India Reports
Hate speeches complete menace, we want free and balanced press in India: SC
NEW DELHI, (PTI): Hate speeches are a ”complete menace”, the Supreme Court observed on Friday and rued the lack of regulatory control on TV news content, saying it wants ”free and balanced press in India”. The top court said nowadays everything is driven by TRP (television rating point) and channels are competing with each other and creating a division in society.
It wondered why can’t a TV news anchor, if they become a part of the problem of propagating hate speech, be taken off air. It said unlike for print media, there is no Press Council of India for news channels, and observed ”We want free speech, but at what cost”.
A bench of Justices KM Joseph and BV Nagarathna, which was hearing a batch of petitions seeking a curb on hate speech incidents across the country and action against the culprits, said, ”Hate speech has become a complete menace. It has to stop.”
Expressing concern over media trial, the bench pointed to the recent incident of a man allegedly urinating on an Air India flight, saying, ”He was called names. Media people should understand he is still under trial and he should not be denigrated. Everyone has dignity.” Justice Joseph said TV channels are competing with each other as news coverage is TRP-driven. ”They sensationalise everything and create divisions in society because of the visual element. Unlike the newspaper, the visual medium can influence you much more and unfortunately, the audience is not mature enough to see these kind of content,” he said.
He said many a time during live debates the anchors became part of the problem as they either mute the voice of the person sitting in a panel or don’t allow them to present a counter view.
Justice Nagarathna said if TV channels are found to be violating the programme code by indulging in propagation of hate speech, action can be taken against their management.
”We want free and balanced press in India,” she said. The counsel representing the News Broadcasters Association claimed that thousands of complaints have been received in the past year and action taken against the channels. ”In a live programme, the key to fairness of the programme is held by the anchor. If the anchor is not fair, he would not allow the counter view to come by either muting the speaker or by not asking the question to the other side. This is an insignia of bias.
”How many times action has been taken against the anchor? Media people must learn that they are occupying positions of great strength and they have an impact on society. They cannot be part of the problem and speak their mind whichever way they want,” the bench said. Justice Joseph said if action is taken against the news anchor or their management, all will fall in line.
The court told Additional Solicitor General KM Nataraj, appearing for the Centre, that freedom of speech and expression is a very important and delicate thing and the government has to take some action without actually interfering with it. Nataraj said the Centre is aware of the problem and is contemplating bringing amendments in the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) to deal with the problem of hate speeches.
Justice Nagarathna, who recently gave a dissenting verdict on speeches made by public functionaries where she dealt with the issue of hate speech said, ”Ultimately, it all comes down to the content of the speech. Freedom of speech and expression comes with great responsibility.” Nataraj agreed with the view of the bench and said State cannot subscribe to hate crime or hate speech, and these cannot be ascribed to any particular religion. The bench told him the government has to act against broadcasts that impact the nation and affect fraternity and harmony carefully within the domain of law with some out of the box solution.
Justice Nagarathna said, “TV has been now in India for decades but still it has no regulations and has become free for all. You don’t have something like the Press Council of India for channels like newspapers.”
The bench recalled a recent incident where a Delhi police officer was stabbed by a snatcher in front of a crowd but no one intervened, and said, ”Several people were there but no one wants to stick their neck out.”
Deputy Advocate General of Uttarakhand Jatinder Kumar Sethi said several cases of hate speech were registered including 23 that were lodged by police suo motu (on its own) as per the last order of the court. Additional Advocate General Garima Prashad, who represented Uttar Pradesh, said more than 500 such cases have been filed, including 160 suo motu cases, where action has been taken and people have been arrested.
On October 21 last year, the apex court had asked Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Delhi to crack down hard on those making hate speeches, observing, “Where have we reached in the name of religion, what have we reduced religion to is tragic”. Holding that the Constitution of India envisages a secular nation, the court had directed the three states to promptly register criminal cases against the offenders without waiting for a complaint to be filed.
The apex court warned any delay on the part of the administration in taking action on this ”very serious issue” will invite the court’s contempt. (PTI)
NEW DELHI, (ANI): Days ahead of the crucial Lok Sabha elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has launched its official election campaign 2024 merchandise, the NaMo Merchandise, which is exclusively available on the Narendra Modi App.
The merchandise line-up includes popular campaign slogans such as “Ab Ki Baar 400 Paar” and “Phir Ek Baar Modi Sarkar,” “Modi Ki Guarantee,” and the timeless “Modi Hai Toh Mumkin Hai”.
The official campaign merchandise is available in several categories, including t-shirts, mugs, caps, badges, stationery, stickers, fridge magnets, and more. ‘Modi Ki Guarantee’ reflects PM Modi’s vision for a better India. Let’s unite for progress and show our undying support to live up to the dream of Viksit Bharat by 2047!
Apart from that one of the most prominent themes in the featured merchandise is “Modi Ka Parivar,” which has become a viral catchphrase among millions of Indians who consider Prime Minister Modi as their own family.
“Everything is possible with the ‘Modi Ki Guarantee’! Let’s strengthen our commitment to ‘Modi Ki Guarantee’ and aim for ‘Ab Ki Baar 400 Paar’ with the official BJP 2024 campaign #NaMoMerchandise”, Kuljeet Singh Chahal, national convener of the NaMo app, wrote in a post on X.
As Lok Sabha elections are right around the corner, the BJP is not only campaigning on the ground but also aggressively leveraging technology and social media to reach out to voters and receive valuable feedback. Last December, the NaMo App, or the Narendra Modi App introduced the ‘Jan Man Survey’, an innovative survey that aims to tap into the ‘Jan Man’–what is on the minds of the citizens–through an interesting and gamified interface.
The Jan Man Survey presents a set of easy-to-answer questions to citizens, collecting their diverse opinions on various aspects of governance and leadership. To celebrate the true spirit of democracy, these questions include both central-level development and specifics related to the user’s constituency.
The Lok Sabha Elections 2024 will be held in seven phases starting on April 19. Counting of votes on June 4. (ANI)
NEW DELHI, (ANI): The Ministry of Finance has issued a cautionary alert to taxpayers regarding a surge in fraudulent activity involving fake summons purportedly sent by the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI), Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC). According to recent observations, individuals with fraudulent intentions are generating and dispatching fake summons to taxpayers, regardless of whether they are under investigation by the DGGI, read the press release by the Ministry of Finance.
The fraudulent summons, though seemingly authentic with Document Identification Numbers (DIN), are not issued by the DGGI, raising serious concerns about the misuse of official channels for illicit purposes. In response to these fraudulent activities, the DGGI has initiated stringent measures, including informing and filing complaints with the police against those responsible for creating and disseminating fake summons, read the press release.
To assist taxpayers in discerning the authenticity of communications from the department, the CBIC has issued Circular No. 122/41/2019-GST dated November 5, 2019, emphasizing the importance of generating and quoting DIN on all communications sent by CBIC officers to taxpayers. Additionally, taxpayers are advised to utilize the ‘VERIFY CBIC-DIN’ window on the CBIC’s website or the DIN Utility Search on the online portal of the Directorate of Data Management (DDM), CBIC, to verify the genuineness of any communication, including summons, received from the department.
Individual taxpayers who receive suspicious or potentially fake summons from DGGI/CBIC formations are urged to report them immediately to the concerned jurisdictional DGGI/CBIC office for verification, read the press release. This proactive approach will enable swift action against perpetrators engaged in fraudulent activities and safeguard taxpayers from falling victim to such scams.
The Ministry of Finance underscores the importance of vigilance and encourages taxpayers to remain cautious and vigilant against fraudulent attempts to deceive and exploit them, read the release. By promptly reporting suspicious communications and verifying the authenticity of summonses, taxpayers can contribute to thwarting fraudulent activities and upholding the integrity of the taxation system. (ANI)
NEW DELHI, (PTI): The central government on Tuesday extended the deadline for linking PAN with Aadhaar by three months to June 30 to enable people comply with the mandatory income tax provisions.
The deadline for linking PAN with Aadhaar was ending on March 31. As per the income tax department, failure to link the two unique identities will lead to the unlinked PAN becoming inoperative.
There have been demands, including from political parties, for giving more time to people to link PAN (Permanent Account Number) with their unique 12-digit identification number Aadhaar.
”In order to provide some more time to the taxpayers, the date for linking PAN and Aadhaar has been extended to June 30, 2023, whereby persons can intimate their Aadhaar to the prescribed authority for Aadhaar-PAN linking without facing repercussions,” the finance ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.
Earlier also, the government had extended the deadline several times.
The government had imposed a fee of Rs 500 on linking of PAN with Aadhaar from April 1, 2022 and the amount was later increased to Rs 1,000 from July 1, 2022.
So far, more than 51 crore PANs have been linked with Aadhaar.
Under the provisions of the Income Tax Act, 1961, every person who has been allotted a PAN as on July 1, 2017 and eligible to obtain Aadhaar Number, was required to intimate his or her Aadhaar to the prescribed authority on or before March 31, 2023, on payment of a prescribed fee.
Failure to do so would have attracted certain repercussions under the Act from April 1, 2023.
”The date for intimating Aadhaar to the prescribed authority for the purpose of linking PAN and Aadhaar has now been extended to June 30, 2023,” the statement said.
From July 1, 2023, PAN of taxpayers who have failed to intimate their Aadhaar shall become inoperative.
Once the PAN becomes inoperative, the tax payer concerned will not be able to claim tax refund nor interest on it. Also, TDS and TCS will be deducted /collected at a higher rate from them.
”PAN can be made operative again in 30 days, upon intimation of Aadhaar to the prescribed authority after payment of fee of Rs 1,000,” the ministry said.
Those persons who have been exempted from PAN-Aadhaar linking will not be liable to face action.
This category includes those residing in specified states, a non-resident as per the Income Tax Act, an individual who is not a citizen of India or individuals of the age of eighty years or more at any time during the previous year.
Last week, Congress leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to extend the deadline by six months for linking PAN with Aadhaar and remove the Rs 1,000 fee. (PTI)
India Reports
Sentence awarded to Rahul excessive, Centre should have shown a big heart: Prashant Kishor
PATNA, (PTI): Political strategist turned activist Prashant Kishor on Saturday termed as ”excessive” the two years’ imprisonment awarded to Rahul Gandhi in a defamation case and urged the ruling dispensation to show ”a big heart” on the Congress leader’s disqualification.
Kishor, who is now touring Bihar, his home state, as part of ”Jan Suraaj” campaign, also underscored that the Congress did not seem to be well prepared to reach out to the masses with the message that it has been wronged.
”I am not a legal expert but with due respect to the process of law, the sentence awarded to Rahul Gandhi seems to be excessive. In the heat of elections, people say all types of things. This was not the first instance and not going to be the last”, asserted the IPAC founder who has, in his professional capacity, worked with many political parties, including the BJP and the Congress.
”Two years in prison seems to be excessive for what is essentially a defamation case”, said Kishor, adding ”I would like to remind the government at the Centre of a famous line by Atal Bihari Vajpayee that nobody becomes great with a petty heart (chhote man se koi bada nahin ban jaata)”.
”The ruling dispensation may hide behind technicalities and insist that Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification was inevitable, given his conviction. I would still say they should have taken a leaf out of the book of late Vajpayee, their own revered leader and not rushed to disqualify Rahul Gandhi”, said Kishor.
”They (the BJP) are in power today. The onus was on them to have shown a big heart. They should have waited for a few days and allowed the aggrieved party to go in appeal and acted only if no relief was in sight”, added Kishor, who first shot into limelight with his handling of the spectacularly successful Lok Sabha poll campaign of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014.
Kishor, who decided to return to his home state and launch ”Jan Suraaj” after his proposal to revamp the Congress failed to take off, despite several rounds of talks with the top leadership, also had a word of advice for the grand old party.
”The Congress seems to have little realization of what it is up against. Its top brass needs to understand that you cannot fight a political battle simply by sitting in Delhi, tweeting furiously and staging marches to the Parliament”, he said.
”I would like to share my own experience here, in Marhaura block of Saran district. I am yet to come across a single Congress worker who is meeting people and trying to explain to them how it is being wronged. There are more than one lakh panchayats across the country. I wonder if Congress workers made an effort in any of these”, he added.
”Be it the Congress, or any other opposition party, all need to realize that making a buzz with some press conferences and social media presence may be okay but unless they reach out to the villages, they cannot win the political battle (against BJP)”, added Kishor. (PTI)
India Reports
Rahul’s disqualification “death blow” to democracy, says Telangana Cong chief Revanth Reddy
HYDERABAD, (PTI): Taking strong exception to the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi from Lok Sabha, the Telangana Congress president, Revanth Reddy on Friday claimed that senior party leader’s ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ and his demand for a JPC probe into the Adani issue is giving sleepless nights to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
In a tweet in Telugu, the Lok Sabha MP termed Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification as a ”death blow” to democracy and freedom of expression.
The TPCC president claimed that Rahul Gandhi undertaking the ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ to safeguard democracy and fighting on the floor of Parliament for a JPC probe into the Adani issue is giving sleepless nights to Modi.
He asserted that the Congress would defeat the ”conspiracy” through a legal battle.
Affirming that the country would stand with Rahul Gandhi, Revanth Reddy told reporters here that he and other party men would hit the streets against such ”wicked decisions”.
Rahul Gandhi was disqualified from Lok Sabha today, a day after he was convicted by a Surat court in a 2019 criminal defamation case. (PTI)
NEW DELHI, (PTI): A Delhi court on Thursday granted interim bail till February 28 to Congress leader Pawan Khera, arrested by the Assam Police in a case related to his alleged objectionable remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Archana Beniwal granted interim bail to Khera, who was produced before the court, on a bail bond of Rs 30,000 and one surety of the like amount.
The magistrate passed the order around 6.10 pm after receiving a copy of the apex court’s order for Khera’s release.
A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud had earlier in the day ordered grant of interim bail to Khera till February 28 in the case lodged in Assam.
The apex court had said Khera will be produced before the competent magistrate in Delhi and released on interim bail. (PTI)
NEW DELHI, (PTI): Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena has approved the formation of medical boards in all 11 districts of the city for dealing with matters related to the Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021, Raj Niwas officials said on Monday.
The Act was notified by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on December 25, 2021. Section 4(iii) of the Act states that no surrogacy or surrogacy procedure shall be conducted, undertaken, performed or initiated without the intending couple possessing a certificate issued by the appropriate authority (district medical board) specifying the need for gestational surrogacy.
”However, constitution of the district medical boards (DMBs) was kept pending by the Delhi government ever since the regulation was notified by the central government, which forced intending beneficiaries to approach court,” an official said.
The DMBs will be headed by the chief medical officer or chief civil surgeon or joint director of health services of the district serving as chairperson. It will comprise chief gynaecologist and chief paediatrician of the district as its members.
The proposal for constitution of DMBs was approved by Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who also holds the health portfolio, and was endorsed by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. (PTI)
MUMBAI, (PTI): Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray on Monday demanded that the Election Commission of India, which ruled that the Eknath Shinde-led faction is the real Shiv Sena, should be dissolved.
“The name (Shiv Sena) and symbol (bow and arrow) of our party have been stolen, but the name ‘Thackeray’ cannot be stolen,” he told reporters at Sena Bhavan in Dadar here.
Thackeray’s media briefing came after the Supreme Court, earlier in the day, refused to entertain an oral mentioning made by his faction to urgently list its plea challenging the EC decision.
“The Election Commission’s order is wrong. Supreme Court is the last ray of hope,” Thackeray said.
“There is not a single instance where the party name and symbol were directly given to one faction,” Thackeray said.
”What was the need for the EC to give this decision in a hurry?” the former Maharashtra chief minister said.
“Even if the other faction took our name and symbol, they can’t take our Thackeray name. I was lucky to be born to the family of Balasaheb Thackeray,” he said.
Accusing the BJP of destroying democracy with the help of democratic institutions, Thackeray said, “What the BJP did with us today, they can do it with anyone. If this continues, after 2024, there won’t be any democracy or election in the country,” he said.
He said he had received calls in support from Mamata Banerjee, Sharad Pawar, Nitish Kumar and many other leaders.
Thackeray said he had never left Hindutva, though he was accused of doing so when he ended his decades-old alliance with the BJP in 2019.
Thackeray said that during the Assembly bypoll in Andheri, his party candidate had used the name given by the Election Commission. The other faction didn’t even have the courage of fighting that bypoll, he added. (PTI)
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