Former BJP MP Jaunapuria insulted Muslim woman during blanket distribution event: Tikaram Jully
Jaipur (PTI): Leader of Opposition in the Rajasthan Assembly Tikaram Jully has alleged that former BJP MP Sukhbir Singh Jaunapuria insulted a Muslim woman during a blanket distribution programme in the Tonk district and took back the blanket after asking her religion.
Citing a purported video of the incident, Jully claimed that the former MP distributed blankets in the Kareda village of Niwai tehsil and withdrew one from a woman after learning her name.
"A former MP asking a poor woman her religion and then taking back the blanket is highly condemnable," Jully said, alleging discrimination.
According to local residents, the incident took place at a blanket distribution event on Sunday afternoon. Some people present there alleged that blankets were initially given to women but later taken back after their religious identities were known.
In a purported video clip, Jaunapuria is heard saying that those who abuse Prime Minister Narendra Modi have no right to take the blanket. He also stated that the event was his personal programme and not linked to any government scheme.
The former MP had gone to invite people for PM Modi's proposed visit to Ajmer on February 28.
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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 Its role in determining how ratings agencies track viewing behaviour has been withdrawn.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.
