Several fall ill after consuming 'kuttu' flour on Mahashivratri in Noida; FIR against shop owner
Noida (PTI): An FIR has been lodged against a shop owner after several people allegedly fell ill after consuming 'kuttu' (buckwheat) flour on the occasion of Mahashivratri in Noida, police said on Tuesday.
The incident came to light after multiple residents of Supertech Ecovillage-3, Royal Court Society and Himalaya Pride Society reported health complications on Sunday after consuming the flour, traditionally eaten during fasts.
According to the police, information was received on Monday from a private hospital within the Bisrakh police station jurisdiction regarding several residents from the three housing societies falling ill.
The police informed the Food Safety Department, following which a complaint was filed and an FIR registered under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.
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A joint team of the Food Department and Bisrakh police conducted inspections at shops located in Supertech Ecovillage-3, Royal Court Society and Himalaya Pride Society and collected samples of buckwheat flour from the outlets.
During the inspection, irregularities were found at Prashant General Store in Royal Court Society, which was subsequently sealed, officials said.
Preliminary inquiry revealed that the affected residents had purchased the buckwheat flour supplied by HD Spices in the Chipiyana village, with its warehouse located in Chipiyana Buzurg.
Acting on the information, the Food Department team inspected the warehouse and sealed it after detecting irregularities. Samples have also been collected from other shops and further action is being taken, officials said.
The police have detained four persons, including the warehouse owner, they added.
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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.
