AP CM requests Union govt to confer Bharat Ratna upon SPB
Amaravati: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Monday requested the Government of India to confer the nation's highest civilian award 'Bharat Ratna' upon legendary singer S P Balasubrahmanyam, who passed away on September 25.
"This will be the highest recognition to his (SPBs) remarkable work which lasted for five decades and stays in our memory forever," he said in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
"Our state of Andhra Pradesh is fortunately being the birthplace (SPS Nellore district) of the great music maestro S P Balasubrahmanyam.
His untimely departure not only caused much distress to fans and celebrities in India but has also affected the international music fraternity," the Chief Minister said.
SPBs immense popularity and the deep impact he left on the global music industry in his 50 years of legacy could be gauged by the continuous flow of rich tributes from music aficionados all over the world.
Jagan noted that the "unending saga of his staggering achievements goes beyond music".
With his unparalleled talent, SPB lifted compositions to sublime levels, he said.
Besides six National awards, he won 25 Nandi awards from the Andhra Pradesh government and numerous other awards from Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
He received the Padma Shri in 2001 and Padma Bhushan in 2011 from the Government of India and the Silver Peacock Medal in 2016 as the Indian Film Personality of the Year, the Chief Minister recalled.
"Music stalwarts like Lata Mangeshkar, Bhupen Hazarika, M S Subbulakshmi, Ustad Bismillah Khan and Pandit Bhimsen Joshi were conferred the Bharat Ratna.
As a tribute to the legendary singer for his outstanding contribution in the field of music and art, I request you to confer Bharat Ratna upon Balasubrahmanyam," the Chief Minister requested.
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MediaOne TV Facebook page restored after block linked to ‘government request’
Kochi: The official Facebook page of Malayalam news channel MediaOne TV has been restored after being blocked without prior notice, the broadcaster said on Wednesday.
The channel was quoted by Maktoob as saying that the restriction was lifted automatically, with Meta Platforms informing it that the action had been taken following a “government request” which has now expired or been reversed.
The development came shortly after the channel approached the Kerala High Court challenging the blocking of its page, terming it arbitrary and in violation of legal provisions and judicial precedents. The High Court had issued notice to Meta via email hours before the restriction was withdrawn.
In its petition, the channel said access to its Facebook page had been restricted for users in India without citing any specific content or alleged violation. It contended that while individual posts may be taken down under applicable a rule, blocking an entire page goes beyond the scope of such measures.
The incident followed an earlier action taken against the channel in 2022, when the Ministry of Information and transmitting prohibited it from transmitting. It cited national security concerns regarding the Ministry of Home Affairs' refusal of security clearance.
The Supreme Court of India in April 2023 set aside the ban, observing that national security claims cannot be made without substantive basis and that criticism of government policies does not render a media outlet anti-national.
