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News at Another Perspective

Google steps in to bail out vicious left-liberal “news portals” dealing with existential menace in India

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Google India has come out to help left-liberal media content material fairly explicitly. The world’s largest search engine and tech main Google has introduced that it’s going to launch a information startup in collaboration with an organisation related to many left-liberal “news portals”. Google News Initiative (GNI) Startups Lab India:Google India tweeted, “We’ve got news for those in News. In partnership with DIGIPUB News India Foundation & Echos, we are launching GNI Startups Lab India – an accelerator program tailored to the needs of content startups in India, to help 10 businesses achieve sustainability.” We’ve obtained information for these in News 🗞️In partnership with @DigipubIndia & @escoladt, we’re launching GNI Startups Lab India – an accelerator program tailor-made to the wants of content material startups in India, to assist 10 companies obtain sustainability.Apply: https://t.co/u8A3HXEcmu.— Google India (@GoogleIndia) September 9, 2021Under the Google News Initiative (GNI), the tech main will supply a four-month programme that “seeks to help independent local or single-subject journalism organisations find a pathway to financial and operational sustainability through intensive coaching, skills training and other support”.What is the DIGIPUB News India Foundation:The DIGIPUB News India Foundation was shaped final yr. Its founding members are a bunch of media homes, most of that are left-liberal “news portals” specifically Alt News, Article 14, Boomlive, Cobrapost, HW News, Newsclick, Newslaundry, Scroll, The News Minute, The Quint and The Wire. DIGIPUB News India Foundation is clearly a bunch of digital publishers that seemingly goals to create a powerful leftist ecosystem. There is cheap freedom of forming skilled associations in India and as such, it’s fully alright for left-liberal information portals to coalesce and kind one thing like a DIGIPUB News India Foundation. However, with all the historical past of portals like The Wire, Alt News and Scroll publishing content material that strongly leans in the direction of the left-liberal ideology, we’re befuddled as to how might Google help “independent local or single-subject journalism organisations.” Newsclick dealing with cash laundering allegations:Newsclick, one of many founding members of the DIGIPUB News India Foundation, is dealing with a cash laundering case arising out of an FIR lodged by the Delhi Police alleging that PPK Newsclick Studio Pvt Ltd acquired an FDI of Rs 9.59 crore from Worldwide Media Holdings LLC USA through the monetary yr 2018-19. The FIR claimed that the FDI was made after overvaluing the shares of the corporate to bypass the 26 per cent restrict on FDI in a digital information web site.Presently, the abovementioned FDI and one other receipt of Rs 20.92 crore proven as receipts for “export of services” is reportedly below the scanner of the Enforcement Directorate (ED). It is additional alleged by sources that cash acquired by NewsClick on from US-based corporations was used to make funds for “petty maintenance work”, to a “NewsClick stakeholder who maintains the social media accounts of the CPI(M)”, and Gautam Navlakha, an accused within the Bhima Koregaon case. Prabir Purkayastha, who was just lately granted interim safety within the case by Delhi High Court, is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Newsclick. Prabir can be the Vice Chairperson of DIGIPUB News India Foundation. At the top of the day, we don’t anticipate a lot from large tech. However, Google’s newest initiative to associate with a left-liberal portals group speaks volumes of its political bias.