Not situation, leader's mindset leads to Emergency: Shah
Ahmedabad, June 26: Marking the 43rd anniversary of Emergency imposed by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1975 as a "Black Day", BJP President Amit Shah on Tuesday said mindset of the leaders and not the prevailing situations lead to an Emergency.
"Emergency does not come because of situations and ordinances, it comes due to the mindset of the leader. Ordinance is just the clothing in which it comes. Only those who do not believe in democracy can think about Emergency," he said addressing party workers here.
Shah said BJP governments too came and went away but the thought of Emergency never crossed their mind.
"We have lost our government for one vote, lost our government in 13 days but never thought about an Emergency. And, when Congress leaders raise concerns about freedom of speech, I urge them to look back when their forefathers crushed democracy in the country," he said.
Congress, which killed internal democracy for dynastic politics, is in no position to promote democracy in the country, Shah said, adding that the party introduced three evils in the country's politics - dynasty, casteism and appeasement - and these led to the Emergency.
"I strongly feel Congress and family members of Indira Gandhi do not have any right to talk about freedom of speech. They jailed 140,000 people for 19 months, put restrictions on all newspapers, Akashwani (All India Radio) had become Sarkarwani (government's mouthpiece)."
Shah said India gave the first republic to the world and it was Congress' Indira Gandhi who first attempted to destroy the country's democracy by imposing Emergency, by using Article 356 to topple opposition governments in the states and by muzzling media and people's voices.
"Emergency is remembered in many ways including as a struggle against the mindset to scuttle democracy. But I wish to say democracy is so deep-rooted in the country that even 100 Indira Gandhis would have failed to wipe out democracy from the country," he said.
Congress leaders who raise questions about freedom of speech should read about the history of June 26, 1975 to understand how their party misused power to destroy the constitutional institutions of the country and what led to the fall of Congress, once a large party, he said.
Shah said it was the responsibility of all who want to protect the country's democracy to strengthen the BJP which is neither a party that follows dynastic politics nor casteism or appeasement.
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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.
