Today’s news wrap up of the day.
1. Madhya Pradesh: After Indore businessman, Mandsaur BJP leader shot dead in full public view
Prahlad Bandhwar, BJP leader and the chairman of the Mandsaur Municipal Corporation was shot dead last evening by unidentified criminals. As per reports, Bandhwar was shot at in full public view, near BPL square in the city.
Bandhwar’s killers reportedly came on a Royal Enfield motorcycle and shot him at point-blank range. Bandhwar was reportedly standing in front of the district co-operative bank. As Bandhwar fell immediately, panic spread in the area and shopkeepers nearby closed their shutters. Taking advantage of the chaos, the murderers reportedly escaped.
Bandhwar was immediately rushed to a nearby hospital in an auto rickshaw but he had already succumbed to his injuries.
2. JNU row: Event preplanned, Kashmiri students accused of raising anti-India slogans were in touch with Umar Khalid
The seven Kashmiri students who are accused of raising anti-India slogans on JNU campus on 9th February 2016 had in their confessional statement claimed that they did not know Kanhaiya Kumar, Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya. This was part of the charge sheet filed on Monday. However, as reported by DNA, the police investigation has revealed that not only they knew each other but the event was also being planned for a long time.
Recently, the Delhi Police filed a charge sheet in the JNU case to the Patiala House Court. The charge sheet filed by the Special Cell of the Delhi Police against Kanhaiya Kumar, Umar Khalid and others on the celebration of terrorist Afzal Guru’s death anniversary at Jawaharlal Nehru University in February 2016. Shehla Rashid and daughter of CPI leader D Raja also are mentioned in the charge sheet. The charge sheet states that the JNU event was part of a planned conspiracy.
3. PM Modi is working tirelessly to promote India’s global visibility: Philip Kotler thanks PM for accepting award
Philip Kotler, the top marketing guru and consultant, has thanked Prime Minister Modi for accepting the first Philip Kotler Presidential Award presented to him by the World Marketing Summit.
Kotler has added further that the world is watching India and China. The two countries represent two very different visions of the future and he believes that democracy, though imperfect, is the best way to achieve the aspirations of a nation’s people. On this regard, the world looks at India as a model, because it seeks justice and economic progress for all its people.
He also added that Modi being the first winner has raised the bar for the future recipients of the award. Kotler had also praised PM Modi in an exclusive interview.
4. Scribe asks whether The Wire refused to run a woman’s account of sexual harassment due to funding from TATA
Reputed columnist Manu Joseph has made a startling claim on Twitter. In November last year, he had claimed that The Wire had refused to report Anjuli Pandit’s account of sexual harassment at the Taj because of fear of the Tatas. Pandit is a former Tata Group Executive. Then, Tata was believed to be a possible donor to The Wire. Siddharth Varadarajan, the Founding Editor of Wire, had vehemently denied the claim.
It was revealed that the Tatas have funded The Wire. Following the revelation, Joseph further asked Sidharth Bhatia, Founder Editor at Wire, if the funding from Tata had anything to do with their refusal to run Pandit’s account. Joseph further stated that the Wire ought to be questioned in this regard due to its ‘hypermoral’ positions regarding issues concerning women. No one from the Wire had issued a response at the time this report was written.
5. President Kovind becomes the first President since Rajendra Prasad in 1953 to visit the Kumbh Mela
President Ram Nath Kovind became the first President since Dr Rajendra Prasad in 1953 to visit the Kumbh Mela when he offered prayers with his wife on Thursday. Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath and Governor Ram Naik were also present at the occasion.
The President inaugurated the Gandhian Resurgence Summit at Prayagraj and congratulated the Government of Uttar Pradesh and its people for organising the Kumbh. He also said that it is an important part of India’s cultural and spiritual heritage.
6. Indian Express and Hindustan Times reject article asking uncomfortable questions about Shah Faesal
IAS officer Shah Faesal made national headlines when he resigned from the service earlier this month. Observer Research Foundation’s (ORF) associate fellow Khalid Shah has written an article, which is critical of Faesal, as the victim of the ‘sentiment’ is now positioning himself as a sympathiser of the champions of ‘resistance’ who promote gun, militancy and violence.
The article was sent to two prominent newspapers for publishing, but both of them refused to print it. The article was rejected by Indian Express and Hindustan Times. The rejection of the article by two prominent newspapers shows how mainstream media work to build a narrative. As the article didn’t suit the narrative they want to peddle, they refused to publish it.
7. Times Group’s communal propaganda: Supporting desecration of Sabarimala while publishing ‘Convert to Islam’ op-ed
The Times Group is a rather amusing media group in the sense that it caters to people from both sides of the political spectrum through different channels. It owns Times Now with its overt ‘nationalist’ slant and Mirror Now with explicitly leftist tendencies.
One issue, however, where both these channels were on the same side was the Sabarimala verdict. They unanimously supported the desecration of the abode of Bhagwan Ayyappa. However, Times Group appears to have an extremely contrasting opinion when it comes to Islam. The Kochi edition of its newspaper, Times of India, published an article with effusive praise for the religion with the headline “Convert to Islam“.
The Times Group’s stance on Islam appears to be markedly different from its opinions on the traditions of the Hindu Sabarimala Temple. The article, in fact, comes across as da’wah or the Islamic practice of inviting non-Muslims and Muslims to understand the teaching of Islam and inform them about prophet Muhammad and convert them to a ‘purer faith’.
8. ‘2016 Rafale deal achieved objectives of better price, delivery and terms’: MoD spokesperson rubbishes The Hindu report
The Hindu today published a story authored by N Ram, a foremost member of the family that owns the paper. In the article, which lifted content revealed by another journalist and passed them off as a The Hindu ‘exclusive’, N Ram made some fantastical claims deriding the Rafale deal. After the article was published, the Ministry of Defence spokesperson has issued a detailed response to the article. In the point by point response, MoD spokesperson has rubbished the claims made.
The full statement has been reproduced here.
9. Congress leader discovers a new low yet again, after mocking Amit Shah’s diagnosis, says he doesn’t have swine flu at all
Despite facing flak over his recent remarks against BJP President Amit Shah, Congress leader and Rajya Sabha member BK Hariprasad has yet again issued a controversial statement claiming that he has received reports stating that BJP President Amit Shah does not have any flu, reported ANI.
According to ANI, BK Hariprasad claimed that he knew few people belonging to All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and went on to say that he has received reports regarding Amit Shah not suffering from any flu.
10. A new TV News Channel backed by Congress leaders to be launched ahead of general elections
According to a report, a new Television News Channels is going to be launched in the month of January, which is backed by Congress leaders Kapil Sibbal and P Chidambaram. The channel will reportedly be titled Harvest TV or HTV and will have noted journalists and anchors from existing media houses.
It is reported that several well-known journalists like Barkha Dutt, Karan Thappar, Punya Prasun Bajpai, Ashutosh, Ravish Kumar and many other will join the English and Hindi channels of the group promoted by Kapil Sibal and P Chidambaram.
10. Opinions
In his latest article titled, “Cursed by vultures: Will Opposition end Ayushman Bharat if it gets power at the Centre“, Abhishek Banerjee speculates whether the Opposition parties will discontinue the Ayushman Bharat scheme that provides free healthcare to poor people out of sheer jealousy towards Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He writes, “The saddest part is that it appears the other side is willing to trample upon the lives of India’s poor to extract its “revenge” on Modi. In a democracy, sooner or later, the government is going to change. People look to the incoming government to bring its new ideas to the table. That is what keeps democracy fresh, that is what keeps the engine of progress running. It would be a shame if the Opposition is going into an election with an agenda of ending healthcare, shutting down toilets, gas connections and electricity connections. And all because of jealousy.”
