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Where is Ajit Doval and General Rawat?

The National Security Advisor Ajit Doval has been conspicuous by his silence on the developments in Ladakh. The high-profile NSA, who photographed himself having Biryani on the deserted streets of Srinagar and controlling riots (more precisely he was sent to control the police) in North-East Delhi, has curiously not uttered a word on the standoff. Not that he is a shy person. Earlier he has flaunted his photographs on the Yoga Day in China and with his friends in Israel and in the UAE.

But the man of all seasons has nothing to say on Ladakh. Nor has the Home Minister Amit Shah, who had roared that India would wrest Gilgit, Baltistan and Aksai Chin back from Pakistan and China, uttered a word after the Chinese soldiers apparently intruded and took over Indian territory, according to strategic and security experts.

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Readers ask why has there been no TV debate on PM CARES and where is the NSA? - National Herald

Three mornings a week Janet Stolp joins a dozen friends on Zoom for Take a Breath with Janet, a social outlet to help relieve stress.

Stolp started the get-togethers in mid-March, and what began as a video chat with several friends expanded to a dozen people sharing how theyre coping with aspects of navigating everyday life during these trying times. The gathering was named Take a Breath with Janet because she is known for a mindful deep breathing practice. GET SUPPORT FOR YOUR WELL-BEING

From staying fit to caring for your mental health, the Keep Working website has plenty of free and discounted resources available to Duke employees.

When I begin to feel any tension or stress during my day I pull away for five to 10 minutes and takes some deep breaths, relax my muscles and focus on the present moment, said Stolp, a nurse clinician for Duke Healths Advanced Clinical Practice. I notice things that I am grateful for, especially my own breath in that moment.

Daily stress is affecting most Americans during the COVID-19 crisis, according toan April pollby Gallup, a global analytics and advisory firm. Sixty percent of U.S. adults are experiencing significant stress and worry daily, 14 percent more than in August 2019, the Gallup poll reports.

Andrea Savage, a counselor with Dukes Personal Assistance Service, attributes the mysterious nature of COVID-19 for causing so much worry.

COVID-19 is an open-ended question, Savage said. If we all knew the world would return to normal on June 30, then we would all be doing much better. Were experiencing this anticipatory grief and stress about what the future looks like.

Learn how you can lead yourself through stressful situations with these techniques.

Melissa Neeley has been managing stress by meticulously scheduling her online calendar since working from home.

Neeley, who once only used her calendar for meetings, now blocks off time for lunch and exercise breaks,webinars and other needs.

I get stressed out by the unknown, so seeing everything laid out on my calendar gives me a sense of control, said Neeley, a building manager and operations support for the John Hope Franklin Center.

Successful time management gives you direction for what you need to do each day, said Marjorie Siegert, senior practitioner for Dukes Learning & Organization Development, a division of Human Resources.

Siegert recommends writing a daily to-do list, putting deadlines on your calendar and finding times during the day when youre most productive. Siegert starts work about 6:30 a.m. The morning is when she can think clearly on long-term projects.

As deadlines approach and our to-do lists grow we all get a little anxious, Siegert said. We lose the feeling of control. Having that to-do list or detailed calendar to reference when your mind is in a thousand places provides clarity.

Chuck Geddie has reduced the amount of news he consumes since mid-March.

Geddie used to spend 10 to 15 minutes scrolling through WRAL and CNNs websites in the morning. He quit that practice when headlines about COVID-19 made him feel fatigued and anxious. His mood improved when he read other news and sources rather than grim, national headlines.

Im more focused on Dukes plan for reopening than the countrys, said Geddie, an engineering scientist for Duke Neurosurgery. Im staying at home. Im physical distancing. Knowing the daily infection and death counts added a weight on my shoulders that I didnt need. It helped to focus on whats directly impacting me.

Nearly 70 percent of Americans say they need to take a break from COVID-19 news, according to an April report by the Pew Research Center. Additionally, 43 percent of respondents said the news leaves them feeling worse.

Savage, the PAS counselor, says too much news on a disturbing topic can affect mental health by increasing anxiety and souring your mood.

Savage recommends visiting one trusted news source in the morning and evening and limiting yourself to checking social media a few times a day. She watches the 6 p.m. local news each night and hides news sources from her Facebook feed.

Cutting out the news doesnt have to be something you do for your whole life, Savage said. Monitor how you feel when you visit a news site or watch on the TV. See if you feel anxious or irritable after. Its OK to take a break.

Stress can cause a weakened immune system and a spike in high blood sugar and heartburn.

Esther Granville, manager of health coaching and nutrition programs for LIVE FOR LIFE, Dukes employee wellness program, recommends eating well-balanced mealsto mitigate stress physiological effects. The Office of Disease Preventions 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends half of your plate be fruits and vegetables, one quarter be grains and the other quarter of the plate be lean, low-fat proteins.

We often feel worn out after a stressful moment because our adrenaline has been pumping, Granville said.A balanced meal helps stabilize your blood sugar and gives you the nutritional support so you have the energy to rebound.

Avoiding certain foods can help with controlling stress. For example, caffeine increases stress hormones, which makes anxiety-provoking situations feel more nerve-wracking. Alcohol worsens stress and anxiety by lowering serotonin; serotonin contributes to feelings of happiness.

Granville said keeping a food journal is a helpful way to track stress.

Write down what you eat and drink and how you feel before and after eating, Granville said. You may start to notice that glass of wine or bag of chips left you feeling even more stressed afterward.

Sleep recharges our brains and bodies, but only if were getting the appropriate amount.

Aatif Husain, a professor of neurology and doctor for theDuke Sleep Disorders Center, said the average adult should get anywhere from seven to eight hours of sleep each night to effectively increase positive emotions, improve memory and strengthen our immune system.

Stress and sleep are inherently tied together, Husain said. Sleep keeps us calm, helps us focus and puts us in a better mood. Alternatively, a lack of sleep can exacerbate our problems and make us more stressed.

If youre struggling to fall asleep, wake up multiple times each night or dont feel rested after a full nights sleep, Husain has a few tips to help:

A good way to know if you are getting enough sleep is if you wake up before your alarm, Husain said. If people need their alarms it means theyre going to bed too late.

Rachel Karasik and other colleagues in the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions began sharing free fitness resources with coworkers who found it difficult to exercise at the start of the pandemic.

Karasik shared free online classes from CorePower Yoga, a national yoga studio chain. Other colleagues circulated Duke Recreations workout video library and Zumba classes on YouTube. They compiled these resources in a Google Doc for everyone in the Nicholas Institute to access.

COVID-19 forces you to open up with people, said Karasik, a policy associate for the Nicholas Institute. Sharing ways that you have found joy might turn a future bad day into a good one for a coworker if they know about a fun workout or a yummy recipe they can try.

Video: J. Bryan Sexton, director of the Duke Center for Healthcare Safety & Quality, explains how practicing gratitude helps alleviate stress.

Help share the proactive and extensive work being done by all Duke community members during the COVID-19 outbreak. Send ideas, shout-outs and photographshereor write us atworking@duke.edu

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How to Lead Yourself in Stressful Times - Duke Today

Primary composite first and total major adverse cardiovascular event (MACE) reductions of 23% each shown with VASCEPA in prespecified tertiary and post hoc exploratory analyses of the subgroup of people with diabetes

Key secondary composite first and total MACE reductions of 30% and 29%, respectively, shown with VASCEPA in prespecified tertiary and post hoc exploratory subgroup analyses

Reductions also observed in post hoc exploratory analyses of other composite endpoints, in people with diabetes, and in people with established cardiovascular disease with or without diabetes at baseline

DUBLIN, Ireland and BRIDGEWATER, N.J., June 15, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Amarin Corporation plc (NASDAQ:AMRN) today announced that data from the REDUCE-IT study presented during the 80th Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association by Deepak L. Bhatt, M.D., M.P.H., Brigham and Womens Hospital Heart & Vascular Center and Harvard Medical School, showed that administration of 4 g/day of VASCEPA (icosapent ethyl) resulted in significant 23% reductions in both first and total primary composite major adverse cardiovascular events (5-point MACE) in people with diabetes. Reductions of 30% and 29% were observed in both first and total hard (3-point) MACE, the key secondary composite endpoint, respectively. The late-breaking presentation, titled Substantial Cardiovascular Benefit from Icosapent Ethyl in Patients with Diabetes: REDUCE-IT DIABETES was heard on June 13, 2020 at 10:00 am CST.

The leading cause of morbidity and mortality in type 2 diabetes mellitus continues to be cardiovascular disease, especially in those patients who already have established atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD).1 Above normal blood levels of triglycerides (TG) are common in patients with diabetes,2,3 and have been associated with increased ASCVD (30% and 23% higher risk for non-fatal myocardial infarction (MI) and stroke, respectively) in this patient population, despite statin therapy.4

Many of the worlds leading diabetes and cardiovascular disease professional societies, including the American Diabetes Association (ADA) and the American Heart Association (AHA), are working to educate patients and clinicians on the urgent need to identify and manage risk with appropriate therapies. The AHA Scientific Statement on Clinical Management of Stable Coronary Artery Disease in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus, published in April of this year, states that icosapent ethyl is the first nonLDL (low-density lipoprotein)-focused lipid therapy to demonstrate cardiovascular benefit and should be considered first-line therapy for patients with T2DM (type 2 diabetes mellitus) and CAD (coronary artery disease) whose triglycerides remain elevated (>135 mg/dL) despite maximally tolerated statin and lifestyle changes.1

People with diabetes are at markedly increased risk of cardiovascular disease, and that intersection has become a target for research and a focus for clinical care, commented Dr. Deepak L. Bhatt, M.D., M.P.H., Executive Director of Interventional Cardiovascular Programs at Brigham and Womens Hospital Heart & Vascular Center and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and senior author of the REDUCE-IT DIABETES analyses. In these analyses, we see the substantial impact that icosapent ethyl could have on reducing cardiovascular risks and complications from diabetes.

The prespecified tertiary and post hoc exploratory analyses from the REDUCE-IT study showed that, for the primary composite endpoint of 5-point MACE, time to first event was significantly reduced with VASCEPA versus placebo by 23% (p<0.0001) and total (first and subsequent) events were also reduced by 23% (p=0.0003) in the subgroup of people with diabetes. For the key secondary composite endpoint of 3-point MACE, time to first event was reduced by 30% (p<0.0001) and total events were reduced by 29% (p<0.0001) in the subgroup of people with diabetes. Observed reductions in MACE were supported by further post hoc exploratory analyses of the data across cardiovascular risk category and diabetes status at baseline.

The REDUCE-IT DIABETES subgroup analyses further our understanding of the potential for VASCEPA to benefit people with diabetes, said Steven Ketchum, Ph.D., senior vice president and president, research & development and chief scientific officer, Amarin. The data in our analyses shows consistent outcomes across the at-risk population and supports that VASCEPA can help reduce the already significant burden of cardiovascular disease in people with diabetes.

These REDUCE-IT analyses suggest benefits with VASCEPA that are incremental to those of statin and other therapies with known cardiovascular benefit, including anti-diabetic medications that were well-utilized across people with diabetes, approximately half of whom were taking two or more anti-diabetic therapies.

REDUCE-IT was not specifically powered to examine patient subgroups, therefore p-values presented for these diabetes analyses are nominal and exploratory with no adjustment for multiple comparisons. In addition, while the cardiovascular risk categories of established cardiovascular disease or diabetes plus additional risks were stratification factors, the presence or absence of diabetes in patients with established cardiovascular disease was not. These REDUCE-IT DIABETES results include both prespecified tertiary and post hoc exploratory analyses. Nonetheless, results from these time to first and total events analyses consistently suggest benefit across the various endpoints and recurrent event statistical models. Together, the REDUCE-IT DIABETES first and total events results support the robustness and consistency of the clinical benefit of VASCEPA therapy beyond current standards of medical management in reducing cardiovascular events in patients with diabetes.

Slides from the presentation will be made available on http://www.acc.org.

Financial Disclosure

Funding from Amarin was provided to Brigham and Womens Hospital for Dr. Deepak L. Bhatts work as the REDUCE-IT study chair and global principal investigator.

About Amarin

Amarin Corporation plc is a rapidly growing, innovative pharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing therapeutics to cost-effectively improve cardiovascular health. Amarins lead product, VASCEPA (icosapent ethyl), is available by prescription in the United States, Canada, Lebanon and the United Arab Emirates. Amarin, together with its commercial partners in select geographies, is pursuing additional regulatory approvals for VASCEPA in China, the European Union and the Middle East. For more information about Amarin, visit http://www.amarincorp.com.

About Cardiovascular Risk

The number of deaths in the United States attributed to cardiovascular disease continues to rise. There are 605,000 new and 200,000 recurrent heart attacks per year (approximately 1 every 40 seconds), in the United States. Stroke rates are 795,000 per year (approximately 1 every 40 seconds), accounting for 1 of every 19 U.S. deaths. Cardiovascular disease results in 859,000 deaths per year in the United States.5 In aggregate, this is more than 2.4 million major adverse cardiovascular events per year from cardiovascular disease or, on average, one every 13 seconds in the United States alone.

Controlling bad cholesterol, also known as LDL-C, is one way to reduce a patients risk for cardiovascular events, such as heart attack, stroke or death. However, even with the achievement of target LDL-C levels, millions of patients still have significant and persistent risk of cardiovascular events, especially those patients with elevated triglycerides. Statin therapy has been shown to control LDL-C, thereby reducing the risk of cardiovascular events by 25-35%.6 Significant cardiovascular risk remains after statin therapy. People with elevated triglycerides have 35% more cardiovascular events compared to people with normal (in range) triglycerides taking statins.7,8,9

About REDUCE-IT

REDUCE-IT was a global cardiovascular outcomes study designed to evaluate the effect of VASCEPA in adult patients with LDL-C controlled to between 41-100 mg/dL (median baseline 75 mg/dL) by statin therapy and various cardiovascular risk factors including persistent elevated triglycerides between 135-499 mg/dL (median baseline 216 mg/dL) and either established cardiovascular disease (secondary prevention cohort) or diabetes mellitus and at least one other cardiovascular risk factor (primary prevention cohort).

REDUCE-IT, conducted over seven years and completed in 2018, followed 8,179 patients at over 400 clinical sites in 11 countries with the largest number of sites located within the United States. REDUCE-IT was conducted based on a special protocol assessment agreement with FDA. The design of the REDUCE-IT study was published in March 2017 in Clinical Cardiology.10 The primary results of REDUCE-IT were published in The New England Journal of Medicine in November 2018.11 The total events results of REDUCE-IT were published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology in March 2019.12 These and other publications can be found in the R&D section on the companys website at http://www.amarincorp.com.

About VASCEPA (icosapent ethyl) Capsules

VASCEPA (icosapent ethyl) capsules are the first-and-only prescription treatment approved by the FDA comprised solely of the active ingredient, icosapent ethyl (IPE), a unique form of eicosapentaenoic acid. VASCEPA was initially launched in the United States in 2013 based on the drugs initial FDA approved indication for use as an adjunct therapy to diet to reduce triglyceride levels in adult patients with severe (500 mg/dL) hypertriglyceridemia. Since launch, VASCEPA has been prescribed over eight million times. VASCEPA is covered by most major medical insurance plans. The new, cardiovascular risk indication for VASCEPA was approved by the FDA in December 2019.

Indications and Limitation of Use

VASCEPA is indicated:

The effect of VASCEPA on the risk for pancreatitis in patients with severe hypertriglyceridemia has not been determined.

Important Safety Information

Key clinical effects of VASCEPA on major adverse cardiovascular events are included in the Clinical Studies section of the prescribing information for VASCEPA, as set forth below:

Effect of VASCEPA on Time to First Occurrence of Cardiovascular Events in Patients with Elevated Triglyceride levels and Other Risk Factors for Cardiovascular Disease in REDUCE-IT

n (%)

n (%)

(17.2)

(22.0)

(0.68, 0.83)

(11.2)

(14.8)

(0.65, 0.83)

(6.1)

(8.7)

(0.58, 0.81)

(5.3)

(7.8)

(0.55, 0.78)

(4.3)

(5.2)

(0.66, 0.98)

(2.6)

(3.8)

(0.53, 0.87)

(2.4)

(3.3)

(0.55, 0.93)

[2] Determined to be caused by myocardial ischemia by invasive/non-invasive testing and requiring emergent hospitalization.

FULL VASCEPA PRESCRIBING INFORMATION CAN BE FOUND AT http://WWW.VASCEPA.COM.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements, including statements regarding the potential impact of VASCEPA in various clinical uses. These forward-looking statements are not promises or guarantees and involve substantial risks and uncertainties. Among the factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described or projected herein include the following: uncertainties associated generally with research and development and clinical trials such as further clinical evaluations failing to confirm earlier findings. A further list and description of these risks, uncertainties and other risks associated with an investment in Amarin can be found in Amarin's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including its most recent Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. Existing and prospective investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. Amarin undertakes no obligation to update or revise the information contained in this press release, whether as a result of new information, future events or circumstances or otherwise. Amarins forward-looking statements do not reflect the potential impact of significant transactions the company may enter into, such as mergers, acquisitions, dispositions, joint ventures or any material agreements that Amarin may enter into, amend or terminate.

Availability of Other Information About Amarin

Investors and others should note that Amarin communicates with its investors and the public using the company website (www.amarincorp.com), the investor relations website (investor.amarincorp.com), including but not limited to investor presentations and investor FAQs, Securities and Exchange Commission filings, press releases, public conference calls and webcasts. The information that Amarin posts on these channels and websites could be deemed to be material information. As a result, Amarin encourages investors, the media, and others interested in Amarin to review the information that is posted on these channels, including the investor relations website, on a regular basis. This list of channels may be updated from time to time on Amarins investor relations website and may include social media channels. The contents of Amarins website or these channels, or any other website that may be accessed from its website or these channels, shall not be deemed incorporated by reference in any filing under the Securities Act of 1933.

Amarin Contact Information

Investor Inquiries:Elisabeth SchwartzInvestor RelationsAmarin Corporation plcIn U.S.: +1 (908) 719-1315investor.relations@amarincorp.com (investor inquiries)

Lee M. SternSolebury TroutIn U.S.: +1 (646) 378-2992lstern@soleburytrout.com

Media Inquiries:Alina KolomeyerCommunicationsAmarin Corporation plcIn U.S.: +1 (908) 892-2028PR@amarincorp.com (media inquiries)

___________________________________

1 Arnold SV, Bhatt DL, Barsness GW, et al. Clinical Management of Stable Coronary Artery Disease in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association. Circulation. 2020;141(19):e779e806. doi:10.1161/CIR.0000000000000766

2 Fan W, Philip S, Granowitz C, Toth PP, Wong ND. Residual Hypertriglyceridemia and Estimated Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease Risk by Statin Use in U.S. Adults With Diabetes: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2007-2014. Diabetes Care. 2019;42(12):23072314.

3 Rana JS, Liu JY, Moffet HH, et al. Metabolic dyslipidemia and risk of coronary heart disease in 28,318 adults with diabetes mellitus and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol <100 mg/dl. Am J Cardiol. 2015;116:1700-1704.

4 Nichols GA, Philip S, Reynolds K, Granowitz CB, Fazio S. Increased residual cardiovascular risk in patients with diabetes and high versus normal triglycerides despite statin-controlled LDL cholesterol. Diabetes Obes Metab. 2019;21(2):366371.

5 American Heart Association. Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics2020 Update: A Report From the American Heart Association. Circulation. 2020;141:e139e596.

6 Ganda OP, Bhatt DL, Mason RP, et al. Unmet need for adjunctive dyslipidemia therapy in hypertriglyceridemia management. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2018;72(3):330-343.

7 Budoff M. Triglycerides and triglyceride-rich lipoproteins in the causal pathway of cardiovascular disease. Am J Cardiol. 2016;118:138-145.

8 Toth PP, Granowitz C, Hull M, et al. High triglycerides are associated with increased cardiovascular events, medical costs, and resource use: A real-world administrative claims analysis of statin-treated patients with high residual cardiovascular risk. J Am Heart Assoc. 2018;7(15):e008740.

9 Nordestgaard BG. Triglyceride-rich lipoproteins and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease - New insights from epidemiology, genetics, and biology. Circ Res. 2016;118:547-563.

10 Bhatt DL, Steg PG, Brinton E, et al., on behalf of the REDUCE-IT Investigators. Rationale and Design of REDUCEIT: Reduction of Cardiovascular Events with Icosapent EthylIntervention Trial. Clin Cardiol. 2017;40:138-148.

11 Bhatt DL, Steg PG, Miller M, et al., on behalf of the REDUCE-IT Investigators. Cardiovascular Risk Reduction with Icosapent Ethyl for Hypertriglyceridemia. N Engl J Med. 2019;380:11-22.

12 Bhatt DL, Steg PG, Miller M, et al., on behalf of the REDUCE-IT Investigators. Reduction in first and total ischemic events with icosapent ethyl across baseline triglyceride tertiles. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2019;74:1159-1161.

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VASCEPA (icosapent ethyl) Shows Significant Cardiovascular Risk Reduction in People with Diabetes in Prespecified and Post Hoc Subgroup Analyses of...

Dublin, June 15, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Pandemic Outbreaks in the Past Decade: A Research Overview" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

Pandemics are outbreaks of disease that become widespread by the transmission of human-to-human infection. Throughout recent history, disease outbreaks and pandemics include Spanish flu, Hong Kong flu, SARS, H7N9, Ebola, and Zika. The main features of a pandemic include broad geographic spread, disease movement, novelty, intensity, high attack rates, and explosivity, limited population immunity, infectiousness, and contagiousness. Pandemics adversely have affected the health of the global population and destabilized the world's economies, social infrastructures, and both geopolitical and natural environments.

Human history has experienced major pandemics such as smallpox, cholera, plague, dengue, AIDS, influenza, extreme acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), West Nile disease, and tuberculosis. Influenza pandemics are sporadic yet frequent phenomena. Since the 1500s, influenza pandemics have occurred about three times a century, or about every 10 to 50 years. Three influenza pandemics occurred in the 20th century: 1918 influenza pandemic (Spanish flu), 1957-1958 pandemic (Asian flu), and the 1968 pandemic (Hong Kong flu). Each pandemic harmed human life and economic growth. For example, the 1918 influenza pandemic killed more than 20 million people worldwide. The World Health Organization (WHO) cites that pandemic as the deadliest in world history.

This Report Includes:

Key Topics Covered:

Chapter 1 Introduction

Chapter 2 Introduction to Pandemics

Chapter 3 H1N1 Influenza (Swine Influenza)

Chapter 4 Ebola Virus Disease

Chapter 5 Middle East Respiratory Syndrome

Chapter 6 Coronavirus Disease 2019 (SARS-CoV-2)

Chapter 7 Lessons Learned from History

Chapter 8 Appendix

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/jo3r3i

About ResearchAndMarkets.comResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends.

Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research.

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A Research Overview of Pandemic Outbreaks in the Past Decade 2010-2020 - GlobeNewswire

By: Editorial | Updated: June 12, 2020 3:11:36 pm Clearly, the J&K administrations ideas of democratic governance are very different from what the Constitution of India promises.

The New Media Policy of the Jammu & Kashmir administration resembles 1984 in its 53 pages of rules and regulations on what is news, the setting up of a mechanism for monitoring of fake news, conditions newspapers need to meet in order to be empanelled and under what circumstances they will be de-empanelled. The J&K Directorate of Information and Public Relations may not have George Orwells vocabulary but the framers of this policy have managed to provide a remarkably clear picture of the media they want journalists and news organisations answerable not to their readers, nor even to their editors, but to government bureaucrats and security officials, who will have the powers to decide which news item is fake or anti-national; and with these determinations, to further decide the economic viability of a newspaper through the carrots and sticks of government advertisements. Officials will sit in judgement on journalistic ethics and issues of plagiarism. All this for building a genuinely positive image of the government based on performance, and to build public trust and increase public understanding about the Governments roles and responsibilities. In case anyone missed it, a Goebbelsian reminder is provided under the separate sub-head of Repetition: Wherever possible a repetitive schedule shall be devised for placement of important information to ensure it receives public consideration.

Clearly, the J&K administrations ideas of democratic governance are very different from what the Constitution of India promises. Though the government talks of bringing equality to the people of the former state, its heavy-handed approach has ensured that the people of J&K have not yet been given the opportunity to voice their opinion on the August 5, 2019 decision to strip the erstwhile state of its special status under Article 370, and bifurcate it into two union territories. Political leaders were jailed and a former chief minister is still under house arrest. The internet has still not been restored to its full strength. Restrictions on the media ensured that there was no first draft of history from the ground. At a time when democratic political voices remain missing in J&K, the new media policy is a further affront, intended to keep control of the narrative of J&K.

An indication of the new normal for journalism in and about J&K that the government wants to create came last month, when it booked photographer Masrat Zehra and journalist-author Gowhar Geelani under anti-terror laws for social media posts, and registered a case over a report in a national newspaper, summoning its Srinagar correspondent for questioning. A free media can help the government take the right actions more effectively than sunshine stories. The government should enable an atmosphere for free and fearless journalism, instead of creating policies to obstruct and prevent it.

The Indian Express is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@indianexpress) and stay updated with the latest headlines

For all the latest Opinion News, download Indian Express App.

The Indian Express (P) Ltd

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Ministry of Truth - The Indian Express