The government has cleared well known journalist Mrinal Pande's name for the post of Prasar Bharati chairperson, a month after the previous chairman Arun Bhatnagar's resignation was accepted by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry.
Tharoor and six journalists were booked by the Noida Police for sedition, among other charges, over the violence during the farmers' tractor rally in Delhi, officials had said.
The Madhya Pradesh police have filed a First Information Report (FIR) against Congress MP Shashi Tharoor and six journalists over their 'misleading' tweets on the violence during the farmers' tractor rally in Delhi, an official said on Friday.
The FIR was lodged at the Sector 20 police station in Noida following a complaint by a resident who alleged that "digital broadcast" and "social media posts" by these people were responsible for the violence during a tractor rally by farmers in the national capital. The journalists named in the FIR are Mrinal Pande, Rajdeep Sardesai, Vinod Jose, Zafar Agha, Paresh Nath and Anant Nath.
Senior journalist A Surya Prakash was on Tuesday appointed chairman of the Prasar Prasar Bharati Board, filling a post which had been lying vacant for the last six months.
As per the cause list uploaded on the apex court website, a bench comprising Chief Justice N V Ramana and Justice Surya Kant will hear nine separate pleas on the issue related to reports of alleged snooping by government agencies on eminent citizens, politicians and scribes by using Israeli firm NSO's spyware Pegasus.
The guild's members and all journalists have the duty of holding all branches of government accountable by seeking information, explanations and constitutionally valid justifications for state action and inaction, it said.
'It is a very clear case of an attempt to bend the media.'
In a statement, the Guild demanded that such FIRs be withdrawn immediately and the media be allowed to report without fear and with freedom.
'They are deliberately targeting journalists who are not succumbing to government pressure and therefore these journalists are paying a price.'
Mandeep Punia was arrested from the Singhu border on Sunday for allegedly misbehaving with the police personnel on duty at the farmers' protest site there, officials said.
'No strong government (belonging to any party) likes to be held accountable (for their acts of commission and omission).' 'They just don't like anybody asking questions (of them).' 'This is the problem with strong governments.'
The Supreme Court on Tuesday stayed the arrest of Congress MP Shashi Tharoor and six journalists including Rajdeep Sardesai in connection with first information reports lodged against them for their alleged 'misleading' tweets on the violence during the farmers' tractor rally on the Republic Day.
The hearing on as many as nine petitions, including those filed by the Editors Guild of India and senior journalists seeking independent probe into the alleged Pegasus snooping matter is presently on.
'The only reason why these troubling developments are taking place is because of a certain arrogance of power displayed by this government that hopes to clamp down on those voices which have repeatedly pointed out that their bloated rhetoric and grandstanding are not matched by their insipid and tepid response in matters of governance.'
Apoorvanand pays tribute to much-loved and admired Hindi literary great who passed into the ages on Monday.
Mrinal Pande remembers Rajendra Yadav, one of the most prolific fiction writers and thinkers of Hindi literature in the recent times, who passed away on Monday.
