Bribery or courtesy?

BY ac| IN Media Watch Briefs | 13/11/2014

In a press conference organized by Uco Bank in Puri yesterday, Pinaki Mishra, the BJD MP of the temple town, allegedly tried to bribe journalists by giving Rs 200 in envelopes. After some journalists boycotted the conference, Mishra, who heads the Standing Committee on Urban Development, and about which he was supposed to brief the press, gave a rather innocent reply: “The bank gives conveyance allowance to journalists in such press meets. It was just mere courtesy... I find it ridiculous that journalists can be bribed by Rs 200.” BJD spokesperson Samir Dash, however, has demanded an investigation. (The Indian Express, November 13, 2014)

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