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Jindal goes public with ‘extortion CD’

[email protected] (TNN)
October 26, 2012

Jindal_Plays_extortion

New Delhi, October 26: Jindal Steel chairman Naveen Jindal on Thursday accused TV channel Zee of "extortion'' and "blackmail'' for allegedly demanding Rs 100 crore worth of advertisements in lieu of blanking out negative reports.

Earlier, Jindal's Jindal Steel and Power Limited(JSPL) had lodged an FIR on October 2 against Zee executives, Sudhir Chaudhary and Samir Ahluwalia, for alleged extortion, and had backed up his charge with 90 minutes of video recordings of an alleged sting on them.

Addressing a press conference on Thursday, Jindal said that he had been forced to go public with the "expose'' because of the channel's relentless "propaganda'' against his company. Jindal alleged that Zee News editor Choudhary and Zee Business editor Samir Ahluwalia had met executives from JSPL to suggest that they would stop the campaign over the allocation of coal blocks to JPSL if company committed to pay Rs 20 crore to the TV channel in advertizing revenue. They subsequently hiked the demand to 100 crore, Jindal alleged.

He screened the CD of the "sting" on the two Zee channel heads allegedly asking for money for more "positive coverage" as supporting proof.

The charge was rejected by Chaudhary and Ahluwalia, who issued a statement to "condemn" and "reject" the CD. "We see this as a deliberate attempt to malign and to defame us... We see the attempt today by Naveen Jindal to come out with a video as a deliberate attempt to not only suppress us but also silence the growing demand for an independent probe in the Coalgate scam.''

They asserted their channel would not be deterred by "diversionary tactic'' adopted by Jindal and JSPL, and would continue to report on the Rs 1.86 lakh crore Coalgate scam.

Recounting events at the press conference on Thursday, Jindal accused Zee of telecasting factually incorrect and defamatory stories from September 7 to 13. Jindal said that executives of the two companies met between September 13 and 19. "During this time there were no stories on JSPL. The channel kept pressuring us to give them a cheque. Dabaav dal rahe the ki aapki badnaami karte rahenge (We were under pressure that if we did not pay up Zee would continue to defame us),'' he said.

Jindal said that faced with the persistent "blackmail" and "extortion", the company decided to expose them. "We felt that we should expose them (Zee).''

"Our firm has been in business for 40 years and had never received a blackmail threat like this," alleged Jindal.The press conference was repeatedly interrupted by a Chhattisgarh-based RTI activist Ramesh Agrawal, who alleged being victimized by the Jindal group.


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News Network
April 14,2020

New Delhi, Apr 14: With 1,211 fresh cases of coronavirus reported in the last 24 hours, the total number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the country has reached 10,363 including 339 deaths, said Lav Aggarwal, Joint Secretary, Health and Family Welfare, here on Tuesday.

As many as 1,036 people have recovered from the disease so far, said Aggarwal during the daily media briefing on the coronavirus. "In one day, 179 people were diagnosed and found cured," he added.

"A total of 10,363 confirmed cases have been reported in India including 339 deaths and 1,036 people, who were COVID-19 positive have recovered. Out of the total deaths, 31 deaths have been reported in the last 24 hours," said Aggarwal.

Aggarwal said that an evaluation of each district and city will be done till April 20.

"An evaluation of each district and city will be done till April 20 in which it will be evaluated what measures did that authorities take in these cities and districts to combat COVID-19," he said.

"Based on the results of this litmus test approach, permission will be granted for some selective activities to those districts and cities which controlled the situation effectively. Detailed guidelines will be issued soon," he added.

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Agencies
August 2,2020

New Delhi, Aug 2: The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Sunday issued fresh guidelines for international passengers coming to India amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The new guidelines will be implemented from 12:01 am on August 8.

The ministry has also asked all passengers to submit a self-declaration form online at least 72 hours before travel.

"All travellers should submit self-declaration form on the on the online portal (www.newdelhiairport.in) at least 72hours before the scheduled travel," the guidelines said.

It also said that those coming to India must give an undertaking that they would undergo mandatory quarantine for 14 days as prescribed by the government. "They should also give an undertaking on the portal that they would undergo mandatory quarantine for 14 days i.e. 7 days paid institutional quarantine at their own cost, followed by 7 days isolation at home with self-monitoring of health," it added.

Giving exemptions in some cases, the guidelines mentioned, "Only for compelling reasons/cases of human distress such as pregnancy, death in the family. Serious illness and parent (s) with children of 10 years or below, home quarantine may be permitted for 14 days."

"If they wish to seek such exemption, they shall apply to the online portal at least 72 hours before boarding. The decision taken by the government as communicated on the online portal will be final," it said further.

The guidelines further said that travellers could request for exemption from institutional quarantine by submitting a negative RT-PCR test report on arrival.

"This test should have been conducted within 96 hours prior to undertaking the journey. The test report should be uploaded on the portal for consideration," it added.

Passengers have also been asked to download the Aarogya Setu app on their mobile phones.

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News Network
June 2,2020

New Delhi, Jun 2: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said India will definitely get its economic growth back as the government continues to pursue various reforms.

Speaking at industry association CII's annual session, he said the government has taken tough steps to fight the coronavirus pandemic and has also taken care of the economy.

"On the one hand we have to safe lives of our people and on the other hand we have to stabilise the economy and speed up the economy," he said.

He said he gets the confidence from farmers, small businesses and entrepreneurs for getting the economic growth back.

"Corona may have slowed our speed (of growth) but India has now moved ahead from lockdown with the phase one of unlock. Unlock Phase-1 has reopened a large part of the economy," he said.

He said intent, inclusion, investment, infrastructure and innovation are crucial for India to revert back to a high-growth trajectory.

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