000-tobecategorised

To this day we don’t know the exact number of those who died at Prayagraj on January 29. The figures “30 dead and 60 injured” provided by the Uttar Pradesh Police were the ones that the mainstream media chose to run with. Some added, for abundant caution, terms like “at least” and “more than” because the police data somehow seemed too pat, especially as other journalists, less yoked to power, had counted at least double that number of dead bodies. Another piece of information that was intriguingly missing from the narrative was the number of those who were untraceable. https://thewire.in/media/backstory-ways-in-which-news-of-the-stampedes-has-been-made-to-vanish-in-double-time 

If the numbers were vaporised out of the reportage, so were the very sites of death and destruction. Before a proper forensic examination could be even conducted, bulldozers were brought in to carry away mangled human remains and personal effects of the dead, making it impossible to do a proper reconstruction of the sequence of events that had led to the calamity. News did come in of another stampede, albeit a smaller one, but here again the prompt cleaning up operations removed any evidence of it.

If the story goes against the establishment’s interests, place hurdles in reporters’ access 

By the time the New Delhi Railway Station stampede had occurred a fortnight later, it appeared that the Modi government had learnt several lessons from the Prayagraj events. Here you had pro-active attempts to keep all media attention at bay. As bodies were taken to the Lok Nayak Jaya Prakash Hospital, yellow police barricades quickly ringfenced it and police personnel stopped mediapersons in their tracks as they sought to go in.

If the story potentially ignites public outrage, neutralise public outrage through prompt and targeted action

Even as people were searching for their missing relatives, some post-mortems had been completed, and all evidence of the stampede removed.

Simultaneously, relatives were strongly discouraged from talking to the media. 

by Pamela Philipose

22/02/2025

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According to the CPCB’s report, the water quality at several monitoring sites was found to be sub-standard during inspections on January 12 and subsequently on Januay 23, 2025. ..The report stated that, especially on the auspicious bathing days, the biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) levels were found to be higher than the normal standard of three milligrams (mg) per litre at multiple locations,..

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One car is changing the market sentiment on Maruti. Will it be worth it? https://themorningcontext.com/business/one-car-is-changing-the-market-sentiment-on-maruti-will-it-be-worth-it  India's largest carmaker has solidified its hold in the domestic market on the back of its multi-fuel strategy. With the e Vitara, albeit a late entry to electric vehicles, it hopes to grab a bigger slice of the global auto pie. Azman Usmani 19 February, 2025