The coalition government in Maharashtra headed by Shiv Sena and their chief minister Uddhav Thackeray has been dogged in its hounding of Republic TV editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami. After serving 3 prior notices, now, the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly has now served the fourth notice to Goswami and asked him to reach the assembly within 10 minutes.
Republic TV broke the news that at 2:50 PM today, Arnab Goswami got a notice from the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly asking him to appear, in person, at 3:00 PM. Essentially, the state government gave Arnab Goswami merely 10 minutes to make a personal appearance in the Assembly, saying that if he does not, action could be initiated against him.
#Arnab10MinuteNotice | 'It is our legal right to seek a remedy from the Supreme Court': Arnab on Maharashtra Assembly's fourth notice expecting him to appear in 10 mins Tune in to watch and share your views using the hashtag – https://t.co/rGQJsiKgt2pic.twitter.com/VdNrLgWXtB
Taking to Republic TV, Arnab Goswami said that this was a complete break-down of the democratic process in the state. He said that every prior notice served by the Assembly has been responded but the Assembly seems to have refused to accept their responses. This, Arnab Goswami said, is illegal and the Assembly was duty-bound to accept the response.
3 other notices served to Arnab Goswami by Maharashtra Assembly earlier
The firs notice by the Maharashtra Assembly was served to Goswami on the 16th of September over breach of privilege.
The Maharashtra legislature secretariat had earlier sought clarification from Arnab Goswami on September 16 over a breach of privilege motion against him during a two-day monsoon session of the state legislature for the alleged derogatory comments against Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar.
The motion had been tabled by Shiv Sena MLA Pratap Sarnaik, taking offence to the way Republic TV chief referred to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and other ministers during his coverage of Sushant Singh Rajput death case.
After the Assembly alleged that no response was received, a second notice was served to Arnab Goswami and a response was sought by the 20th of October.
A third notice was served to Goswami where Maharashtra Legislature Secretariat issued a notice to Arnab Goswami, chief of Republic TV, for breach of privilege for submitting a copy of the proceedings of the Assembly in the Supreme Court without the Speaker’s permission. The notice was served on October 13 and a written clarification has been sought from Goswami by October 15, the secretariat said in a statement on Wednesday.
With the 243-member Bihar assembly election just two weeks away, the political drama in the state is in full swing. In what is being seen as one of the biggest elections globally during the Covid-19 pandemic, the voting for Bihar elections will be held in three phases on October 28 (71 seats), November 3 (94 seats) and November 7 (78 seats), followed by counting of votes on November 10.
Political battle in 4 seats of Jamui district in Bihar
Among the 71 Assembly seats spread across 14 districts going into polls in the first phase, the Jamui district has 4 seats, namely Jamui, Sikandra, Jhajha and Chakai. During the 2015 Assembly elections, BJP won only one of these seats- Jhajha. Two seats (Jamui and Chakai) was bagged by the then Mahagathbandhan partner RJD and one seat (Sikandra) went to the Congress.
However, this time the political scenerio in the Jamui Lok Sabha constituency seems to be different and there are three main reasons for this. The first and primary reason being that Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) JDU, which contested the 2015 election in alliance with the RJD and Congress, is with the NDA alliance this time.
Secondly, Ram Vilas Paswan’s Lok Janshaki Party (LJP), which was with the BJP in the last election, is contesting the Bihar polls out of the fold of the NDA. It is pertinent to note here that Jamui district is largely influenced by the Lok Janshaki Party. Riding the Narendra Modi wave, young Lok Janshakti Party leader Chirag Paswan had made a successful debut five years back from the Jamui district, defeating the Mahagathbandhan candidate by a margin of around 2.41 lakh votes.
Whether LJP wins more seats or loses this time, it might play a spoilsport for Nitish Kumar’s government. Thirdly, the sons of the former state minister Narendra Singh- Ajay Pratap Singh and Sumit Kumar Singh are also popular in Jamui district.
Jamui assembly seat:
Keeping in mind how crucial this district is in the Bihar electoral arena, BJP has this year fielded shooter Shreyasi Singh from the Jamui seat. By feilding the daughter of former Union minister late Digvijay Singh, BJP has converted Jamui into the most popular seat of this phase. Though this election will be Singh’s debut in politics, Shreyasi who recently joined BJP, has a strong political background and is quite popular amongst the young voters.
During the 2015 Assembly elections, except Chakai, there was a direct fight seen between the NDA and the Grand Alliance candidate in the remaining three seats of Jamui. But this time, things are different. This elections, NDA and the RJD candidates will be facing resistance from the family of former minister Narendra Singh, whose son Ajay Pratap Singh was an MLA from 2010 to 2015. BJP rebel Ajay Pratap is likely to contest as the Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP) nominee. This third party which has been added in the political fray in Jamui this time is being considered to be the deciding factor.
Meanwhile, RJD has fielded MLA Vijay Prakash. Vijay has fought from this seat many times. He first won from Jamui in February 2005. After that, he lost twice by big margins. Again in 2015, he got the benefits of being associated with JDU and won this seat with a margin of around eight thousand votes. He was also a minister in the Grand Alliance government. His wife Vinita Prakash is the chairman of Jamui Zilla Parishad, while elder brother Jai Prakash Narayan Yadav has been a Member of Parliament from the Banka seat and a former minister at the Center.
Though RJD’s MLA Vijay Prakash and RLSP candidate Ajay Pratap are banking on their past victories and their long-serving political careers, BJP’s Shreyasi Singh is being touted as the most popular candidate from the seat. In fact, after BJP has announced the name of the Commonwealth Games gold medallist’s name, most political discussion in context to the Bihar elections have just been revolving around the ace shooter. Moreover, no LJP candidate is contesting from Jamui, a fact that is bound to help Shreyasi. She had admitted it too while speaking to OpIndia.
Jhajha in Jamui, Bihar
On the contrary, the presence of LJP candidate in Jhajha’s seat is increasing the problem of the NDA alliance. During the 2015 Assembly elections, the Jhajha seat was bagged by BJP’s Ravindra Yadav after securing 65,537 votes. JD(U)’s Damodar Rawat was second with 43,451 votes. This time this seat has gone into JD(U)’s account and Damodar Rawat is NDA candidate. After being expelled from BJP, the sitting MLA from Jhajha-Ravindra Yadav will now enter the fray representing Chirag Paswan-led LJP’s ‘Bungalow’ symbol. Jhajha is one of the seats where LJP is believed have a strong hold.
However, during our visit in the remote rural areas of the region, about two weeks before the polling, we found that a section of voters are confused about Ravindra Yadav’s party and election symbol. Though Rajendra Prasad has been fielded by RJD, the key factor between its victory and defeat is Ravindra Yadav.
Chakai seat in Jamui, Bihar
Meanwhile, the deciding factor in Chakai’s seat this time is an independent candidate. His name is Sumit Singh. He is also the son of Narendra Singh. Last time, as an independent, he was second with nearly 35,000 votes. Savitri Devi of RJD won by bagging around 47,000 votes. This time too, the RJD has given her a chance. To give her a tough fight, JD(U) has fielded Sanjay Prasad from the Chakai seat which has gone into the kitty of ruling JD(U) as a result of the seat sharing between the two NDA allies. Last year, LJP’s Vijay Kumar Singh was third aftet securing 28,535 votes. This time LJP has fielded Sanjay Mandal. Though LJP has a significant influence on the Chakai seat too, but this election season, the most discussed name in Chakai is that of Sumit Singh.
Speaking to OpIndia, locals said that despite losing the election, Sumit Singh remained continuously active in the area for the last 5 years. Apart from his father’s name, this seems to be going in his favour. Although it is difficult to say who will win in the triangular contest, Chakai will definitely be one of the seats in Bihar where the competition is going to be really tough.
Sikandra seat in Jamui
Congress’ Sudheer Kumar alias Bunty Chaudhary still appears to be a strong candidate in Sikandra. Last elections, he had received around 59,000 votes. LJP’s Subhash Paswan was at the second spot with around 51,000 votes. Pertinently, in the past five years, Bunty Chaudhary has been in discussion for various other reasons apart from work. Meanwhile, another BJP turncoat Ravi Shankar Paswan has been fielded by LJP from the Sikandra seat. Jitan Ram Manjhi’s ‘Hum’, which bagged the seat during seat sharing between NDA allies, has fielded Praful Manjhi from Sikandra.
Subhash Paswan, who had represented LJP in the last election has turned rebel this time. It is pertinent to note that initially, there was talk that LJP chief Chirag Paswan, who has decided to go solo contesting 143 of the 243 seats, would himself contest the assembly elections from this reserved seat. Here LJP is considered to have a strong hold and moreover, after the death of Ram Vilas Paswan, the sympathy wave might impact the outcome of the elections.
Interestingly, the voters on the ground are complaining about not getting the benefit of government schemes and corruption. They are also seen cribbing about the impact of the lockdown. But in the end, every discussion is ending at the candidate’s name.
As local journalist Murali Dixit says, “The equation on paper and the ground reality is different.” The biggest reason for this may be JDU’s separation from the Mahagatbandhan this time and LJP’s separation from the NDA alliance. With the JDU joining NDA alliance, it is certain that it will lose the votes that RJD and Congress had contributed to it last year. Similarly, the seats where LJP is fighting are also going to have an impact. Also, the claims of Sumit Singh and Ajay Pratap cannot be easily dismissed”, opined Dixit.
Amidst all the political drama, the one thing which is interesting in Jamui is that in this backward district, situated adjacent to Jharkhand, the one name which is being discussed in every nook and cranny, by almost every individual, is that of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Surprisingly, the ignorant voters who do not even know that RJD and JD(U) are no longer together, recognise Narendra Modi and the ‘lotus’, the election symbol of BJP.
Amidst the rising belligerence from China and the continuing stand-off between the Indian and Chinese forces along the Line of Actual Control, the Indian mobile phone manufacture Micromax on Friday announced its comeback in the Indian market currently flooded by Chinese manufacturers.
The announcement of Micromax’s return to the Indian market was made through a heartwarming video shared by the company’s official Twitter account that featured co-founder Rahul Sharma, who in the video announced the Gurugram based organisation’s re-entry into the Indian mobile phone market with a new range of locally manufactured ‘IN mobile phone range’ against the Chinese counterparts.
“We’re #INForIndia with #INMobiles! What about you? #IndiaKeLiye #BigAnnouncement #MicromaxIsBack #AatmanirbharBharat,” the tweet by Micromax read.
In the approximately 2-minute long video, Sharma shared the company’s journey and how it was among the top 10 mobile manufacturers in the world before losing its market share to the Chinese mobile manufacturing companies. Sharma candidly and honestly admitted to the mistakes made by the company during its first innings that propelled its downfall and ensured that the organisation has learned from its past mistakes and will launch competitive products to take on the Chinese mobile companies currently dominating the Indian smartphone market.
Talking about the recent conflict between Indiana and Chinese forces at the LAC, Rahul Sharma said that what happened at the border was not good, and after the incident, people in the country appealed the company to make a comeback to counter the Chinese phone makers amid the calls of boycotting Chinese products.
Sharma also mentioned in the video that when PM Modi called for a push towards self-reliance (Atma Nirbhar), Micromax found a new purpose to revitalise its fight against the Chinese mobile phone companies. Towards the end of the video, Sharma flashes a sky-blue box of a mobile phone with ‘IN’ written on it, which is believed to be the company’s new range of smartphones with which it will re-enter the Indian mobile phone market.
Besides, Micromax has also pledged an investment of Rs 500 crores for expanding its local manufacturing capabilities and research and development operations as it gears up for its comeback in the Indian mobile phone market.
Indian government launched the PLI scheme to boost local manufacturing of electronics goods
To grab the market share of the mobile phones currently dominated by the Chinese and American companies, Micromax is seeking to avail benefits that the Indian government has announced with the schemes like PLI. The Production Linked Incentive (PLI) was introduced by the Modi government in the electronics manufacturing segment in April this year under the National Policy on Electronics (NPE) 2019 that aims to incentivise companies that manufacture their products locally and which will ultimately position India as a global hub for Electronics System Design and Manufacturing (ESDM).
Proposals by 16 phone makers under the Production Linked Incentive Scheme (PLI) for Large Scale Electronics Manufacturing was approved by the Ministry of Electronics and Information and Technology earlier this month, including Bhagwati Products Ltd, the maker of Micromax phones and other consumer electronic products.
Speaking about the PLI scheme, Micromax co-founder Rahul Sharma said, “The new PLI scheme balances out foreign and Indian players. The support of 6 per cent is big and with the government support, we will be able to fight Chinese brands fiercely on the pricing front.”
In addition to encouraging companies to manufacture locally, the government has also hiked up import duties on smartphone components like displays, thereby raising difficulties for the foreign manufacturers to keep their prices competitive and providing another incentive to manufacture locally.
Chinese mobile phone companies shunted out Micromax from the Indian mobile phone market
True to its tagline “nothing like anything”, Micromax disrupted the Indian mobile phone market a decade ago with its unique value-for-money products. The company quickly captured the market share from the then market leader Samsung by offering the same features as the Korean brand gave but at half the cost. However, this dominance of the smartphone market was short-lived as Micromax was strangled out of the Indian mobile phone market following the advent of the Chinese mobile phone companies.
The company which once commanded an impressive 22 per cent of the mobile phone market share in India in 2015 was reduced to an inconsequential player by 2018 as more and more number of Indians embraced Chinese mobile phones made by companies such as Oppo, Vivo, Xiaomi, One Plus and several others. Chinese mobile companies flooded the Indian market with glitzy new products packed with a ton of features at affordable prices which played an instrumental role in Micromax’s undoing.
As India now moves towards a more self-reliant economy with PM Modi’s clarion call to be “vocal for local”, the Indian mobile phone manufacturer is poised to take the heat on its Chinese counterparts.
The Nepali Congress (NC) has reiterated that China has encroached upon Nepalese territory and said that the central government’s silence on the matter is shameful and condemnable. The main opposition party also described the silence of the Nepal Communist Party (NCP) as treasonous. The encroachment reportedly occurred at Limi of Namkha Rural Municipality in Humla district.
The NC also accused the government of cover-up for issuing a ‘hasty denial’ even when the CDO-led inspection team was inspecting the border areas. The party called the actions of the government ‘anti-national’. They demanded that the government send a protest note to China over illegal encroachment of their territory and seek a resolution through dialogue and diplomacy.
Nepalese lawmaker Jeevan Bahadur Shahi said, “A team of experts should visit the Nepal-China border in Humla district to make a scientific assessment of what China has done. Our findings have clearly shown that China has entered into one and half kilometers inside our territory after replacing the boundary pillar.” Earlier, reports had emerged in the media that asserted the same.
Meanwhile, Indian Army Chief General Navrane will be visiting Nepal in the month of November. The timing of the visit is significant given reports of Chines encroachment at the China-Nepal border. “The visit was approved by the government of Nepal on 3rd February 2020 but was postponed due to lockdown in both the countries,” the Defence Ministry of Nepal said in a statement. The objective of the visit is to “confer the honorary rank of general of the Nepali Army to General Naravane in an investiture ceremony during this visit”. The ceremony is a 70-year old tradition, an arrangement between the armies of the two countries since 1950.
Geja Sharma Wagle, an expert on strategic affairs and foreign policy, said that the visit “is an olive branch from India to normalise ruptured relations due to the longstanding territorial dispute. I think this visit will positively contribute towards reviving much-needed dialogue between the two countries.” “The visit is meaningful as it comes amid a diplomatic standoff between the two countries,” he added.
Tensions had erupted between India and Nepal recently with the Himalayan country releasing a new map claiming Indian territory. Its Prime Minister K.P. Oli also made bizarre comments going so far as to claim that Shri Ram was born in Nepal in a bid to antagonise India.
Speculations over Chinese Premier Xi Jinping’s health condition have been rife over several media reports after it was reported that Jinping kept coughing violently throughout his address at a Chinese Communist Party event held in Shenzhen in Guangdong province on October 14. As per a report in WION, this episode has prompted discussions regarding whether the Chinese President has contracted coronavirus.
Jinping was delivering a speech. According to reports, Jinping could hardly speak because he was interrupted by constant coughing. He kept sipping water to relieve his cough but it did not seem to help. The state TV camera covering the event moved away from the Chinese president and focused on the audience whenever he suffered from bouts of cough but the noise of him coughing could be heard clearly.
According to Hong Kong Apple Daily, the Chinese President was speaking at an event marking the 40th anniversary of the establishment of the Shenzhen Economic Zone. While the people seated in the audience were wearing masks, Jinping was there without a mask. Other guests seated with him on the stage including the Chief Executive of Hong Kong Carrie Lam, were also not wearing masks. The President spoke for 50 minutes and coughed repeatedly. The reports also said that the Chinese President had visited Chaozhou and Shantou earlier this week as part of his southbound tour but, contrary to the tradition, he did not interact closely with people on the streets.
Speculations about Jinping’s Health
The incident has given rise to speculations regarding Jinping’s health as the risk of the Chinese virus still looms around. However, it is too rich to expect transparency from China regardless of whether Jinping is positive for the virus or not. Jinping had reportedly disappeared from the public view on two occasions during the outset of the Wuhan virus outbreak.
Many world leaders have been found positive for the Wuhan virus so far including the UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the US President Donald Trump, Iranian Vice President Masoumeh Ebtekar and the Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.
Political rivals—MNS and Shiv Sena— have joined hands to defend the Hindi film industry in Mumbai. Following Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray asserted that attempts are being made to vilify Bollywood, Raj Thackeray’s party Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) has backed the Shiv Sena supremo in his attempts to shield Bollywood.
The President of MNS Cinema wing, Ameya Khopkar took to Twitter to allege that a conspiracy is being deliberately hatched to discredit Bollywood and efforts are underway to move the Hindi film industry out of Mumbai.
भूतकाळातही बाॅलीवूडमधील कलाकारांना गंभीर गुन्ह्याखाली अटक झाली, त्यांना शिक्षा झाल्या, पण म्हणून कुणीही पूर्ण बाॅलीवूडलाच खलनायक ठरवलं नाही. आता मात्र जाणीवपूर्वक बाॅलीवूडलाच बदनाम करण्याचा डाव रचला जातोय, एवढंच नाही तर फिल्मसिटीच मुंबईबाहेर हलवायचं कुटील कारस्थान रचलं जातंय.
Uddhav Thackeray says attempts to malign Bollywood won’t be tolerated
Uddhav Thackeray yesterday said that attempts being made to malign and finish off Hindi film industry or “to shift it” will not be tolerated. Thackeray’s statement came in the wake of probes initiated by multiple investigative agencies into the alleged suicide case of actor Sushant Singh Rajput which was termed by many as an attempt to tarnish the image of Bollywood.
Mumbai is not only India’s financial capital but also its entertainment capital, Thackeray said.
“The Hindi film industry commands an incredible popularity across the globe. It is one of the sources of major employment generation in the country. In the last few days, attempts have been made to malign the image of the film industry by certain quarters which is painful,” he said.
Uttar Pradesh government announced development of a film-city in the state
Thackeray’s insecurity with respect to Mumbai’s dominance in the Hindi film industry was perhaps also fuelled by the Uttar Pradesh government’s recent announcement of building the country’s biggest film city in the state to woo film-makers away from Mumbai and other centres.
The project proposal for the development of film city was passed last month by the Yogi Adityanath government. As per the proposal, about 1,000 acres of land has been allocated near Sector 21, Yamuna Expressway. Approximately 780 acres of the total land would be used for industrial purposes, which includes setting up of studios, while the remaining 220 acres would be available for commercial use.
Turkish broadcasters are reportedly ‘Islamizing’ Hindi TV serials by barring depiction of Hindu symbols on these shows. In an attempt to bring these shows into conformity of Islam, the Turkish broadcasters are now blurring the images of non-Islamic symbols that are often depicted on these TV shows on the pretext of violating principles of Islam.
Reportedly, various Hindi shows are being dubbed into Turkish language and have been running successfully for the past few years. However, the Turkish broadcasters, who seems to have no understanding of Indian ethos, cultural values, are now trying to Islamize these Hindi TV shows by deliberately barring depiction of Hindu religious symbols and idols in these shows.
Hindi serial dubbed in Turkish language but they blurred Radha Krishna in scenes as it Hãπãm to do idol worship in !zlam.. Such a shame pese kamane k liye log Kitna gir jate hai…https://t.co/bMF66WreIzpic.twitter.com/3cXWsxjUBg
In one such act, the broadcasters have blurred images of Hindu deities Radha and Krishna depicted in one of the Turkish versions of a Hindi teleserial. Some social media users had highlighted the issue recently.
In one of the scenes, it can be seen that the idol of Hindu deities Radha and Krishna that are seen behind the actors at a set up of a family temple has been blurred, probably not to ‘offend’ fundamentalist Islamist sentiments as the depiction of idols is considered to be ‘Haram’ in Islam.
Video Source: Kanal 7 Dizileri
The particular scene belongs to a Hindi teleserial named ‘Saath Nibhana Saathiya’, which is dubbed to Turkish and renamed as ‘Masum’. In the show, which is being broadcast by Turkish channel Kanal 7, the symbols of Hindu identity such as deities and other customs have been taken-off as it violated the principle of Islam.
Here is the image of the Hindi TV show, dubbed into Turkish, in which the obscured images of idols of Radha and Krishna can be seen.
A still of Hindu show ‘Saath Nibhaana Saathiya’, dubbed into Turkish/ Image Source: Kanal 7
In a hurry to show obedience to Islam, the Turkish broadcasters seem to have ignored to take sentiments of Hindus into cognizance and in doing so, they have displayed their sheer intolerance towards non-Islamic cultures.
After the Tanishq ad controversy, another ad for the festive season is likely to put Tata on the dock. While the former normalised Love Jihad and had to be removed following outrage on social media, the latter denigrates the ancient Hindu spiritual practice of Yoga and meditation. The ad was uploaded to the YouTube channel of Tata Cliq on the 14th of October. It is pertinent to mention here that the ad was uploaded to YouTube two days after the Tanishq ad was pulled down.
The controversial Yoga ad calls Yoga ‘boring’ and portrays a Christian marriage through online services as fun and ideal. The theme of the ad is that Yoga is an old practice and ought to be discarded for the new and ‘hip’ trend of a Christian e-marriage. The ad follows the now familiar trope of denigrating Hindu traditions and exalting non-Hindu practices as the ideal to follow.
“So many made 2020 truly ‘epic’, not living like a reliQ (relic), it’s the year to learn a new triQ,” the ad says before continuing, “Let’s be minimalistiQ, idealistiQ, simplistiQ, know someone who made 2020 CLiQ? Celebrate them with a perfect gift.” Tata Cliq, like Tanishq, is also a Tata brand.
YouTube screengrab
The Tanishq Love Jihad ad had caused a huge controversy. However, that does not appear to have deterred Tata from coming up with another ad denigrating the Hindu faith. It has also ben observed that denigrating Hinduism and portraying Hindus in a negative light appears to be a dominant theme across the advertising industry. There have been numerous ads and short films over the years that target the Hindu community.
The TRP scam has become a raging issue, specifically since Republic TV’s name was dragged into the controversy after the research report by Hansa Research, the FIR filed and the witnesses actually named India Today as the channel trying to manipulate the TRPs. However, in a curious case, it is now being reported that three witnesses have suddenly, in front of a magistrate, named Republic TV as the channel that gave them money to watch their channel, so as to spike the TRP in favour of the channel.
According to Times of India, Mumbai Police Commissioner Parambir Singh has told the platform that three witnesses have deposed before the magistrate and blamed Republic TV for paying them to watch the channel. The report says that the commissioner has ‘refused to comment further’ saying that the investigation is still on.
“Three of them have deposed before a magistrate saying Republic TV made payments to them, while the fourth witness made a similar statement against Box Cinema. Mumbai police commissioner Parambir Singh confirmed three witnesses had named Republic’s officials as being involved in the rigging of viewership. He refused to elaborate, saying investigations were at a crucial stage and any disclosure at this stage would hamper the probe”, the report said.
Curiously, the police have offered a preemptive explanation as far as the statement of the witnesses go. The Times of India Report says:
“The statements were made by the witnesses under Section 164 of the CrPC, which deals with recording and confession of statements by a metropolitan magistrate or judicial magistrate during the course of the investigation, police said. The magistrate records the statements only after he is convinced that they are being made voluntarily. Police officers said that now it could not be alleged that the cops had extracted these confessions from the witnesses”.
It is important to note that the police offer a preemptive explanation about how they have not extracted the confessions from the witnesses. But it is, in fact, true that the entire TRP scam case and how it has progressed since the beginning has left several questions unanswered.
The TRP scam saga: How it all began
On the 8th of October, Mumbai Police Commissioner Parambir Singh held a press conference where he categorically stated that Mumbai police have been alerted about a new racket involving false television rating points (TRP). He said that three channels, including Republic TV and two other Marathi channels- Fakt Marathi and Box Cinema have been reportedly involved in distorting the apparatus used by BARC to rate television channels. The commissioner said that arrests have also been made in this regard. He further added that Republic TV’s bank accounts were under scanner and that their officials would be summoned soon.
Interestingly, in the press conference, the Commissioner mentioned Hansa Research and how, to measure TRPs, BARC has installed 2000 barometers in Mumbai to monitor TRPs which is strictly confidential. Parambir Singh further said that the confidential contract was given to a company called Hansa Research which has filed the complaint against some former employees who misused the data on households where the TRP monitoring systems are installed.
It is to be noted here that during the press conference, the police commissioner specifically mentioned that his assertions were based on the Hansa Research complaint that was filed with the police.
FIR by Hansa Research emerges – had named India Today and not Republic TV
As mentioned earlier, in his press conference, Parambir Singh had specifically mention that Hansa Research had filed a complaint with the police. Now, after he implicated Republic TV in his press conference, the complaint that was filed by Hansa Research on the 6th of October, just 2 days before the press conference by Parambir Sing, emerged.
Interestingly, in this FIR that was filed by Hansa Research, Republic TV was not mentioned even once. The channel that was mentioned several times was India Today.
The FIR filed in the case was accessed by Republic TV on the 8th of October itself, which showed that India Today was named in the FIR, not Republic TV as alleged by Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh.
The FIR alleging manipulation of Bar-o-meters installed by BARC was filed by Hansa Research Group Private Limited, the company responsible for installing and maintaining the Bar-O-Meter of the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC). Following the complaint, Relationship Manager of the company Vishal Bhandari was arrested by Mumbai police. During the investigation, he revealed that India Today and other channels instigated him and offered money to households with the meters to keep their TV tuned to those channels.
Moreover, he revealed that a person named Vinay asked Bhandari in November 2019 to approach 5 homes and ask them to watch India Today daily for 2 hours. The FIR filed in the case reads “Today on 6lh October 2020, Assistant Police Inspector, Mr. Kazi, has informed me that, Basis on the secret information received, they arrested Vishal Ved Bhandari, House no.6, Kashinath Khandu Bhandari Chawl, BMC Quarters, Chincholi, N B Road, Malad (W), Mumbai 400097, During the inquiry, he informed that he is working with Hansa Research Group Private Limited as a Relationship Manager, he also informed that to increase the TRP of India Today and several other channels, he used to instigate and offer money to panel homes, where BAR-o-Meter installed with the help of other several people. They asked me to visit their office for more understanding.”
In the entire FIR, Republic TV was not named even once. It was thus curious that the Mumbai Police Commissioner would name this FIR to allege that Republic TV was guilty.
Further, while reporting this FIR, Republic TV had revealed that even before the press conference, India Today reporters were in front of Arnab Goswami’s house and Parambir Singh had ensured that Republic TV journalists were not allowed to attend the press conference.
All-out war – Parambir Singh ties himself up in knots, Witness statement surfaces
After the initial celebratory tones of India Today, after the FIR surfaced, India Today went into damage control mode. Talking to Mumbai Police, Rajdeep tried to get a statement saying that India Today was not named in the FIR.
Rajdeep took to his channel to question the Joint Commissioner of Police. He asked, “an attempt has been made to suggest that India Today was mentioned in the FIR” and then, went on to demand clarity to exonerate himself and implicate Republic TV.
The Joint Commissioner, however, interestingly admitted that it was indeed India Today that was named in the FIR. This revelation itself leads the Mumbai Police to tie itself up in knots since once this admission is out in the open, not much else makes sense.
Interestingly, Parambir Sing said that while the FIR mentioned India Today, as ‘the probe progressed’ no evidence was found against India Today and instead, evidence was found against Republic TV.
It is to be noted that the FIR was filed on the 6th. By the 7th, Mumbai Police had already sent a notice to BARC to get viewership data of Republic TV. And by the 8th, Parambir Singh had enough evidence to do a press conference and implicate Republic TV.
By the end of the day, Republic journalist spoke to Tejal Solanki who specifically implicated India Today. She said that her son was asked to watch India Today specifically. However, she did appear scared. She kept asking the journalist if nothing would happen to them and they would be safe.
The scared witness was then spoken to by India Today where they twisted her statement completely to implicate themselves. In fact, the scared witness kept repeating that no channel had paid her and she watched no channel to increase the TRP. That statement was then taken by India Today to say that she had admitted being paid money to watch Republic TV.
While the witness was being manipulated by India Today, interesting visuals started to appear on Republic TV. They had got footage where it showed how Mumbai Police personnel were guarding the house of Tejal Solanki.
The footage is from the 9th of October accessed by Republic that showed how Tejal Solanki, witness in the TRP scam case was being guarded rather closely by Mumbai Police and was allegedly not allowed to speak to the media.
Explosive information emerges – India Today had already been implicated of manipulating TRP
On the 9th of October itself, OpIndia exposed that a show-cause notice was sent to TV Today Network Ltd and BARC regarding viewership malpractice on 27th April 2020, according to our sources. The response by TV Today Network Limited, who is a subscriber of BARC, was not found satisfactory by the BARC Disciplinary Council and the BDC had ruled that the response by India Today “does not satisfactorily explain the buoyancy of India Today channel, in particular, geographies (Mumbai and Bangalore)”.
Further, the BARC Disciplinary Council had ruled that “the statistical data provided by BARC Measurement Science Team showed an abnormal and inexplicable ??increase in viewership”. Continuing in their order BDC said, “furthermore subscribers reply and/or representations do not provide satisfactorily explain the abnormal increase in the viewership”. Here, subscriber means India Today that had responded to the show-cause notice furnished to them and BARC by BARC Disciplinary Council.
What followed in the order was even more startling.
The order further said that since it was the first offence of India Today, they were left with a warning and their license was not cancelled, however, TV Today Network Limited was asked to pay Rs 5,00,000 penalty to BARC.
Clearly, India Today had a pattern. What is more intriguing is that India Today was caught manipulating TRP in Bangalore and Mumbai according to this order. In that case, when India Today was caught manipulating TRP in Mumbai and the Hansa Research FIR also mentioned India Today, it was becoming increasingly clear that India Today was involved in this scam – the question remained – why was Republic being implicated then?
Hansa Research report, on the basis of which FIR was filed, emerges – No mention of Republic, multiple mentions of India Today there too
On the 10th of October, Republic TV has accessed the 7-page Hansa research Group complaint, on the basis of which an FIR was registered in the TRP scam case. Contrary to the narrative put forth by the Mumbai Police, the complaint categorically mentioned India Today on two occasions but did not make any reference to Republic TV or other channels.
The Hansa Research Group Pvt Ltd. had filed the complaint against unknown persons and two of its employees, namely, Vishal Bhandari and Dinesh Vishwakarma. The company informed that they undertake the Panel Home Operations for a metering company MDL to collect raw data of TV viewership for BARC.
The details of the 7 page Hansa Research report can be read here.
Republic TV CEO and CFO questioned, asked how they acquired Hansa Report that implicated India Today in TRP scam
Interestingly, by the 11th of October, Republic TV CEO and CFO were questioned for a total of over 20 hours. The questions largely included how Republic TV managed to acquire the Hansa Report that had implicated India Today and not Republic TV. Essentially, the report that busted holes in the claims made by the Mumbai Police and the Mumbai Police Commissioner.
Their journalist Pradeep Bhandari was also summoned and booked in non-bailable offences. He later got anticipatory bail.
Witnesses magically name Republic TV on 16th October
From the very beginning to the end, the only mention of Republic TV as an accused in the TRP scam case was made by the police commissioner Parambir Singh. The Hansa Research report, the FIR that followed and the Witness statement while talking to the media made absolutely no mention of Republic TV but instead, implicated India Today.
In fact, it is to be noted that the witness who named India Today while talking to a reporter was also guarded closely by the Mumbai Police since the 9th of October.
On the 16th, magically, the witnesses have named Republic TV according to the Times of India and the paper claims that Parambir Singh has confirmed that news.
How evidence turned after the Mumbai Police’s conduct was rather questionable in the entire case is a mystery. In fact, while there is mounting evidence against India Today, there is absolutely no evidence that has come forth against Republic TV so far. On the 9th of October, a remand notice issued by the Mumbai Police had also named India Today several times and detailed their involvement in the scam. Republic TV was almost forcefully mentioned in the remand notice against the accused in the case with no evidentiary backing.
In fact, while evaluation of this case, one also has to keep in mind how the Maharashtra coalition government has hounded Republic TV and its chief, Arnab Goswami for the past few months misusing its state machinery including the Mumbai police. The over 200 FIRs after the Palghar coverage, the physical attack on Arnab and his wife by a Congress goon, the police refusing to name the Congress goons in the FIR after the attack and the repeated questioning and the multiple cases lodged. It is evident that the coalition government in Maharashtra has an axe to grind with Republic TV and its editor-in-chief, Arnab Goswami.
The Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal had announced in August that the state government is ready to allow local train services from September in the state. However, BJP MP Swapan Dasgupta, today, shared copies of letters sent to Mamata Banerjee government by the Eastern Railways on September 1 and then again on October 13 asking the govt to spare some time to discuss the modalities to resume the local train services. Since almost one and a half months, Eastern Railways has repeatedly been sending reminder letters to the WB Govt, but these letters have still not been acknowledged by the Mamata government, alleged the BJP MP.
It is apparent that Govt of @MamataOfficial is deliberately delaying resumption of local trains in WBengal. Railways cannot restart services unless there is clearance & logistical support of state govt. But Nabanna is not even scheduling any meeting. This is duplicity. pic.twitter.com/1SOcFCrbvW
In the letter dated September 1, the IRTS officer urges the Mamata Government to convey a suitable date for the co-ordination meeting so that the decision regarding the running of suburban trains may be considered.
Letter to Mamata Banerjee govt dated September 1, 2020
In the second letter dated October 13, the IRTS officer specifically mentions that it had previously urged the WB government to spare some time, but a meeting was not arranged till date. Annet Dulat on behalf the Eastern Railways wrote how the common people had been agitating at platforms trying to board the trains meant for Railways staffs. He had informed how this was leading to disruption of traffic and seriously impacting other railway operations. Saying so, he Dulat wrote: “A quick revert is solicited”.
Reminder letter sent to Mamata Govt on October 13, 2020
BJP MP Swapan Dasgupta said that Mamata Banerjee knows that the prolonged suspension has caused enormous hardships to people who need to commute by local trains on a daily basis for their livelihood. She is also aware that without the required clearance and logistical support of state govt it is impossible to resume services, still, she has until today, not bothered to hold a meeting with Eastern Railways. The BJP MP opined that “it is apparent that Govt of Mamata Banerjee is deliberately delaying the resumption of local trains in West Bengal”.
On August 26, in a press conference held in the state secretariat, Nabanna, Banerjee had said local trains and Metro services could be resumed and the Railways should talk with the state government over this issue. Interestingly, on one side the Mamata Banerjee expresses her urge to resume the metro and local train services in West Bengal, while on the other side pays no heed to letter sent to her by the Eastern Railways requesting the WB government to spare some time to discuss the modalities and logistics to ensure the smooth operation of these services.
