New Delhi (PTI): The government has directed social media and online platforms to ensure that they do not host advertisements of fraudulent loan apps, Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar said on Wednesday.

Chandrasekhar said the IT ministry has made it clear to the platforms that they cannot carry advertisements of fraudulent loan apps as those are misleading and exploit people using the internet.

"One of the areas we are now cracking down on is advertising of fraudulent loan apps that many platforms are carrying and we have, through yesterday's advisory, made it clear that no intermediary can carry advertisements of fraudulent loan apps because it will be misleading and exploits people who are using the internet," the Minister of State for Electronics and IT said on the sidelines of an event.

Jurisprudence and government approach on safe and trusted internet is evolving, he said adding that IT rules clearly specify 11 areas of prohibited content.

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Berhampur (Odisha) (PTI): Two girls drowned while bathing in a village pond in Odisha's Ganjam district on Tuesday, police said.

The deceased were identified as Pranjali Dora (11), a class 6 student, and Manini Dora (12), a student of class 7, both residents of Patanda village in Digapahandi police station area, a police officer said.

After returning home from school, they went to the village pond to take a bath like every other day. However, they slipped and fell into deep waters. Locals noticed them drowning and tried to rescue them but failed, he said.

Fire brigade personnel from Digapahandi retrieved the girls after a two-hour search and they were rushed to a nearby community health centre, where doctors declared them dead, Digapahandi police station officer-in-charge Kishor Kumar Samal said.

He said the bodies have been handed over to the respective families after conducting post-mortem examinations at MKCG Medical College and Hospital here.

He said unnatural death cases have been registered and an investigation launched.