-The Telegraph New Delhi: Police have arrested five activists, including an editor, a professor and a lawyer, on the suspicion of being Maoists, more than six months after an attack by alleged Hindutva groups on Ambedkarities visiting a war memorial near Pune. Those arrested have been booked under several charges, including the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. Pune police on Wednesday arrested Committee for the Release of Political Prisoners (CRPP) spokesperson Rona Wilson from...

-Press Note by Foundation for Media Professionals (FMP), dated 28 May, 2018 Mr Narendra Modi is perhaps the first Prime Minister of India to have not held a single press conference, four years at a stretch. This could not however have been unrelated to a series of events that raise fresh concerns about media freedom. The concerted online hate campaign against journalist Ms Rana Ayyub, and the circulation of a fake pornographic...

-News18.com In an interview with News18’s Rupashree Nanda, Dreze, who was a member of Sonia Gandhi’s National Advisory Council and an architect of the National Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA), says that there have been no major initiatives in the social field in the last four years, with the partial exception of Swachh Bharat. Government data reveal that the Indian economy is growing at a robust rate but noted economist Jean Dreze believes...

-PTI The Reporters Without Borders cites the case of the killing of journalist-activist Gauri Lankesh, and warns that hatecrime is another issue plaguing India. London: India’s ranking in the Press Freedom Index has fallen two places to 138, a watchdog said on Wednesday in an annual report, blaming “physical violence” against journalists like Gauri Lankesh as the key reason behind the country’s low ranking. Norway topped the list of having the world’s...

-TheWire.in When a government and ruling party that themselves peddle disinformation now say they want to fight fake news, it is time for the media to batten down the hatches and prepare for the worst. In the name of fighting fake news, the Narendra Modi government is laying a minefield for journalists and media houses that threatens what remains of the free press in India. On Monday, the information and broadcasting ministry spelt...