Modi govt spent over Rs 3,000 crore on self-promotion ads since 2018

News Network
July 23, 2023

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New Delhi, July 23: The Narendra Modi government has spent Rs 3,064.42 crore on advertisement and publicity for its schemes and programmes since 2018-19 with print media topping the list, though the overall advertisement budget has shown a decline.

The data provided by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in Rajya Sabha last week showed that the government spent Rs 1,338.56 crore in print media, Rs 1,273.06 crore in electronic media and Rs 452.80 crore on outdoor publicity between 2018-19 and 2023-24 till July 13 this year.

According to the data, the overall expenditure has declined from Rs 1,179.16 crore om 2018-19 to Rs 408.46 crore in 2022-23. 

In 2019-20, the advertisement expenditure had slumbed to Rs 708.18 crore. It further declined to Rs 409.47 crore in 2020-21 and Rs 315.98 crore in 2021-22 but picked up in 2022-23. 

Between April and July 13 this year, the government has spent Rs 43.16 crore on advertisements.

An analysis of the data showed that the electronic media had a higher share of the advertisement pie in 2018-19 and 2019-20 over the print media, its share declined in the next three fiscals.

In 2018-19, the electronic media got advertisements worth Rs 514.29 crore against print media's Rs 429.55 crore. The next fiscal too saw a similar trend though the advertisement budget was cut substantially owing to Covid-19 pandemic -- electronic media got Rs 316.99 crore against Rs 295.05 crore.

However, the trend reversed in 2020-21 when print media got Rs 197.49 crore against electronic media's Rs 167.90 crore. Similarly in 2021-22, it was Rs 179.04 crore against Rs 101.24 crore and Rs 220.34 crore and Rs 155.27 crore respectively.

The first four months of this fiscal, however, showed that electronic media spent was higher -- Rs 17.37 crore against Rs 17.09 crore in print.

The expenditure on outdoor publicity has come down drastically from Rs 235.33 crore in 2018-19 to Rs 32.85 crore in 2022-23. This fiscal so far, the government has spent Rs 8.70 crore.

In his written reply to the query of Trinamool Congress' Abir Ranjan Biswas, Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur has said that an independent third party agency, conducted an all India Survey/Impact Assessment Study of Multi-Media Campaigns executed by Central Bureau of Communication (CBC) covering 722 districts. 

"Findings of the study have been found to be very useful in planning effective communication strategies so as to ensure targeted information dissemination and last mile connectivity," he said.

In a similar but separate question by Congress' Syed Nasir Hussain, the Minister said the CBC releases campaigns relating to publicity/awareness about Government schemes/programmes keeping in view the factors like target audience, availability of budget etc. as indicated by the client ministries and departments.

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News Network
November 22,2025

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The Israeli regime’s forces have killed two Palestinian children in the Gaza Strip every day since the ceasefire began in early October, UNICEF has warned.

The UN children’s agency said on Friday that Israeli forces continue to attack Palestinians in Gaza even though the agreement was meant to stop the killing.

“Since 11 October, while the ceasefire has been in effect, at least 67 children have been killed in conflict-related incidents in the Gaza Strip. Dozens more have been injured. That is an average of almost two children killed every day since the ceasefire took effect,” UNICEF spokesperson Ricardo Pires said in Geneva, reminding that each number in the statistics represents a child whose life had ended violently.

“These are not statistics,” he said. “Each child had a story, a family, and a future that was stolen from them.”

Data from Palestinian factions, human rights groups, and government bodies recorded since the US-brokered ceasefire deal went into effect on October 10 show that Israeli forces have carried out numerous attacks, each constituting a separate ceasefire violation.

UNICEF teams say they repeatedly continue to witness heart-wrenching scenes of fearful Palestinian children sleeping outdoors with amputated limbs, while others live as orphans in flooded, makeshift shelters.

“I saw this myself in August. There is no safe place for them. The world cannot normalize their suffering,” Pires said, lamenting that the UN could “do a lot more if the aid that is really needed was entering faster.”

The UNICEF spokesperson warned that with the advent of winter, the risks for hundreds of thousands of displaced children will increase.

He warned, “The stakes are incredibly high” for children as winter acts as a threat multiplier, where children have no heating, no insulation, and few blankets. He said respiratory infections rise.

“Too many children have already paid the highest price,” Pires said. “Too many are still paying it, even under a ceasefire. The world promised them it would stop and that we would protect them.”

“Now we must act like it,” the UNICEF spokesperson added.

Since the Israeli regime launched its genocidal war against Palestinians in Gaza in October 2023, it has killed nearly 70,000 people in the territory, most of them women and children, and injured over 170,000 more, while reducing most of the structures in the enclave to rubble.

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News Network
December 5,2025

Mangaluru: In a significant step to curb online hate and intimidation, Mangaluru City Police have registered a suo motu case against multiple Instagram accounts accused of circulating alleged provocative and threatening content.

While monitoring social media activity on Tuesday, Kankanady Town PSI Anitha Nikkam identified the Instagram handle ‘team_targetttt_900’ for posting a hate message alongside images of lethal weapons. Another account, ‘team_nagara_900’, allegedly shared a threatening post targeting activist Bharath Kumdelu, tagging additional pages such as KARAVALI-OFFICIAL.

Several other accounts — including ‘immu_bhai.fan’, ‘target_boy_900’, ‘kings_of_manglore’, ‘team_target_boys.900’, ‘arshad_mangalore’, ‘target_ka19_ullal’, ‘team_target__’, ‘troll_tigersz_900’, ‘tr_group_900’, and ‘team_target_900’ — are also under scrutiny for spreading similar inflammatory material, police said.

Authorities have urged citizens, especially young social media users, to report suspicious pages and avoid engaging with groups that glorify violence or threaten individuals. Online hate can quickly escalate into real-world harm, and police stress that sharing or promoting such content can attract legal consequences.

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News Network
November 24,2025

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Israel has launched a new act of aggression on a residential neighborhood in Lebanon's capital, Beirut, killing and injuring about two dozen civilians.

The Israeli regime's military said in a statement that its forces carried out a so-called precise strike in a residential apartment in Dahiyeh in the southern suburbs of Beirut on Sunday.

The aggression targeted residential areas, killing at least five people and injuring more than 28 people, Lebanon's Health Ministry said. 

Hezbollah announced the martyrdom of senior Hezbollah commander Haytham Ali Tabatabai and four resistance fighters.

Lebanese President Michel Aoun condemned the airstrike, calling it a clear demonstration of Tel Aviv’s disregard for repeated international calls to halt violations on Lebanese soil.

“Israel refuses to implement international resolutions and all efforts aimed at ending the escalation and restoring stability,” Aoun said, urging the international community to take action to prevent further aggression.

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement also condemned the attack, holding the international community accountable. 

“The international community bears responsibility and continues to provide cover for these attacks as long as it does not restrain the occupiers,” said Ali Abu Shahin, a member of the group’s political bureau.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced that the Israeli army carried out a strike “in the heart of Beirut."

Netanyahu reportedly approved the operation following recommendations from top Israeli security officials.

Two senior US officials commented on the Israeli strike.

The first official said that Israel did not notify Americans in advance about the attack. "We were informed immediately after the strike was carried out."

The second senior official said that the "US knew for several days that Israel was planning to escalate its strikes in Lebanon, but did not know in advance the timing, location, or target of the strike."

Speaking from the site of the Israeli strike, Lebanese MP Ali Ammar condemned the attack as part of a broader campaign of aggression that has targeted "all of Lebanon since the Washington-sponsored ceasefire."

He stated that "any attack on Lebanon is a violation of red lines; this aggression is part and parcel of the entity that targets Lebanon's dignity, sovereignty, and security of citizens."

Ammar went on to say the resistance is responding with "utmost wisdom, patience, and will confront the enemy at the appropriate time."

"Unfortunately, the enemy is emboldened to commit its aggression by voices within Lebanon that have turned themselves into tools that support its aggression," he added.

The Israeli attack on the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital is the latest blatant violation of the ceasefire Israel signed with Hezbollah in November 2024, which was intended to end hostilities that had escalated into full-scale war.

An Israeli strike on the Ain al-Hilweh camp near Sidon in southern Lebanon late Tuesday killed at least 14 people. It wounded several others, including young students, according to the Lebanese health ministry.

The military claimed the attack targeted “a Hamas training compound” used to plan and carry out attacks against the regime -- a claim that has frequently been made without evidence.

Hamas rejected the allegations as “a blatant lie aimed at justifying the massacre,” stating it had “no military installations in the Palestinian camps in Lebanon” and that the targeted site was merely “an open sports field.”

According to Lebanese authorities, Israeli attacks have killed approximately 4,000 people and displaced more than 1.2 million residents across the country since October 2023.

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