Security tightened in Tripura over Assam NRC
Agartala, July 31 : Security was tightened across Tripura on Tuesday to maintain law and order following the publication of Assam's draft National Register of Citizens (NRC).
"No adverse report was reported from anywhere in the state. However, following the release of second draft of NRC in neighbouring Assam, security agencies in Tripura are closely monitoring the situation in Tripura," Inspector General of Police (Law and Order) K.V. Sreejesh told the media.
He said that the police stations adjoining Assam and the security personnel posted along the inter-state boundaries have been asked to maintain a strict vigil over the situation.
The Union Home Ministry has asked all the neighbouring states of Assam to tighten security. Tripura shares a 53 km border with Assam. Meanwhile, the tribal Indigenous Nationalist Party of Tripura (INPT) has demanded introduction of the NRC in the state.
"We would soon organise agitational programmes in Tripura in support of our demand. For the interest of the indigenous tribals, like in Assam, NRC must be prepared in Tripura," INPT President Bijoy Kumar Hrangkhawl told reporters on Tuesday.
Another party, Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT), the junior ally of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has also made the same demand.
Over 40 lakh of the 3.29 crore applicants have been excluded from Assam's draft NRC released on Monday, sparking concerns about their future and triggering a nationwide political row.
Applications of 2.89 crore have been approved in the draft list of citizens, which forms part of a long-running campaign against Bangladeshi immigrants in Assam.
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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.
