PM Modi takes on Siddaramaiah over corruption on his home turf of Mysuru

Tumkur, Apr 11: Despite the nationwide lockdown, BJP MLA from Turuvekere constituency, M Jayaram, was on Friday seen celebrating his birthday with several villagers in Gubbi taluk in Tumkur.

A sizable number of people were seen gathering in Gubbi taluk to celebrate the BJP legislator's birthday.

Meanwhile, scores of people around the country are getting booked for violating the lockdown. In Uttarakhand alone, more than 4500 people have been arrested until Friday for violating the norms of lockdown.

Last month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had called for a three-week lockdown, urging people to practice social distancing to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

The total number of COVID-19 cases in the country has mounted to 6,761 of which 6039 are active cases, 516 have been cured/discharged/migrated, and 206 deaths have been reported.

Lucknow, Jun 20: A media body on Saturday described as "an act of intimidation" the filing of an FIR in Uttar Pradesh against a journalist over a report on the impact of the lockdown on a village, saying it was part of an "established pattern" of harassment of independent scribes.

In a statement, the Media Foundation put on record its strong protest over the FIR filed by the Uttar Pradesh government against Supriya Sharma, executive editor of news portal Scroll.in.

The case was filed against Sharma for allegedly misrepresenting facts in a report on the impact of the lockdown in a village adopted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, police sources had said on Thursday.

The FIR against Sharma and the Scroll editor-in-chief is an "an act of intimidation and a case of abuse of process", intended to discourage honest and critical reporting, the Media Foundation said.

The Media Foundation was started in 1979 with the aim of upholding freedom of speech, expression and information.

The FIR against Sharma is only the latest instance of similar coercive actions against professional journalists, part of "an established pattern of harassment and humiliation of independent journalists", it said,

"It is an unacceptable encroachment on press freedom," said the foundation, whose chairperson is veteran journalist Harish Khare.

The Media Foundation called upon the judiciary, and central and state governments to uphold the spirit of freedom of speech and expression as guaranteed in the Constitution.

New Delhi, Feb 3: Congress leader BK Hariprasad on Monday condemned BJP MP Anantkumar Hegde's remark on Mahatma Gandhi and termed him as "son" of Nathuram Godse, the assassin of the freedom fighter.

"Only sons of Nathuram Godse can make such comments on Mahatma Gandhi," Hariprasad said.

Hedge had attacked Mahatma Gandhi by calling the freedom struggle led by him a "drama" and also questioned as to how "such people" come to be called 'Mahatma' in India.

"None of these so-called leaders were beaten up by the cops even once. Their independence movement was one big drama. It was staged by these leaders with the approval of the British. It was not a genuine fight. It was an adjustment freedom struggle," he had said.

The Trinamool Congress also lent its support to Congress as its leader Saugata Roy said people like Anant Hegde cause shame to the nation. "We are a supporter of Gandhi and they (BJP) are Nathuram Godse supporters. People of this country should see how BJP MPs are as they insult father of the nation," he added.

BJP leaders too found it difficult to defend Hegde on the controversial remarks.

Senior leader Jagdambika pal was cautious in his defence and said, "The whole world knows about Gandhi and it may be his personal opinion."

Whereas senior BJP leaders avoid commenting on Hegde, Union Minister Ashwani Choubey said that Hegde should not have made the comment and added that Gandhi is a well-respected figure in the nation.

Another BJP MP from Haryana Sanjay Bhatia also tried to shy away from making a direct comment and instead said," Congress did not implement what Gandhi preached. It is Prime Minister Narendra Modi who implemented Gandhi's teachings in letter and spirit."