There have been few exceptions to this rule, although some journalists have been permitted entry under the direct supervision of the Israeli military…reports Asian Lite News
The Department of State has called on Israeli authorities to grant unrestricted access in Gaza to international journalists seeking to cover the conflict.
The appeal marks the strongest rebuke yet from the Biden administration regarding media access in the region.
Department of State spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters: “We think journalists ought to be able to cover the war in Gaza; that includes journalists from outside Gaza.
“A lot of what the world knows is happening in Gaza is precisely, as you point out, it’s because of the work that journalists do, sometimes with incredibly tragic consequences.
“We support that work and we want to see it continue and we think that ought to be allowed in Gaza.”
Israel has been imposing a near-total ban on international journalists entering Gaza since the conflict began in October, forcing news agencies to rely on local media workers.
There have been few exceptions to this rule, although some journalists have been permitted entry under the direct supervision of the Israeli military.
Several media organizations and advocacy groups have consistently called for the ban to be lifted.
Nine media advocacy groups, including the Committee to Protect Journalists, Reporters Without Borders, and ARTICLE 19, appealed to the International Court of Justice in May for unimpeded media access to Gaza.
Israel has been conducting a repressive campaign against media workers and organizations since Oct. 7, while resisting international criticism.
At least 108 journalists and media workers have been killed in the conflict, the vast majority of them Palestinians.
Some 49 journalists remain in Israeli custody, including four female reporters, according to the Palestinian Prisoner Society.
Israel has been accused of deliberately targeting journalists during the conflict in some cases, which experts suggest could amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The presidents, questioned by Republican-led House Committee on Education and the Workforce, said they have a disdain for anti-semitic language but also value free speech…reports Asian Lite News
Indian-origin newsman Fareed Zakaria has said that America’s top universities should abandon their long misadventure into politics and rebuild their reputations as centres of research and learning.
In a video message posted on X, the top CNN journalist and political commentator said that a “broad shift has taken place at elite universities, which have gone from being centres of excellence to institutions pushing political agendas.”
“American universities have been neglecting a core focus on excellence in order to pursue a variety of agendas, many of them clustered around diversity and inclusion,” Mumbai-born Zakaria said.
His remarks came after the presidents of Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) faced ire after they testified on December 5 about increasing concerns of anti-semitism on their campuses.
“What we saw in the House hearing this week was the inevitable result of decades of the politicisation of universities,” Zakaria said.
“These universities and these presidents could not make the case clearly that at the centre of the university is the free expression of ideas. And then while harassment and intimidation would not be tolerated, offensive speech would and should be protected,” he added.
In the backdrop of the Israel-Hamas war, campuses have witnessed a rise in hate crimes incidents. The Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights is investigating Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania after receiving alleged complaints of anti-semitism and Islamophobia.
The presidents, questioned by Republican-led House Committee on Education and the Workforce, said they have a disdain for anti-semitic language but also value free speech.
Following the hearing, the presidents faced a social media backlash with nearly 72 lawmakers demanding dismissal of these three presidents.
Zakaria said that America’s top colleges are no longer seen as bastions of excellence for partisan outfits, “which means they will keep getting buffeted by these political storms as they emerge”.
What most people don’t know is that Singh was a journalist, an identity that was intrinsic to his individuality, critical thinking abilities, and integrity of character…reports Saloni Poddar
“They may kill me, but they cannot kill my ideas. They can crush my body, but they will not be able to crush my spirit“.
As patriotic Indians, we all know whose quote this is. If we even as much think about the freedom struggle of India, the first name that crops up in our mind is that of the revolutionary freedom fighter, Bhagat Singh. He is a household name, synonymous with patriotism.
There isn’t a shred of doubt about Bhagat Singh’s martyrdom but do we know enough about our hero? Was there more to him than being consumed with patriotism? Let us delve into the annals of history to find out more about him, his passions, and his life. But before that let’s just reiterate what is already known about this feisty, revolutionary young man.
Shaheed Bhagat Singh was born on September 27, 1907, in Lyallpur district of Punjab Province (now in Pakistan). At the age of 16-17 years, his family wanted him to get married but he wrote a letter to his father apologizing and telling him that service of the country was his prime goal in life and hence, worldly pleasures did not attract him. What most people don’t know is that Singh was a journalist, an identity that was intrinsic to his individuality, critical thinking abilities, and integrity of character. These journalistic endeavors made him stand out among his revolutionary contemporaries. He was a multi-lingual journalist who often wrote politically charged and socially-rooted stories based on pressing current issues, in Hindi, Punjabi, Urdu, and sometimes even in English.
Bhagat Singh joined freedom fighter, Ganesh Shankar Vidhyarthi, in Kanpur and started writing for ‘Pratap’ under the pen name of Balwant Singh. His writing skills were honed under the banner of ‘Pratap’ where he translated the autobiographies of the great revolutionary. Shachidranath Sanyal’s ‘Bandi ki Jeevani’ (Life of Prisoner) in Punjabi, and that of Irish revolutionary Dan Breens ‘My Fight for Irish Freedom’ in Hindi. These translations gave an ideological approach to the ongoing freedom movements all over the country. His mentor, Vidhyarathi, was so taken by his work and personality that the former introduced Singh to the greatest revolutionary of those times, Chandrashekhar Azad, which was like a dream come true for Singh.
In his short but meaningful journalistic career, which ran parallel to his political life, he was associated with prestigious newspapers and magazines like Kirti, Pratap, Vir Arjun, Matwala, Prabha, and Bande Mataram, to name a few. Like his personality and ideals, Bhagat Singh’s writing was also explosive. He wrote such an article for ‘Pratap’ on 15th March 1926 titled, “Holi ke Din Rakt ke Chhinte” (Blood spatter on Holi)-
“Civil disobedience is at its peak. Punjab is ahead of everyone. Sikhs are rising in Punjab. There is a lot of passion. The Akali movement has started. Sacrifices are flowing”.
Singh wrote prolifically for the next few years and made a great impact on people’s minds with his works. In February 1928, he wrote an article about Kuka rebels under the alias of B. S. Sandhu. From March to October 1928, he compiled an anthology named ‘Aazadi ki Bhent Shahadatein’ (Martyrs at the Alter of Freedom). One particular article in this series was about Madan Lal Dhingra, an extraordinary revolutionary who sacrificed his life for freedom. Bhagat Singh wrote,
“Madan Lal was standing next to the noose and he was asked for his last words. He said – Vande Mataram. Salute to Bharat Mata! His body was buried in the jail itself. We Indians don’t even get to cremate him. Blessed be that Brave. Blessed is his memory. Many, many salutes to the precious hero of this dead country“.
This was a golden period in journalism as his words had the desired effect and woke people up from their slumber and made them realize that the need of the hour was upheaval and revolution. His writings became bolder and brasher with the passing years a historical edition of ‘Chand’ magazine was even banned by the British as it had many instigating articles by Singh. Hence, it was considered the ‘Gita of Indian Journalism’. It is rather unfortunate that a substantial body of his journalistic work has been lost to the ravages of unrecorded history as he often wrote under pseudonyms like ‘Virodhi’, ‘B. S. Sandhu’ and ‘Balwant Singh’. This was obviously done to remain anonymous as he was always under British scrutiny due to his active political life. Nevertheless, he couldn’t remain obscure for too long. On 8th April 1929, he wrote a pamphlet that shook the British government.
On the pamphlet was written –
“If the deaf is to hear, the sound has to be very loud“.
“We are deeply concerned by the troubling reports that Evan Gershkovich, an American citizen, has been detained in Russia,” Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement…reports Asian Lite News
The European Union Foreign Policy chief Josep Borrell on Friday condemned the Russian detention of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich.
Taking to his official Twitter handle, he stressed that journalists must be allowed to exercise their profession freely. Josep Borrell tweeted, “The EU condemns the detention of @evangershkovich, a journalist and U.S. citizen, in Russia. Journalists must be allowed to exercise their profession freely and deserve protection. The Russian authorities demonstrate yet again their systematic disregard for media freedom.”
Borrell’s remarks come after American reporter for Wall Street Journal (WSJ) Evan Gershkovich was arrested in Russia on espionage charges, Russia’s top security agency said on Thursday, Al Jazeera reported. WSJ in a statement said, “The Wall Street Journal is deeply concerned for the safety of Gershkovich.”
US State Department Secretary Antony Blinken on Thursday expressed concern over the detention of an American journalist in Russia. He requested the Americans living in Russia to leave the country “immediately.”
Taking to his official Twitter handle, Blinken said, “We are deeply concerned over Russia’s announcement it has detained a U.S. citizen journalist. The @StateDept’s highest priority is the safety and security of U.S. citizens abroad. If you are a U.S. citizen living or travelling in Russia – please leave immediately.”
Meanwhile, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre also expressed concern over the arrest of Evan Gershkovich in Russia. She also stated that last night, White House and State Department Officials spoke with Gershkovich’s employer, the Wall Street Journal.
“We are deeply concerned by the troubling reports that Evan Gershkovich, an American citizen, has been detained in Russia,” Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement.
She further said, “Last night, White House and State Department Officials spoke with Mr. Gershkovich’s employer, the Wall Street Journal. The Administration has also been in contact with his family. Furthermore, the State Department has been in direct touch with the Russian government on this matter, including actively working to secure consular access to Mr. Gershkovich.”
The EU condemns detention of #WSJ correspondent Evan Gershkovich in #Russia
"Journalists should be allowed to practice their profession freely, they deserve protection. The Russian authorities have once again demonstrated a systematic disregard for media freedom," said Josep… pic.twitter.com/k3kYi6VuGa
The Federal Security Service (FSB) said that the WSJ reporter was detained from the Ural Mountains city of Yekaterinburg while he allegedly tried to obtain classified information.
In a statement, the FSB said, “Gershkovich acting on the instructions of the American side, collected information constituting a state secret about the activities of one of the enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex”, read a WSJ report.
As per the Al Jazeera report, the FSB alleged that Gershkovich “was collecting classified information about the activities of one of the enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex that constitutes a state secret.” (ANI)
Volant Media said the police force had also notified other journalists of threats…reports Asian Lite News
Two British-Iranian journalists working in the UK for an independent Farsi-language channel have received “credible” death threats from Iran’s security forces, the channel’s broadcaster said Monday.
Volant Media, the London-based broadcaster of Iran International TV channel, said in a statement that two of its journalists have received “death threats from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps”, calling this a “dangerous escalation” of attempts to suppress independent media.
“These are state-sponsored threats to journalists in the UK,” a spokesman for Volant Media was quoted as saying.
The Revolutionary Guards “cannot be allowed to silence a free press in the UK”, he added.
The channel is covering the anti-regime protests in Iran following the death of Mahsa Amini for allegedly breaching strict dress rules for women.
Volant Media said that two journalists received formal “warnings of credible threats to their lives” and those of their families, from London’s Metropolitan Police.
Volant Media said the police force had also notified other journalists of threats.
The Met said that “we do not comment on matters of protective security in relation to any specific individuals”.
Besides he has worked with Associated Press (AP) and United News of India (UNI). He was the Consulting Editor of Asian Lite International…reports Asian Lite News
Veteran journalist VP Ramachandran passed away at Kakkanad in Kerala on Wednesday. He was 98. Ramachandran, who reported big news events for agencies Press Trust of India (PTI) and United News of India (UNI) from 1950 to 1970s, had been bedridden due to age-related ailments. He also served as the editor of Mathrubhumi. He is popularly known as VPR.
Vettathu Puthenveettil Ramachandran’s life had been one incredible journey. He moved to Delhi at the age of 18. He later served as an army clerk in Pune before becoming a journalist. As Lahore correspondent of PTI, VPR was the first to tell the outside world about martial law following a coup in Pakistan by its Army Chief General Ayub Khan in 1958. He also covered the India-China war of 1962.
He joined UNI in 1964 and his coverage of the Emergency reportedly antagonised the then prime minister Indira Gandhi. After returning to Kerala, he served a brief while as Mathrubhumi editor, before taking up the role as course director at the Kerala Press Academy before becoming its chairman for two terms.
He was one among the former editors of Mathrubhumi daily and served in Lahore as international correspondent of news agency Press Trust of India. Besides he has worked with Associated Press (AP) and United News of India (UNI). He was the Consulting Editor of Asian Lite International.
VPR started his career as a typist. After the completion of matriculation, he learned shorthand typewriting and joined as Lower Division Clerk in Military accounts. It was in 1949 he started his journalist life by joining as a reporter. He was in Delhi for many years and could travel abroad as part of the profession. In 1964 he joined UNI as bureau chief and later became its deputy GM.
His reports were models for excellent journalism and he is the man who pioneered development journalism in India. In 1984 he left Mathrubhumi and joined as Media Academy Chairman in 1988. His incredible journey as a journalist included covering historic events like India-China war of 1962, Emergency among other issues. He was honoured with the prestigious Swadeshabhimani-Kesari award by Kerala government. Wife Gouri had predeceased VPR. He is survived by daughter Lekha Chandrasekhar.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said in a statement that the reporter was shot while covering the Israeli military raid and died shortly after…reports Asian Lite News
Shireen Abu Akleh, a journalist with the Qatar-based Al Jazeera broadcaster, was killed in the West Bank on Wednesday amid an Israeli raid.
Taking to Twitter, the broadcaster said: “Israeli forces have shot and killed veteran Al Jazeera reporter Shireen Abu Akleh in the occupied West Bank.”
The Palestinian Health Ministry said in a statement that the reporter was shot while covering the Israeli military raid and died shortly after, reports Xinhua news agency.
The Ministry also claimed that another Palestinian reporter was shot.
In a statement, the Israeli Army said it has launched an investigation into the incident and was looking into the possibility that the journalists were hit by “armed Palestinians”.
The raid triggered clashes with armed residents, and “massive fire was shot toward Israeli forces by tens of armed Palestinian gunmen”, said the statement, adding that the soldiers “responded with fire toward the sources of the fire and explosive devices. Hits were identified”.
Meanwhile, Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid tweeted that the Jewish state offered to carry out with the Palestinians “a joint pathological investigation into the sad death” of the journalist.
“Journalists must be protected in conflict zones and we all have a responsibility to get to the truth,” Lapid said.
Senior journalist and noted film critic A. Sahadevan passed away at Kottayam after a massive heart attack on Sunday…reports Asian Lite News
He was admitted to a private hospital in Kottayam following a brain hemorrhage and later had a massive heart attack.
Sahadevan, 71, was working as a Professor of Journalism at Manorama School of Journalism, Kottayam.
Sahadevan had served as former Assistant Editor of Malayalam’s most prominent newspaper Matrubhumi and headed its film publication ‘Chitrabhumi’. He was also the Tamil Nadu correspondent of Matrubhumi, based in Chennai.
He joined Kerala’s first 24-hour news channel, Indiavision, and was an Associate Editor of the channel which had its mark in Kerala bringing in several stories including human interests and political stories.
The senior journalist presented a weekly programme ’24 Frames’ which was an introduction of world classical movies to the public of the state.
He was an authority on movies especially internationally-acclaimed movies and even less known movies of lesser-known directors who had later become celebrities.
Sahadevan also presented a weekly movie-related show in Kerala’s acclaimed travel channel, ‘Safari’ which also received major critical acclaim.
He had also contributed regularly to India Today, Malayalam edition under the pseudonym ‘Devana’ on Malayalam movies, and was a hard-hitting critically-acclaimed column.
The mortal remains of the senior journalist will be taken to his native place of Kozhikode in North Kerala. He is survived by his wife Pushpa and daughter Charu.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Opposition leader V.D. Satheeshan and several celebrities from all walks of life condoled the passing away of Sahadevan.
A generation has grown up seeing Vinod Dua, back in 1974, anchoring ‘Yuva Manch’, Doordarshan’s popular programme for young people in the age of black-and-white television…reports Asian Lite News.
The pioneering and anti-establishment television journalist, and a walking encyclopaedia on India’s culinary secrets, Vinod Dua, passed away on Saturday, months after he lost his wife, the well-known radiologist Padmavati ‘Chinna’ Dua, during the peak of the pandemic earlier this year.
Vinod Dua, a recipient of the Padma Shri and the Ramnath Goenka Award for Excellence in Journalism, was suffering from post-Covid complications and was 67 at the time of his death.
Most recently, Dua was in the news when the Supreme Court invoked its 1962 judgment in the Kedar Nath Singh case to quash the charge of sedition brought against him under Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code by a BJP MLA in Himachal Pradesh. Dua had been accused of making comments critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Sharing the news of his death on Instagram, Mallika Dua, Vinod and Chinna Dua’s comedienne daughter, wrote: “He lived an inimitable life, rising from the refugee colonies of Delhi to the peak of journalistic excellence for over 42 years, always, always speaking truth to power.”
A generation has grown up seeing Vinod Dua, back in 1974, anchoring ‘Yuva Manch’, Doordarshan’s popular programme for young people in the age of black-and-white television.
This generation remembers the warm, affable and politically outspoken Vinod Dua as the first television personality to make Hindi ‘cool’, long before the late S.P. Singh and Udayan Sharma became the bridges between Lutyens’s Delhi and the Hindi heartland.
Friends remember him for loving food and favourite whisky, and bringing even the stiffest party to life by breaking into a song in the rustic Saraiki dialect. It is spoken at Dera Ismail Khan in present-day Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, which his parents had to leave as refugees.
Echoing the sentiments of the legion of friends of the Duas, Mallika wrote in her tribute: “He is now with our mom, his beloved wife Chinna, in heaven, where they will continue to sing, cook, travel and drive each other up the wall.”
Although Vinod Dua was famous as a Hindi journalist, he studied English Literature at Hans Raj College, Delhi University, and even did a Master’s in it, but he was a natural storyteller and the language that he was most articulate in was Hindi.
After stints with the Sutradhar group at the Shri Ram theatre and outings as a street theatre artiste, Dua became one of the earliest faces of television in India, starting with ‘Yuva Manch’, which he co-anchored with Manoj Raghuvanshi.
Years ago – bringing in a new way of covering election results in India. The team of @PrannoyRoyNDTV and #VinodDua.
What an experience it was, as a young reporter, listening to their analysis in my earpiece and waiting for them to hand over to me for a live interview. pic.twitter.com/KWCN4T7HP7
He was also associated with the Satellite Instructional Television Experiment (SITE), which laid the foundation for the expansion of television across India, and in 1981, he became the face of ‘Aap Ke Liye’, the Sunday magazine programme for families on Doordarshan.
Dua became a household name when he co-presented, together with the then little-known psephologist Prannoy Roy, the first-of-their-kind election analysis shows on television — Doordarshan yet again — in 1984. Viewers still remember him fondly for making Roy’s “swings” intelligible in plain Hindi with a dash of ready humour.
Thereafter, in 1987, Dua started anchoring ‘Janvani’, a programme that was symbolic of the early glasnost of the Rajiv Gandhi era, where regular people (the ‘aam admi’) got to ask questions of ministers.
From #mallikadua ‘s IG stories.. Heartfelt condolences to Mallika and the family on the tragic passing of #VinodDua sir.. May you have strength, forbearance and patience at this time Mallika. All my love and my deepest condolences. Yours in grief.. 💔 pic.twitter.com/CaKs9obUj8
That was a short-lived programme, but Dua went on to anchor and produce a series of current affairs programmes on different television channels.
The one that made him famous all over again, however, was NDTV India’s ‘Zaika India Ka’, which saw him travelling around the country, discovering street food gems, mithai shops and dhabas, making the owners of some of them nationally famous and rich. Many of these places still carry framed photographs of Dua’s enjoying a good meal with their owners.
In the recent past, Dua was attracting the ire of the ruling dispensation with his 10-minute ‘Jan Gan Man Ki Baat’ podcasts on a popular news website.
He was trolled for lashing out at Bollywood star Akshay Kumar for making lewd comments on Mallika Dua during a shoot of ‘The Great Indian Laughter Challenge’. And he was also accused of sexual harassment by the ‘Gulabi Gang’ director Nishtha Jain in a Facebook post — the charge died a natural death after Vinod Dua defended himself against it.
In the end, Vinod Dua will live in the public memory not only for putting Hindi on the map of Indian television, and for bringing India’s street food riches to the drawing rooms of television viewers, but also for being rooted in the noblest values of good journalism. He will also be remembered as a good man and a dear friend with a warm and welcoming smile.
Ramveer extended his stay and learned the farming techniques from the farmers for the next couple of weeks. After returning, he decided to experiment with the farming technique at home…reports Asian Lite News.
Ramveer Singh, an erstwhile journalist, is making headlines and this time, it is not for his write-ups. Ramveer has taken up hydroponic farming in a big way.
Hydroponics is a type of horticulture and a subset of hydroculture which involves growing plants without soil, by using mineral nutrient solutions in an aqueous solvent.
In 2017-18, Ramveer travelled to Dubai for an agriculture-related event and witnessed hydroponics farming.
“I was inquisitive about this type of farming method. It did not require soil and could be grown with less pest infestation. Moreover, it saved almost 80 per cent of water required for growing plants,” he says.
Ramveer extended his stay and learned the farming techniques from the farmers for the next couple of weeks. After returning, he decided to experiment with the farming technique at home.
He has now converted his three-storied house into a hydroponics farm that earns him lakhs.
Ramveer started using pipes and other infrastructure to set up the hydroponics systems in his balcony and open spaces. “I installed two methods for the farm using Nutrient Film Technique (NFT) and Deep Flow Technique (DFT).
“At present, the farm is spread across 750 sq meter space, hosting over 10,000 plants,” he adds.
He grows okra, chillies, capsicum, bottle gourd, tomatoes, cauliflower, spinach, cabbage, strawberry, fenugreek and green peas.
“I grow all seasonal vegetables with hydroponics. The system is designed using PVC pipes and circulates the water with the help of gravity. The arrangement ensures that about 16 nutrients such as magnesium, copper, phosphorus, nitrogen, zinc and others reach the plants by introducing them in the flowing water. The method saves 90 per cent use of water,” he explains.
Ramveer believes that the hydroponic farming technique is healthier and better than organic farming.
“I feel that the vegetables grown in hydroponics farming have better absorption of nutrients. Moreover, the method has no risk of soil pollution. Farmers practising conventional farming may expose soil or plants by spraying chemicals or pesticides. Hydroponics farming is independent of harmful chemicals,” he says.
Ramveer also has a farm about 40 kilometres from Bareilly, but he is no longer dependent on it.
“I do not need to travel a long distance for my weekly supply of vegetables. I harvest it fresh from my home farm and use it in the kitchen,” he adds.
His impressive and unique farm has attracted the attention of passers-by as they felt awed by the concrete building covered with vegetables hanging over the sides. “Many have inquired and sought to install the system in their homes. I have helped at least 10 persons by installing the hydroponic system for them,” he adds.
As for being a journalist, Ramveer continues to freelance as per his convenience.
