Lifestyle in Bastar has undergone sea change: President
Raipur, July 25 : President Ram Nath Kovind on Wednesday said in the last 10-15 years, a remarkable change has come about in the lifestyle of tribals of Bastar region following the government's efforts to bring about a socio-economic change in the area.
Interacting with members of the Bihan Women's Self-help Group and tribal farmers in Hiranager village of Dantewada district -- also referred to as South Bastar district -- during his two-day visit to the state, the President said the government has also raised basic infrastructure in the region.
"On the completion of my first year in office, it's my pleasure to be among tribals and forest dwellers," Kovind told the gathering.
During his interaction with the women of self-help group, he was accompanied by wife Savita Kovind, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh and state's Minister for Tribal and Scheduled Caste Development Kedar Kashyap.
Earlier in the day, President Kovind arrived in Jagdalpur as part of his two-day visit to the Bastar region.
Chief Minister Singh welcomed him amidst light rainfall.
From Jagdalpur, he left for Dantewada in a helicopter, accompanied by the Chief Minister.
As his arrival in Jagdalpur, he was accorded a warm welcome by the Higher Education Minister Prem Prakash Pandey, Forest Minister Mahesh Gagda, Bastar Lok Sabha MP Dinesh Kashyap and several other prominent public representatives.
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Union government assumes full control over TV ratings, TRAI role curtailed: Report
New Delhi: The Union government has assumed full control over television audience measurement, removing the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) from oversight of the ratings system that underpins the country’s ₹36,000 crore television advertising market, according to a report published on Wednesday.
The report in Mint said the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) now has exclusive authority over the framework governing how television ratings are measured and regulated. TRAI had been entrusted with oversight of TV ratings in 2012 during the UPA government’s tenure. TRAI is no longer mentioned in the relevant policy document, effectively vesting sole authority in the MIB.
The report said TRAI will continue to regulate other aspects of broadcasting, including channel pricing, advertising caps, interconnection and distribution norms, service quality and compliance standards. Its role in determining how ratings agencies track viewing behaviour has been withdrawn.
Television Rating Points (TRPs), which reflect viewership patterns, guide advertisers in deciding where to allocate spending across channels and time slots.
A government source quoted in the report said the ministry could modify TRAI’s decisions even when the regulator oversaw broadcasting.
A former CEO of Prasar Bharati told the newspaper that the MIB has historically regulated rating agencies through licensing and guidelines, and by holding them accountable under existing norms.
During its tenure overseeing ratings, TRAI had taken decisions affecting the broadcast sector, which included capping advertising time at 12 minutes per hour following complaints about excessive commercial breaks and it now remains unclear how these matters will be addressed under the revised arrangement.
Satya N. Gupta, former principal advisor at TRAI, was quoted as saying that merging regulatory functions with policy oversight and removing an independent regulator from the process was a retrograde step.
TRAI’s involvement in broadcasting had earlier attracted criticism as well. In 2012, its consultation paper on quantitative limits on television advertising was viewed by some as overlapping with the Advertising Standards Council of India’s code. Subsequent recommendations covering television audience measurement, ownership of news channels and issues such as paid news had also raised concerns among sections of the industry.
Television ratings have faced scrutiny in recent years, including during the controversy involving the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC), where officials of the ratings body were prosecuted over allegations of manipulation of viewership data.
