I have raised voice only against Shiroor seer’s suspicious death: Kemaru seer
Swamiji is threatened in social media
Mangaluru, July 25: “I have not interfered in the internal affairs of Udupi Ashta Mutts and I would not do it. But I have raised my voice against the suspicious death of Shiroor swamiji”, said Esha Vittala Dasa Swamiji of Kemaru Mutt.
Speaking to reporters here on Wednesday, the swamiji said that Udupi Ashta Mutts and the personal issue of Lakshmivara Tirtha Swamiji of Shiroor Mutt was not related to him. Doctors have said that before the death, there was poison in the body of Shiroor swamiji. He has urged the police department to conduct a probe to find out whether the food of the swamiji had become poisonous or he was poisoned. Udupi SP had promised him of conducting a proper investigation into the issue. The investigation was going on and he would not oppose it, he said.
“I have faith in the Constitution of the country. If Shiroor swamiji made a mistake, the law would have taken its action. But nobody has the right to kill him. The autopsy report and FLS report would throw light on the reasons for the death”, he said.
‘Life threat through social media’
“After the death of Shiroor swamiji, I have demanded probe into the suspicious death. For this reason, I have been receiving threats through WhatsApp and Facebook. There is a suspicion about the death after the doctor’s version, for which I have demanded probe. Citing this issue, I was threatened in the social media. I will think of giving a police complaint against this development”.
- Esha Vittala Dasa Swamiji, Kemaru Mutt
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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.
