BRICS nations must put human rights first: Amnesty
Johannesburg, July 25 : The BRICS nations "must" put human rights at the forefront of their discussions, Amnesty International said here on Wednesday.
Amnesty International India and South Africa, in a joint statement released at the commencement of the 10th BRICS Summit, said that all the BRICS countries face a number of human rights challenges.
Citing incidents like the murder of Marielle Franco in Brazil, the Marikana tragedy in South Africa, Tibetan HRD Tashi Wangchuck have being handed an "unjust" five year prison sentence, it said the leaders of these countries must redress human rights violations.
It also referred to the hate crimes against marginalised communities in India, and LGBTI people facing serious threats and living in constant fear in Russia.
"With such wide ranging human rights issues plaguing these emerging economies, the leaders of these countries must act immediately to redress violations and ensure accountability," said Shenilla Mohamed, Executive Director, Amnesty International South Africa.
"Attacks on HRDs and marginalized communities cannot become the order of the day. HRDs defend truth and justice.
However, instead of commending them for their efforts, they are silenced and their work is shut down," he said.
The statement highlighted harassment of Indian HRDs with reference to the detention of Chandrashekhar Azad, a Dalit HRD working on issues of caste-based discrimination.
"Human rights defenders, the champions of truth and justice, are portrayed as criminals, anti-nationals or even foreign agents. They are maligned, locked up and attacked for speaking out," said Aakar Patel, Executive Director, Amnesty International India.
He urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and other heads of state at the Summit, "to acknowledge their responsibility towards upholding human rights and work collectively to end human rights violations."
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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.
