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freenewstoday · 4 years

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New Post has been published on https://freenews.today/2021/01/03/astrazenecas-covid-19-vaccine-has-been-approved-for-emergency-use-in-india-along-with-a-local-drugmakers-alternative-shot/

AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine has been approved for emergency use in India, along with a local drugmaker's alternative shot

Health officials in India approved two COVID-19 vaccines on Sunday, including one made by AstraZeneca, for emergency use.

While announcing the emergency use, VG Somani, the country’s drug’s controller general said the vaccines were “110% safe,” according to The Times of India.

“A decisive turning point to strengthen a spirited fight,” India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, said on Twitter.

Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.

Health officials in India on Sunday approved two COVID-19 vaccines, including one made by AstraZeneca, for emergency use.

“A decisive turning point to strengthen a spirited fight,” India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, said on Twitter.

The drugs controller general of India approved a local drug made by Bharat Biotech, along with the vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University, according to officials and media reports.

In announcing the emergency use, VG Somani, DCGI chief, said the vaccines were “110% safe,” according to The Times of India.

AstraZeneca’s manufacturing partner, Serum Institute of India, will work to produce its drug locally, according to CEO Adar Poonawalla. AstraZeneca’s drug is called Covishield in India.

—Adar Poonawalla (@adarpoonawalla) January 3, 2021

The UK on Wednesday became the first country to approve AstraZeneca’s vaccine for emergency use. The company has reportedly increased production, with the goal of producing 2 million doses per week.

Although the drugs were approved for emergency use, they haven’t finished clinical trials, the government said. Phase 3 trials for Bharat’s drug, Covaxin, are underway with about 20,000 volunteers in 26 hospitals, said Suchitra Ella, Bharat’s joint managing director, in a televised interview with Rajya Sabha TV on Friday.

With a population of 1.3 billion people, India is the world’s second-most populous country. It plans to vaccinate 300 million people by July, according to Gulf News. That will include 30 million healthcare and frontline workers.

The country has been hard hit by COVID-19. About 149,435 people have died from it in India, according to figures from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

With 10.3 million confirmed cases, it’s behind only the US’s 20.4 million cases, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Like elsewhere, rumors have spread about vaccine side effects. In India, some worried the vaccine would make people impotent, a falsehood Somani sought to end on Sunday.

“Some side effects like mild fever, pain & allergy are common for every vaccine. [The impotence rumour] is absolute rubbish,” he said, according to the Times of India.

After the emergency approval announcement, Modi thanked frontline workers for their work battling COVID-19.

“We reiterate our gratitude to doctors, medical staff, scientists, police personnel, sanitation workers and all Corona warriors for the outstanding work done, that too in adverse circumstances. We will remain eternally grateful to them for saving many lives,” he said.

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harpianews · 3 years

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YouTube terminates Sansad TV account, reason not clear

The YouTube account of Sansad TV, which broadcasts live proceedings of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, as well as recorded programs was “terminated” by the platform early morning on Tuesday “for violating YouTube’s Community Guidelines”. It was, however, not immediately clear which guidelines had been violated by the YouTube channel. A mail sent to Google, which owns YouTube, has not elicited a…

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#current #harpianews #India #India news #latest #lok sabha #news #raja sabha #Sansad TV #sansad tv youtube #youtube sansad tv

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ippnoida · 3 years

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JLF 2022 announces second tranche of speakers

The annual Jaipur Literature Festival (JLF) announced its second list of speakers for the 15th edition, set to take place from28 January to 1 February 2022 in Jaipur. As the just-released list shows, the Festival will once again be a grand marathon of ideas between idealists, realists, visionaries, intellectuals, the avant-garde, and the iconoclasts, who will engage in informed discussion and be united by an abiding love for literature.

The second list of 25 speakers include Indian poet, LGBTQ rights activist, and author of Like Blood on the Bitten Tongue: Delhi Poems and How Many Countries Does the Indus Cross Akhil Katyal; British biographer, literary agent, and author of several book books - including those on the lives of the writer John Buchan, spy Guy Burgess, and Edward VIII - Andrew Lownie; Mumbai-based writer and journalist Anindita Ghose; British archaeologist and author of (co-written with late anthropologist David Graeber) the New York Times bestseller The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity David Wengrow; award-winning British-Turkish novelist and the most widely read woman author in Turkey Elif Shafak; Rajya Sabha MP, Ex-Union Minister and author of several well-known books Jairam Ramesh; Sahitya Akademi Award recipient, renowned poet, writer, critic, playwright, and editor who has written extensively in English and Malayalam K Satchidanandan; PEN Open Book Award-nominated Jamaican poet, writer, and essayist Kei Miller.

Making the list more vibrant, the line-up includes renowned Bangladeshi journalist Mahfuz Anam; critically acclaimed historian and writer of the most recently published False Allies: India’s Maharajahs in the Age of Ravi Varma Manu S Pillai; American academic and author of the award-winning books Edge of Empire, Liberty’s Exiles, and The Dawn Watch: Joseph Conrad in a Global World Maya Jasanoff; British writer of Booker Prize-shortlisted book Brick Lane - Monica Ali; actor, child-rights activist and writer of six children’s books, translated into more than 15 languages globally, Nandana Dev Sen; co-chairman of Forbes Marshall, engineer, businessman, and author of The Struggles and the Promises Naushad D Forbes; feminist, publisher, and writer of the recent ZOHRA! A Biography in Four Acts Ritu Menon; author of internationally bestselling and award-winning books Underland, The Old Ways, Landmarks, and The Lost Words: A Spell Book (with writer Jackie Morris ) - Robert Macfarlane.

Giving it a diverse flavor, the speaker list includes celebrated Hollywood actor, director, and writer Rupert Everett; award-winning British poet, author of 12 poetry collections, two books on wildlife and two novels Ruth Padel; Indian novelist, critic, and academic Saikat Majumdar; Sri Lankan writer of Chinaman: The Legend of Pradeep Mathew which won the Commonwealth Prize, the DSC Prize, the Gratiaen Prize and was adjudged the second greatest cricket book of all time - Shehan Karunatilaka; award-winning Indian film actress, TV personality and author Sonali Bendre; Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puraskar recipient author Tanuj Solanki; author of a range of books that include The Body Adorned, Discourse in Early Buddhist Art and Yogini Cult and Temples and India: A Story Through 100 Objects Padma Bhushan Vidya Dehejia; senior Indian journalist and National Award winning filmmaker Vinod Kapri.

Namita Gokhale, writer, publisher, and co-director of the Jaipur Literature Festival, said, “Our second list of speakers unfurls to provide a further glimpse into the rich diversity of voices to be platformed at Jaipur Literature Festival 2022. We are proud to present writers and thinkers, dreamers and doers, from across languages, cultures, and continents.”

William Dalrymple, writer, historian, and co-director of the JLF, said, “We are coming back with a truly spectacular lineup of literary superstars from across the world. In fiction we have this year’s Booker winner, the great Damon Galgut, his predecessors Monica Ali & DBC Pierre, Pulitzer winner Jonathan Franzen and Turkish superstar Elif Shafak. We have Rob Macfarlane on nature writing, Rupert Everett on Hollywood, Vidya Dehejia on Chola bronzes. We also have a special focus on archaeology and ancient history: Cat Jarman on the Vikings, David Wengrove on the Dawn of Everything and many more.”

Every year, the Festival brings together a diverse mix of the world’s greatest writers, thinkers, humanitarians, politicians, business leaders, sports people, and entertainers on one stage to champion the freedom to express and engage in thoughtful debate and dialogue. The Festival has hosted nearly 5000 speakers & performers and welcomed over a million booklovers from across the world since its inception in 2007. Today, the JLF has grown to become a global literary phenomenon, which is home to riveting conversations, debates, and dialogue.

#Jaipur Literature Festival

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doonitedin · 3 years

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Mumbai News: Latest News with live updates and videos, Information about Emergency Services, in English, Hindi and Marathi | Mumbai Live

Vice President and Rajya Sabha Chairman, M. Venkaiah Naidu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla recently launched Sansad TV on the occasion of International Day of Democracy. While addressing the event, the PM lauded the transformation of the channel associated with the Parliament in accordance with rapidly changing times, especially when the 21st century is bringing…

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#Bollywood #Bombay #live #local #Mumbai #news #politics #sports #trending #videos

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brightpunjabexpress · 3 years

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LIVE-Vice President, Prime Minister and Lok Sabha Speaker jointly launch Sansad TV

Vice President of India and Rajya Sabha Chairman, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Lok Sabha Speaker Shri Om Birla will jointly launch Sansad TV at the Main Committee Room, Parliament House Annexe The launch date coincides with the International Day of Democracy Live Vice President, Prime Minister and Lok Sabha Speaker jointly launch Sansad TV

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#Lok Sabha Speaker #Narendra Modi #Prime Minister #Sansad TV #Youtube

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globalexpressnews · 3 years

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Aaj Ki Baat LIVE: Why Venkaiah Naidu broke down in Rajya Sabha today

Image Source : INDIA TV Aaj Ki Baat with Rajat Sharma Hello and welcome to Aaj Ki Baat With Rajat Sharma, the only news show with real facts and no noise. In today’s episode we will see: Exclusive: Why Venkaiah Naidu broke down in Rajya Sabha today while condemning sacrilege by Opposition MPs Exclusive: Why govt adjourned monsoon session of Parliament 2 days before schedule? Exclusive: Floods…

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eagle-eyez · 3 years

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Parliament witnessed chaos for the eight straight day of its Monsoon Session with both Houses being repeatedly adjourned as the Opposition vented its fury over the Pegasus snooping reports and farmers' issues.

Meanwhile, the Centre is likely to move a suspension notice against 10 Lok Sabha MPs after they threw papers and tore placards in the Lower House.

The government will propose that Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla take action against TN Prathapan, Hibi Eden, Gurjeet Singh Aujla, Manickam Tagore, Deepak Baij, AM Ariff, Dean Kuriakose and Jothimani. The MPs threw business papers and some torn papers and placards at the chair. A piece of a torn placard landed in the press gallery just above the Speaker's podium.

The Lok Sabha Speaker is extremely upset with the behaviour of the MPs in the House and is of the opinion that anybody who is a repeat offender is likely to be suspended in the future for the entire period of the Lok Sabha term, sources told News18.

Also, a meeting of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology could not be held in the absence of the quorum after BJP MPs did not participate, ANI reported.

Taking to Twitter, Karti Chidambaram said:

@BJP4India members come to the IT Committee & refuse to sign the attendance register to deny a quorum. Further all the witnesses called from MiEIT & MHA wrote in excuses & didn’t appear as called to testify. It’s very clear that #Pegasus is a no go area for this government.

— Karti P Chidambaram (@KartiPC) July 28, 2021

In both the Houses, MPs held placards reading ‘Who is paying for Pegasus’ and ‘Stop Snooping on Me’, among other slogans.

Ahead of the Session, leaders of Opposition parties held a meeting to chalk out the future course of action on several issues in both Houses. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said, "We don’t want to compromise on the issues of inflation, Pegasus, and farmers' issues. We want a discussion in the House."

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi held a meeting at the PM's office in Parliament.

Here's what happened in both Houses today:

Lok Sabha

As the Opposition continued to raise slogans over farm laws and the Pegasus snooping scandal, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla continued the Question Hour, which was completed for the first time since Monsoon Session began on 19 July. Questions pertaining to the Covid BEEP device, coal sector and use of CSR to provide for children who lost their parents to coronavirus.

Meanwhile, the Lok Sabha passed the Insolvency and Bankruptcy (Amendment) Bill. The Lok Sabha also approved the first batch of supplementary demands authorising the government to spend an additional Rs 23,675 crore, including Rs 17,000 crore for the health ministry, in the current financial year. Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman introduced the supplementary demands for grants and relevant appropriation bills.

As protests gained momentum, the Lower House was adjourned till 12.30 pm. BJP MP Nishikant Dubey also submitted a privilege motion against Shashi Tharoor, Chairperson of Parliament Standing Committee on IT, which was to meet today at 4 pm to discuss the Pegasus row.

On reassembling, the Lok Sabha was soon adjourned till 2 pm, followed by another adjournment till 2.30 pm and then 4 pm before finally being adjourned for the day.

Rajya Sabha

The Rajya Sabha was adjourned within five minutes of convening at 11 am, as MPs carrying placards gathered in the Well. The House then reassembled at 12 pm to begin the Question Hour amid sloganeering, which led to an adjournment till 2 pm, followed by adjournments till 2.45 pm and 4 pm.

The Upper House also passed the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Amendment Bill, 2021, which seeks to strengthen and streamline the provisions for the protection and adoption of children. The Bill is already passed by Lok Sabha.

While moving the bill for consideration in the House, Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani said, "Some of the renowned Parliamentarians, who have always prioritised the needs of the vulnerable...however, politics demands that they stand right here in the Well and attract attention towards the issue which they feel fit." She added that despite this disruption, the House will agree that the children of this country deserve their attention for protection and support.

However, the Opposition members did not return to their seats and Raja Sabha witnessed continuous uproar.

The TMC on Wednesday also alleged that Rajya Sabha Television, which airs the proceedings of the House live, is "censoring content" on Opposition protests.

TMC MP and leader of the party in Rajya Sabha Derek O'Brien tweeted:

CENSORSHIP. Modi-Shah ‘masterstroke’. @rajyasabhatv showing selective footage/online edit. All protests in the House by about 100 MPs from 15 Opposition parties not being telecast. #Pegasus hacking, espionage, military spyware.

— Derek O'Brien | ডেরেক ও'ব্রায়েন (@derekobrienmp) July 28, 2021

// // ]]>

No comment was immediately available from RS TV on the allegations.

With inputs from PTI

from Firstpost Politics Latest News https://ift.tt/3ibbGz6

#Politics

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informational-king · 4 years

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West Bengal Election 2021 LIVE: Swapan Dasgupta Resigns as Rajya Sabha MP

Fire officials said a fire broke out in an old fruit and vegetable market in Pune in the early hours of Tuesday, destroying at least 25 shops. The Bombay High Court will resume hearing of the Television Rating Points (TRP) scam case today. The Mumbai Police had earlier told the court that its assurances of not taking any concrete action against Arnab Goswami, a journalist who runs Republic TV…

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#Bengal #Dasgupta #Election #Live #Rajya #resigns #Sabha #Swapan #West

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xtruss · 4 years

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Why India’s ‘Godi Media’ Spreads Hatred and Fake News

How the leading players in the Indian media, loyal to the governing BJP-RSS combine, have been openly peddling fake news, hate and bigotry targeting religious minorities, especially India’s marginalised and dispossessed Muslims and why they have been getting away with murder all these years

— April 24, 2020 | S K Husain | Clarion India

GODI (Lapdog), Bikau (Venal), Dalal (Agent) and Bharkau (Inflammatory). These are some of the labels with which a major section of India’s mainstream electronic media is identified by a majority of Indians, especially Muslims and low-caste Hindus, as well as the remaining section of the national media.

This chunk of the media, which consists of nearly a dozen 24-hour national and regional TV news channels, is infamous for biased reporting and fanning communal hatred in society. Their journalists and anchors routinely engage in spreading fake news and causing hatred towards the country’s 200 million Muslim community and Islam. They, in fact, nourish Islamophobia. As someone rightly remarked, “the Indian media is not doing journalism but waging a jihad (holy war) against Muslims. It acts like hyenas”.

On one hand, these channels demonstrate a clear bias against the country’s low-caste Hindus, the poor, and less privileged and weaker sections of society. On the other, they promote the agenda of the Hindutva forces including the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), its ruling political wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its National Democratic Alliance (NDA) partners in the government, as well as their leaders. They also favour the rich and powerful and promote their interests.

Prominent among these Pro-BJP/RSS news outlets are English television channels Republic TV, Times Now, India Today and CNN-News18, and Hindi TV channels Zee News, ABP News, Aaj Tak, India TV, Sudershan News, News Nation and News24 (India). All the above-mentioned titles fit these channels for one reason or the other.

The term “Godi media” was coined for these channels by Ramon Magsaysay award winner journalist Ravish Kumar of NDTV. He inherently spoke of the lap of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government and its lapdogs.

Besides these channels, there are many more news and at least 18 Hindu religious channels in regional languages across India that promote the agenda of the Hindutva forces to establish a Hindu Rashtra (nation) and impose Hindi as the national language all over the plural, multi-religious, multi-cultural and multi-lingual country of 1.37 billion people.

Among the key reasons why these channels and their anchors so aggressively support the BJP, RSS and Modi, as well as the rich and powerful, are:

1) Absolute majority of the BJP-led NDA in Parliament and its government at the centre and in many states, and growing irrelevance and inconsequentiality of a largely obliterated opposition;

2) Hindu viewership by the BJP’s 100-million-plus primary members and their massive support for the party and government, and the cult-like following of a “monolithic” Modi;

3) A high TRP achieved because of the majority Hindu viewership. (TRP, or target rating point, is a metric used in marketing and advertising to indicate the percentage of the target audience reached by a campaign or advertisement through a communication medium);

4) Funding by big business houses, which might be chummy with a particular party which supports their growth and in return they support that party;

5) Ownership or stakes of certain BJP and RSS leaders, MPs and supporters in some of these TV channels;

6) Owners’ political connections or affiliations with the BJP and RSS;

7) A huge revenue earned from government advertisements which these channels receive in return for their pro-BJP/RSS/government policies;

8) Commercial interests of these channels as business entities rather than as social service non-governmental organisations;

9) Government advisories/directives and restrictions on news presentation;

10) Fear of being targeted by the government for failure to toe the line.

Let’s take a close look at what these Hindutva TV channels are, who owns or runs them and what are their policies.

HIS MASTER’S VOICE…Republic TV’s Arnab Goswami interviews Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Credit: narendramodi.in

English Networks

Republic TV — This news channel was co-founded and is majority-owned by a 47-year-old Assamese, Arnab Ranjan Goswami. He is also the channel’s editor and news anchor. Earlier, he was the editor-in-chief and a news anchor of Times Now and ET Now.

The channel is infamous for its brazen support for the BJP and RSS. Arnab is noted for his opinionated reporting in favour of the BJP and RSS and their Hindutva push across a wide spectrum of situations, including uncritically reproducing government narratives, avoiding criticism of BJP/RSS figures, and presenting their political opponents in a negative light. He very clearly, cleverly and shamelessly shows his bias. No one can beat him in spreading hatred and fake news.

Arnab is the son of Manoranjan Goswami, an army man who later joined the BJP, and a maternal nephew of Siddhartha Bhattacharya, who is a BJP MLA and minister in Assam’s state government.

Launched in 2017, Republic TV was partly funded by, among others, Asianet News (ARG Outlier Asianet News Private Limited), which was primarily funded by Rajeev Chandrasekhar, then an independent member of Rajya Sabha with intricate links with the BJP and vice-chairman of the NDA in Kerala.

Son of an air force officer, Chandrasekhar, however, resigned from the Asianet board after he officially joined the BJP in April 2018 and was elected as a BJP MP.

Republic TV has been accused of propagating fake news and running several news items based on the defamatory tweets posted by certain BJP leaders. It has also been convicted of breaching telecommunication regulatory and news broadcasting rules, leading to censures and subject to a high-profile defamation case by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor.

The channel is described by experts as a “noisy, chaotic place where coherent debate without shouting, screaming and name-calling is impossible”. Its shows have been dubbed a “battle of babble”, judgmental, brash and hawkish.

It has even been compared to North Korean media for its extreme pro-government affinity and muzzling of dissent, and America’s Fox News which practises biased reporting in favour of the Republican Party.

Prominent among these pro-BJP/RSS news outlets are English television channels Republic TV, Times Now, India Today and CNN-News18, and Hindi TV channels Zee News, ABP News, Aaj Tak, India TV, Sudershan News, News Nation and News24 (India). The term “godi media” was coined for these channels by journalist Ravish Kumar of NDTV. He inherently spoke of the lap of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government and its lapdogs

Times Now – Owned and operated by The Times Group (Bennett, Coleman and Company Limited), this channel always wants to go with the winning horse. Previously generally neutral, it has turned pro-BJP since the election of the Modi government. Anchor and managing editor Navika Kumar froths and fumes each time someone is critical of the BJP, but loses her interrogating prowess whenever given the rare chance to interview Modi or Home Minister Amit Shah.

With Arnab, the channel was ultra-BJP and ultra-nationalist; after he left it, it has become a lot more ultra-nationalist and outright BJP supporter. One wonders if this change of stance is because its chairperson, Indu Jain, was awarded Padma Bhushan by the Modi government in 2016.

India Today — Owned by Living India Media Group (India Today Group), the channel was launched in 2003 as a sister channel of the Hindi news channel AajTak. It is one of the four news channels from the TV Today Network stable, the other two being Tez and Delhi AajTak. Aroon Purie is the group’s chairman.

Top journalists associated with India Today TV channel are Rajdeep Sardesai and Rahul Kanwal. While Rajdeep is anti-BJP, Rahul has tried to lean a lot to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). Although India Today is a “fence-sitting” channel, in the last one or two years it has clearly tilted towards the BJP.

Rahul and his India Today team had severely lobbied against the BJP and its students wing Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP ) over the Shaheen Bagh and Jamia Millia Islamia shooting incidents. He was also quick to point fingers at BJP leader Anurag Thakur and claim that Delhi was sitting on a powder keg.

Narendra Modi with Mukesh Ambani at the convocation of Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University in 2013 when the former was chief minister of Gujarat (Photo – Website of Narendra Modi)

CNN News 18 is owned by billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries, considered close to PM Modi. The channel was originally owned by Network18 Group, which was taken over by Reliance Industries in 2014. The group owns as many as 65 channels

In an apparent punishment for his “biased” reporting in favour of AAP, Rahul was sent on a “sabbatical”. Since his return, he seems to have dropped his determination to follow in the footsteps of Rajdeep and joined the bandwagon of the godi media anchors.

CNN-News18 — This channel is owned by billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries, hence no words are required to explain its bias against Muslims and the less privileged Hindus. This channel was originally owned by Network18 Group, which was founded by businessman and investor Raghav Bahl in 2011 but was taken over by Reliance Industries in 2014.

The group owns as many as 65 channels: one national English news channel, one national Hindi news channel and 14 regional language news channels; three national and one regional business news channels, three Hindi entertainment channels, two Hindi movie channels, two youth channels, four English and Hindi music channels, four kids English and Hindi entertainment channels, four factual entertainment channels, two shopping channels, 14 regional entertainment channels, and 10 upcoming regional news and other channels.

Hindi Channels

Among the most biased and anti-Muslim and po-BJP/RSS Hindi TV news channels and their anchors are:

Zee News — This is one of the several Hindi, English and vernacular news channels owned by the Essel Group. The channel’s owner, Subhash Chandra, became a Rajya Sabha member with the BJP’s support. Hence, he definitely needs to give something back to the party by promoting its Hindutva agenda and launching an anti-Muslim tirade.

Sudhir Chaudhary is the channel’s editor-in-chief and the anchor of its prime time. He is the Hindi version of Republic TV’s Arnab as he openly supports the BJP, RSS and Modi. A few years ago, Sudhir was arrested for allegedly trying to extort one billion Indian rupees (approximately US$23 million) from the Jindal Group. Since then, some people call him Sudhir “Tihari” because he was lodged in Delhi’s maximum-security Tihar Jail in the extortion case.

Zee News has been involved in broadcasting fabricated news stories on multiple occasions. Most recently, it aired an unverified and false report on the coronavirus and linked it to Tablighi Jamaat, and later expressed regrets for running the false report.

India TV – This channel was launched by Rajat Sharma and his wife Ritu Dhawan in 2004 from a studio in FilmCity in Noida, near Delhi. Sharma is the chairman and editor-in-chief of India TV, a subsidiary of Independent News Service which was co-founded by the couple in 1997. During his college days, Sharma was a member of ABVP. He and the late finance minister Arun Jaitley were very close friends.

India TV is biased, too. It conceals plenty of news that would make headlines. It doesn’t show fake news but is selective in its presentation of news according to its political impact. When Sharma was asked a question about his channel’s integrity in the United States in view of his friendship with Jaitley, he got infuriated. An otherwise calm person, he was all irritated and critical of the person who asked it.

According to tech analyst Amol Raj Pandey, when Sharma “was ousted from his FilmCity office by Century Comm, his new office was completely funded by the BJP. India TV kept on working as BJP propaganda unit after that.” He further says the most important point to show this is — he was awarded Padma Bhushan for literature, although he never wrote a single literary piece. However, he wrote fiction for the BJP during its election campaign.

In 2015, Sharma was awarded Padma Bhushan by the BJP government for his contribution in the field of journalism. Last month, he was conferred with an honorary doctorate in of literature by the Nainital-based Kumaun University. All this explains his unstinted support for the BJP and RSS.

AajTak — Owned by Arun Purie’s India Today Group, AajTak has some of the most poisonous anchors — Anjana Om Kashyap, Rohit Sardana and Sweta Singh — known for their vitriolic attacks against Muslims and spreading communal hatred. The trio routinely indulge in Muslim-bashing, while showcasing a deferential surrender to anything the BJP does.

A former Zee News and News24 journalist, Anjana has been engaged in aggressively propagating Hindutva-centred ideologies and biased reporting in favour of the BJP across a variety of situations. She has spread fake news via her news shows on multiple occasions. A favourite of Modi, she was one of the few reporters who were allowed an interview by Modi in the run-up to the 2019 general election. Rohit Sardana tops the list of the worst journalists sponsored by the right wing.

ABP News — Owned by Bengali journalist Aveek Sarkar of the pro-BJP ABP Group, this channel is the reincarnation of Star News. Earlier, ABP News used to be neutral, but it turned pro-BJP a couple of years ago. This came after the Modi government objected to criticism of the BJP by some ABP News journalists including Punya Prasoon Vajpyee and Abhisar Sharma in their Master Stroke show. After the channel took action against these journalists, Rubika Liyaquat became the commander-in-chief of its news anchors. A former Zee New anchor, Rubika joined ABP News in 2018. A Muslim, she is disliked by many for her angry rhetoric against Muslim leaders called by the channel for debates on TV.

Sudarshan News — This channel disseminates anti-Muslim content and manufactures fake news with communal overtones, earning it tiltles such as “bigot” and “dangerous”.

Its chairman, Suresh Chavhanke, was a long-term RSS volunteer and associated with ABVP. He asserts practicing ideology-driven journalism and prefers that the news programmes over his channel be viewed as opinionated campaigns.

In April 2017, he was arrested for inciting communal hatred through multiple episodes of a flagship programme. Recently, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren ordered state police to take action against Chavhanke for his communal hate speeches.

News Nation — Owned by News Nation Network Pvt Ltd, this channel’s consulting editor Deepak Chaurasia has an inclination towards the BJP and is known as a puppet of Modi. Portuguese politician and political scientist Bruno Macaes compared Chaurasia’s journalism to Fox News, which has often been criticised for being extremely vocal in its support of the Republicans and President Donald Trump.

India 24 (India) — Owned by B.A.G. Films and Media Limited, this channel is promoted by Anuradha Prasad, sister of BJP minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, along with her husband, Congress politician Rajeev Shukla. Its anchor Amish Devgan has modelled himself on Republic TV’s Arnab and routinely indulges in Muslim-bashing.

All the above channels are Pro-BJP because they need government advertisments for revenue to operate. And most of their anchors and journalists are enamoured by Modi’s “superman image ” created by his online fans. As they aren’t bold enough to go against this fan club fearing trolling and reprisals, they find it easy to ride with the wind.

In this media environment, can Muslims expect to be heard and their case to be pleaded by these biased media houses? They have to either put up with this or mull over focusing on creating their own media giants. There’s no dearth of financial and other resources, technical expertise and journalistic talent in the community. All that is needed are sincerity, will and resolve to start own TV news channels.

— The writer is a senior journalist based in Singapore. He can be reached at [email protected].

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