The Supreme Court on Wednesday, October 14, quashed a Ghaziabad Police notice seeking journalist Abhishek Upadhyay's account data from X. It also made absolute its earlier orders shielding him from arrest in a road rage case. "It is a breath of fresh air in these troubling times and has empowered a journalist to do his job fearlessly," Upadhyay told Influencing India. The Bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi found that the police's explanation for the notice was "in contradiction with the contents of the notice." It ordered that any information obtained through the notice, or otherwise, "shall not be utilised against the petitioner." "Now, there is a sense of protection. You can do your work without fear or favour and without being threatened for carrying out your work," Upadhyay said. Asked about his next step, he said: "I will now discuss with my lawyer and follow their advice." The Cri

Thursday, 15 October 2026 #1  ·  Times Business / Nation  ·  In-depth feature / Breaking news IDBI sale to increase value, new mgmt to get free hand By Sidhartha   ·   The Times of India, New Delhi  ·  Page Page 30 (Times Business) The Dipam secretary Arunish Chawla detailed the methodology behind the IDBI Bank stake sale to Fairfax Financial, explaining how the government used market-multiple and net-asset-value approaches to arrive at the Rs 75.99-per-share fair value, with the winning Fairfax bid at Rs 81. Chawla confirmed employee and pensioner protections, said LIC will exit the board, and pledged further strategic disinvestments before the fiscal year closes. The piece is anchored by an on-record interview with the key bureaucrat driving the transaction. A named reporter secured an exclusive on-record interview with the Dipam secretary hours after Cabinet clearance, going well beyond the press-release anno

The proposed India CTV & FAST Council (ICFC) has invited organisations across India’s Connected TV (CTV) and Free Ad-Supported Streaming TV (FAST) ecosystem to become founding members and help shape its priorities and governance. The Expression of Interest (EOI), open until October 31, 2026, follows an industry roundtable convened by Runn Media Labs, the company behind RunnTV, in September. Participants included JioStar, Zee, Shemaroo, Magnite and The Trade Desk. ICFC aims to promote transparent advertising, trusted audience measurement, fraud prevention, common standards and fair distribution. The initiative welcomes broadcasters, platforms, advertisers, agencies and technology providers. Submitting an EOI involves no financial or membership commitment.    

Various journalist organisations in Mumbai recently met Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and demanded strict action against attacks, intimidation and the targeting of journalists through social media trolling. The delegation was led by senior journalist and Jai Maharashtra news channel editor Vrushali Kadam, who was recently subjected to online trolling after condemning the attack on her channel’s reporter while covering the MPSC protest in Pune on October 1. Speaking to Influencing India, Kadam said, “It was my duty as a senior [journalist] to come forward and stand by my colleague, and I shall continue doing so.” She further pointed out that the incident could have been avoided if the political party organising the protest had taken all the necessary precautions. Kadam described the meeting with Fadnavis as fruitful and said the Chief Minister had also condemned the trolling and the attack on the press. She also thanked the support from journalists bodies.&nbs

Trust tax overhaul sparks $40b fight with business and the Greens Labor’s plan to impose a minimum 30 per cent tax on discretionary trusts is forecast to raise more than $40 billion over a decade, but accountants and business groups warn of costly restructuring and compliance headaches. The Greens are pushing on exemptions (including charities), while NSW moves to waive stamp duty for trust restructures—showing how quickly the federal proposal is rippling through state budgets and household planning. Covered by: Sydney Morning Herald, Australian Financial Review, The Australian. Senate torpedoes $3b aged-care funding plan tied to private health rebates Labor’s bid to cut private health insurance rebates for over-65s—intended to free up $3 billion for aged care—was sunk after the Coalition and Greens combined with crossbench support to discharge the bill. Health Minister Mark Butler has vowed to bring it back, setting up a fresh parliamentary brawl over

Wednesday, 14 October 2026 #1  ·  Front Page / Times Nation  ·  Ground report Pjb anti-drugs activist shot dead on live cam By Neel Kamal   ·   The Times of India, New Delhi  ·  Page Page 1, continued Page 16 Anti-drug activist Parminder Singh Jhota, 45, was shot dead in broad daylight in Mansa, Punjab, while livestreaming a confrontation with chemist Ashwani Kumar whom he accused of selling synthetic drugs. Kumar fired multiple times, hitting Jhota and four bystanders; Jhota died of three bullet wounds. The killing triggered a complete business shutdown in Mansa, political backlash against the AAP government, and Jhota's father — a former Army man — refused to cremate the body until the accused was caught. Kamal reconstructs the killing with precise chronology drawn from CCTV, Facebook live footage, named witnesses and hospital sources, and situates it within Punjab's chronic drug crisis and