Senior journalist and NDTV’s Group Editor Sreenivasan Jain resigned from his post on Saturday ending a three-decade association with the national news channel. The move comes after the recent Adani takeover of the company in November 2022.

Jain announced his resignation on his official Twitter page amid allegations of fraud on the Adani Group by US-based Hindenburg Research.

“Hi all. An amazing, nearly three-decade-long run at NDTV comes to an end today. The decision to resign wasn’t easy, but .. it is what it is. More later,” he tweeted.

Hi all. An amazing, nearly three-decade long run at NDTV comes to an end today. The decision to resign wasn’t easy, but .. it is what it is. More later.

— Sreenivasan Jain (@SreenivasanJain) January 28, 2023

Jain’s resignation comes months after former senior NDTV India journalist Ravish Kumar resigned from his post in November.

Jain began working with NDTV in 1995. Over the years, he covered various prominent national and international news reports and conducted interviews with many eminent personalities and politicians. Jain hosted the weekly show Truth vs Hype on NDV 24×7. He was also the Mumbai bureau chief from 2003-2008 and was briefly the Managing Editor of NDTV’s business channel ‘Profit’.

Adani’s NDTV takeover:

On November 30, 2022, the Adani group gained full control of NDTV after it acquired most of the founders — Prannoy Roy and Radhika Roy’s — stakes at a premium of almost 17 percent over the rate it paid to minority shareholders of the firm.

Though the takeover happened in November, the official announcement took place on August 23. Gautam Adani used RRPR Holdings Private Limited, a company that was founded by the Roys and bears their initials in its name, to buy 27.26 percent shares from Prannoy and Radhika Roy at a price of Rs 342.65 per share.

Adani Group first acquired Vishvapradhan Commercial Private Limited (VCPL), a little-known company that had given Rs 403 crore of an interest-free loan to RRPR Holdings in 2009-10 in exchange for warrants that allowed it to buy a stake in the newsgroup at any time. Adani group exercised those rights in August this year, which NDTV said was done without its consent.

The national news channel came out strongly condemning the decision taken without any discussions or consent with the Roys.

“The NDTV founders and the Company would like to make it clear that this exercise of rights by VCPL was executed without any input from, conversation with, or consent of the NDTV founders, who, like NDTV, have been made aware of this exercise of rights only today. As recently as yesterday, NDTV had informed the stock exchanges that there was no change in the shareholding of its founders,” the statement from NDTV said then.

As Adani formally took over the company on November 30, 2022, Prannoy and Radhika Roy submitted their resignation from the board of directors, even after claims by Gautam Adani that he had requested the Roys to continue serving as the network’s chair in an interview with the British daily Financial Times.

“Why can’t you support one media house to become independent and have a global footprint?” In the interview, Adani makes the comment that there isn’t a single news source in India that can be compared to outlets like the Financial Times or Al Jazeera.

He claims that his conglomerate’s investment in establishing a global media organisation will be “negligible.”

The board also appointed Sanjay Pugalia and Senthil Chengalvarayan as directors on the RRPRH board with immediate effect.

A day after Roy’s resignation, on November 30, 2022, NDTV received another blow with one of its most significant members – senior journalist Ravish Kumar from NDTV Hindi – announcing his disassociation with the company with immediate effect.

Announcing his resignation through his official Youtube channel an emotional but composed Ravish said that the ecosystem and atmosphere for journalism are being destroyed.

“At this time, I don’t want to say anything about my organisation,” Kumar said. “Because when one is emotional, one is not objective. I have spent 26-27 years in NDTV. A journey like that has many ups and downs.”

Ravish Kumar’s resignation took the Twitter world by storm as many journalists and opposition political parties expressed their concern over the future of NDTV.
 

In an interview to discuss his resignation from @ndtv and to discuss @gautam_adani‘s intention of acquiring a majority stake in NDTV and take over its channels, @ravishndtv says that Mr Adani is spending crores only to silence him (Ravish Kumar) and to make him unemployed. pic.twitter.com/yoOCuq1ZxE

— The Wire (@thewire_in) December 20, 2022

Ravish Kumar regularly reports on his Youtube channel – Ravish Kumar Official – on the current political situation and trends in the country. His team had recently covered Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo yatra in New Delhi. The yatra has reached its last leg – Jammu and Kashmir.

Courtesy: The Daily Siasat

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It was around the time when his Primetime newshour show was usually telecast, 9 p.m. or so on November 30, 2022 that media was abuzz with the news many viewers were expecting: the resignation of Ravish Kumar from NDTV. Social media was flooded with messages and quotations from India’s popular television anchor. A day before the owner-promoters Pranoy Roy-Radhika Roy had stepped down from the channel’s promoter firm, RRPR Holding’s board as former journalists with the Adani group, Sanjay Pugalia, Senthil Chengylvarayan and Sudipta Bhattarcya occupied their place. The next morning, today, Ravish addressed his audience.

There was a barely controlled drama, inevitability, sadness and anger as hundreds of thousands viewers watched his ‘farewell NDTV speech’ on a recently launched YouTube Channel, Ravish Kumar Official. Auf Wiedersehen is a charming term in Austrian or German that simply does not allow a final parting: Until we meet again or goodbye for now, for the present. Auf Wiedersehen sums up what Ravish communicated this morning, perfectly.

The masterful use of language is Ravish’s forte and the December 1 address so beautifully resonated this. Among all else that he said, the manner and fashion, charm and grace with which he saluted the women and girls in his life –personal and professional– was rare, exceptional. The association and teaming up with women bettered him both as a journalist and a human being, Ravish told us showcasing the bitter and sly burden of patriarchy within newsrooms.

A proud Bihari belonging to the Bhojpuri language and a practitioner of the saral Hindi. Journalism is about the choice of language and in a country or nation where language domination has a colonial throwback, the language that Ravish brought to national television, and with it, a peer’s respect for the Urdu, the Marwadi, the Marathi, the Kannada, the Tamil, the Bengali, is unique. At the award ceremony of the first Gauri Memorial Trust in Bengaluru in September of 2019, the same month he was awarded the Magsaysay award, he spoke of the language behind communication. Then, in his acceptance speech, he delved deep into topics that ranged from Indian media and its role to the detriment of Indian democracy to Article 370 and its aftermath. He spoke about the Centre’s Hindi imposition while quoting from a poem by Kedarnath Singh evoking a thunderous applause from the audience.

Back now to the show. And this personal cum professional salaam to Ravish.

Hark back to 2016, the first dark assault by the Regime. When students of Hyderabad Central University (HCU) and Jawarharlal Nehru University (JNU) were reviled and abused by powerful in government, and this abuse was reflected and amplified on commercial television.

Darkness on India’s Prime Time News: In a scathing self-critique of India’s private prime time television news, especially the unprofessional conduct of well-known and lauded anchors, Ravish Kumar of NDTV India had a Blackened Out Screen on the News Hour for 45 minutes on Friday, February 19. Thereafter began his epiphany to India’s dying television news casters, the Godi media.

The video of this radical programme –still available on YouTube— is self explanatory. In simple and hard hitting Hindi, Ravish argues how the lynch mob is cultivated by the undemocratic and tyrannical conduct of television anchors in the name of debate. The immediate provocation was the lies being dished out on commercial television, the morphed and manipulated imagery being “sold” about JNU and its student leaderhip, dubbing them the anti-national and the terrorist.

“Yeh Andhera hi Aaj Ki TV ki Tasveer Hai.” (The dark screen is the true image of TV today).

“Debate ke naam par Janmat ka Maut Ho Raha Hai.” (People’s voices are being throttled in the name of debate)

Before a dark screen, we heard Ravish’s calm yet biting voice:

आप इस चीख को पहचानिये। इस चिल्लाहट को समझिये। इसलिए मैं आपको अंधेरे में ले आया हूं। कोई तकनीकि ख़राबी नहीं है। आपका सिग्नल बिल्कुल ठीक है। ये अंधेरा ही आज के टीवी की तस्वीर है। हमने जानबूझ कर ये अंधेरा किया है। समझिये आपके ड्राईंग रूम की बत्ती बुझा दी है और मैं अंधेरे के उस एकांत में सिर्फ आपसे बात कर रहा हूं।

The use of the Azaadi slogan by the iconic youth leader Kanhaiya Kumar, then with the CPI now with the Congress party, first during agitations and then 13 days after Ravish Kumar’s black-out broadcast on March 3, 2016 was precursed by all efforts to slur his image.

कन्हैया कुमार की तस्वीरों को बदल–बदल कर चलाया गया ताकि लोग उसे एक आतंकवादी और गद्दार के रूप में देख सकें। एक तस्वीर में वो भाषण दे रहा है तो उसी तस्वीर में पीछे भारत का कटा छंटा झंडा जोड़ दिया गया है। फोटोशॉप तकनीक से आजकल खूब होता है।

After that, there was this open letter, powerful, scathing and emotional to previously one of India’s most loved editors who has then not just demeaned himself politically but been mired in the most degrading of sexual harassment at the workplace scandals, MJ Akbar, now a politician. Senior journalist Priya Ramani had won a criminal defamation case slammed by Akbar, against her, in 2018, alleging ‘damage to his reputation (February 2021).’

Ravish Kumar reminded Akbar that the political change in the Indian landscape that ‘veteran journalists’ like Akbar call ‘great for India’has also forged a culture of abuse with media persons being called ‘presstitutes’ and ‘pimps and hustlers.’ Ravish Kumar in this open letter to Akbar on his blog reminded him that things had sunk so low that ‘my mother has been called a whore –a woman who does not know what an anchor is’  but is concerned about her son, Ravish Kumar’s health. When she found that her son was being abused in such vile language, she could not sleep for days. There is much more that Ravish says to Akbar abour political control and overt psychphancy (use of the prime minister’s photos on journalists’ ‘profiles) and the letter needs to be read and recalled in full. By students and practioners of the craft.

Today. NDTV India, the field television journalists who covered the Shaheen Bagh protests and the Kisan Andolan, the large number of lesser and bigger professionals who made up the Ravish Kumar Team—each and all received a mention today. Ravish Kumar, saluting the India and Indians that sat in protest against the CAA 2019 and the three farm laws, reminded us of the television anchor, who, through all his telecasts was not just a sharp critique but an unthreatening colleague who began his career with the channel he departed from yesterday, sorting out correspondences and letters. Today, with a fan club numbering millions he is the recipient of hand written missives from a vast audience that are also his collaborators, journalistically.

That then was the essence of the message that was finally communicated today: that the view of the Indian people matter, that democracy is about this accommodation and assertion. He spoke to the Indian people, the viewers, the last stakeholders of a democracy seriously under assault and attack. It was and is they who will be the final victors if and when Indian democracy does crawl out of the abyss; when ordinary Indian, sick neck deep with the hate poison they have consumed, force it to be cleansed out of the body politic. Thus spoke Ravish.

The ambush on the NDTV channel by corporate honcho, Gautam Adani, had first happened in August 2022: when the Gautam Adani-led Adani Group, acquired 29.18 per cent stake, and said it will launch an open offer as required by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to buy another 26 per cent in the company The stark message was there for all to see. In a notice to stock exchanges, NDTV said the acquisition was executed without any input from, conversation with, or consent of NDTV founders Prannoy Roy and Radhika Roy. At the time, both held 32.26 per cent in NDTV.

Given this ‘backdoor ambush’ by a business unashamedly close to the ruling regime, back in August 2022, it was only a matter of time before senior journalists like Ravish did actually bow out. The millions of Indians for whom Ravish brings sanity, reason and hope however will not allow Ravish the last bow.

Related:

Also watch BBC’s trending Video- “Debunking the Viral Video of ‘sedition’ that has captivated India” 
 

The post The Curtain falls on a 27 year old Saga as over a Million Viewers don’t allow the Last Bow: Ravish Kumar appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) is continuing its nation-wide search operation for the second day today.  The raids today, October 29 are being conducted at nine locations, two in Delhi, the rest in Srinagar.

In Delhi the property of former Delhi Minority Commission chief Zafarul-Islam Khan is being raided by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), in a terror funding case it is probing reported NDTV. Khan is the founding editor of the newspaper Milli Gazette and chairman of Charity Alliance, one of the six non-profits that are under the NIA scanner now. The NGOs raided by the NIA are Falah-e-Aam Trust, Charity Alliance, Human Welfare Foundation, JK Yateem Foundation, Salvation Movement, and J&K Voice of Victims. The Charity Alliance and Human Welfare Foundation are based in Delhi, while the rest are based in Jammu and Kashmir’s Srinagar, stated the news report.

Yesterday, October 28, the NIA team conducted raids at multiple places, including properties belonging to human rights defenders, NGOs, and even a media house in Srinagar, in connection with a ‘terror funding’ probe. The NIA raided the office of popular daily Greater Kashmir, as well as the home of well known human rights activist Khurram Parvez, coordinator J&K Coalition of civil society, and journalist Parvez Bukhari. The NIA had also raided a location in Bangalore, Karnataka.

According to news reports the NIA suspects that some non-profits are “raising funds in India and abroad for carrying out separatist activity in Jammu and Kashmir.” The  NDTV report states that according to its sources, “several incriminating documents and electronic devices have been seized.” Though the NIA has not made public any details as the investigation is still on. The NIA teams have not shared any details after yesterday’s raids it conducted at the homes and offices of Khurram Parvez, coordinator of J&K Coalition of Civil Society; his associates Parvez Ahmad Bukhari, Parveena Ahanger, chairperson of Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons, NGO Athrout, and the Greater Kailash Trust; Parvez Ahmad Matta and Bengaluru-based associate Swati Sheshadri.

Parveena Ahanger, Chairperson of Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDPK) issued a statement after the raised at the APDP premises. She  put on record that the October 28 raid began in the morning and lasted till around 3.30 PM. The raid was conducted by “a team of officers from the NIA, CID and JK Police,” who were  accompanied by CRPF officers. She stated that she, and her associates were taken from “home to the APDP office by the team and security personnel” and were present in the office during the raid. “All information and material sought by the raiding team was provided to them. The team examined all documents relating to APDP’s work. They subsequently seized several documents and some electronic devices,” stated Praveena Ahanagar adding her mobile phones were also seized.

She has raised concerns over “misuse of sensitive information, including names and addresses of victims present in documents seized from APDP and apprehension of reprisal against victims of human rights violations”.

The APDP stated that it is an organisation of and for family members of victims of enforced disappearances, it has “documented and recorded testimonies of victims and victim- families who have been subjected to human rights violations by security forces in Kashmir. More than 1000 testimonies of enforced disappearances, about 400 testimonies of pellet gun injuries, about 300-400 testimonies of arbitrary detention and torture and some cases of sexual violence have been documented by APDP and have been submitted to various United Nations special procedures, and Human Rights Organisations. As recently as September 2020, almost 40 testimonies of arbitrary detention and torture that took place in 2019-2020 were submitted to the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and the Special Rapporteur on Torture.”

According to the statement, “documents and devices seized by the NIA team contain details of the names, identities and incidents of human rights abuses by security personnel. There is a grave apprehension that the same may be accessed by other agencies, and/or lead to adverse consequences and reprisal against victims and families who have testified and are pursuing justice.”

The APDP states that it “neither receives foriegn funding, nor engages in any illegal activities. The raid conducted by the NIA has no basis, and only exposes the State’s desperation to deter APDP from pursuing justice for hundreds of victims of human rights violations committed by State actors in Kashmir.”

The statement may be read here:

Meanwhile, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president and ex-Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti posted that the PDP office in Srinagar was sealed by J&K admin, and “workers arrested for organising a peaceful protest… Is this your definition of ‘normalcy’ that’s being showcased in the world?” 

PDP office in Srinagar sealed by J&K admin & workers arrested for organising a peaceful protest. A similar protest was allowed in Jammu so why was it thwarted here? Is this your definition of ‘normalcy’ thats being showcased in the world? @PMOIndia @HMOIndia @manojsinha_ pic.twitter.com/j9Y5L5WTyQ

— Mehbooba Mufti (@MehboobaMufti) October 29, 2020

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A week after a controversy erupted in the University of Delhi over key appointments, its Vice Chancellor Yogesh Tyagi has been placed under suspension by President Ram Nath Kovind. According to information shared with the media by the Union Ministry of Education on Wednesday, the President has allowed an inquiry against the vice chancellor who was accused of “misconduct” and “dereliction of duty” by the ministry, reported NDTV.

As a bizarre power struggle reached boiling point at the university, the education ministry intervened and requested the President to allow an inquiry against Yogesh Tyagi. The dispute rose over certain appointments made to senior posts in the university last week. The President of India is also the Visitor of the University, and has ordered an inquiry into the allegations of dereliction of duties and lack of commitment and devotion to duty against the VC, said the news report based on a government statement.

The ministry of education has written to the university registrar, intimating that the “vice chancellor was suspended till the inquiry is completed”. Professor PC Joshi will take charge as vice chancellor for now.

Orders issued by now-suspended DU VC Yogesh Tyagi during his period of absence on medical ground will be treated as null and void: Officials

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) October 28, 2020

According to multiple reports Professor Tyagi has been on leave since July 2, when he was admitted to Delhi’s AIIMS hospital for emergency treatment. In his absence, Professor PC Joshi was put in charge on July 17, and was to stay in office until Professor Tyagi rejoined work. However, last week, ProfessorTyagi removed Professor Joshi as pro-VC and appointed Geeta Bhatt, the director of the Non-Collegiate Women’s Education Board of the university, in his place. A massive controversy erupted soon. 

NDTV reports that Professor Joshi had, meanwhile, notified the appointment of a new registrar, Vikas Gupta, whose  appointment was  cleared by the DU executive council. However, the same day, Professor Tyagi approved and notified the appointment of PC Jha as acting registrar and director of the South Campus.

It was then that the ministry of education stepped in as the power tussle between the Vice Chancellor and the pro-Vice Chancellor, came to the fore. According to the ministry any appointments made by Professor Tyagi were not “valid” as he is officially on leave. 

According to news reports, meanwhile Professor Jha wrote to the ministry as “acting registrar” and stated  that all decisions taken by Professor Tygai were in accordance with university norms. The ministry took objection to that letter too and  directed the university to take strict action against him, reported NDTV.

First time in the history of @UnivofDelhi the vice chancellor has been suspended by the president of India. His tenure was to end in March 2021!

— Shradha Chettri (@Shrads_chettri) October 28, 2020

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Sudarshan News filed another affidavit in the Supreme Court ahead of its hearing on September 21 in a petition filed against it for airing a show that is allegedly communally inflammatory and as the bench termed it at the last hearing, “insidious”.

The affidavit has been filed by the Editor-in-Chief of the channel, Suresh Chavhanke, and he has brought to the notice of the court a show that was telecasted on NDTV news channel in September 2008 titled “Hindu Terror Myth or Fact?” whereby a “Hindu saint was shown with tilak and chillam and also a trishul (one of the most sacred symbols for Hindus and associated with most revered deity of the Hindus, Lord Shiva”.

The affidavit further points to NDTV’s show of August 2010 titled “Is Saffron Terror Real?” anchored by Barkha Dutt whereby a Hindu cultural gathering was shown in saffron colour clothes.

In the affidavit, Chavhanke has also undertaken to abide and comply with the programme code and the directions of the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

Making these instances grounds, the affidavit pleads that the stay imposed on the broadcast of the rest of the shows in the series titled “Naukarshahi me Muslamano ki Ghuspaith ke shadyantra ka bada khulasa” (The conspiracy behind Muslim infiltration in UPSC – The Big Reveal). The show was first aired on September 11 and was aired until September 14, when the apex court imposed the injunction.

Chavhanke even defended the use of the term “UPSC Jihad” stating that since it was alleging that Zakat foundation was receiving funds from terror-linked organizations, this term was being used.

Senior Advocate appearing for Sudarshan News, at the last hearing, assured the court that a clear affidavit will be filed on stereotypes having a tendency to be perceived as hate speech.

The hearing is likely to continue today, at 2 P.M.

Background

On August 28, the apex court refused to issue an injunction on the basis of an “unverified transcript of a 49 second clip” which was the promotional video of the show titled “Bindaas Bol”. The court had still noted that expression of views derogatory to a particular community had a “divisive potential” and that the petition had raised significant issues bearing on the protection of constitutional rights.

However, on the same day, Delhi High Court had granted stay on the broadcast of the show with directions to the Centre to make a decision in this regard. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting issued an order on September 9 allowing the broadcast of the show and from September 11 onwards, the show called “Bindaas Bol” was telecast on Sudarshan News. 

An intervention application has also been filed by 7 retired civil servants urging the court to give an authoritative meaning to “hate speech” so that the authorities implementing it receive clarity on what speech comes within its ambit. “The interpretative task before this Hon’ble Court therefore is to distinguish between speech that is merely offensive, indecorous or in bad taste [and therefore covered by Article 19(1)(a)] and hate speech that is rightly penalised by Articles 153A & B and the other provisions pointed out above,” the plea read. 

This “UPSC Jihad” series has been running since September 11 and was slated to continue until September 20. However, with the Supreme Court order restraining broadcast, September 14 happens to be the last telecast of the show.

During the hearing of September 18, the bench, comprising  Justices DY Chandrachud, Indu Malhotra and KM Joseph stated that the show was presented in an “inciteful manner”.

CJP’s complaint against Sudarshan News

CJP was the first organisation to act when we filed a complaint with the News Broadcasting Standards Authority (NBSA) when the promotional video for the show Bindass Bol had first emerged. CJP complained against the deeply communal content of the promotional video of the show on ‘UPSC Jihad’, where the channel’s Editor-in-Chief Suresh Chavhanke alleged a conspiracy by Muslims to take over civil services in India. But NBSA forwarded our complaint to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting stating that since Sudarshan News was not a part of the News Broadcasters Association (NBA) the NBSA could not take action against it. 

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The post Sudarshan News cites NDTV’s ‘Hindu terror’ show, pleads for vacation of stay appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The rat chase behind NDTV continues as the Finance Ministry wasted no time in issuing fresh notice in the NDTV Income Tax reassessment case. This was done shortly after the Supreme Court quashed the last reassessment notice issued by Income Tax Department for the year 2007-08, while still allowing issue of notice under another provision of the Act.

The notice was quashed in the apex court by a bench comprising of Justices L Nageswara Rao and Deepak Gupta on the grounds that the IT department failed to show “non-disclosure of facts” in its notice issued 4 years after the assessment year and hence it was deemed time barred by the court. However, the court clarified that it is not adjudicating on whether the IT department could take benefit of section 147 of the Income Tax Act in this case. The court said, “…the revenue may issue fresh notice taking benefit of the second proviso if otherwise permissible under law”.

According to the second proviso, the time bar of 4 years is not applicable to cases where “any income in relation to any asset located outside India has escaped assessment for any assessment year”. The case was decided in favour of NDTV, which went into appeal at the apex court against the said notice, since the notice is silent on whether it is invoking the second proviso on section 147 of the IT Act. The Court pointed out, “It is only while rejecting the objections of the assessee that reference has been made to the second proviso in the order of disposal of objections dated 23.11.2015”. The bench held that the assesee “should not be prejudiced or be taken by surprise. The uncontroverted fact is that in the notice dated 31.03.2015 there is no mention of any foreign entity”.

The court also noted that since the assessee has not gotten adequate opportunity to reply to the allegations which are now being put forth by the IT Department, the notice is deemed to be against the principles of natural justice. LiveLaw reported that the IT Department took the stand that NDTV had suppressed in the incomes it had raised in 2007-08 through foreign subsidiaries in Netherlands and United Kingdom. According to the department, the transactions with the foreign subsidiaries were “sham transactions with a view to get the undisclosed income.”

A statement issued by NDTV on its website reads, “The Supreme Court has refused to allow the Revenue Department to reopen an assessment that was decided years ago. Tax officials had sought this in 2015 alleging that NDTV had concealed facts and round tripped money. The court today has disallowed that. The Supreme Court has proved that the rule of law prevails above all else.”

The Revenue Department has however countered this statement by saying that the apex court not given a clean chit to NDTV and has rather endorsed the government’s view that there are reasons to believe that undisclosed income worth Rs. 405.09 crore has escaped assessment, The Business Today reported.

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Ravish is Gandhian in his thought process. He holds the value of truth very highly, like Gandhi. And he has the courage to speak the truth, however inconvenient, with complete humility, a quality which Gandhi had mastered very well but where most of us falter. This is what makes him different and also may be a reason why he still keeps his job and has won the admiration of even his opponents.

The Magsaysay Award will definitely bring more credibility to his work and hopefully some of the opposition from right wing forces, who are known to troll in an organised manner any sane voice in support of human rights, democracy, justice, communal harmony, peace and friendship, especially with Pakistan, and who’ve targeted Ravish in the past, will subside. He has received life threats, his number has been made public to cause him more harassment, to the extent that he had to write an open letter to the Prime Minister highlighting the names of people threatening him, just in case they came good with their threats. One can imagine the insecurity of his family under such circumstances.

However, the aura of Magsaysay is quite exaggerated in India than other countries of Asia, and outside of Asia very few people have heard of it, probably because there are many well known Indians who have won it. Part of the reason for its popularity in India is that it and its winners feature prominently in most General Knowledge books which are used by students preparing for competitive examinations. But the Magsaysay Foundation itself is not infallible, unlike its reputation.

I went to Manila in 2002 to receive the Magsaysay Award as well as participate in a Peace conference organised at the University there in the wake of impending US attack on Iraq. It was a mere coincidence that both events were happening on same dates. There was a demonstration outside the US Embassy the day after the Award ceremony. The chairperson of the Foundation asked me not to participate in the demonstration as it could tarnish its image. When I mentioned to her that my Magsaysay citation referred to my global peace march for nuclear disarmament from Pokaran to Sarnath in 1999 and my stand against wars and armament was well known, she said I was free to oppose my government but I should not oppose the US government in Manila. I argued that US was a bigger culprit in the game of warfare and I considered it part of my activism to oppose the US policy. Before landing in Manila I had little idea that the Foundation was completely US funded – by the Rockefeller and Ford Foundations. Obviously the Magsaysay foundation was quite uncomfortable with my stand.

The fears of Magsaysay Foundation came true. Even the Hindi Indian media back home covered the demonstration outside US Embassy in Manila highlighting my participation. An editorial in a Manila newspaper asked me to return the $50,000 Award money to the US Embassy before I returned to India if I was the principled man I wanted them to believe. I returned the cheque from the airport to the Magsaysay Foundation before embarking the plane out of Manila. I wanted to preserve my freedom to participate in the anti-Pepsi and Coca Cola movements going on in India on the issue of water table depletion which was a threat for farmers and not be questioned by the Magsaysay Foundation every time I took a stand contradictory to the US government, its policies or associated interests. Ironically, the same newspaper which raised a question on my stand, published an editorial after my departure lauding me for returning the money and saying that they too are opposed to US government policies. Copy of this editorial was sent to me by the Indian Ambassador in Philippines.

But the Award is prestigious and definitely is a protection against autocratic tendencies of the state and its cronies in India, especially for human rights defenders and upright journalists like Ravish Kumar. We hope that the right wing fundamentalists will take his view point more seriously and the media fraternity will start considering him as an ideal rather than an exception. He has now emerged as the hope for a free media in India and by extension a democratic polity. This is a victory of progressive forces, sanity and humanity and we must celebrate it. Most of all it is a victory for truth which has become a casualty in the era of post-truth. The post-truth has created only strife and conflicts. If we have to return to the human endeavour of making this world a better place for everybody, there is no option but to go back to recognizing truth as the most important values. In spite of Nathuram Godse having become a hero for a fringe group in this country, the universal ideal continues to be Mahatma Gandhi.

Sandeep Pandey is a social activist and Magsaysay award winner

Courtesy: Counter Current

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I thank NDTV for giving me an opportunity to travel to remote areas and report on different kinds of issues. Grateful to NDTV that they allowed me the freedom to choose what I want to report on, without dictating the contours of the report. And, more important, for mainstreaming that issue, by making it a headline on the channel. 

I need to also thank my team, TV is not possible without a team… camerapersons Nagaraju, Nazir Shaik and others whose enthusiasm and sustained energy drives me even when I feel tired, drained out and defeated. It is not always easy to do long, long hours of travel, reporting, writing and also what may seem like foolishly daring stuff alone, specially if there is a real threat that you could get beaten up if found out or caught during a sting operation. It has happened to us…. for instance, we were once kept captive, threatened to be beaten up, when we were caught by a child trafficking mafia. We got out, so feeling okay about it.
 
Another time, we have driven 18 hours to Chhattisgarh from Hyderabad, straight to an encounter site and reported out of there. We have driven from Vizag (after flying in from Hyderabad) through Srikakulam, all the way to Paradip, almost 20 years ago, during the 1999 Odisha super cyclone. We reached Paradip even before the authorities did. Those were the days of no cell phone, landlines were all gone… so you were virtually walking into a blackhole, till you get back.
 
Similarly, in Bellary when we were investigating the illegal mining operations… people scared us, saying it is dangerous, `you may never come out alive and we would never know where you are buried’. But we went in and came out, and I think there was bravado because we had each other for company.
 
So having another mad but professional and passionate person helps. The contribution of the team specially a cameraperson, for TV, cannot be overstated. One of my colleagues who recently quit said he did that because he felt very lonely after he lost his cameraperson… to downsizing, one of the challenges we are facing.
 
But today, I am not going to dwell on shrinking journalistic space, corporatisation / politicisation of media/news business, political colour in the newsroom, TV debates that turn into slanging matches, a live circus, or how social media that should have been a technological opportunity to democratise the media space is itself being turned into a new weapon to attack free media space… all that is happening and more… and all in this room are well-informed on these issues.
 
My perspective comes from the states. I speak as a reporter from a outpost. My designation is executive editor but what takes up most of my time and energy is everyday news reporting. 
There are thousands like me across the country, who do every day basic reporting, without any halo or celebrity status or heroism. We need to value that reporting because that tells the real stories across the country.
 
These days Chandrababu Naidu is very much in the news and what he talks about is cooperative federalism. We in the bureaus also feel the need for cooperative federalism … the parallels apply to journalism as well. The view from Delhi is often very different from the view from the states. It is like the Centre and States. News can’t always be a Delhi perspective of happenings. 
 
So it is often a battle about Your headline Versus My headline
I am not saying the regional headlines that should always become national headlines… That is not possible. But why does a Delhi headline become a national headline is our question and concern.
 
`Our’ as in we in the outposts. Delhi is not national. Delhi is your neighbourhood just like Hyderabad is mine. And that is something not just newsrooms but politicians need to understand too. That just because your GPS address is Delhi, it doesn’t automatically make you a national leader, the issue does not become national nor does the expert become someone with a national outlook or perspective or understanding.
 
I have been a field reporter for 25 years now, 20 years in tv, I can tell you it is certainly not easy. And there is an army of reporters like that across the country reporting in different languages, for different media, who are driven by the passion for news and for truth. Who do everyday news with that same commitment and passion, hopefully following the basic tenets of journalism like credibility, balance, fair with no bias.
 
The reporters on the field face huge challenges and pressures, and yet report… and this award to me today I think is a tribute that reporter on the ground, because I am one among them.
 
That reporter is a first responder in the news chain. He or she knows best the ground reality and what exactly is the story. Allow the ground reporter that space, only then can journalism thrive and you will get real stories from the ground. Otherwise the real stories will be lost forever.
 
Last year’s winner Neha Dixit had made a reference to the Committee to Protect journalists report that said 27 journalists were killed in 25 years. This year we have again had unfortunate incidents of Gauri Lankesh, Santanu Bhaumik and others. Of course very worrying but at least there is outrage and there is an investigation… but what happens when the journalism in the journalist is killed?
 
What I am very concerned is that TV reporters are often getting reduced to sound-bite collectors. They become footsoldiers who are expected to get soundbites for a TV discussion in the evening for which the angle is already pre-decided. The reporter becomes a mere cog in the wheel and it is dangerous. Because you have no control over where the wheel or vehicle is going.
 
I am not at all saying that happens in NDTV, am talking in a more generic sense. The reporter gets reduced to a modern day version of a stenographer, where all that you need him or her to do is to have a mike in hand and a pair of legs to run around, with no mindspace or training or energy to look for real stories. That is why we are not able to do justice to our mandate to do journalism.
 
We need to value that reporter, that everyday reporting, because that is the only source from where you will get the news as it happens, when it happens, and from where it happens. We need to value that everyday reporting because that is where the truth is often hidden.
 
Yesterday evening, out of the blue, I got a call from a young girl who spoke to me in English and said `hello madam, I am Sania, how are you etc… then she said `speak to my dad’ and passed on the phone to Papalal. Now Papalal is a man who found this baby near the Gokul chat centre, one of the two places where twin blasts happened in August 2007. He says he informed the police, but they asked him to take the baby home, to keep her safe .. of course totally the wrong thing to do.. no baby can be handed over to anyone at random… but that evening and night was totally unusual. Even later no one came to claim the baby. Both Papalal and his wife brought up the baby as their own… till some fundamentalist groups found out that the baby was Muslim and they were angry that she was being brought up in a Hindu household. They wanted her to go a madarssah or a home for Muslim orphan children, so that she would imbibe those religious values. Papalal was even sent to jail on some charges. But thanks to a series of reports on NDTV, the family got some financial help and a lot of support. So happily this girl Sania is with this family that loves her and is bringing her up as their own. 
 
Sania is now in middle school and doing well along with her younger siblings. The couple named their baby born after that Umanath, as a tribute to a journalist who had helped them keep their first daughter. Humbling for sure.((I did not mention this in my acceptance speech).
 
Those are things that you can’t attribute a value to… but I am grateful to NDTV for allowing TV and editorial space for such stories…  that make a difference to lives… Any number of such stories of children, people caught in unfortunate situations but when you tell those stories, there is overwhelming response and support from people, from civil society, who actually do not expect anything in return for the help they extend.
 
Children who become victims of conflict situations, farmers suicides, victims of violence and discrimination, whenever you tell a story honestly, overwhelming numbers of people react with unimaginable empathy and reach out, contribute generously to change lives of people who would never know them… that has been a fantastic learning for me… that people like that exist. The silver lining in a world that otherwise makes us so cynical.

((((NDTV dared to allow me to report on nearly 100 youth picked up after the mecca masjid blast and twin blasts in hyderabad. This was much before trial etc happened… another matter they were all acquitted but what we questioned was the narrative dictated by the political and administrative leadershipt at that time, the police… something that often gets very difficult to challenge.))))(i would have liked to mention this but did not do in the acceptance speech)
 
This at a time when there are media houses, and this is primary info, where a channel head is quoted to have said at the time of Chennai floods: “Poor people die all the time, but they don’t make our TRP. Why don’t you move to areas where `people like us’ live… where we will get BMWs floating in the waters.”
Those are the times we live in. That is why a Chameli Devi Jain award is so important. It stands for all those values that we aspire for as journalists. It reinforces faith that the work you do matters, that it makes a difference. thank you.
 
(Uma Sudhir, who received the 2017 Chameli Devi Jain award for journalism gave this impromptu acceptance speech)

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Justice AP Shah said head of judiciary or Chief Justice of Bombay High Court should look into the matter

New Delhi:  How a judge deciding whether BJP chief Amit Shah should be tried for murder died in December 2014 must be investigated, says one of the most respected judicial voices in the country, Justice AP Shah.

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Now put your stooges on social media into action to defame us. But in this season of the media playing your tune, sitting in your lap, there is one media house that has refused to do so. For you, success is when every Indian sings your tune, all media houses play your game, sit in your lap. NDTV did not come into being easily, even you know that.

If you are so gleeful to see our end, let’s come face to face  some day on chairs. Before a live camera.

The brazen use of a central agency against a media house comes days after anchor Nidhi Razdan asked BJP spokesperson Sambhit Batra, known for his crass bullying, to leave her show.

Meanwhile the channel has also issued a strong statement that may be read here.

तो आप डराइये, धमकाइये, आयकर विभाग से लेकर सबको लगा दीजिये। ये लीजिये हम डर से थर थर काँप रहे हैं। सोशल मीडिया और चंपुओं को लगाकर बदनामी चालू कर दीजिये लेकिन इसी वक्त में जब सब 'गोदी मीडिया' बने हुए हैं , एक ऐसा भी है जो गोद में नहीं खेल रहा है। आपकी यही कामयाबी होगी कि लोग गीत गाया करेंगे- गोदी में खेलती हैं इंडिया की हज़ारों मीडिया। एन डी टी वी इतनी आसानी से नहीं बना है, ये वो भी जानते हैं। मिटाने की इतनी ही खुशी हैं तो हुजूर किसी दिन कुर्सी पर आमने सामने हो जाइयेगा। हम होंगे, आप होंगे और कैमरा लाइव होगा ।
ये एन डी टी वी का बयान है-

This morning, the CBI stepped up the concerted harassment of NDTV and its promoters based on the same old endless false accusations.
NDTV and its promoters will fight tirelessly against this witch-hunt by multiple agencies. We will not succumb to these attempts to blatantly undermine democracy and free speech in India.

We have one message to those who are trying to destroy the institutions of India and everything it stands for: we will fight for our country and overcome these forces.

REVISED STATEMENT OF NDTV

It is shocking that the CBI conducted searches on the NDTV offices and residence of the promoters without even conducting a preliminary enquiry. This is a blatant political attack on the freedom of the press as sources confirm that under pressure, the CBI has been compelled to file an FIR based on a shoddy complaint by a disgruntled former consultant at NDTV called Sanjay Dutt, who has been making false allegations and filing cases in courts of law with these false allegations. So far, he has not obtained a single order from any of these courts.
 
Legal analysts are astounded that where courts have rejected giving any order in all these years, the CBI conducts raids based on what is a private complaint.
 
The allegation appears to be for a loan which has been repaid by Prannoy Roy and Radhika Roy more than seven years ago. (Scroll down for evidence of this.)
 
Even though lakhs and crores of rupees of dues have not been paid by several industrialists and no criminal case has yet been registered against any of them by the CBI, the CBI has chosen not only to register an FIR, but also conduct a search for a loan which has been duly repaid to ICICI Bank. Moreover, ICICI is a private bank.
 
The allegation that no disclosure was made to SEBI and other regulatory authorities is not only incorrect and false but also does not cloth the CBI with any power to register cases and search which further amplifies the fact that the search by the CBI is only a witch-hunt against independent media.
 
NDTV and its promoters have never defaulted on any loan to ICICI or any other bank. We adhere to the highest levels of integrity and independence. It is clearly the independence and fearlessness of NDTV's team that the ruling party's politicians cannot stomach and the CBI raid is merely another attempt at silencing the media.
 
No matter how much the politicians attack us – We will not give up the fight for freedom and the independence of media in India.

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