Journalists' arrests: Zee News says Congress-led government trying to gag media

November 28, 2012

Sudhir_Chaudhary_Sameer_Ahluwalia

New Delhi, November 28: Zee News has called the arrest of its senior journalists Sudhir Chaudhary and Samir Ahluwalia for alleged extortion of steel tycoon and Congress MP Naveen Jindal as an attempt by the party-led government to gag the media and cover up the coal scam.

"After 65 years of independence, the present Congress-led government is pushing the media to not speak the truth and gag it. It is practically the Emergency revisited in India on November 27, 2012, a day that will also be known as a black day in Indian history," the company said in a statement. (Read statement)

"The arrests have been made to sensationalise the issue and lend a cover to the coal scam and in particular favour Naveen Jindal, Congress MP, and his company Jindal Steel and Power Limited (JSPL)," the statement said.

Mr Chaudhary, who heads Zee News, and Mr Ahluwalia, head of Zee Business, were arrested on Tuesday evening by the Delhi police's crime branch in an extortion case registered about 45 days ago on a complaint by JSPL. They will be produced in a city court today.

The two journalists face charges of extortion and criminal conspiracy. Punishment for the first is a maximum imprisonment of three years or fine or both. For criminal conspiracy, it's up to six months or fine or both.

Mr Jindal has alleged that Zee News tried to extort Rs. 100 crore in exchange for not airing unfavourable stories linking him and his group to the coal blocks allocation scam, which rocked the UPA government earlier this year.

"JSPL is using the state machinery, controlled by the Congress both at the Centre and in Delhi, to muzzle voices of dissent and to interfere with the legitimate rights of the media in an attempt to divert attention from its illegalities and misdeeds, which the Zee News editors had sought to highlight in public interest," the Zee statement said.

On October 25, Mr Jindal had released a video-recording of meetings with executives of Zee TV and claimed this to be proof that they were trying to extort money from him. He said the news channel told his company's executives that if they did not spend Rs. 100 crore on advertising, the channel would run negative stories on allocation of coal fields to his firm.

Mr Jindal said the "extortion attempt" was caught on a hidden camera; he released CDs of this footage to reporters. The 'reverse sting' was carried out between September 13 and 19 over four meetings in different locations in Delhi.


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News Network
March 5,2020

Lucknow, Mar 5: Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath said last night that the role of teachers would come under the scanner when "anti-India" slogans are raised at universities and institutions of higher education.

"When anti-India slogans are raised at institutions of higher education, we should be prepared to ask why this type of distortion occurrs among our students?" he said at a programme organised by the Basic Shiksha Parishad in Lucknow.

"We begin our work with pledge for the country's unity and integrity and today slogans are raised for the division of the nation. In such a situation, questions are raised over the role of teachers who are considered equal to god in society," he said.

"Who all are involved in this sin and chaos? Governments can provide resources, but the one who has given them basic education, who has given them secondary education and who has led them to that place, all of them should evaluate their actions today," the chief minister said.

Speaking about the condition of education in the state when his government came to power three years ago, he said there was an atmosphere of chaos and anarchy in the state and the condition of basic education was very bad.

"The worst problem was that of proxy teachers. Our government started the process of prohibiting proxy teachers in the first phase," he said.

Adityanath said that a teacher is not just a government servant, but the fate of the nation. He said teachers should learn from Chanakya.

Had Chanakya confined himself to Nalanda University, he would not have been able to make India a superpower of the world during that period. Teachers will have to prepare themselves according to the challenges and need of society, he added.

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News Network
May 12,2020

Ahmedabad, May 12: The Gujarat High Court on Tuesday declared state BJP minister Bhupendrasinh Chudasama's election in 2017 as void on grounds of malpractice and manipulation.

Justice Paresh Upadhyay cancelled Bhupendrasinh Chudasama's election in an order passed on a petition filed by Congress candidate Ashwin Rathod, challenging the BJP leader's victory from Dholka constituency by a margin of 327 votes in the 2017 Gujarat Assembly polls.

In his election petition, Ashwin Rathod alleged that Bhupendrasinh Chudasama indulged in "corrupt practice and breach of many of the mandatory instructions of the Election Commission, at various stages of the election process, more particularly at the time of counting of votes".

Bhupendrasinh Chudasama currently holds charge of the education, law and justice, legislative and parliamentary affairs, and some other departments in the Vijay Rupani government.

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News Network
July 24,2020

New Delhi, Jul 24: India reported the highest single-day spike of 49,310 coronavirus cases on Friday, according to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

The total COVID-19 positive cases stand at 12,87,945 including 4,40,135 active cases, 8,17,209 cured/discharged/migrated.
With 740 deaths in the last 24 hours, the cumulative toll reached 30,601.

Maharashtra has reported 3,47,502 coronavirus cases, the highest among states and Union Territories in the country. A total of 1,92,964 cases have been reported from Tamil Nadu till now, while Delhi has recorded 1,27,364 coronavirus cases.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), 3,52,801 samples were tested for coronavirus on Thursday and overall 1,54,28,170 samples have been tested so far. 

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