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National Herald case: No eviction for now, Delhi High Court orders status quo

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national herald case

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The Delhi High Court today (Thursday, Nov 15) ordered the Centre to maintain status quo on the Herald House till Nov 22 with regard to its eviction process initiated against Associated Journals Ltd (AJL), publisher of the National Herald newspaper.

The Narendra Modi government, fighting to counter flak over a host of issues including alleged wrongdoings in Rafale deal, CBI appointment, clash with RBI, farmers’ unrest, growing joblessness, has been trying to hit back at the top Congress leadership – Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi and had initiated a move to take over the premises of Congress mouthpiece National herald situated on the capital’s Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg.

On November 12, National Herald tweeted that it was being targeted by the BJP government for its growing digital presence.

Even as the government started the eviction process on Thursday without waiting for the court order, Delhi High Court, while hearing plea by the publishers of the newspaper Associated Journal Limited (AJL) challenging the eviction Orders passed by Land & Development officer last week, ordered a status quo and till November 22, the next date of hearing.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who was representing the government’s Land and Development Office, gave the assurance of no action until then.

Associated Journals limited, which owns National Herald, had gone to the high court on Monday challenging a government order on October 30 cancelling its 56-year-old lease and asking it to vacate the building, Herald House, by today.

“It is malicious prosecution and an impugned order vitiated by malafides and ulterior political motives,” said Congress leader and lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi, during the hearing.

Congress leaders pointed out that the eviction had started even before the court had decided on Associated Journal’s petition.

The Union government had decided to take over the house citing violations of the specified conditions on which the land was allocated. The government had last week dispatched a legal order to the allottee regarding the cancellation of the specified allocation reportedly after due processes were gone through.

An inspection team from the land development office reportedly found unauthorised construction in the building. The team has also found similar violations in other premises on this stretch and issued notices to the official allottees for their response.

“The National Herald case will be an example for other violators. There is an ongoing court case for another building on the same stretch,” said an official as quoted by the media.

One of the grounds mentioned in the L&DO order is that no press has been functioning in the premises for last at least 10 years and that it is being used only for commercial purposes in violation of the lease deed. The allegation has been refuted by AJL in the petition.

AJL said that the committee members who came for inspection did not visit the rooms where the printing press was installed along with the stock of papers. “AJL had been publishing a newspaper for the last several decades and that although there was a brief temporary suspension period due to financial trouble the formal newspaper and digital media operations had fully resumed,” the plea said.

The publisher submitted that the Centre’s order “is vitiated by malafides, bias and has been issued with oblique polite motives. The proceedings have been initiated for the purposes of scuttling the voices of dissent and thevoice of the largest opposition party in the country”.

The AJL, in its plea, alleged that “Since their (BJP’s) ascension to power, post May 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the ruling dispensation have put into action several covert and overt measures to erase, efface and defame the legacy of Pandit Nehru. The impugned order is yet another manifestation of their nefarious plans”.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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Maharashtra Assembly election: Uddhav Thackeray expels 5 Sena members for not withdrawing nominations

Following the withdrawal of nominations, around 4,140 candidates were left in the fray for 288 Maharashtra assembly seats

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Maharashtra Assembly election: Uddhav Thackeray expels 5 Sena members for not withdrawing nominations

Uddhav Thackeray, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief on Tuesday expelled five rebel leaders for anti-party activities after they failed to withdraw nominations filed for the November 20 Maharashtra assembly elections.

The expelled leaders include Bhiwandi East MLA Rupesh Mhatre, Vishwas Nandekar, Chandrakant Ghugul, Sanjay Awari and Prasad Thackeray. Reportedly, 14 leaders from the Maha Vikas Aghadi, comprising Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and Sharad Pawar’s NCP had filed nominations, defying party command. 

Among those who withdrew their nominations by the Monday deadline was Congress’ Mukhtar Shaikh, who withdrew from the Kasba Peth assembly constituency in Pune and announced his support to the party’s official candidate Ravindra Dhangekar.

In addition, royal scion Madhurima Raje Chhatrapati’s withdrawal as Congress candidate from Kolhapur North minutes before the deadline left the party without representation in one of its western Maharashtra strongholds. Madhurima Raje was nominated in place of ex-corporator Rajesh Latkar after a party office was vandalised by those opposed to the latter.

Hemalata Patil from Nashik Central, Madhu Chavan from Byculla and Vishwanath Walvi from Nandurbar are among the seven Congress rebels who withdrew their nominations. Only two NCP(SP) rebels are in fray.

Furthermore, among those to withdraw from the electoral race was Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange, who has held on-and-off hunger strikes and protests to demand reservation for the community in education and jobs over the past year. The activist said that the Maratha community will decide on its own whom to defeat and whom to elect. He also announced he would support two candidates from Parvati and Daund in the state assembly polls, though he said their names will be disclosed later.

Following the withdrawal of nominations, around 4,140 candidates were left in the fray for 288 Maharashtra assembly seats, while 2,938 candidates withdrew their papers. The figure is a 28 per cent increase from the 3,239 candidates who fought the 2019 assembly polls.

This year, the Maharashtra Assembly election will see major regional parties NCP and Shiv Sena contesting after a split down the middle. The factions led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar-led NCP have joined hands with the BJP to form the Mahayuti. The Assembly elections are scheduled for November 20. The counting of votes will take place on November 23.

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Centre issues notice to Wikipedia on complaints of bias, inaccuracies

The government also questioned why Wikipedia should not be classified as a publisher, rather than an intermediary.

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Centre issues notice to Wikipedia on complaints of bias, inaccuracies

The Centre on Tuesday has issued a notice to Wikipedia over multiple complaints about bias and inaccuracies on the platform. The government in its letter to Wikipedia highlighted that a small group of editors appears to have significant control over the contents, particularly influencing its neutrality. 

Reports said that the government also questioned why Wikipedia should not be classified as a publisher, rather than an intermediary. However, neither Wikipedia nor the government has issued an official statement on the matter so far. 

Wikipedia, popularly known as free online encyclopedia, allows volunteers to create and edit pages on a wide variety of topics, including people, issues and various fields of knowledge. This recent development follows two months after the Delhi High Court slammed Wikipedia and also warned it of a potential ban in India during a case filed by news agency ANI, which alleged that its Wikipedia page contained inaccuracies and defamatory content. 

In the last hearing, Justice Subramonium Prasad further observed that Wikipedia might not be entitled to defend the defamatory edits since it claims to be only an intermediary. The Delhi HIgh Court also questioned if Wikipedia is an intermediary, why is it bothered? It added that if somebody else has edited and that addition is without basis, then it comes down.

It further stated that Wikipedia is not here to protect the editors but is a mere wall. The court opined that it will only see whether the opinion given in the encyclopaedia does not depict the correct picture, as not true representation of the article. However, Wikipedia clarified that it was not defending the statements or edits made on Wikipedia’s page about ANI. It further sought to assist the court in the matter, particularly with regard to the architecture of the platform. 

Notably, Wikipedia has faced growing criticism for alleged bias and inaccuracies, especially amid the ongoing US presidential elections. Elon Musk, owner of X, has publicly accused Wikipedia of supporting far-left ideologies. He also urged the public to stop donating to Wikipedia, claiming it is controlled by far-left activists.

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JMM-RJD-Congress are supporters of Bangladesh infiltrators: PM Modi at Jharkhand rally

Narendra Modi further claimed that if the bad policies of JMM, Congress and RJD continue, the adivasi society in Jharkhand will shrink

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JMM-RJD-Congress are supporters of Bangladesh infiltrators: PM Modi at Jharkhand rally

Ahead of the Jharkhand Assembly election, PM Narendra Modi launched a scathing attack on the incumbent Hemant Soren government, accusing it to put appeasement at the top of its agenda.

While addressing a rally in Jharkhand’s Garhwa, the Prime Minister said the coalition government of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, Congress and RJD are supporters of Bangladesh infiltrators. He said that the JMM-RJD-Congress government has taken appeasement to its peak, and that these parties are destroying the state’s social harmony. He alleged that the parties are supporters of infiltrators, and to get votes of Bangladesh infiltrators, they are getting them settled across Jharkhand.

The Prime Minister stated that when schools disallow Saraswati Vandana, one can imagine how big the danger is. When there is stone-pelting during festivals, Maa Durga is stopped and curfew is imposed, one knows how dangerous it is, he continued. The Prime Minister also added that when the issue of infiltration goes to court and the administration denies, it becomes clear that the government machinery has been infiltrated. PM Modi was referring to allegations that a Muslim teacher stopped prayers to Goddess Saraswati at a school in Jharkhand’s Giridih.

Narendra Modi further claimed that if the bad policies of JMM, Congress and RJD continue, the adivasi society in Jharkhand will shrink, and advised people to use their vote to uproot this infiltrator coalition. He maintained that Jharkhand’s swift development is possible only if it has a government that expedites the implementation of central schemes.

Referring to the JMM’s decision to replace Champai Soren as Chief Minister after Hemant Soren was granted bail in a money laundering case, PM Modi said that the party has left no stones unturned in humiliating an adivasi son. He asked how the party will take care of the people of the state when nothing matters to them more than family. He added that he does not have a family, and the people are his family. He also mentioned that Champai Soren, once a trusted lieutenant of Hemant Soren, is now with the BJP.

Slamming the ruling coalition of corruption, he said that corruption hollows out the country like termites, and destroys the poor, Dalits, people from backward classes and tribals. He claimed that Jharkhand has seen for five years the corruption of the JMM-Congress-RJD government.

He also referred to the massive cash haul from the home of Congress’s former Rajya Sabha MP Dhiraj Sahu last year. Mentioning that mountains of cash are recovered from the home of Congress’s Rajya Sabha MP, he questioned if this money didn’t belong to Jharkhand.

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