A 75-year-old retired journalist from Nagpur, Maharashtra, faced seven days of mental harassment after falling victim to a cyber fraud scam. The fraudsters, posing as police officials, allegedly “digitally arrested” him and monitored his every move through repeated video calls. The victim, who retired from a Hindi daily in 2012, lives in Nagpur with his wife. According to The Times of India, the ordeal began on October 10 when he received a WhatsApp call from an unknown number displaying the logo of the Data Protection Board of India. Initially ignoring the call, he later answered, believing it to be an official government inquiry. The caller falsely claimed that obscene messages had been sent from his number and that there were 20 complaints against him. Soon after, he received a video call from a man dressed as a police officer, who accused him of being involved in a Rs 2.5 crore fund transfer to a banned organisation. Frightened, the journalist shared personal documents and

The Delhi High Court on Monday, October 27, sought an action taken report (ATR) from the Delhi Police in connection with a complaint before the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) over allegations of rape, abuse and forced beef-eating against journalist Omar Rashid, Bar and Bench reported Advocate Shaurya Mittal, appearing for Rashid, informed the court that earlier this year, the NHRC took up the complaint based on an anonymous social media post that carried false allegations of sexual misconduct and forced beef-eating. The NHRC, on July 4, directed the Delhi Police to submit an ATR, prompting Rashid to approach the High Court against the order. When the matter came up for hearing on October 25, Justice Sachin Datta said, “Let a copy of the ATR as directed by the NHRC be produced for the court’s perusal,” and posted the case for further hearing on October 31.  

The Gauhati High Court on Monday extended till November 17 the interim protection granted to journalist Abhisar Sharma in a case filed against him over alleged remarks accusing Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma of promoting communal politics. The bench of Justice Shamima Jahan granted the extension after the state failed to produce the case diary, as directed earlier by the court on September 19. According to LiveLaw, FIR against Sharma was registered by Assam Police under Sections 152, 196, and 197 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) — provisions related to endangering national sovereignty and promoting enmity between groups. Sharma had approached the High Court after the Supreme Court declined to quash the FIR but gave him four weeks of interim protection to seek relief from the lower court. During earlier hearings, Senior Advocate Kamal Nayan Choudhury argued that Sharma, a journalist who publishes on YouTube, was booked merely for expressing criticism of the governmen

  Police in Palera have nabbed a man for allegedly transporting 40 boxes of illegal liquor. The accused identified himself as a journalist and claimed to be the national president of the Patrakar Kalyan Parishad (Journalist Welfare Council). According to a report by Free Press Journal, the incident occurred during a routine police checkpoint operation aimed at curbing illegal activities in the area. The accused has been identified as Pushpendra Saxena, a resident of Chakra Road in Tikamgarh. During questioning, Saxena claimed his association with the journalist organisation, but police officials said his claims are being verified as part of the ongoing investigation.

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting is preparing new guidelines for television rating agencies with more than one round of industry consultation before the rules are finalised.   According to Business Standard, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Saturday said that the government is exploring ways to improve the television rating system to ensure fair revenue to television channels from government advertisements.   "The government is working to remove regulatory barriers wherever they exist," the minister said. "Television Rating Point (TRP) guidelines are being formulated. The first round of consultation is complete, feedback has been received, and a second consultation paper will be published soon," the minister said.  The Minister also said that the government is planning to increase the advertisement rates for print and television media and is working on integrating Registration of Newspapers for India (RNI), Central Bureau of Communication (CBC) and Press Informa

Image source: Copilot   The Election Commission is gearing up for one of the biggest electoral clean-ups in two decades — a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter rolls across 12 states and union territories beginning November 4. The exercise will cover 51 crore voters, aiming to weed out duplicates, update outdated entries, and ensure no eligible citizen is left out. The final rolls, with January 1, 2026 as the qualifying date, will be published by February 7, 2026. Hot off the Press Bharti Jain for The Times of India reported that four poll-bound regions — Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal, and Puducherry — will undergo this intensive revision ahead of the 2026 assembly elections. Interestingly, Assam is excluded due to its unique citizenship provisions under Section 6A of the Citizenship Act and the pending NRC case. The EC clarified that the SIR will not require residents to submit documents during enumeration; Aadhaar can serve as proof of identity, but not citizens

Morning, and welcome to Tuesday and if you were looking for the best designed front page today you can't walk past the Sydney Morning Herald. It's got that perfect mix - good stories, a classic main picture of Barnaby Joyce (when doesn't the man provide that....) and a brilliant layout which is both busy and easily readable. Running a close second is The Age, and of course those Nine newspapers share a fair bit of content too this morning.  The main story - an exclusive - once again sees Nick McKenzie take the lead with more revelations in the increasingly long-running construction industry sheenanigans. Interestingly, The Age now has its own stamp 'BUILDING BAD' for the stories, and that's a nice touch and points to more to come... The other exclusive is that Barnaby will-he-stay-or-will-he-go story, and three of the company's top journos teamed up on that one - James Massola, Mike Foley and Paul Sakkal - to provide an exclusive interview with the man himself. That appea