-The Hindu On the face of it, paid news may seem no more than advertising camouflaged as reports or editorials. Naveen Jindal’s shocking ‘reverse sting’ — aimed at exposing how two editors of the Zee network attempted to cut a shady deal with his company — shows that it can be much worse than this. It is a reminder of how easily the culture of paid news can lead, ineluctably, towards...

-The Indian Express Alleging an extortion bid by Essel Group chairman Subhash Chandra and senior executives of news channels owned by his group, Congress MP and Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL) chairman Naveen Jindal Thursday released video clips which purportedly show that the media group sought a Rs 100-crore advertising deal for not airing adverse reports against JSPL on the coal block allocation controversy. The video clips purportedly show Zee News...

-Mid Day Senior PWD officials in collusion with contractors used bogus bills to issue cheques to withdraw state funds from RBI; cops took six months to register FIR despite complaint in April.  Mumbai: One of the biggest scams in recent times has come to light at the state administration level, involving senior officials of the Public Works Department (PWD) and fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 112.58 crore from government accounts.  It is said that bogus...

-The Business Standard TV channel says evidence 'farcical', meant to deter coverage of coal block allocation scam Naveen Jindal, chairman of Jindal Steel and Power (JSPL) and Congress leader from Haryana, on Thursday alleged the Subhash Chandra-promoted news broadcaster Zee News Ltd tried to blackmail his company and extort money. Jindal played video clips to a packed media gathering in support of JSPL’s allegation that Zee News demanded Rs 100 crore from...

-The Times of India BANGALORE: A special Lokayukta court on Thursday ordered an investigation into the role of three former Karnataka chief ministers in the allocation of land to Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprises (Nice) for the construction of an expressway between Bangalore and Mysore. The former CMs under the scanner are H D Deve Gowda, S M Krishna and B S Yeddyurappa. Judge N K Sudhindra Rao ordered Lokayukta police to investigate the...