The Karnataka Union of Working Journalists (KUWJ) has urged the Karnataka government to expedite the implementation of the Rural Journalists’ Free Bus Pass Scheme and the Chief Minister’s Media Health Sanjeevini Scheme, calling for an immediate meeting of the committee responsible for overseeing the initiatives.  KUWJ State President Shivanand Tagadoor submitted a memorandum to M.N. Anuchetha, Commissioner of the Department of Information and Public Relations, requesting early implementation of both welfare schemes.  According to the memorandum, the Rural Journalists’ Free Bus Pass Scheme was launched by the Chief Minister during the Press Day celebrations on July 1, 2025. While hundreds of rural journalists have applied for the scheme, the committee responsible for approving applications has not convened, delaying the distribution of bus passes.  The union also highlighted that the Chief Minister’s Med

Author, journalist and academic Mehru Jaffer died in Goa on Wednesday following complications from an intestinal obstruction that led to sepsis. She was in her mid-70s.  The Uttar Pradesh Working Journalists’ Union paid tribute to Jaffer, remembering her as a pioneering journalist and one of the principal organisers of the Indian Federation of Working Journalists’ Chitrakoot conference in 1978. Condolences were also expressed by the IFWJ and the UP Press Club.  

Gullak, a gold savings platform that helps users plan and accumulate gold over time, has appointed The Womb as its strategic and creative partner to drive the next phase of its brand growth. The mandate was awarded without a pitch. As part of the partnership, The Womb will work on strengthening Gullak's brand positioning and reshaping the narrative around planned gold savings for a new generation of consumers. The agency said its organisational structure, which follows a 1:1:1 ratio of creative, planning, and account management, along with its proprietary Ladder of Effectiveness framework and "Simple & Unignorable" philosophy, supports its focus on delivering business results for clients.

For nearly two decades, freelance journalist Sameera Kapoor Munshi, who writes for Hindustan Times, has built her career around a simple principle: every story deserves to be verified, understood and told from the perspective of the people it affects. Over the years, she has reported across print and digital platforms, covering crime, civic affairs, aviation, transport, disasters and human-interest stories. Yet, regardless of the beat, her focus has remained the same: bringing public issues to light and ensuring ordinary citizens are heard. Interestingly, Sameera says she did not enter journalism with the ambition of becoming a reporter. "I gradually realised journalism gave me an opportunity to raise public issues before the right authorities and bring attention to problems that might otherwise go unnoticed." That sense of purpose continues to shape her reporting. Looking back on her career, Sameera believes the fundamentals of journalism have remained unchanged despi

Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Ajay Rai has urged the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to conduct an independent inquiry into what he described as a growing trend of criminal cases and police action against journalists, digital media professionals and independent reporters in the state. According to a party statement issued on July 30, Rai asked the commission to examine whether the use of criminal laws against journalists is affecting freedom of expression and press freedom.  In a letter to the NHRC Chairperson, Rai said freedom of speech under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution and an independent media are essential to a democratic system. He said journalists must be able to report on matters of public interest without fear.  Rai referred to cases involving senior journalist Abhishek Upadhyay, journalist Mamta Tripathi, reporters from The Wire, Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair and the late journalist Vinod Dua. He also noted concerns raised by the Editors Guil

I’ve been a critic of the News Bargaining code ever since its inception. However, I’m going to change positions and say the government has now gotten it “right enough”. With one big exception. My main beef with the code was, from a logic perspective, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to ask big technology companies to pay for sending their audience to news sites. Because the default response from big technology companies is to do what Meta has done in Canada, and simply stop featuring news on their platforms. To be clear, I believe that big technology companies should contribute more to our economy, and I’m more than ok with that being funnelled into supporting professional journalism. However, I have always argued that I would instead use a Digital Services tax to achieve that. That is what the government has introduced as its fallback position, for technology companies that don’t want to go to the negotiating table with the media companie