As the Republic TV is on the verge of completing its 2 years, Managing Director and Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami has bought the minority shares held by Asianet Media Network and transformed Republic TV to Republic Media Network. The company has achieved a major landmark as its valuation has crossed Rs 1,200 crores in just two years, said a report commissioned by the company.
As per news reports, Republic Media Network is all set to become a completely Editor controlled organisation as Arnab Goswami agrees to buy back shares from investors like Asianet News Media. Recently, the company had also launched its Hindi news channel Republic Bharat. Asianet is said to have made strong returns on their investments made in the company.
Founder and chairman of Jupiter Pvt. Ltd, which is the parent organisation of Asianet Media Network, Rajeev Chandrashekhar said, “I am quite delighted with the growth and success of Republic and Arnab. I am happy to have contributed to the vision of building a strong media-tech platform. Even in financial terms, it has been a successful investment. Asianet Media will continue to offer its support to the Republic as minority portfolio investor after Arnab’s buyback of the shares.”
The Managing Director and Editor in Chief of the Republic Media Network, Arnab Goswami said, “We and Asianet News Media have built a strong media platform And are geared up for further growth. Last years have been phenomenal and we have expanded at an unprecedented rate. Asianet’s strong track record and media savvy tech approach has enabled us to set ourselves on an exponential growth path. Marching forward as Republic Media Network, We will look forward to branch out and expand across all platforms.”
The 2019 Lok Sabha elections are poised to record the highest voter turnout in the history of Independent India. Thus far, the previous General Elections had recorded the highest turnout with a voting percentage of 66.40%. Previous to that, the record was held by the 1984-85 elections which had recorded a voter turnout of 64.01%.
Source: Press Information Bureau
Thus far, the 2019 General Elections have recorded higher voter turnouts in 3 of the 4 phases prior to the 5th phase. The first phase recorded a turnout of 69.5% vs 68.77 in 2014 for corresponding seats, the second phase recorded a turnout of 69.44% vs 69.62%, showing a slight drop. The third phase showed a turnout of 68.40% vs 67.15% while the fourth recorded the same of 65.51% vs 63.05% in 2014.
Final figures out for first four phases of voting:
Phase 1: 69.5% (against 68.77% in 2014 for corresponding seats)
Phase 2: 69.44% (69.62% in 2014)
Phase 3 68.4% (67.15% in 2014)
Phase 4: 65.51% (63.05% in 2014)
This time around, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been urging people to come out and vote in large numbers. Numerous celebrities, too, have joined in the campaign upon being requested by the Prime Minister. And as figures for the first four phases show, people have been coming out in large numbers to exercise their democratic right.
As of the time of writing this report, the official app of the ECI showed an estimated voter turnout for the fifth phase to be 62.16% and can be expected to go higher. The article will be updated with official numbers as and when they are released by the ECI.
The Bengaluru Police has closed the probe into sexual harassment charges against Asianet Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Abhinav Khare, citing lack of evidence. The police have filed B report, saying that a charge sheet can’t be filed in the case as the case was baseless and false.
Last year, Abhinav Khare was accused of sexual harassment by Sonam Mahajan, a popular political commentator on social media, at the height of #MeToo movement in India. Sonam was reportedly working with Abhinav as a Digital Marketing Consultant at Namma Bengaluru Foundation (NBF), an NGO founded by Mr Chandrashekhar, however, Sonam had said that she essentially worked with Mr Chandrashekhar’s office.
According to reports, an internal complaints committee, which Abhinav Khare had argued to be constituted illegally, had found Khare guilty of misconduct, but Khare had refuted all allegations, saying they were fabricated. He went to the court against the constitution of the committee as well as its findings. Sonam Mahajan meanwhile filed a police case against him.
Now Police say that they have interviewed 15 employees of NBF and none of them supported the charges made by Mahajan. Some employees even said that the complaint was a vendetta.
The police said, “none of the firm’s employees spoke in favour of the complainant. We interviewed 15 employees who worked with the woman and the accused but not one person’s testimony had anything to back the complainant’s claims. In fact, many of them alleged she behaved inappropriately. Some said her performance was not satisfactory and the complaint was a vendetta.”
Police said that the complainant had said that she had screenshots of WhatsApp messages and recordings of few phone calls, as proofs of the sexual harassment, but she failed to provide those evidence to police. Police also said that she did not cooperate with the police during the investigation.
According to MyNation, during the course of interrogation, many stated that Sonam didn’t show interest in the work assigned to her. When Khare informed her that he wasn’t willing to continue the contract, Sonam allegedly pressured him into paying her Rs 15 lakh. Abhinav Khare reportedly refused the payment, which is believed to have driven Sonam to accuse him.
The police then decided to close the case stating that Sonam Mahajan had no “substance in her claims”.
The police have filed B report, saying that a charge sheet can’t be filed against Abhinav Khare as there is no evidence against him.
But Mahajan has denied the version of police, saying that the entire investigation was one-sided. She has also filed a complaint with the DCP alleging that the police investigation was not done properly.
On the other hand, Abhinav Khare has accused Mahajan to be an extortionist, saying she has changed her version four times. He said that “despite 18 months long smear campaign and media trial by her, not a single witness or evidence had corroborated her lies”. He also challenged her to produce any complainant or past victim against him, if he is a serial offender as she has claimed. He added that multiple victims of extortion by the woman have come forward.
it comes as no surprise that Leftist propaganda portal The Quint is Hinduphobic. We have seen it time and again. Their Hinduphobia is only overshadowed by the kiddy gloves their wear while dealing with Islam.
As Ramzan starts today, The Quint decided to tell its readers about the benefits of While for fasting and what it does for one’s well-being.
While The Quint decided to tell its readers that fasting during the month of Ramzan is as good as physical exercise for the brain, for Navratri, The Quint wasn’t really sure whether it has any positive effects or not judging by the text they used to share their video. The video itself wasn’t Hinduphobic. It spoke of fasting and how Indians at large ensure that it is healthy. With reference to Navaratris, it said that the diet taken by fasting Hindus is a dieticians dream. However, one has to wonder why it had to use a headline that clearly has a negative connotation to get its readers to click on the video.
In their blatant Hinduphobia, The Quint actually misreported a story blatantly too.
Satire as a form of humour is not something everyone gets. In their mad rush to mock “Hindutva trolls” who had called for a ban on Surf Excel following their Holi ad which spoke of ‘communal harmony’, media houses mistook satirical comments for actual ones.
Many publications reported that ‘offended’ by the new Surf Excel ad, ‘Indians’ (The Quint used the word ‘patriotic‘ in its URL) and ‘trolls’ had mistakenly downrated and left negative reviews for Microsoft Excel. Except, at least some of these comments which were included as being left by ‘trolls’ were actually satirical.
The question thus remains, why are leftist portals intrinsically anti-Hindu? While today, during Ramzan, The Quint had no qualms in openly endorsing fasting, why did they during Navratris use a headline that left much to the imagination? Why would they use a headline that would make someone believe that the video is actually against fasting on Navratri?
Something similar happened today when Rahul Pandita, a journalist shared the hypocrisy of The Quint and a Quint employee responded that the video was actually not Hinduphobic at all.
If you would have watched the video, u won’t have made such a misleading claim. Sad that you’d give a scientific fact-based video a religious colour
It talks about all types of fasting, irrespective of religion or purpose, & doesn’t call it bad. Here’s a grab of the video for you pic.twitter.com/6XAv5XMDwa
However, any media organisation puts great thought into the kind of headline that they use considering it is almost an established fact that most people decide what the content of the article might be based on the headline. Why then would The Quint deliberately mislead people with its cryptic headline?
The answer is rather simple. Hinduphobia sells and especially, in the Left-Liberal world. Bashing Hindus has almost become an art form and a stairway to stardom with the left. While this particular video of The Quint might have spoken of fasting across religious spectrums, The Quint has displayed blatant Hinduphobia in the past and now, it is evident that Hinduphobia too is being used as a marketing tool by left-leaning portals for their core audience that evidently, loathe Hindus.
This is the age of sequels and franchises. Whether it is our own Bahubali or Hollywood’s Avengers, this trend in films is the vogue now. It may come as surprise to many that India media also has a big franchise to its credit. Confused? Read on.
Longtime Opindia followers may remember this story, where media went out of its way to herald the arrival of the new messiah. This was much before the 2014 debacle. In the previous article, we have covered how the media had tried to tell the nation right from 2009 to 2014, how Rahul Gandhi, the reluctant politician was ‘coming of age’. Despite repeated failures, the pliant media tried reviving the sagging fortunes of Rahul Gandhi. One would have expected that the media would learn from its past mistakes after the 2014 drubbing the Congress party under Rahul received. Alas, that is too much to ask from a media ecosystem that is in bed with the dynasty.
After 2014 elections, efforts to resurrect his sorry career continued after every speech he gave in the parliament, after every odd election wins and after any success during news cycles. One upgrade, from the Congress ecosystem perspective, is that new age digital news platforms joined the traditional media bandwagon in this pursuit of building the franchise.
Now, let us see how “Rahul – Coming of Age” franchise is one of the most successful in the Indian media ecosystem.
First off the mark was DailyO, where the author was blown over by Rahul’s mentioning potato price in a parliament speech. I strongly recommend the readers to read this piece, where the focus is on where and how many times Rahul has talked about potatoes. If only he had known that “yahan se aaloo daloonga, wahan se sona nikaloonga” was coming, the author would have saved some ink.
DailyO
The follow-up act was done by FirstPost (and think later). Apparently, a quote from Mirza Ghalib – and not any policy position – was sufficient to impress the writer about Rahul’s growth.
Firstpost
When Mirza Ghalib is good enough, why not tweets and jokes. Because none of these are his creations or ideas. The benchmark for Rahul is so low, that if he delivers the given lines with some clarity, his entourage is ready to back him up with stories. Like here, DNA seemed to be mighty impressed with his khakhra jokes and tweets.
DNA
When the new age media is cheerleading, can the traditional media houses be far behind? The Indian Express was effusive in praise of the scion for – take a guess – coining the term “suit boot ki Sarkar”, “Gabbar Singh Tax” and having an interaction with students at the University of Berkeley.
IndianExpress
Is anyone thinking where are new ideas or policy position from Rahul that can be called as a game changer? Read on…
This author claims that Rahul indeed has risen to the occasion by being appointed as the President of the Congress party by his mother. You will not be wrong that these intellectuals would have demanded a national holiday if he had been elected as the President of his party through an internal election.
IndiaBlooms
With the 2019 elections around the corner and wins in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chattisgarh under his belt – there would be no stopping Rahul. Or his sycophants in the media. The “Coming of Age” franchise has some content for support now. All – big and small, national and international – all agencies were activated to give the Prince one final push.
TheQuintThe Straits TimesTheWire.inThe StatesmanThe Economic Times
And, of course, the most recent by the Chief of India Today Aroon Purie where he shared an article hailing Rahul Gandhi by Raj Chengappa.
Aroon Purie
If Modi manages to win the Lok Sabha elections, as is expected now, watch out for the next instalments of this franchise where the focus would be how he emerged as the national face of the opposition. If Modi wins big, then a variant of this franchise can be expected – where Priyanka will be seen “coming of age”. If Modi loses – I cannot assure if you will be able to visit this website after May 23, 2019.
In a shocking incident a Muslim woman in Chanho district, Ranchi, Jharkhand, was allegedly beaten up by her husband and family members for casting her vote in favour of BJP.
Impressed by PM Narendra Modi’s policies, Sahana Khatoon, decided to vote for the BJP government in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections. Irked by this decision, her husband Kudus Ansari along with his family members, allegedly assaulted the woman.
In an FIR lodged in the Chanho police station, Sahana Khatoon said that when she returned home after casting her vote on April 29, her family inquired as to whom did she vote for. On learning that Sahana voted for BJP, Ansari’s son, Osama first assaulted her and asked her to leave the house saying that she was a stigma on the entire Muslim community.
Sahana reportedly resisted saying that it was her democratic right to vote for whomever she wants to. This did not go down well with the family. Kudus Ansari who was away from home returned on May 4. On being informed by family members that Sahana voted for BJP instead of Congress, husband Kudus Ansari and son, Osama allegedly assaulted her with sticks.
Sahana left home with her children to return to her parents who lived in Pandra village in Kuru Tehsil, Lohardaga, Jharkhand.
Sahana returned to her village on Sunday to file an FIR against her husband and in-laws. Meanwhile, Chanho police station in-charge, Rajendra Rajak said that an FIR has been registered. After the investigation, appropriate action will be taken against the culprits, said the police officer.
The District Magistrate of Amethi has ordered a probe after the allegations of booth rigging in the constituency earlier today. As the parliamentary constituency went on to vote in the 5th phase of Lok Sabha elections, there were numerous reports of booth rigging and proxy voting.
Earlier today, allegations of booth capturing and proxy voting were levelled on the Congress party. A video had also gone viral on social media where an elderly woman had claimed that she wanted to vote for the ‘Lotus’ but some person allegedly took her hand and pressed on the ‘Panja’ (palm, the Congress symbol).
The allegations of rigging had come from booth number 316 in Gauriganj area. Reports say that a probe has been ordered against the polling officer concerned.
Union Minister Smriti Irani had reacted strongly to the allegations and had approached the authorities over the issues. She had stated that Congres has a habit of stealing and now their president is attempting to steal votes too.
Amethi is one of the most high-profile seats and has been under constant highlight in the run-up to the 2019 general elections. Congress president Rahul Gandhi, whose family has had a claim on Amethi for generations, had decided to fight elections fro Wayanad too this time, sparking discussions that he fears loss from BJP’s Smriti Irani.
The In-house committee of the Supreme Court has found no substance in the allegations levelled against Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi. A former female employee of the Supreme Court had levelled allegations of sexual molestation against the CJI, after which the in-house committee was formed to look into the allegations.
The three member in-house committee of the Supreme Court has found no substance in the sexual harassment allegations against Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi. pic.twitter.com/cG4yVB8ViR
The committee, comprising of Justices S A Bobde, Indu Malhotra and Indira Banerjee, submitted its report on 5th May, which said that they found no substance in the allegations contained in the complained dated 19.4.2019 of a former employee of the Supreme Court of India, according to a press release issued by the apex court. The statement also noted that in accordance with a former case of Indira Jaishing vs Supreme Court of India, the report of the committee is not liable to be made public.
Supreme Court press release on in-house committee findings on the allegations against CJI
A former employee of the Supreme Court had levelled charges of sexual molestation against CJI Gogoi, which is being probed by the panel. Few days after that, advocate Utsav Basin had alleged that the charges are part of a larger conspiracy involving disgruntled former employees, lawyers, judges and corporates to fix the Supreme Court, and another bench is hearing that allegation.
As the month of Ramzan has commenced, many observant Muslims across the world have registered their protest against the Chinese atrocity upon the Uighur Muslims by calling for a boycott of Chinese products during Ramzan. An organised campaign with hashtag #FastFromChina is being run on Twitter, exhorting Muslims around the world to abstain from using products made in China in the month of Ramzan in response to the Chinese maltreatment of Uighur Muslims.
This upcoming Ramadan, let’s not just fast from food and water, but also products made in China. This will be a big step forward in challenging China’s genocide of Uyghurs and other Turkic people. #FastFromChinapic.twitter.com/MzCVVvwo9p
— East Turkistan National Awakening Movement (@MilliOyghunush) May 5, 2019
China has been facing the flak from many countries in the world for pursuing cruel policies against the Uighur Muslim population in Xinjiang. Incriminating reports blaming Beijing of interning members of its Muslim population – by “re-educating” them away from their faith have emerged.
In 2015, China had banned civil servants, students and teachers in its mainly Muslim Xinjiang region from fasting during Ramadan and ordered restaurants to stay open.
In a policy paper released by Beijing, it has justified its decision of detaining Uighur Muslims claiming that it has been taken in response to riots and violent attacks that the government has suffered at the hands of Muslim separatists in the Xinjiang province. In these detention centres, Muslims are allegedly compelled to unlearn their cultures, criticise their Islamic practices and extend their loyalty to Xi Jinping’s Communist Party.
In a move against this Chinese inhumanity, #FastFromChina campaign is being run on Twitter. Contending that China proscribes its Uighur population from fasting during Ramzan, the movement urges Muslims to boycott using Chinese products this Ramzan in solidarity with Uighur Muslims those who cannot exercise their Right to Religion. The campaign has also asserted that just like China supported the genocide of Muslims in Burma, it is now committing genocide against the Uighur Muslim population in Xinjiang province.
Trinamool Congress goons attacked a NewsX journalist Tapas Sengupta in Barrackpore, West Bengal, just days after the Editors Guild chief Shekhar Gupta justified TMC’s violence in Bengal. He had even showered praises on Mamata Banerjee for fighting ‘fire with fire, venom with venom’.
Editors Guild Treasurer and Editor, News affairs, NewsX Channel Sheela Bhatt took to Twitter to express shock at the incident.
Shame! Shocking! @MamataOfficial TMC workers attacked Tapas Sengupta, one of the best reporters of @NewsX . 30 minutes back we got message from him:
Our car vandalised by TMC. I’m bleeding from head. Reaching hospital.
She tweeted that TMC workers attacked Sengupta who sent her a message that he has been injured and his car has been vandalised. Sengupta was also ‘bleeding from head’ as per the text message he sent Bhatt.
Screengrab from NewsX report where their car was vandalised
Just two days back, Sheela Bhatt’s colleague at Editors Guild had justified this very violence by saying, “Fight fire with fire, venom with venom… Mamata in Bengal shows how the offence is the best defence to stop the Modi-Shah cavalry…”
Screengarb of NewsX where TMC goons vandalised their car
The voting in Bengal has been marred by political violence. Earlier today BJP candidate from Barrackpore, Arjun Singh, was reportedly attacked by goons associated with the Trinamool Congress. BJP District President in Hooghly, Pranab Mondal Saha, has alleged that he was thrashed by Trinamool goons while he was on his way to meet a fellow member of the party Khokon Biswas.
Places like Birbhum and Asansol in West Bengal which went into polling during the fourth phase of elections reported rampant rigging with TMC leaders accompanying voters in the voting booth. Moreover, there were reports of massive violence from Asansol. Crude bombs have been found at a polling booth in Krishnanagar, WestBengal and also bombs have been recovered from a polling booth in Santipur, Nadia district. Also, Central forces, journalists, villagers along with a Union Minister were reportedly attacked in Dubrajpur district.
In phase 4 of voting, journalists were attacked by TMC goons for trying to expose the political violence in Bengal. Eventually, owing to the rampant violence in first four phases, 100% central forces cover was given in the fifth phase of voting in Bengal.
