When hundreds of media workers died of Covid-19 complications across India, a few people thought the corona disaster would also devastate the print media with sharply declined circulation figures resulting in shrinking advertisement revenues. Many established newspaper-publishing groups either closed many of their editions in the post-corona period or drastically reduced the number of employees to cope up with the hard situation. Some newspapers were shut down forever and many owners were compelled to sell their publications. The troubles are now brewing for the oldest media house in north-eastern region after a Dimapur-based English daily recently ceased its publications. The employees, who once proudly introduced themselves as being associated with the Guwahati-based media group, are now crying for regular salaries. The employees union officially stated that they have not received their salaries for more than two months. Moreover many employees including the working journalists, who were retired in the last few years, are still deprived of their due financial benefits under the lawful provisions. One can remember, the salaries of employees in the pioneer media group were never lapsed till last year. But it’s yet to be asserted what tempted the management to create the unhealthy situation for months even though the media house was showing profit making balance sheets till the last fiscal year.
The current management has cited the outstanding dues from the State information and public relations directorate to the tune of Rs 6 crores (against the published advertisements in the last few months) that delayed the release of salaries and other benefits to the employees. Now the union representatives appeal to the government for supporting all the media houses with regular payments (against the sanctioned and published advertisements) and if possible allow a higher rate so that the owners can deliver necessary benefits to their employees. They went ahead asking the authorities to direct the government employees, educational institutions and libraries to buy local newspapers regularly. If necessary, the government should allocate a separate fund for the purpose so that the print media of Assam can survive with some dignity. The union representatives had however insisted on diversifying the revenue models, so that the managements need not to depend on government sponsored advertisements only (which often come with some hidden conditions). Meanwhile, social media space was full of unconfirmed reports that the concerned media house is readied for sale. A powerful media group is seemingly interested in buying the entire property along with the newspapers. Some claim that one newspaper in regional language was almost sold to another media group with a deal of around Rs 20 crores. But the concerned management recently made a statement that all this information was false and without merit. It was committed to editorial independence, journalistic integrity, and continued services to its readers, advertisers, and stakeholders. The management also urged all concerned to ignore such speculation and misinformation.
Many observers argue that the prestigious house usually maintains its credibility while disseminating information, editorial viewpoints and other pieces of articles, but in recent times the same principles were compromised. The newspapers under the group openly supported the anti-CAA movement in Assam and gave a huge space to the movement against the centre’s initiative to allow the persecuted Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Christian nationals coming from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh prior to 31 December 2014 for applying for Indian citizenship with relaxed provisions. The chaos engulfed the Brahmaputra valley for weeks where it was reminded that the new citizenship act will dishonor the Assam Accord (signed in 1985 to culminate the six years long Asom Andolan). In another occasion, those newspapers made a series of voluminous reports on a local press club election just ahead of the Covid-19 with little or no credibility. The bias reporting with the intention of character assassinations to a widely known individual simply put their credibility on stake. Even though the present status of the media group is pathetic, it was undoubtedly orchestrated by a section of arrogant employees only, who enjoyed an unlimited social-political power with no or little accountability. Finally they created the disorder where the management probably turned into a reluctant observer.
After months of uncertainties, the Press Council of India (PCI) recently got its chairman, but the space of 13 working journalists remains vacant till date. Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai, who served as the PCI chairman from 17 June 2022 to 16 December 2025, assumed the charge on 24 April 2026 once again. The retired judge of the Supreme Court of India was nominated for another term of three years. But the quotas for working journalists remain vacant as seven members, to be represented by professional scribes (other than editors) and six members, to be represented by journalist-editors, are yet to be picked up to complete the 15th council (https://presscouncil.nic.in/CurrentMemberPCI.aspx...
After Assam, Keralam and Puducherry (union territory), the State legislative assembly elections are knocking at the doors of Tamil Nadu and West Bengal in the second half of April 2026. Meanwhile, the millions of voters have shown an extraordinary commitment to electoral politics as they participated in the largely peaceful single-phase assembly polls on 9 April recording a high voters’ turnout. Assam recorded 85.96% voter participation in 126 assembly seats, where Puducherry showcased over 90% voting in 30 constituencies followed by Keralam (140 seats) with nearly 80% turnout.
Assam’s 2.50 crore electorates (including 1.25 crore female voters and 6.4 lakh first-timers...
As Assam goes to the single-phase polling tomorrow (9 April 2026), nearly 2.49 crore registered voters (including 5.75 lakh young/first time voters) will exercise their franchise to elect 126 representatives for the State legislative assembly. Under the guidelines of Election Commission of India, all types of campaigning had already came to a halt at 5 pm on Tuesday (48 hours prior to voting) where the authority urged all candidates, political parties, and media outlets to strictly follow the guidelines. The same timeline is made applicable for Kerala and Pondicherry as well, whereas Tamil Nadu will vote on 23 April, and West Bengal going for polling on 23 and 29 April next....
Landlocked Himalayan nation Nepal prepares for its ninth national election on 5 March, which was necessitated with the collapse of its government in Kathmandu during September last year following an anti-corruption mass uprising, which was initiated by the young people and resulted in the killing of dozens of agitators and injuring hundreds other. The south Asian country of around 30.55 million people, sandwiched between two giants India and Tibet/China, has readied all necessary arrangements for the single day polling through ballot papers under the protection of nearly 3,50,000 security personnel (with additional armed forces kept ready for an unwanted emergency situation...
Even all political parties, not to speak of millions of fans and well-wishers of Assam’s revered cultural icon Zubeen Garg, continue preaching for sparing the maverick singer’s name in doing politics, his mysterious death last year in a foreign land may dominate the electoral politics in the forthcoming legislative polls. Indications surface that Assam assembly elections (scheduled for March-April 2026 along with West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry) will observe a high voltage campaigning on Zubeen’s unexplained demise in Singapore on 19 September 2025 and subsequent investigation and judicial processes. Even after five months of his final departure, Zubeen continues...
As Bangladesh has constituted a new government under the leadership of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) after a largely fair & peaceful national election on 12 February 2026, the people of eastern India (the region virtually embraces the poverty stricken country except a few kilometers in Myanmar and the Bay of Bengal) hope for a progressive regime in Dhaka enjoying political stability and pursuing economic developments to over 170 million people in the south Asian nation. The Muslim majority country continues to grow as a headache for the north-eastern states, more precisely Assam, for at least two reasons namely unabated influx of migrants and regional security...
Amid high security arrangements across the country, polling begins this morning at 7:30 am for the highly projected 13th Jatiya Sansad election in Bangladesh, where over 2000 candidates representing 50 political parties along with many independent contestants are in the fray. The Muslim majority nation has over 12.77 crore registered voters including 6.27 crore women and 1,232 third-genders, who are voting for electing 299 representatives (out of 300 seats in the national assembly). Over 42,000 polling centres will facilitate the electorates to exercise their franchise (through ballots in person) till 4:30 pm (on 12 February 2026). The election will be conducted...
As Bangladesh heads for 13th Parliamentary election and the referendum on July National Charter simultaneously on Thursday (12 February 2026), the interim government chief Professor Muhammad Yunus urged all participating candidates to rise above personal and party interests to prioritize greater interest of the Muslim majority nation regardless of the poll-outcomes. Addressing the nation of over 170 million people ahead of the much watched electoral exercises, Nobel peace laureate Dr Yunus commented that victory as well as defeat is an integral part of democracy and hence after the election, they should dedicate themselves to build a new, just, democratic, and inclusive...
Is it possible to have a quasi-judicial body like the Press Council of India to survive for weeks without its chairperson? Should the largest democracy on Earth put such an example where its government recognized autonomous media watchdog faces an existential crisis as the 15th council of PCI still devoid of a functioning head and 13 seats? How come a press council runs its business without filling these 13 seats, meant for millions of media professionals, for more than a year now, whereas the term of a council is limited to three years only? Many such pertinent questions emerge among media professionals in the south Asian nation, as the regular three-year term (as well as...
Amid an existential crisis in the Guwahati-based Assam Tribune group of newspapers, which worsened after the Covid-19 pandemic, a popular Assamese weekly newspaper lost its publication in the latter part of 2025. Asom Bani, once a mainstream weekly for Assamese readers for decades, stopped hitting the stands from September last year, as the management lost interest in continuing its printing every Friday. Even though the seven-decade-old Assamese-language weekly was lost from the media market, the management did not make any statement about Asom Bani’s fate. Prior to its departure, the weekly was merged with Dainik Asom, an acclaimed Assamese daily from the prestigious media house, as its...
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