Lorry owners strike enters sixth day: Supply of essential commodities hits
Bengaluru, July 25: The lorry owners strike being conducted across the country demanding toll-free movement, cutting of diesel price and other demands entered 6th day on Wednesday, affecting supply of essential commodities. As the goods careers stayed off the roads, the capital city is also experiencing the heat.
The supply of industrial raw materials hit the industry due to which small and medium industries have been suffering. On Wednesday, the number of goods vehicles coming from other states has come down. Normally, Bengaluru APMC usually receives 100 loads of potato and 200 loads of onion from Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Maharashtra and other states. Because of the strike, more than 100 loads of onion and potato lorries have not reached the city.
The intensity of the strike is gradually increasing. If the situation continues for another two days, the supply of essential commodities will affect considerably. Already, the prices of potato, onion, rice, pulses, and other things are skyrocketing and this has forced the people to stay away from the market, said Yeshwanthpur APMC Yard Merchants Association president BL Shankarappa.
Potato supply had come down for the last two days due to which, the prices have gone up. Before the strike, 50 kg potato cost Rs 750 to Rs 950. Now, Rs 50 was increased for the same quantity. Even they have not received potato from Hassan, he said.
APMC yard closed, protest
Lorry owners closed the Yeshwanthpur APMC Yard and staged a protest against the central government alleging that it has neglected the lorry owners demands in spite of conducting the strike for the last five days. So, they would not withdraw their strike till their demands were met, they said.
Federation of Karnataka Lorry Owners and Agents Association state president GR Shanmugappa said that they have been protesting for the last five days without affecting the normal life of the people. But the government has not come forward to fulfill their demands. So, they have decided to intensify their strike. As part of this decision, they would block roads, he added.
Lakhs of lorries were off the roads due to strike. Every day, the lorry owners were incurring a loss of Rs 1,000 Cr and the central government was incurring a loss of Rs 1 lakh crore and the state government was incurring the loss of Rs 7,000 crore revenue, he said.
No problem due to strike
KR Market Merchants and Consumers Association president RV Gopi said that there was no problem due to lorry strike so far. The greens and vegetables, fruits and flowers were being supplied in mini vehicles. Mini vehicles have been transporting the vegetables, fruits and flowers from Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh. The problem could be aggravated if the vehicular movement was completely stopped, he said.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
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.
