LS Poll 2019: AIADMK announces alliance with BJP in TN; Saffron party to contest 5 seats
Chennai, Feb 19: The ruling AIADMK in Tamil Nadu and the BJP Tuesday sealed an alliance for the coming Lok Sabha elections under which the saffron party would contest five seats in the state.
The announcement was made by AIADMK coordinator and deputy chief minister O Panneerselvam and Union Minister and senior BJP leader Piyush Goyal, party election in-charge for Tamil Nadu, who described it as a "mega alliance".
This came after the second and final round of discussions held here by the two parties that also involved Chief Minister K Palaniswami.
Earlier in the day, the AIADMK clinched a deal with the PMK, offering the Vanniyar-based party seven out of 40 seats, including one in the neighboring union territory of Puducherry.
It was not clear yet how many seats the AIADMK would contest.
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MediaOne TV Facebook page restored after block linked to ‘government request’
Kochi: The official Facebook page of Malayalam news channel MediaOne TV has been restored after being blocked without prior notice, the broadcaster said on Wednesday.
The channel was quoted by Maktoob as saying that the restriction was lifted automatically, with Meta Platforms informing it that the action had been taken following a “government request” which has now expired or been reversed.
The development came shortly after the channel approached the Kerala High Court challenging the blocking of its page, terming it arbitrary and in violation of legal provisions and judicial precedents. The High Court had issued notice to Meta via email hours before the restriction was withdrawn.
In its petition, the channel said access to its Facebook page had been restricted for users in India without citing any specific content or alleged violation. It contended that while individual posts may be taken down under applicable a rule, blocking an entire page goes beyond the scope of such measures.
The incident followed an earlier action taken against the channel in 2022, when the Ministry of Information and transmitting prohibited it from transmitting. It cited national security concerns regarding the Ministry of Home Affairs' refusal of security clearance.
The Supreme Court of India in April 2023 set aside the ban, observing that national security claims cannot be made without substantive basis and that criticism of government policies does not render a media outlet anti-national.
