved the civil court in Bhubaneswar demanding compensation of Rs 5 Crore from the journalist for defaming her and subsequently causing her to lose advertisement contracts with several corporate houses.
Addressing a press conference on Thursday, Chand alleged that the news stories published by the duo have hurt her a lot and she underwent stress subsequently affecting her performance at the Games.
It is worthwhile to mention here that Chand had failed to qualify for the semifinals in the women's 200m event in Tokyo Olympics on August 2.
Running in heat 4 on track 2 of the Olympic Stadium, Dutee finished with her season's best timing of 23.85 seconds which was not good enough to qualify her for the semifinals as she finished a distant seventh. She was nowhere near her personal best of 23.00 seconds.
The 25-year-old had qualified for Tokyo Olympics on the basis of World Rankings after being unable to breach the automatic qualification mark of 11.15 seconds.
Leader of Opposition and Chairman of the House Committee, Narasingha Mishra said Abhijit Iyer has sent an email in which he has mentioned to have committed 'unpardonable mistake' and accepted his fault.
“But, as the House committee issued notice to Abhijit Iyer to appear before it, he is bound to obey it. Considering the cyclone Titli and cancellation of trains and flights, the House Committee was of opinion that he might have been unable to depose due to such reasons and did not intend to dishonour the panel," said Mishra.
Mishra further informed that a notice will be soon served to Iyer to appear in person on October 23 and the DGP has been directed in this regard.
The House Committee constituted by Odisha Assembly had earlier summoned Iyer to depose before it in connection with the breach of privilege motion moved against him.
It is pertinent to mention here that Iyer was arrested by the Odisha Police with the help of Delhi Police on September 20 on the charges of hurting religious sentiments of the people. However, a Delhi court had later granted him bail against a bail bond of Rs 1 lakh and directed him to cooperate in the probe by Konark Police.
Iyer was criticised for a tweet posted on November 16, 2017 in which he wrote: “Odisha was discovered by Bengali explorers, who called it “OriShala!!! And it was named Orissa”.
He also wrote that Jagannath Temple was built by the Gangas, who were disgraced Pallava Tamil retainers. “…no such thing as Orissa, just the wild southern provinces of undivided Bengal,” Iyer had tweeted.
Earlier this month, the Supreme Court (SC) had rejected the bail plea of Iyer in connection with a case filed against him for making the objectionable remarks.
Declining to provide relief from arrest, the apex court had ruled that bail cannot be granted to Iyer as said as the scribe has hurt religious sentiments of people.
Delhi Saket Court granted conditional bail to Iyer till September 28 on a surety of Rs 1 lakh and has directed him to depose before Konark Police Station after completion of the period for further investigation.
Meanwhile, the Court has also rejected Odisha police's plea to take Iyer on transit remand as it failed to produce necessary documents.
Iyer was arrested in Delhi today on charges of making derogatory remarks against Odisha. As per reports, Iyer was taken to hospital for a medical examination and produced before Saket court .
He was reportedly detained at the Hazrat Nizamuddin police station and questioned in connection with the incident.
Earlier, Abhijit’s journalist friend Aarti Tikoo Singh, had tweeted about the arrest.
So Odisha Police has arrested my friend @Iyervval for his satirical humor because it “hurt religious sentiments”. This is the other side of Indian democracy where religious sentiment supersedes and prevails over all other fundamental rights. We remain stuck in Middle Ages. Shame.
— Aarti Tikoo Singh (@AartiTikoo) September 20, 2018
Apparently, Odisha Police has detained him without a warrant and no one knows his whereabouts.
— Aarti Tikoo Singh (@AartiTikoo) September 20, 2018
Earlier in the day, Odisha Assembly Speaker Pradip Amat today approved the proposal for a House Committee to investigate the matter.
While Leader of Opposition Narasingha Mishra will be the chairman of the House Committee, Debi Mishra, KV Singh Deo, Pramila Mallick, Arun Sahoo and Sanjay Das Burma are the other members of the Committee.
This apart, leaders cutting across party lines slammed journalist Abhijit Iyer in the Odisha Assembly today for his alleged derogatory remarks on Odisha.
On the last day of the monsoon session of the Assembly, members participated in a privilege motion and demanded stringent action against Iyer.
As soon as the Assembly started, Leader of Opposition Narasingha Mishra raked up the issue in the House and moved a privilege motion against the journalist.
Speaker Pradip Amat accepted the privilege motion and allowed fora discussion on the issue in the House.
"Remarks of Abhijit Iyer have disrespected and hurt the sentiments of the people of Odisha and Odia language. He should be summoned to the State and the House should decide on the quantum of punishment," said Mishra.
BJP's Pradip Purohit and Congress chief whip Tara Prasad Bahinipati also demanded that the House should decide on the action that should be initiated against the journalist.
"We demand stringent punishment against him and will not leave House till an announcement on this is made," said Bahinipati.
Meanwhile, Purohit criticised the Chief Minister for his absence during the privilege motion discussion.
Members of the treasury bench including Arun Sahoo and Pratap Jena also participated in the debate and demanded exemplary action against Abhijit Iyer.
Later Amat convened an all-party meeting after adjourning the proceedings of the House for 20 minutes.
Working journalists also submitted a memorandum to Odisha CM, Assembly Speaker and Leader of Opposition demanding stringent action against Abhijit Iyer for his derogatory remarks against them.
Earlier, Mitra was criticised for a tweet which he had tweeted on November 16, 2017, and in which the scribe wrote: “Odisha was discovered by Bengali explorers, who called it “OriShala!!! And it was named Orissa”.
He also wrote that Jagannath temple was built by the Gangas, who were disgraced Pallava Tamil retainers. “…no such thing as Orissa, just the wild southern provinces of undivided Bengal,” Mitra had tweeted.
Chairman of House Committee, Narasingha Mishra, said that Mitra will re-appear before the House Committee tomorrow to submit the affidavit.
"Mitra didn't submit the affidavit today. He asked us for some time that we have allowed. We have directed him to file the affidavit tomorrow at 11:00 AM and also told him that it will be his last opportunity," Mishra said.
On October 23, Iyer had tendered an unconditional apology for his derogatory remarks.
Odisha Assembly speaker Pradip Amat on September 20 had constituted a House Committee to probe the journalist's alleged derogatory remarks against the state and its lawmakers.
Mitra was criticised for a tweet which he had tweeted on November 16, 2017, and in which the scribe wrote: “Odisha was discovered by Bengali explorers, who called it “OriShala!!! And it was named Orissa”.
He also wrote that Jagannath temple was built by the Gangas, who were disgraced Pallava Tamil retainers. “...no such thing as Orissa, just the wild southern provinces of undivided Bengal,” Mitra had tweeted.
All the prominent political parties of Odisha strongly condemned Mitra for his tweets and demanded action against him.
"Such remarks are not acceptable at all. Strict action should be taken against such people," BJP legislator, Pradeep Purohit said.
Similarly, BJD spokesperson Samir Das said, "The way he has commented on Lord Jagannath and Odisha is completely condemnable. So, strict action should be taken against him.”
Congress leader Tara Prasad Bahinipati said "Lord Jagannath is the lord of the entire world. I don't know who this guy Abhijit is, but we should not give importance to such a worthless person."
Also Read: Chopper Conspiracy: While Police Summons Have Discrepancies, Minister Too Changes Version
Meanwhile, former MP Baijayant Jay Panda, whose helicopter was seized while flying over Chilika along with Abhijit Iyer has also condemned the latter’s act.
“The video was made when they went on a road trip & I was not present with them, but I condemn it. We should be sensitive about our religious places, heritage, tradition and history. So making parody on such subjects is unwarranted. I am proud of our history & heritage,” Jay Panda said through a YouTube video.
Starting from his entry into politics to gaining “Mr. Clean” image to the Pandian controversy, the biography covers major aspects of Naveen Patnaik’s life and times.
“Naveen appeared to be refreshingly innocent, a breath of fresh air in a putrid environment. In more ways than one, Naveen was the Arvind Kejriwal of his time, the clean political outsider who had come to perform surgery on a malignant polity. Naveen had Odias swooning over him,” writes Banerjee.
In the book, Banerjee has called CM Naveen a clever leader with a killer instinct who knows how to tackle his political opponents.
During OTV’s “Khola Katha” program, Banerjee claimed that Naveen knows Odia but never speaks as there could be a specific reason behind it. “He knows the language but might be not letting anyone know. Maybe that gives him an edge over others,” stated Banerjee.
Mentioning about dominance of bureaucrats in Odisha politics and the CM’s excessive dependence on them, Banerjee said in the same programme that bureaucrats like VK Pandian are influential in the State and ministers and senior officials make a beeline outside their chamber on the third floor.”
The Editor of Outlook has also written about the controversy surrounding former Kendrapara MP Baijayant Jay Panda.
“Relations between Panda and Naveen began to sour ever since the media started speculating about Naveen’s health and there was talk that the chief minister would shortly visit London for a liver transplant,” writes Banerjee.
He has also written about how Naveen would spend time with world famous celebrities at his Delhi home which was a “cultural melting point, where the high and mighty, the rich and famous—and the not so –famous gathered routinely. Among the guests were Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones, actress Koo Stark, who once dated Prince Andrew of Britain, and Bruce Chatwin, the famous travel writer and novelist.”
There is also a special mention of CM Naveen’s education and his habits in the book.
“Educated at Doon School and a classmate of Sanjay Gandhi, he was more at home speaking in English with a western accent. He loved Dunhill cigarettes and enjoyed his Famous Grouse whisky every evening, a habit that his personal staff say, he hasn’t given up,” writes Banerjee.
Karan received a cash award of Rs 30,000, a trophy and citation.
Among 90 shortlisted films selected for screening at the festival, Karan's eight-minute documentary film - 'Traditional Healers' was adjudged the best film in the 'social issues related to rural development' category.
Karan's film was based on Odisha Health department's initiative to take help of local traditional healers of Koraput and Malkangiri districts to spread health awareness programmes among the tribals.
"The film 'Traditional Healer' is an eight-minute documentary film which is shot in Koraput and Malkangiri districts of Odisha. Few years back these two tribal dominated districts were lagging behind regarding implementation of various health programmes. That is when the State government decided to include traditional healers to create awareness and implement health programmes in those areas. It is interesting to note that locals and tribals in those areas trust the traditional healers more than the health workers and this film is about how the Odisha government tried to win the confidence of traditional healers and brought them into their fold to spread the message of health programme and to implement them among the tribal community. This interested me the most in bringing out in the film," said Karan.
He further stated, "For me journalism and film making co-existed as both are all about story telling about people and their issues. That's why film making and journalism interested me. In 24X7 news reporting, someone does not get time and space to go much deeper into the issues of people and their stories whereas documentary give the liberty and space.
"I have been doing documentary for several new channels I have worked for during last two decades. Later on I decided to set up my own video production house - Ommcomm Media where I get the liberty of reporting and doing documentaries on various issues for my clients. I have got a lot of appreciation and encouragement from them which keep me going. Apart fom journalism, film making is also my passion," he added.
Karan has also received several prestigious national awards like Ramnath Goenka Award for investigative journalism and ENBA TV award for reporting on cyclone Phalin.
With over two decades in TV journalism and documentary film making, Karan, the Editor-in Chief and founder Ommcom News, has also worked for several national and international news channels.
Bhubaneswar: A journalist of a private news channel was attacked by a police officer in an inebriated condition today in the State Capital. The accused cop has been identified as Ramakant Patra , IIC of Talabania police station in Puri.
Using unparliamentarily languages, the officer was found kicking and punching the reporter when the scribe asked him about the accident.
Sources said the police officer sustained injuries after causing a mishap near Daya river on the outskirts of the city. He was taken to Capital Hospital for treatment and the reporter went there to cover the news.
Irked, the officer attacked the scribe named Subhrakant Padhihary. A complaint has been registered at Capital police station in this connection.
The incident occurred during the protests near the District Collector’s office.
As per reports, as many as five MLAs were present inside the Collector’s office when a group of journalists staged an impromptu protest just outside the building. Incidentally, Dhruba Charan Sahu was among the five legislators.
a zest to demand justice from the district administration, the journos allegedly locked the main gate of the Collector’s office and denied exit to the MLAs. It was only after the administration assured the protestors of adequate action against the woman police constable that the MLAs were allowed to go.
According to reports, some leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party including Bibhu Prasad Tarai had staged a protest in front of the office of the Superintendent of Police (SP) on Wednesday. A journalist, Bhimsen Sethi, from a web-portal went to the spot to cover the news.
Soon after, a woman constable, who was deployed on law and order duty at the place, started an argument with Sethi. This was because Sethi had clicked some photographs of the police woman without a mask and made those viral.
Following some heated exchange of words, the police woman allegedly hurled abuses at the journo before thrashing him. The video of the entire incident went viral on social media in no time.
"I was covering the BJP protest on Wednesday when I found the on-duty lady constable without a face mask. I clicked her picture and uploaded it on social media," said Sethi.
"However, the constable went wild and thrashed me in front of other police officials and political leaders. I demand her immediate suspension and apology," Sethi demanded.
Meanwhile, commenting on the incident, Pattamundai MLA, Dhruba Charan Sahu said, "That was an unfortunate incident. Any vindictive action against journalist does not augur well for a vibrant democracy like India."
"I have already spoken with the administration, such incidents should have never happened," he added.
“Let me make my stand very clear. The news regarding my statement on this issue which has been published in a newspaper is utterly ‘false’ and ‘exaggerated’. Being a journalist, I know how people will accept me when I am using these two words. But the responsibility of a journalist is to unravel the truth and do news which is based on facts. I have also given a clarification to the media about the statement I had given earlier on this issue,” Bhartruhari OTV.
The BJD Parliamentary Party leader further said considering the national political scenario, he had said that if there is plan to form Front against the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre, the BJD supremo and chief minister will take a final call on whether BJD will join the Front. “Besides, I had also said that the BJD might reconsider joining the Front if the Congress expresses similar willingness. But I had said that the final decision in this regard will be taken by the chief minister who has clarified that the BJD has no such plans to join the Front,” he pointed out.
Asked whether the statement he had given earlier was his personal statement, Mahatab said “In my opinion, it was my personal opinion. But the final decision was with the party supremo and chief minister”.
“My intention was that with the changing national political scenario, the BJD should formulate its strategies accordingly. Giving such statement is not at all wrong. But misinterpretation my opinion in this manner is not the profession and ethics of a journalist,” he noted.
Mahatab said his party is ahead and will remain ahead in the triangular fight with the Congress and BJP. “The BJD, which has always maintained equidistance from Congress and BJP, has to be more vocal against the Centre for its step-motherly attitude towards Odisha,” he maintained.
On October 31, Mahatab had created a flutter in the political circle by saying the regional party would consider to make an alliance with Congress, if need arises.
Talking to OTV, he had said “I don’t see any logic behind the ‘equal distance’ policy in case of Congress as the national party doesn’t remain the same like before. The BJD will make an amendment to its stand, if required.”
He had also said that the BJD will not have any issues to present the demand of Odisha before the Centre in association with the non-BJP political parties.
Talking about the issue to the media persons here, BJD spokesperson Pratap Deb said Mahatab has given his clarification to the media about his earlier statement. Previously the Cuttack MP had also given his statement and later given a clarification. “We are aware of his statements and clarifications and the party supremo will take a decision in this regard very soon”, he added.
Asked about the meeting between Mahatab and the chief minister, government chief whip Anant Das said he has no idea about the meeting and what has transpired.
He, however, said the chief minister, in his address to a public meeting in Balasore on his one-day visit t the district on November 3 had made it clear that the BJD will have no alliance with the Congress and the BJP as it has decided maintain equidistance from these two parties.
Naveed Jatt is a Pakistani who escaped from police custody from a Srinagar hospital on February 6 this year.
"The other two terrorists involved in this terror murder are locals from south Kashmir areas," a source said.
The Editor-in-Chief of English daily "Rising Kashmir", Bukhari was shot dead by militants when he came out of his office in Press Enclave and was boarding his car on June 14.
Two of his security guards were also killed in the incident.
Police earlier arrested a local who had escaped with a pistol belonging to one of Bukhari's guards and two mobile phones belonging to the journalist.
"He appears to be a drug addict. He is still in our custody but he does not appear to be part of the terror conspiracy to assassinate Bukhari," the source said.
Police have also identified a blogger who uploaded malicious posts against Bukhari.
"He is a Kashmiri militant presently in Pakistan from where he is operating the blog," the source said.
Image source: Facebook/Syed Shujaat Bukhari
Describing Bukhari as a respected and courageous journalist, the club in a statement said his independent views were highly visible in the social media also.
"He was respected as a courageous journalist propagating his independent views from the disturbed areas of the valley," it said, terming the killing an attack against free press and democracy.
"Press Club, Kolkata condemns this heinous act of crime which is considered as an attack against the free press and democracy," the statement added.
Bukhari was shot dead by unidentified gunmen outside his office in Press Enclave area at Lal Chawk in Srinagar on Thursday evening.
State police chief S.P.Vaid said that it was around 7.15 p.m., the Iftar time, that Bukhari came out of his office in Press Enclave and was boarding his car when he was attacked by militants.
"Three motorcycle-borne militants came and fired at Bukhari and his guards. Bukhari and one guard were killed and another security guard critically injured," he said.
Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti expressed shock at the killing.
"Shocked & deeply saddened by the sudden demise of Shujaat Bukhari. The scourge of terror has reared its ugly head on the eve of Eid. I strongly condemn this act of mindless violence & pray for his soul to rest in peace. My deepest condolences to his family," she said in a tweet.
Former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah also expressed shock at the gruesome murder of this senior Kashmiri journalist. Reciting the Muslim prayer on hearing about a Muslim's death, he said: "Shocked beyond words. May Shujaat find place in Jannat & May his loved ones find strength at this difficult time."
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh also expressed shock at the incident.
"The killing of @RisingKashmir editor, Shujaat Bukhari is an act of cowardice. It is an attempt to silence the saner voices of Kashmir. He was a courageous and fearless journalist. Extremely shocked & pained at his death. My thoughts and prayers are with his bereaved family," he said on his Twitter handle.
The murder also sent shock waves in the media fraternity.
The Islamic State militant group claimed responsibility for the Kabul bombings where French news agency AFP's chief photographer Shah Marai was among the journalists killed. There was no claim of responsibility for the bloodbath in Kandahar, a former stronghold of the Taliban.
In a separate incident, 29-year-old BBC reporter Ahmad Shah was shot dead by unknown gunmen in Khost province, taking the toll in the Monday violence to 42.
A militant on a motorbike carried out the first explosion at 8 a.m. in Kabul's Shashdarak area in Police District 9 which houses the offices of Afghanistan's intelligence service, Defence Ministry, NATO and many embassies, prompting journalists to rush to the scene.
Another bombing occurred about 20 minutes later when an attacker, posing as a cameraman, detonated explosives as journalists gathered at the site of the first blast.
The Islamic State claimed the twin blasts through its news agency Amaq and said the intelligence services headquarters was the target.
AFP said the death of its "treasured colleague" Shah Marai, who had written of the dangers of reporting in the Afghan capital, was "a devastating blow".
The other media fatalities were Mahram Durani and Abadullah Hananzai, of Radio Free Europe (RFE), Tolo News cameraman Yar Mohammad Tokhi, Afghanistan's 1TV reporter Ghazi Rasooli as well as cameraman Nowroz Ali Rajabi, Mashal TV's Ali Saleemi and Saleem Talash. Sabawon Kakar, a critically wounded RFE cameraman, died in a hospital.
"This is the deadliest day for Afghan media in the past 15 years," the head of Tolo News TV, Lotfullah Najafizada, told the BBC.
Forty nine people were injured and taken to hospitals, the Interior Ministry said.
Hours later, 11 students of a madrassa were killed and 17 people, including five Romanian soldiers, were injured in a suicide attack aimed at a NATO convoy in Kandahar province.
The suicide bomber detonated a vehicle full of explosives in Haji Abdullah Khan village of Daman district at about 11 a.m., killing the children at a nearby madrassa. According to officials, the target were the Romanian troops patrolling the area.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani condemned the Kabul blasts. "Attacks targeting innocent civilians, worshippers inside the mosques, national and democratic processes, reporters and freedom of speech all are war crimes."
CEO Abdullah Abdullah said: "Attack on the media is attack on democracy and an effort to silence the voice of voiceless."
US Ambassador John Bass tweeted: "I condemn today's terrible Kabul attack (and) reaffirm our commitment (to) stand with the Afghan people in their fight for peace (and) security across Afghanistan. We mourn for those murdered, including the brave journalists who stand for truth in the face of violence."
Afghanistan has seen a spate of attacks this year. Last week, six people, including two Afghan soldiers, were killed in a car bombing in Helmand province.
On April 22, an Islamic State suicide bomber attacked a voter registration centre in Kabul, killing 60 people.
In March, 31 people were killed during the Persian new year celebrations in an Islamic State attack near a Shia shrine in Kabul.
The Chhattisgarh Police raided the journalist's residence at Indirapuram along with the Uttar Pradesh Police and recovered 500 compact discs (CDs), a pen drive and Rs 200,000 in cash.
Inspector Sushil Dubey said the Chhattisgarh Police reached the police station "and sought our help to arrest the journalist in a case.
"They told us that a case under sections 384 and 506 of IPC (Indian Penal Code) was registered against the journalist on the complaint of Prakash Bajaj, a BJP leader in Raipur district," Dubey said.
The complainant alleged that Verma had threatened to expose his private life and that the journalist possessed a sex tape which he was using to blackmail him.
"We assisted the (Chhattisgarh) Police. Our role was limited," Dubey told IANS.
As he was being taken away, Verma told fellow journalists that he was being framed. "I am being framed. I have nothing to do with the CDs."
Known for her fearless attitude, Editor of weekly Kannada magazine "Gauri Lankesh Patrike", Lankesh vehemently opposed communalism and was a staunch critic of Hindutva politics.
A special event called "Gauri Ke Naam", organised by the Centre for Policy Analysis on Friday, was also joined by poets and musicians, among others, to pay tribute to Lankesh and her fearless journalism-activism.
An Indian Sufi ensemble based in the capital, Ruhaniyat, presented songs of peace and freedom.
One of the band members Sarim Ali, while talking to IANS, expressed deep sorrow at Lankesh's death and said: "It is completely unacceptable to suppress a voice, a voice of a person who was struggling for other people's rights."
"People who feel that killing her was justified are completely wrong."
Mayank from the same band said: "It is very depressing. We are a progressive nation, but what is happening is just the opposite."
Other performers included Saif Mehmood, Sujata, Vangish Jha, Ashok Kumar Pandey, Ravi Kant, Achyutanand Mishra, Sangwari group and Raza Haider.
Haider enthusiastically raised his voice through poetry against the various attacks on freedom in the country today.
"Gauri was a friend, an ardent activist in terms of women issues and democracy per se. She was a fierce fighter as far as democratic rights are concerned," said Raza.
"She never backed out from anything...never said no to any campaign ever. I just wanted to pay tribute to her," he added.
Then there was Relaa, a collective of Indian performers-turned-activists, reviving the long-forgotten tradition of protest songs in its fight against casteism, capitalism and discrimination.
"It is that time in this nation when we are told what to wear, what to eat, what to say, etc. etc. There isn't much of freedom left with the masses to decide things for themselves," the group manager said.
"Relaa is a cry against oppression, a cry for equality, a cry against caste atrocities, a cry for freedom," he explained.
Indian academic and novelist Purushottam Agrawal was also present at the event.
"When someone is brutally killed, apparently for her views, it is a matter of concern for every citizen...regardless of any agreement or disagreement with her," he told IANS.
"It (this kind of violence) won't end with her. Tomorrow it could be you, me or anyone else. One could be killed in the name of cow protection, Indian culture, Hindutva, Islam or whatever," he said.
"I am here to express that this kind of madness will not be tolerated. Political violence from any quarter is to be condemned...whether it is by the right wing or the left wing," he added.
He was 76.
Sadhu breathed his last at the Sion Hospital, where he was admitted yesterday for a heart ailment. He was in a critical condition and put on ventilator support in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), hospital sources said.
"He was suffering from cardio myopathy," Dr. Jayshree Mondkar, dean-in-charge of the hospital, said.
He was known for his work in Mumbai Dinank, which was his first novel, and the book Simhasan, which was adapted into a Marathi film.
Sadhu, who worked with several newspapers, also wrote various novels in Hindi, English and Marathi for which he received a Sahitya Akademi award.
He was conferred with the Bharatiya Bhasha Parishad, N C Kelkar and Acharya Atre awards also.
The veteran scribe wrote on the rise of Shiv Sena, the Vietnam war and the Chinese revolution, besides several short stories.
Justice Revati Mohite Dere on April 26 granted anticipatory bail to Poonam Agarwal, a senior journalist with The Quint and retired soldier and war veteran Deepchand Singh.
Last month, the Deolali Camp police in Nashik registered a case against Poonam and Deepchand under various sections of the Indian Penal Code including abetment of suicide of the jawan from Kerala Roy Mathew.
The scribe was also booked under sections 3 (spying) and 7 (interfering with officers of the police or members of the armed forces of Union) of the Official Secrets Act.
According to police, she was booked for violating Army rules by entering prohibited areas and conducting a shoot there.
Agrawal is accused of entering Heig Lines in Deolali camp without the permission of authorities and filming the premises besides carrying out a sting operation on Mathew and other jawans on February 24 in which she is said to have asked leading questions.
The case was registered after Mathew (33) was found hanging from the ceiling of a room in an abandoned barrack in Deolali cantonment here on March 2.
According to police, Mathew featured in the sting operation carried out by Poonam and Deepchand exposing the 'buddy' (Sahayak) system in the Army and had committed suicide over fear and shame.
Poonam and Deepchand approached the high court after a sessions court rejected their anticipatory bail pleas.
Senior counsel Amit Desai, appearing for Poonam, argued that the sting operation was carried out in public interest and to expose the malaise in the Indian Army.
The High Court after hearing the arguments said, "After viewing the said clip, it appears that the purpose of the sting operation was to show that the 'Sahayaks' were made to do menial work like taking their seniors' dogs for walks, taking their seniors' children to schools and so on."
"Prima facie at this stage, taking the prosecution case as it stands it is doubtful whether any offence under IPC or Official Secrets Act is attracted in the peculiar facts of the case," Justice Dere said.
"Merely because the sting operation was done in a prohibited area would not automatically attract provision of the Official Secrets Act," the court said.
The court granted Poonam and Deepchand anticipatory bail on a surety of Rs 25,000 and directed them to appear before the police on three days -May 2, May 3 and May 4 for recording their statement and questioning.
The court also directed Poonam to surrender to the police raw footage of the sting operation.
Mathew had joined the Army 13 years ago and was working as an artillery gunner with the Rocket Regiment 214 in Nashik camp for the last one year.
I, for one, am ashamed of it – and don’t mind going to jail for it! I am ashamed because I sincerely believe that we should be proud, not ashamed, about the fact that we are a tolerant species and have earned our well-deserved reputation over the millennia. We are the land of Lord Jagannath, the land of confluence; the land of love, compassion, forgiveness and every other finer attribute of the human race. Jingoism is not in our genes. It is, after all, the land that we have known to have transformed a ‘Chandashoka’ to ‘Dharmashoka’ (though some new age historians now dispute this popular Kalinga War theory).
While on the subject of the Kalinga War, I am reminded of what happened when the irrepressible Justice Markandeya Katju made - at the ‘farmaais’ of some of his fans on Facebook, as we explained later – some comments about we Odias that were as offensive, if not more, as anything that Abhijit has said about us. Remember how we ‘dealt’ with him? After dealing with him suitably on social media, we presented roses to him, elicited an apology from him and then laid the matter rest there for good in keeping with our rich liberal and tolerant tradition. That was when I was proud as an Odia. Not now.
Let me make it abundantly clear that as an Odia, I am as offended, hurt and angry as any other proud Odia over the comments made by Abhijit. And I refuse to buy this crap being sold by a few Delhi based liberals that what Abhijit said about Odisha and Odias was intended as some ‘joke’, ‘satire’ or ‘fun’. No Sir, it wasn’t funny at all! It had disdain for Odisha and everything Odia written all over it. Had an Odia said similar things about say, West Bengal or Tamil Nadu – the two states where Abhijit traces his parentage to – s/he would probably have been publicly lynched!
But I would still say there were (and still are) other civilized – and not so civilized – ways of ‘teaching him a lesson’ than putting him in jail, even if it was only for a day and not six long weeks. Giving him as good, may be even worse, as we got, for example. Odia Twitteratti have done and are doing it quite efficiently in the place where Abhijit reveled before heading for jail: Twitter. I am also proud of the fact that the Privileges Committee of the Assembly, under the leadership of the astute Narasingha Mishra, acted in the most mature way: by summoning him to the House, making him grovel and apologise and then sagely accepting his ‘unreserved and unqualified’ apology. I think we should have left the matter at that and not allowed him to become the cause célèbre of the Delhi liberals by jailing him. I have absolutely no doubt that a stern warning would have ensured that he would never take liberties with Odia sentiments again.
I am a strong votary of a ‘words for words’ approach and an equally strongly opponent of the ‘jail for words’ policy, not matter how offensive or hurtful they are. Even the honourable Supreme Court has ruled that ‘words’ would result in jail only when they incite, cause or threaten violence. And I don’t think any of it applies to what Abhijit has said about us.
Just to bring in the government for a moment here, have we paused to ponder over why the same government, which gave the distinct impression that it couldn’t care less how long Abhijit rotted in jail for his ‘sin’ till the previous day (how else does one interpret the 13-day delay in Abhijit’s ‘mercy petition’ reaching the state secretariat from the Jharpada jail?), suddenly acted completely against the run of play and decided to ‘pardon’ him on Tuesday? Here is my two penny. It realized that it was fast turning out to be a case of ‘diminishing returns’; that the tender Odias had just begun to feel a tinge of sympathy for the jailed culprit, especially after watching him being taken to the hospital; that any further prolongation of his incarceration could lead to charges of being unreasonably and unabashedly vindictive against it. And kudos to the state government for reading the pulse of the people right on this occasion.
But I must confess I am pained at the venom still being spewed against Abhijit on Twitter by fellow Odias. Most have toed the ‘serves him right’ line to justify his jailing while some have gone a step further to actually say that six weeks was way too short for his ‘sins’! For all one knows, there could even be some Odias who genuinely believe that he deserved to be hanged from the nearest lamp post for what he has done.
Sorry, I am not part of the crowd baying for Abhijit’s blood. And I am proud of it!
(DISCLAIMER: This is an opinion piece. The views expressed are author’s own and have nothing to do with OTV’s charter or views. OTV does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same)
Having decided to become a journalist, I was in the process of going through the usual routine of checking out and applying for the few good journalism schools that existed in the country at the time (though there was the option of joining the journalism course on offer at the Berhampur University, somehow I was not particularly excited about it) when an old friend of my father dropped in at our place. My father, who was not very happy about my decision to become a journalist, inevitably told his friend, an Assistant Editor at the venerable The Statesman at the time (sometime in the mid-`1980s), about my desire to choose journalism as a profession and requested him to ‘counsel’ me.
“Why do you want to become a journalist when there are so many jobs you can take up?” the elderly Bengali gentleman fired his first question. I gave my reasons, trying to sound as earnest as I possibly could. “Do you even know how much journalists are paid? A journalist in a vernacular daily gets less than what a peon in a government office does,” continued the man. And he continued in that vein for quite some time till it appeared to me that he was determined to talk me out of my ‘romantic’ obsession with journalism. I must confess I was a little perplexed at this intensive grilling. Here was a top journalist, I wondered, who did not have anything positive to say about the profession he had spent a lifetime in! It was only later that I realized it was his way of testing out whether my love for journalism was serious or just ‘infatuation’.
Perhaps convinced after a while that my decision to become a journalist was more than just infantile infatuation, he next asked me how I planned to go about it. I told him about my plans to do a course in journalism in some top institute of the country. That set off a fresh round of grilling. “When did you finish your post graduation?” he asked. “Two years back.” “You have already wasted two years. In fact, you didn’t even need to do a PG if you wanted to become a journalist. A simple graduation would have been good enough. So you have actually wasted four full years already. Now you will waste another year or two studying journalism. Let me tell you something. No journalism school anywhere in the world teaches any journalism to its students. Go join the first damn newspaper you can, even if it pays you Rs. 200, even if it does not pay you anything at all in the beginning. You will learn more about journalism in one year there than you can learn in the best journalism school in the world,” he signed off.
I am glad I followed his advice and abandoned all plans of joining a journalism school. And the first ‘damn newspaper’ I joined turned out to be ‘Sambad’, the cradle and alma mater for a whole generation of journalists in Odisha who, like me, began their career in the 1980s. Mercifully, the amount on offer for this ‘trainee journalist’ turned out to be a little more than the gentleman had prepared me for. But I would not dare give the same advice I got to the current generation of aspiring journalists because I know they would not stand a chance of becoming even a trainee journalist without a degree or diploma in journalism.
Having interacted with students of a few journalism schools by now, I also find that journalism schools – at least the better ones among them – do teach some journalism to the students after all. But the Statesman journalist’s essential point about the difference between what one learns in a journalism school and while working for a media organization remains as relevant today as it was in the 1980s.
So, here is my two-penny worth unsolicited advice for those who aspire to become journalists. By all means, join a journalism school and get a degree/diploma. But for heaven’s sake, don’t be under any illusion that you have learnt everything there is to learn about journalism in the school. As the old man said, your real education will begin only after you start working for a media house.
(DISCLAIMER: This is an opinion piece. The views expressed are author’s own and have nothing to do with OTV's charter or views. OTV does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.)
There is another term that is bandied about equally liberally: ‘corporate media’, which essentially means media houses owned, controlled or influenced by corporate houses. People never stop cribbing about the preponderance of advertisements at the cost of news in newspapers and TV stations.
Much of this cynicism is, of course, well deserved. Most media houses have indeed sacrificed journalistic independence and integrity at the altar of commercial interests. When a piece of news – no matter how important it is – jostles for space with an ad, it is the latter that wins in 10 out of 10 cases. [There was this celebrated case of the venerable Old Lady of Boribunder in which the No. 1 English newspaper in the country once left the first four full pages blank with only the name of a start-up appearing in small print at the bottom!] No wonder ads frequently outspace news in most successful newspapers and TV stations. At other times, advertorials are sought to be passed off as news. And it goes without saying that once a media house accepts an ad from a corporate house, it becomes extremely hard to write against it. In fact, corporate houses release generous ads to media houses to buy their silence and make them their mouthpieces when things go wrong for them.
While the criticism of paid/corporate media is well deserved, it is not always well informed. Most people don’t know – or bother to find out – the economics of the media industry. The average 16-20 page Odia newspaper sells for Rs 5 a piece – of which 30% is given away in agent commission thus fetching just Rs 3.50 for the owner/proprietor/company running the newspaper. But what the reader does not know – or cares to find out – is that it takes nearly Rs 12 to produce the same newspaper. The newspaper thus has to make up for the differential of Rs 8.50 with advertisements – the only legitimate source of revenue other than subscription - or resort to tapping dubious sources just to stay afloat, forget earning a profit. The ratio is even more skewed in case of TV, which is a much more capital intensive medium.
Also Read: The Flip Side Of Women’s Empowerment
How many of our Odia readers would be ready to pay Rs 12, if not more, for a day’s newspaper? Not one, I am afraid. We have got so used to being heavily subsidized that we would cancel our subscription in the unlikely event of a newspaper taking the audacious decision of raising its price to Rs 12 or more. To draw a parallel in the audio visual medium, how many of our TV news buffs would be willing to fork out an amount as low as Rs 50 a month to continue watching their favourite channel if and when it becomes a pay channel? Very few, I dare say.
It is all very convenient to rail against paid/corporate media. But to truly free the media of corporate influence, the reader/viewer must first be prepared to pay the price for what s/he would like to read/watch.
OTV clarified that it has no direct or indirect connection and Simanchal's role could be at personal level.
"Another person, Simanchal Patra, has been arrested from Bhubaneswar. He had given the fake video to another person from another channel which was later circulated," Keonjhar Sadar SDPO, Prakash James Toppo said.
Earlier, a web journalist who hosted the video on a portal was arrested. Two others were also arrested in connection with the case.
Ashok S. Pandey, the Maharashtra head of JK24x7 news channel, has filed the criminal case before the 10th Court, Andheri, against Khan, his aide Vijay and another unknown person, his lawyer Neeraj Gupta said.
"The matter will come up for hearing on July 12. At that time, the court will decide whether the police will be directed to conduct an investigation, or issue summons to the accused," Gupta told IANS.
In the plea, Pandey said on April 24 he was driving from Juhu to Kandivali in his car with his cameraman Sayyed Irfan when they saw Salman Khan cycling on the road with his two aides escorting him.
Pandey said in his complaint that he sought permission from the two aides to film Khan, which they agreed to.
However, when he started shooting, Khan noticed it and his aides suddenly jumped onto Pandey's car and started assaulting him, Gupta said.
Even Khan allegedly joined in, assaulted Pandey, snatched his mobile and tried to destroy it and delete important data from it.
As Pandey started moving towards the D.N. Nagar police station to lodge a complaint, he claimed that Khan again abused him and tried to grab his phone.
Later, Pandey filed his complaint, but after nearly two months, officers at the D.N. Nagar police station disposed it off, saying there was no offence in the matter, Gupta said.
In the meantime, Pandey said that Khan's representative, one Zohaib, called him and reportedly admitted to the misbehaviour and requested him to settle the matter. However, Pandey refused to any settlement.
Pandey has prayed to the court to direct the police to conduct a detailed inquiry in the matter and take suitable action under the law against the accused for the alleged offences committed by them.
In a press conference, spokesman for the public prosecutor Shalan al-Shalan explained that three other convicts received a total of 24 years in jail for 'covering up the crime', Efe news reported.
He added that 10 others were released due to a lack of evidence. Investigations showed that "there was no prior intention to kill Khashoggi," al-Shalan explained. Khashoggi's children, as well as representatives from Turkey have attended the hearings of the case, according to al-Shalan.
Khashoggi, a staunch critic of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was killed on October 2 after he entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to pick up the paperwork needed for his planned marriage to his Turkish fiancée.
Saudi officials initially denied Khashoggi's death at the consulate but later acknowledged he had been killed when a fight broke out.
Saudi Arabia has said Khashoggi was killed in a "rogue operation" and put 11 defendants, all of whom are Saudi nationals, on trial earlier this year.
Although the United Nations and the United States Senate held the crown prince responsible for the crime, the kingdom's strongman has not been prosecuted.
The 59-year-old had been a columnist for the Washington Post since 2017 after he left Saudi Arabia and was openly critical of his country's monarchy.
The Post has condemned Khashoggi's killing, with its editorial page editor Fred Hiatt qualifying it as "a monstrous and unfathomable act" if true, in a statement made in October.
He said Khashoggi was a "committed, courageous journalist," according to the Post. Khashoggi's disappearance sparked an outcry from the international community, drawing condemnation from organizations and world leaders.
(IANS)
Access to the ‘powers that be’ is the staple that no journalist can do without. In fact, the pecking order of a hack is often determined by the number of ‘contacts’ and ‘sources’ s/he has in high places. But ‘access’, as any journalist with reporting experience would tell you, don’t come gratis. It comes with a definite price tag and an unspoken understanding of a ‘quid pro quo’.
A top politician or an officer will share ‘privileged’ information that is not already in the public domain or not meant to be shared with anyone only with the assumption that you will do the ‘story’ as s/he wants it to be done. If you allow the independent journalist in you to take over after obtaining the ‘privileged’ information, that would be the end of your ‘access’ to the ‘source’. Far from sharing any ‘privileged’ information with you, the politician/bureaucrat would simply refuse to take your calls or respond to your texts/emails. If you have grown particularly close to the person, s/he may even call you and make his/her displeasure known to you in no uncertain terms. If you are too critical in your story, chances are you may be barred ‘access’ to all alternative ‘sources’ open to you as a journalist as well. An informal, unofficial, word of mouth instruction will go down the order not to ‘entertain’ you in future. If you keep doing it to all your ‘sources’, you would soon burn all your bridges with the establishments. You would be deprived of not just ‘exclusive’ information, but even routine info that is open to others!
Also Read: Column: Why A Nationwide Extension Of ‘Lockdown’ Will Be Disastrous
‘Access’, however, is not limited only to the sharing of privileged information. It also includes granting an interview or giving a ‘quote’ or a ‘byte’. If you do their bidding, they will grant all of this. They may even accept your invitation and turn at your family functions – your son’s or daughter’s 21st-day ceremony, birthday or marriage – to give you the bragging rights before friends and family. Why they would even invite you to similar occasions in their own families! The moment you stray out of line, you risk losing your ‘ego trips’ along with your access to information.
Let’s face it. No government, no politician and no officer wants to have anything to do with a truly ‘independent’ journalist. They would only ‘entertain’ sycophants or, at the very least, people who don’t dare spoil the ‘official’ narrative. They are all people with extremely thin skins. None of them would countenance criticism, even a mild one, or questions being asked of them. They would grant access – or give an interview – to you only if you do their bidding and do your story in the manner desired by them. Anything less and you will ‘fall from grace’ in next to no time!
This time-honoured arrangement, with its own set of ground rules, puts the fiercely independent-minded journalist in a real dilemma. It’s a real Catch-22 situation. Do their bidding to protect your ‘access’ and you can’t see yourself in the mirror the next morning without feeling ashamed about it or without your conscience pricking you. Refuse to do their bidding and risk losing your ‘access’, which is the fuel that drives every reporter. And along with it, your bragging rights!
Every conscientious journalist finds a way of dealing with this dilemma. Some of them decide to ‘compromise’ just a bit and ‘balance’ their story in a bid to keep the powers that be happy, without actually selling their soul. Others choose to ‘compromise’ fully with their journalistic conscience and independence and go the whole hog to keep their privileged access going and stay one step ahead of their peers. There are still others who can do neither and find themselves scouring the margins of the profession.
Read: Column: ‘Lockdown’ Isn’t Such A Terrible Thing After All!
I, for one, have always valued ‘independence’ over ‘access’ and suffered immensely for it as a reporter. Once you incur the wrath of the government – especially a government as popular and as powerful as the Naveen Patnaik government – the entire official machinery works overtime to bar all possible avenues of ‘access’ to information. It has made things extremely difficult to operate.
But then, ‘independence’, like ‘access’, comes with a price tag!
(DISCLAIMER: This is an opinion piece. The views expressed are the author’s own and have nothing to do with OTV’s charter or views. OTV does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same)
DMK President M K Stalin expressed concern over many journalists contracting the contagion and appealed to the government and others to cancel all press conferences till the lockdown ends and wanted the state to test all scribes for coronavirus on a war footing.
Sending news to the media houses through e-mail and avoiding press conferences was a very important protective measure, Stalin said in a statement.
PMK, an ally of the ruling AIADMK, voiced concern over journalists testing positive and urged media organisations to protect their staff and suggested that the government can do away with press conferences on COVID-19.
Not less than 25 people, including journalists, have tested positive of the 90 plus samples taken for the confirmatory RT-PCR test from those associated with the Tamil news channel, a health official told PTI.
On behalf of the channel, a video message was circulated, saying operations have been put on hold temporarily, adding that work would resume soon.
The development comes days after two journalists, including one who worked with the same TV channel, tested positive for the contagion in the city.
To a question, the official said the test results of those associated with the television channel were being collated and those who tested positive from the media house were being admitted to the Government Multi Super Specialty Hospital at Government Estate.
A government bulletin said 178 people were discharged today following recovery and active cases as on date is 940.
Three girls, discharged from the Stanley government hospital here, were gifted dolls while all others sent home following recovery in State-run hospitals were given fruits and accorded a warm send-off by authorities.
"Even if we spend several lakhs of Rupees in a corporate hospital, we would not have got the best of treatment, which we got from the government hospital," said an 82-year-old man who was discharged from the Stanley.
"The government doctors not only treated us for Coronavirus but also for various other ailments.
We got good food. Toilet and other amenities were good," he added.
On Tuesday, 76 people tested positive in Tamil Nadu taking the total count to 1,596 cases, the bulletin said.
Totally, 55 people tested positive today in Chennai and Chennai District has a tally of 358 of the total 1,596 positive cases in Tamil Nadu.
Coimbatore and Tirupur have 134 and 109 positive cases respectively.
As on date, 22,254 are in-home quarantine and 145 in government quarantine facilities in the State.
A release, meanwhile, said the Indian Medical Association and the Tamil Nadu Government Doctors Association thanked the government for arresting 21 men involved in obstructing and attacking people during the burial of a neurosurgeon, a COVID-19 victim here on Sunday late night.
(PTI)
Also Read: ICMR Asks States To Stop Using Chinese COVID19 Rapid Test Kits
The suspended forest employees have been identified as Balighai Forester Tapan Nayak and Forest Guard Biraja Mohapatra.
According to sources, a reporter and camera crew of a news channel had gone to Puri to document a report on the occasion of completion of one year of Cyclone Fani which battered the Odisha coast after making landfall at Satpada near Puri exactly a year ago on May 3, 2019.
The two forest employees reportedly exchanged heated arguments with the journalist and his camera.
Even though the exact reason behind the incident is not available, a video that went viral on social media showed how the forest staff manhandled the scribe and also tried to attack the cameraperson and snatched his equipment near Balukhand Wildlife Sanctuary.
Video showing a forest guard manhandling cameraperson of a news channel at Balukhand Wildlife Sanctuary goes viral; the incident took place when the cameraman along with a reporter had gone there to prepare a report on completion of one year of #CycloneFani #Odisha pic.twitter.com/TZ93xjwyHf
— OTV (@otvnews) May 3, 2020
Later the DFO ordered an inquiry into the attack incident on the journalist and suspended the two forest employees based on the probe report.
As per reports, over a dozen officers of the Mumbai Police barged into the residence of Arnab Goswami today at around 7.45 AM and allegedly pushed and heckled the senior journalist asking him to come along for an investigation.
Later, he was forcibly dragged out of his home even as his family kept protesting.
Speaking to OTV, Prasanna Mohanty, the Secretary of National Union of Journalists & President of Odisha Union of Journalists expressed his disgust against the Mumbai Police action. "I am lost for words, don't know what to say.
Such practices by State governments that aim to throttle the voice of media, started in Maharashtra and can be seen in different parts of the country, including in Odisha. Numerous complaints are filed against media personnel for no reasons, but there has been no action against the actual culprits. This has triggered resentment among citizens of the country. The journalist fraternity of Odisha strongly condemns the arrest of Arnab Goswani by Mumbai Police which is acting at the behest of Maharashtra government."
"I can see dark days ahead for the scribes who practice free and fair journalism and do not get suppressed by any power. If this persists, I feel practicing journalism will become difficult in future. Many media houses are acting as spokespersons of influential personalities while the rest are being harassed.
Today's incident has also raised questions over the security of scribes and this is unfortunate," lamented Mohanty.
Senior Journalist Rajaram Satpathy said, "The way Arnab Goswami was picked up from his residence shows the aggressive and vindictive attitude of Maharashtra Government towards him. Republic TV had been reporting the alleged laid back approach of Maharashtra government and Mumbai Police in handling Sushant Singh Rajput case and also exposed the government on several occasions. This has triggered anger in the Maha government."
"Even when the case was closed a couple of years ago, re-opening it and arresting Arnab Goswami by digging new angles shows the aggressive mindset of the people in power corridor in Maharashtra. This is unfortunate and reminds me of the emergency situation. It has also posed a challenge for the judicial system of the country," added Satpathy.
Senior journalist Akshay Kumar Sahoo feels this is a direct attack on the democracy. "Voices rising against the system are being suppressed. We (journalists) will soon become endangered species like Olive Ridley turtles hunt down by influential people. Those who are connected to journalism in actual terms are now feeling insecure. It is a direct attack on the democracy."
"Arnab and his team have been constantly questioning the work of Maharashtra government which was unacceptable for the latter. Not only journalists, the Editors Guild of India and several ministers have come forward against the act of Mumbai Police and the concerned government," added Sahoo.
(Edited By Devbrat Patnaik)
Read More:
Editors Guild Of India Condemns Arrest Of Republic TV Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami
Reminds Of The Emergency: Top Leaders Slam Maharashtra Govt’s ‘Forceful’ Arrest Of Arnab Goswami