Media should avoid desire to be sensational, Manmohan Singh says

September 13, 2012

singh

 

Kochi, September 13: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said media should avoid the desire to be sensational and exercise restraint so that nothing that divides society and country is written, broadcast or telecast.

 

The media has a very important role to play in promoting greater communal harmony and inter-group and inter-community dialogue and its reporting and opinions should be "fair, objective and balanced", Singh said.

 

"The desire to be sensational should be avoided even though it is very tempting sometimes. Restraint should be exercised so that nothing that divides our society and country is written, broadcast or telecast", he said inaugurating golden jubilee celebrations of Kerala Union of Working Journalists.

 

Singh's advice to the media against sensationalism came while referring to the recent violence in Assam and its reverberations in other parts of the country which saw exodus of north-easterners back to their home states.

 

"Today our country is going through difficult times. The unfortunate incidents of the past few months have brought out worrying faultlines in our society", he said.

 

Singh said the tragic developments in Assam and their reverberations in Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad and other places have shown that "We cannot afford to take social peace and harmony for granted".

 

He emphasised the need to be constantly vigilant and work continuously towards promoting greater communal harmony and inter-group and inter-community dialogue.

 

Prefacing his advice to the media, he said, "We are proud that freedom of expression is a constitutional guarantee in India. The media in our country is not just a reliable barometer of public opinion; it is also the conscience-keeper of our nation."

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News Network
May 26,2020

New Delhi. May 26: 6,535 more coronavirus cases have been reported in India in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of COVID-19 cases in the country to 1,45,380, informed Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Tuesday.

Out of the total, at present, there are 80,722 active cases in the country. So far, 60,490 people have been cured/discharged and 4167 have died due to the lethal infection.

According to the data compiled by the Centre, Maharashtra has so far recorded the maximum number of cases of COVID-19 across the country with 52,667 people.

The tally of cases in Tamil Nadu has risen to 17,082. While Gujarat has recorded 14,460 cases of the infection so far.

There are 14,073 cases of coronavirus in the national capital.

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News Network
June 30,2020

New Delhi, Jun 30: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday announced the extension of the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY), a free ration scheme, for 80 crore people across the country till end of November.

In a televised address to the nation, Modi also said the government was working on a "one nation, one ration card" initiative.

On the extension of the PMGKAY, he said it will cost the government Rs 90,000 crore more.

Under the scheme, five kgs of wheat or rice and one kg of pulses per month will be given free of cost to the poor. The scheme was initially rolled out for three months.

The prime minister also said timely lockdown to contain coronavirus and other decisions saved many lives, but added that since "Unlock 1" has begun, people have shown negligence.

He said in comparison to other countries across the globe, India has done well in dealing with the pandemic.

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Agencies
July 30,2020

New Delhi, Jul 30: India's gold demand in 2020 is expected to fall to the lowest level in 26 years with domestic bullion prices hitting a record high and as falling disposable incomes could curtail retail purchases, the World Gold Council (WGC) said on Thursday.

Lower demand by the world's second-biggest bullion consumer could limit a rally in global prices, which hit a record high earlier this month, although it could also reduce India's trade deficit and support the ailing rupee.

"Fast rising gold prices could act as headwinds," said Somasundaram PR, the managing director of WGC's Indian operations.

Local gold futures have jumped 35% so far this year after rising a quarter in 2019.

India's gold consumption in the first half of 2020 plunged 56% on-year to 165.6 tonnes. Meanwhile, the coronavirus-triggered lockdown also slashed demand by 70% in the June quarter to 63.7 tonnes, the lowest in more than a decade, the WGC said in a report published on Thursday.

Millions of Indians have lost their jobs or taken a pay cut after the country imposed a lockdown on its 1.3 billion people to curb the spread of the virus that has infected more than 1.5 million Indians.

Consumption is generally high during the June quarter due to weddings and key festivals such as Akshaya Tritiya, but lockdown restrictions kept shoppers indoors this year.

The weak demand in the first half could drag down India's gold consumption in 2020 to the lowest since 1994, when demand stood at 415 tonnes, Somasundaram said, adding that it is still difficult to provide an estimate for full-year demand as the coronavirus crisis is still unfolding.

"Indian demand has previously jumped as much as 300 tonnes in a quarter. Latent demand could come out in the second half," Somasundaram said.

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