Three weeks ago, the decision to scrap 500 and 1000-rupee notes was sold as a moral crusade, indeed, as a war on corruption. This narrative has now fallen apart. On November 29, Lok Sabha forced through a bill that ends the war and assures safe passage to those who hold black money in cash.

Read Tony Jacob former Editor, Business World in The Indian Express. The Article May be Read Here. In brief, the author says that

The bill is an invitation to those who have kept their undeclared income in cash to pay the government half of it (including tax, penalty and surcharge) and in return, turn the balance 50 per cent into legal white money. They would also need to lock in half of the new, legally- laundered money in a bond specified by the government for four years. The lock-in is certainly an inconvenience but not a loss to the black money holders because they would not have been getting any interest on their cash hoards any way. The new scheme is a generous offer when compared with the original statements made by the government that any black money holder found depositing denotified currency in banks would face a 200 per cent penalty and thus lose nearly all of his stash.

The post How PM Modi’s note Recall Narrative has Fallen Apart – Tony Jacob in Indian Express appeared first on SabrangIndia.

''आपकी 'स्पीच' के बाद हम 'स्पीचलेस' हैं। लेकिन मुझे आभार के साथ कुछ बातें कहनी हैं…

बहुत बहुत शुक्रिया प्रधानमंत्री नरेंद्र मोदी जी…
आपके शब्दों के लिए बहुत आभार। आपका यहां होना एक मज़बूत संदेश है। हम उम्मीद करते हैं कि अच्छी पत्रकारिता उस काम से तय की जाएगी जिसे आज शाम सम्मानित किया जा रहा है, जिसे रिपोर्टर्स ने किया है, जिसे एडिटर्स ने किया है।
 
अच्छी पत्रकारिता ‘सेल्फी पत्रकार’ नहीं तय करेंगे जो आजकल कुछ ज़्यादा ही दिखते हैं और जो अपने विचारों और चेहरे से खुद अभिभूत रहते हैं और कैमरे का मुंह हमेशा अपनी तरफ रखते हैं। उनके लिए सिर्फ एक ही चीज़ मायने रखती है, उनकी आवाज़ और उनका चेहरा। इसके अलावा सब कुछ पृष्ठभूमि में है, जैसे कोई बेमतलब का शोर। इस सेल्फी पत्रकारिता में अगर आपके पास तथ्य नहीं हैं तो कोई बात नहीं, फ्रेम में बस झंडा रखिये और उसके पीछे छुप जाइये।
 
शुक्रिया सर कि आपने विश्वसनीयता की बात कही। ये बहुत ज़रूरी बात है जो हम पत्रकार आपके भाषण से सीख सकते हैं। आपने पत्रकारों के बारे में कुछ अच्छी-अच्छी बातें कहीं जिससे हम थोड़े नर्वस भी हैं। आपको ये विकिपीडिया पर नहीं मिलेगा, लेकिन मैं इंडियन एक्सप्रेस के एडिटर की हैसियत से कह सकता हूं कि रामनाथ गोयनका ने एक रिपोर्टर को नौकरी से निकाल दिया था, जब उनसे एक राज्य के मुख्यमंत्री ने कहा था कि आपका रिपोर्टर बड़ा अच्छा काम कर रहा है।
 
इस साल मैं 50 का हो रहा हूं और मैं कह सकता हूं कि इस वक़्त जब हमारे पास ऐसे पत्रकार हैं जो रिट्वीट और लाइक के ज़माने में जवान हो रहे हैं, जिन्हें पता नहीं है कि सरकार की तरफ से की गई आलोचना हमारे लिए इज़्ज़त की बात है। हम जब भी किसी पत्रकार की तारीफ सुनें तो हमें फिल्मों में स्मोकिंग सीन्स की तर्ज पर एक पट्टी चला देनी चाहिए कि सरकार की तरफ आई आलोचना पत्रकारिता के लिए शानदार खबर है। मुझे लगता है कि ये पत्रकारिता के लिए बहुत बहुत जरूरी है।
 
इस साल हमारे पास इस अवॉर्ड के लिए 562 एप्लीकेशन आईं। ये बीते 11 सालों के इतिहास में सबसे ज़्यादा एप्लीकेशन हैं। ये उन लोगों को जवाब है जिन्हें लगता है कि अच्छी पत्रकारिता मर रही है और पत्रकारों को सरकार ने खरीद लिया है। अच्छी पत्रकारिता मर नहीं रही, ये बेहतर और बड़ी हो रही है। हां, बस इतना है कि बुरी पत्रकारिता ज़्यादा शोर मचा रही है जो 5 साल पहले नहीं मचाती थी।आखिर में आप सबको इस शाम यहां आने के लिए शुक्रिया कहता हूं। यहां सरकार की तरफ से लोग हैं, यहां विपक्ष की तरफ से लोग हैं। हम जानते हैं कि कौन कौन है। लेकिन जब वे पत्रकारिता की तारीफ करते हैं तो इससे फर्क नहीं पड़ता। आप ये पता नहीं लगा सकते कि कौन सरकार में है और कौन विपक्ष में। ये इसी तरह होना चाहिए। और इसी तरह उन्होंने अपना संबोधन समाप्त किया। 
 
राजकमल झा की ये बातें छोटी नहीं थीं, बल्कि चरणवंदना और सेल्फी पत्रकारों के लिए एक बड़ा संदेश थीं। इस प्रोग्राम में हजारों की भीड़ में पीएम मोदी के सामने उन्होंने जता दिया कि पत्रकारिता अभी जिंदा है और जब तक पत्रकार सत्ता के विपक्ष में रहेगा पत्रकारिता जीवित रहेगी। पिछले साल एक कार्यक्रम के दौरान पीएम मोदी के साथ सेल्फी के लिए पत्रकारों में होड़ मची थी। 

गौरतलब है कि इससे पहले टाइम्स ऑफ इंडिया के पत्रकार अक्षय मुकुल ने पत्रकारिता के क्षेत्र में दिया जाने वाला प्रतिष्ठित रामनाथ गोयनका पुरस्कार प्रधानमंत्री के हाथों लेने से इनकार कर दिया था। दो नवंबर को राजधानी दिल्ली में इन पुरस्कारों का वितरण प्रधानमंत्री नरेंद्र मोदी के हाथों हुआ। लेकिन पत्रकार अक्षय मुकुल ने मोदी के हाथों पुरस्कार लेने में असमर्थता जताते हुए किसी अन्य व्यक्ति को अपनी तरफ से पुरस्कार ग्रहण करने के लिए भेजा। उन्होंने पुरस्कार समारोह में हिस्सा नहीं लिया। उनका कहना था कि 'मोदी और मैं एक साथ एक फ्रेम में मौजूद होने के विचार के साथ मैं जीवन नहीं बिता सकता।'

The post इंडियन एक्सप्रेस के चीफ एडिटर की ‘बेबाक स्पीच’ पर मुंह ताकते रह गए पीएम मोदी appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The decision of the Ramnath Goenka Foundation to invite PM Modi this year for the most prestigious award ceremony in the field of journalism had raised many eyebrows in the media fraternity. Akshaya Mukul – a renowned journalist from Times of India boycotted Ramnath Goenka Awards, as he could not “live with the idea of Modi and me (him) in the same frame.”

However, Raj Kamal Jha, editor-in-chief, The Indian Express, who had the responsibility to offer the vote of thanks during the ceremony, reflected on Modi’s speech, and took on him subtly by reiterating the definition of good journalism.

Here’s the transcript of Jha’s speech during Ramanth Goenka Awards, 2016 that took place on November 2.
 

Thank you very much Mister Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji.

After your speech, we are left speechless. But I need to say a few things as a vote of thanks.

Your being here is a very strong message we hope that good journalism is defined it should be defined by the work we celebrate this evening, done by reporters who report and editors who edit. Not by the selfie journalists we see a lot of these days who are always obsessed by what they think, by their face, by their views, who keep the camera turned towards them. The only thing that matters to them is their voice and their face. All the rest is backdrop, a silly background noise. In this selfie journalism, if you don't have the facts, it doesn't matter. You just put a flag in the frame and you hide behind it.

Thank you very much sir for your speech, for your wonderful underlining of the importance of credibility. I think that's the most important thing that we can take away as journalists from your speech. You also said a few wonderful things about journalists that makes us a little nervous. You may not find it in Wikipedia, but Shri Ramnath Goenka, and it's a fact and I can say that as the Editor of the Indian Express, he did sack a journalist when he heard that the Chief Minister of a state told him that, "Aap ka reporter bahut achchha kaam kar raha hai." That's very very important especially in an age, and I turn 50 this year so I can say that, when we have a generation of journalists who are growing up in an age of retweets and likes. And they do not know that criticism from a government is a badge of honour.

So just as they do in smoking scenes in cinemas, I think we should have a ticker tape running whenever we hear praise of a journalist that criticism from a government is wonderful news for journalism. I think that's very, very important for journalism.

Thank you sir for your speech. You made some wonderful points. I think the most important point was of credibility and I think that is very very important. We cannot blame the government for that,that is our job, we need to look within and we will surely reflect on your remarks.

Thank you to the winners of the Ramnath Goenka Journalism Awards. There are two remarkable facts about this year's awards, which I want to share with you. We got 562 applications, this is the highest ever we got in the last 11 years, from 128 news organisations. This is also the highest ever and it is very important for me to underline this number because this is a reply to those who say good journalism is dying, that journalists have been bought over by the government. It is not that good journalism is dying, not at all. It is getting better, and it is getting bigger. It is that bad journalism makes a lot more noise than it used to do five years ago. And that is why I think the remote control should get the RNG Award for Excellence in Journalism. And so that is why I would like to request you to lend a hand to all those who have won the award this year.

In the end, thank you to all of you who have come here this evening. There are people from the government, there are people from the Opposition, we know who is who. But when they applauded journalism, it did not matter. You could not make out who is in the government and who is in the opposition. That is the way it should be. Thank you very much.

The post Jha’s subtle take on Modi: ‘Criticism from Government is a Badge of Honour for Journalists’ appeared first on SabrangIndia.

"We met some local families and spoke to the local administration. We found that there was no evidence to suggest there had been an exodus of any kind. I don't wish to comment on the NHRC report too much, but some of the findings seem baseless," the NCM team, led by member-in-charge for Uttar Pradesh Farida Abdullah Khan told the Times of India.
 
Last month, an NHRC report had validated the allegation made earlier by the BJP MP from the area, Hukum Singh that 250 Hindu families were forced to move out of Kairana in Shamli district of UP out of fear. "At least 24 witnesses stated that the youths of the specific majority community (Muslims in this case) in Kairana town pass lewd/taunting remarks against the females of the specific minority community in town," the report stated.
 
However, in June this year, a probe by the Shamli district administration found Hukum Singh’s allegation to be bogus. As against Singh’s list of 346 Hindu families who had allegedly fled the district, the probe concluded that only in three cases families had faced “rangdari” threats and police had taken timely action in each case.
 
According to an Indian Express investigation, which tracked down 22 people who figure in Singh’s list, five had died, four had moved out of Kairana looking for better opportunities, 10 left more than 10 years ago, three had moved fearing “local criminals”.
 
Khan said the NCM team didn't find much evidence to back the NHRC claim. "For instance, the (NHRC) report claims that the rise in crime in Kairana was linked to the resettlement of refugees. There is no paperwork that can verify this. It also said that the riot-displaced persons changed the demographics of the town since about 30,000 people came and settled here. However, local NGOs said the figure in Kairana is not more than 200 people."

The latest Times of India report may be read here.
 

The post Minorities Commission Probe Team trashes NHRC Report on Kairana appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The Telegraph reported as many as four persons were killed and over 500 injured in Hazaribagh on Sunday, as Ram Navami procession clashes again became an excuse to settle scores, fan inter-community passions and go amok on roads, prompting the district administration to impose an indefinite curfew starting from 8pm Friday.

The violence broke out that had begun on Friday broke out, once again, in Hazaribagh in Jharkhand on Sunday during another Ramnavmi procession. Processionists were the playing a banned cassette that contained objectionable and provocative slogans that triggered the violence, veteran civil and political rights activist, Razi Ahmed of the CPI, a resident of Hazaribagh, told Sabrangindia today. “The cassette played by processionists blared slogans like “Mussalmanon Bhag Jao Pakistan with unmentionable and obscene swear words especially for Muslims—some of these do not bear repetition,” he added  added.

Though akhara rally, with flags, spears, swords, maces and sticks started hitting the streets from 10 pm on Saturday through Sunday, skirmishes between akharas took a serious turn around 4am. At a rally at Jadu Babu Chowk, Sonu, the 28-year-old son of prominent BJP leader Deepak Nath Sahay, allegedly stabbed to death Anuj Kumar Sinha (19), a school van owner. Apparently, Sonu stabbed Anuj nine times in the stomach over an altercation, though the cause of his murderous rage is not yet known.

Sonu, his wife and son are absconding from their Lower Bodom Bazam mohalla home. Another victim, Saurabh Kumar alias Prince (14), a Class IX student of DAV and son of BJP Kisan Morcha leader, died instantly when he was stabbed and hit by a sharp object on the head. Prima facie, it appeared that Prince, who had come to see a Ram Navami rally, was attacked as his family in Vishnupur mohalla had an ongoing dispute with neighbours.

In the afternoon of Sunday, the body of one Bhairav Gope (55), a resident of Mohdar, was recovered from the place of an inter-community clash at Lepo Road, but DIG Upendra Kumar said it was due to an inter- akhara clash.

Lepo Road, however, was witness to ugly scenes when members of one community pelted stones at a passing procession of the Rewali Club and the latter retaliated by attacking a nearby mosque, which snowballed into a full-blown fight. According to sources, people in the procession then went on a rampage, gutting 18 shops, seven bikes and five four-wheelers, a mixture machine and a generator.

DIG Upendra Kumar, DC Mukesh Kumar and SP Akhilesh Kumar Jha rushed to the spot and ordered police to resort to lathi charge and disperse the crowds. They also deputed firefighters to douse the flames.

However, DIG Kumar, according to The Telegraph, has steadfastly maintained no one was killed at the Lepo Road violence. Section 144 was imposed at noon on Sunday but changed it to curfew at 8pm

Director General of Police, D.K Pandey spoke at length to Sabrangindia. He said that the deliberate circulation of provocative messages and incendiary slogans on social media and Whats App had led to the administration cutting off internet services which were only restored this morning (Monday). The confusions arose over new smaller processions that were attempting to join the larger Ram Navmi processions, he said. “The Ram Navmi processions take place over several days and they have loudspeakers. Apart from announcements and religious songs (bhajan kirtans)there were some objectionable things said. This and the confusions over the smaller processions caused tensions first at Bokaro but the Hazaribagh problems continued till yesterday. There were scuffles and some homes were arsoned,” he said adding that things were now under control.

“While no visible political leaders were part of this procession, the fact that the MP and Minister, Jayant Sinha had promised to shower the processions with rose petals from a helicopter worked to delayed its passage, through some areas,” Razi Ahmed further explained. Rose petals were indeed showered as the procession wound its way from Kud Revali to Hazaribagh; en route Khilgaon that falls within the limits of the Hazaribgh municipal corporation limits is where the violence broke out.

The abusive slogans led to a violent scuffle between youth of both communities and at spot of the Laxmi Cinema Mandir site, 10-15 shops, belonging to the minority Muslim community were set alight. The CRPF and RAF were deployed some time later, an action that residents felt could have been taken in advance to pre-empt the violence. Sabrangindia has some video clips of the violence which we are  withholding until tensions ease. Sabrangindia has forwarded these to the DGP on his request.

The post Hazaribagh Simmers Over Weekend, Internet Restored Today: Jharkand appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Curfew was imposed at four places in Bokaro Steel City after a group of youths clashed with a Ram Navami procession.

Ram Navami, which drew a crowd of over a lakh to Ranchi's Main Road, was celebrated peacefully today in the capital, but reports of violence sparked by stone-pelting came in from Bokaro and Hazaribagh in the evening, dampening the festive spirit that had spread cheer across Jharkhand in the last few days.   In the steel city of Bokaro, curfew was clamped at 8.45 pm on Friday, April 15, at four places after police resorted to lathicharge and fired teargas shells to control an angry mob of youths who had allegedly pelted stones on a procession led by Bokaro MLA Viranchi Narain around 6 pm. More than two dozen people were hurt, including Bokaro deputy commissioner R.M. Ray, 10 policemen and three journalists, one of them a photographer with The Telegraph, that newspaper reported.

Barely half an hour later in Hazaribagh, at least six persons were injured in stone pelting when a Ram Navami procession passed through Pandu village, around 60km from the district headquarters. Later, an earthmover was set on fire. Newspapers reported that Hazaribagh SP Akhilesh Kumar Jha reached the village promptly with additional forces. The situation, he said, was now under control. The police were talking to elderly members of all communities to ensure that there was no further flare-up.

Police sources told newspapers that trouble had erupted between two communities in Pandu village during the procession when some people objected to cars being parked along the route. “It was a minor issue which led to an argument and stone pelting. Security forces at the spot managed to control the situation. But some elements targeted houses deep inside the village. As per our information, three houses were set on fire, while a fourth was partially burnt,” said Jharkhand police spokesperson and ADGP (Operations) S N Pradhan.

Curfew was imposed in Bokaro steel city area, Maraphari, Balidih and Sector XII police station areas.
 

The post Violence erupts on Ramnavmi: Jharkand appeared first on SabrangIndia.