No raids on NDTV, promoters have to stand scrutiny: Venkaiah

June 7, 2017

New Delhi, Jun 7: There were no raids on NDTV with the CBI not entering any office of the channel, Union Information and Broadcasting Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu said today while dimissing allegations that the searches were an infringement on press freedom.venkaiah

The Central Bureau of Investigation's raids on the properties of NDTV founder Prannoy Roy on June 5 on allegations of bank fraud had drawn criticism from several political parties as well journalist groups such as the Editors' Guild of India, Press Club of India and All India Newspaper Editors' Conference.

"There is no raid on NDTV. The CBI has not entered the premises of the newsroom or TV studio or any other related offices of the media channel. The management and promoters have to stand scrutiny and answer to the people instead of blocking it and then making allegations," Naidu said on the sidelines of a function here.

Rubbishing claims of a vendetta against the channel, Naidu said the promoters of NDTV, Prannoy and Radhika Roy, should submit to due process of the law as there were questions on their operations that needed disclosures.

"Those disclosures will be enquired into," the minister said, indicating that the troubles for the channel are unlikely to end soon.

Naidu said the media house cannot presume itself to be above the law. "This is especially true when ownership of most media today is defined by a vertiginous web of cross-holding involving corporate and entities for whom media is not a primary business," he said.

CBI had in a statement earlier cited a Supreme Court order of 2016 to assert that the agency has jurisdiction to take up investigation of cases of corruption concerning private banks as well.

It also refuted the charge that its move against the news channel was an infringement of freedom of speech, emphasising that searches, carried out in the basis of warrants issued by court, covered only the premises and offices of promoters.

Lashing out at the Congress for alleging that the government was misusing CBI, Naidu said, "I am surprised that the Congress party is talking about the misuse of CBI. My PM was grilled for eight hours when he was Gujarat CM during UPA regime and our party president was foisted with a false case and spent time in jail. Now these people are talking about misusing CBI."

The minister was referring to Modi being grilled in 2010 by a Supreme Court-appointed probe panel over his alleged complicity in not doing enough to stop the 2002 communal riots in Gujarat and Shah's stint in jail in the same year in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case.

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Agencies
January 8,2020

New Delhi, Jan 8: Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union (JNUSU) President Aishe Ghosh has filed a complaint over the violence that took place at the varsity campus on Sunday.

"I am filing this complaint for the incident in which a mob conspired and acted with common intention to assault, intimidate and attempt to murder me, and request you to register an FIR and apprehend culprits at the earliest," the complaint read.

She said that on January 5, in the afternoon, she received information from students in the campus that some students affiliated to ABVP along with other unidentified men and women had gathered with weapons like rods, sledgehammers and lathis near Ganga Bus Stop.

"I along with Nikhil Mathew (MA Labour Studies) who was also present there, were surrounded by a group of persons of that mob most of whom were wearing masks. The mob of 20-30 persons dragged me behind a car standing near the 24*7 and surrounded me and despite my pleading did not let me go and attacked me with rods while I had fallen down. I remember that one of the people was of medium height wearing a brownish-red sweatshirt with UCLA written on it. I saw his face as he was facing me and did not have a mask on and can identify him if I see him," Ghosh wrote in her complaint.

"I was attacked by the above-mentioned persons collectively and was hit on the head multiple times with iron rods. I fell to the ground and my head started bleeding, and some of them kicked me and hit me with the rod on my hand and rest of the body including my head, chest and back."

"I am attaching with this complaint a copy of the MLC which details my injuries. Nikhil Mathew tried to save me but was also hit with an iron hammer and other weapons on his head and arms. The intention of the group of men and their acts was definitely to murder me and other persons associated with me," she said.

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News Network
June 3,2020

New Delhi, Jun 3: Seasoned diplomat and former spokesperson of the External Affairs Ministry Raveesh Kumar has been appointed as India's next Ambassador to Finland, the government announced on Wednesday.

Raveesh Kumar, a 1995-batch Indian Foreign Service officer, served as the spokesperson of the MEA from July 2017 to April 2020 during which he deftly articulated India's position on a number of sensitive issues including last year's Balakot strike, reorganisation of Jammu and Kashmir and the controversy surrounding the National Register of Citizens.

"He is expected to take up the assignment shortly," the MEA said.

Before becoming the MEA spokesperson, Kumar was serving as Consul General of India in Frankfurt.

Kumar started his career at the Indian Mission in Jakarta and it was followed by his postings in Thimpu and London.

In his nearly 25-year career, Kumar also looked after the East Asia desk in the headquarters of the MEA in Delhi and served as Deputy Chief of Mission in Jakarta followed by his posting as Consul General in Frankfurt from August 2013 to July 2017.

In Finland, he succeeds Vani Rao.

Finland is an important country for India in Europe, and bilateral trade has been on an upswing in the last few years.

Around 35 Indian companies have invested in Finland in IT, healthcare, hospitality and automotive sectors while over 100 Finnish companies have operations in India in energy, textiles, power plants and electronics sectors.

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Agencies
August 5,2020

Ayodhya, Aug 5: Every street in Ayodhya was seen illuminated with earthen lamps ahead of the foundation stone laying ceremony of the Ram Temple on Wednesday.

People also lit diyas on the banks of Saryu river as part of the 'deepotsava' celebrations in the temple town which will see Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other dignitaries arrive today for the 'bhoomi pujan' ceremony of the Ram Temple.

The entire Ayodhya has been decked up and massive preparations have been made for this occasion with a festive air.

Earlier chief minister Yogi Adityanath had said that 11,000 diyas will be lit at Ram Ki Paidi on the banks of the Saryu river and that all houses and temples in Ayodhya will be celebrating with a 'deepotsava' (festival of lights) on the nights of August 4 and 5.

Adityanath burst firecrackers and lit earthen lamps at his official residence on in Lucknow as part of 'deepotsava'.

The construction work of Ram temple will begin after the foundation stone laying ceremony, in which dignitaries from various political and religious fields have been invited to participate.
Apart from Ayodhya other cities in like Kanpur were also illuminated to celebrate the grand event. Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) workers light earthen lamps in the city, as part of 'deepotsava'.

Chief Minister's residence in Uttarakhand will be decorated with 5100 diyas filled with Ghee on Wednesday evening to celebrate the occasion of the 'bhoomi pujan' of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya today by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Uttrakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat has said that Lord Ram Temple being built in Ayodhya is associated with "our belief". He also appealed to people in the state to light diyas at their homes on the occasion.

Earthen lamps were lit at Ujjain's Mahakaleshwar Temple in Madhya Pradesh and in Punjab too people lit lamps as part of 'deepotsava'.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will perform 'pooja' at Hanumangarhi and Shree Ramlala Virajman before performing 'bhoomi pujan' of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya on Wednesday, informed Prime Minister's Office (PMO) on Tuesday.

He will unveil a plaque to mark the laying of the foundation stone and also release Commemorative Postage Stamp on 'Shree Ram Janmabhoomi Mandir'.

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