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Tiranga Rally Is Excellent. Breaking The Law Was Not

October 17, 2026

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News Snippets

  • Allahabad HC said that the UP Police is acting as law unto themselves as they detained a person unlawfully even before his arrest
  • Kolkata witnesses traffic snarls on the first day of the Durga Puja festival as revellers start pnadal-hopping
  • Neha Bora was subsequently released and Dipke is to appear before a magistrate today at noon
  • Delhi Police detained Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke, Neha Bora of AISA, student leaders and supporters ahead of a rally in Connaught Place demanding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar's resignation. The protest followed the detention and jailing of two CJP leaders earlier in the week over demonstrations at Jantar Mantar
  • The Reserve Bank of India is considering further monetary tightening to counter capital outflows and increase the cost of betting against the rupee, according to bankers and analysts cited by Reuters. The measures follow recent rate increases and steps to drain liquidity as pressure on the currency and inflation concerns persist
  • India directed oil marketing companies to stop diverting sugar-based feedstocks for ethanol production in the 2026–27 supply year, according to a new tender issued on Friday. The companies have invited bids for 11 billion litres of ethanol made from alternatives including corn and broken rice, amid concerns about domestic sugar supplies and prices
  • Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said India's trade imbalance with China was growing sharply and attributed the problem partly to restrictions on Indian goods and services entering the Chinese market. China subsequently said it was ready to work with India to address mutual economic and trade concerns; India's trade deficit with China reached $69 billion in the first half of FY2026–27, up 27% year-on-year
  • Indian equity benchmarks extended their recovery on Friday, with the Sensex rising 413.66 points to close at 74,729.27 and the Nifty 50 gaining 148.80 points to settle at 23,146.15. Information technology shares, including Tech Mahindra, Infosys and TCS, helped lift the indices
  • India defeated Zimbabwe by four wickets in the opening women's T20 International in Raipur, taking a 1–0 lead in the three-match series. Deepti Sharma and Niki Prasad combined in an 82-run stand after India's top order collapsed, helping the hosts chase down Zimbabwe's total of 114 for five
  • Indian wrestler Komal won bronze in the women's 59 kg category at the Under-23 World Wrestling Championships in Las Vegas, defeating Kazakhstan's Viktoriia Khusainova 7–2. Fellow Indian Amruta Pujari advanced to the women's 72 kg final after recording two pinfall victories
  • Indian shuttler Jagsher Singh Khangurra secured a bronze medal at the BWF World Junior Badminton Championships in Cairo
  • The Supreme Court of India upheld the Bombay High Court's decision quashing the 2020 write-off of ₹8,415 crore in additional tier-1 bonds issued by Yes Bank (Yes Bank). The court ruled that the bank's administrator lacked the authority to extinguish the bonds under the final reconstruction scheme, strengthening bondholders' claims
  • The Supreme Court issued notices to the Election Commission of India, Delhi Police and opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav, in separate petitions concerning electoral-roll revision and protests held in Delhi on October 10–12. The court also directed the preservation of CCTV footage linked to allegations of police excesses
  • The Supreme Court ruled that a person converting from Hinduism to Islam cannot automatically claim backward-class reservation benefits in the new religious community solely on the basis of their previous caste status. The judgment upheld the Madras High Court's decision striking down a 2024 Tamil Nadu government order that permitted such certification for specified communities
  • The Election Commission of India ordered a Special Summary Revision of electoral rolls in 14 states and three Union Territories, using January 1, 2027, as the qualifying date for voter eligibility. The draft rolls are scheduled for publication on November 12, claims and objections will be accepted until December 11, and the final rolls are due on January 4, 2027
Delhi HC refuses to ban CJP's Tiranga rally at Central Park in Connaught Place today /////// Police says will control and regulate it /////// NDMC closes the park for the public on Friday and Saturday
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'Fake' Test For Credible Journalism

By Our Editorial Team
First publised on 2023-01-20 10:46:01

About the Author

Sunil Garodia The India Commentary view

Some parts of the draft Information Technology Rules that the government has put in public domain are likely to have an adverse effect on journalism as we know of it. The Rules require that the Press Information Bureau (PIB), a Central government agency, will decide what constitutes 'fake news' and once it decides so for a particular piece of news, it must be taken down. The government has also empowered its departments to authorize any other agency to check facts and declare a piece of news 'fake' if it pertains to any government department. The Editor's Guild of India has said that it will have the effect of gagging the media as it will give the government "a carte blanche to determine what is fake or not with respect to its own work".

If one sees it objectively, the government or its departments are best suited to know whether a piece of news emanating from its departments is genuine or fake. But that is not always the case as any government cherry picks news and dispenses only those items that project it in a good light. But the media has its sources (who often prefer anonymity) who give it inside information that may be critical of the government or its policies or disclose how a particular scheme has flopped. Credible news organizations have many layers of checks and do not publish any news item without solid verification. Over the ages, through self-regulation and standard practices, renowned media organizations have in place a system whereby mistakes are promptly acknowledged by issuing apologies, corrections, presenting the other side of the story or even withdrawing the item completely in some cases. Over and above this, the government has the option of issuing a denial which is published by these media organizations with due prominence. This system has been working well and there is no need to change it.

Fake news has been defined as false or misleading information presented as news. There are many online 'media' outlets that have been publishing such news without any verification. The idea is to sensationalize news to create controversy and grab eyeballs. Most often, these 'media' outlets are of dubious origin and are started with an agenda. There are many ways that the government can prosecute such outlets and it has in fact been doing so. But if the government now puts these Rules into practice for all media organizations, it will kill the freedom of the press and most news will then be published only from the handouts given by the PIB. 

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