oppn parties UP Administration Trying To Browbeat The Media In Roti-Salt Case

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  • Neha Bora was subsequently released and Dipke is to appear before a magistrate today at noon
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  • 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
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  • 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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UP Administration Trying To Browbeat The Media In Roti-Salt Case

By Sunil Garodia

About the Author

Sunil Garodia Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator. Author of Cyber Scams in India, Digital Arrest, The Money Trap and The Human Hack

The UP government has booked Mirzapur-based journalist Pawan Jaiswal for criminal conspiracy in the roti-salt meal case that he reported from a government school at Siyur in the Mirzapur district of the state. Block education officer Prem Shankar Ram lodged the FIR against Jaiswal for trying to defame the state government by video recording the incident and giving it to a news channel for broadcasting. Ram said that after the video was broadcast, the administration had instituted an inquiry by a three-member panel headed by chief development officer of the district Priyanka Ranjan. The panel found that the main meal was under preparation and the children were given the roti-salt meal in the interim as it was taking time. The administration charged the journalist for providing false information without verifying the details.

Who is telling the truth? The fact is that the video clearly showed that the children were served only roti and salt. Jaiswal saw that and recorded it. His made a mistake in not verifying with the school authorities or taking a peek in the kitchen to see if something else was cooking too. He could have also asked the children whether they were served such a spartan meal every day or was it a rare occurrence. Journalistic ethics demanded that he should have investigated the reasons. But what he did was just record the video and sensationalized the issue.

On the other hand, the report of the inquiry panel cannot be taken at face value. Anurag Patel, the District Magistrate of Mirzapur, has stated on television that the report of the journalist was true and prima facie, the teacher in charge at the school and the supervisor of the gram panchayat were found at fault. Both were suspended by the district administration. But the block-level administration came up with the panel report saying that the main meal was under preparation when the video was shot and charged the journalist. It could be an effort to cover up the case and stop the government from getting a bad name.

But in all this, no one has thought it fit to ask the children if they were being fed with just roti and salt every day. That would be the clinching proof against the administration for mismanagement in the mid-day meal scheme.

 

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