Gorakhpur (Uttar Pradesh) [India], March 5 (ANI): Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday said that women empowerment programs will be held across the state along with the launch of more safety measures for females.
At a program launch during his two-day visit to the city, Adityanath said, “This International Women’s Day, women empowerment programs will be held across the state besides the launch of more women safety measures. Value of ‘Gaon ki beti sabki beti, Gaon ki behen sabki behen,’ should be inculcated.”
He further mentioned that the Rajghat cremation ground has been renovated and many new facilities have been made available there.
“Rajghat (cremation ground) has been renovated, unlike how it was used to be, it is clean and has many facilities. We have also requested the Centre to approve a six-lane path to Gorakhpur,” Adityanath said.
“Soon, there will be a ‘Plastic Park’ too, which will employ over 25,000 youths,” he added.
Speaking about Gorakhpur tourism, the UP Chief Minister said, “There are several opportunities in the area of tourism as people from across the world visit Gorakhpur. Connecting Nepal and Bihar, Gorakhpur also becomes the central point of ‘Bodh Tourism’.”

Earlier in the day, he held the ‘Janata Darbar’ at the Gorakhnath Temple, where he heard the problems of people and also assured them of solutions. (ANI)

New Delhi [India], March 5 (ANI): The Supreme Court on Friday said that the new guidelines of the government on regulating Over The Top (OTT) platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime have “no teeth” as there is no provision of prosecution.
A Bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan said that law has to be framed to put in place a mechanism to control OTT platforms instead of mere guidelines.
Meanwhile, the Bench also granted relief to the commercial head of Amazon Prime Video, Aparna Purohit by directing the Uttar Pradesh police to not arrest her in the case registered against her in Greater Noida amid controversy over the web series ‘Tandav’.
The top court said Purohit’s protection from arrest will be subject to her cooperating with the investigation and appearing before the police as and when summoned.
The Bench while hearing the issue of OTT platforms told Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appearing for the Centre, “We have received the rules you (government) have filed. These rules don’t have any teeth. There is no provision for prosecution. They are just guidelines.”
Solicitor General replied that government can come up with a better draft of the rules for the consideration of court within two weeks and the new rules were brought as a balance between “no-censorship and internal self-regulation”.
“We can come up with something for the Court’s consideration. This needs examination,” he added while seeking two weeks times.
Yesterday, the Bench asked the Centre to submit before it the regulations on OTT platforms while stressing that there should be some screening of shows and web series being telecast on such platforms.
The top court had observed that some regulation is needed for OTT platforms as in some cases even “pornography is being shown” on such platforms and a balance has to be maintained.
The Bench in it’s order noted that, “One issue that has cropped up is uncontrolled viewing of scenes on Prime Video. Union of India has issued notification – the Rules. The rules are in the nature of guidelines with no effective regulation of screening or taking appropriate action. Rules don’t list anything about appropriate action to be taken against those who don’t abide by the guidelines. Solicitor General has submitted that steps will be taken for the same and it shall be placed before the court.”
The issue of regulation of OTT cropped up while hearing an appeal of Purohit, who had approached the apex court against the Allahabad High Court’s order that denied an anticipatory bail to her, in the ongoing investigation against the web series ‘Tandav’.
The High Court on February 25 declined to give protection from arrest to Purohit by dismissing her anticipatory bail application.
The Uttar Pradesh Police had filed a first information report (FIR) against the top Amazon Prime executive for derogatory depiction of Hindu deities and promoting religious enmity through the series.
The High Court in it’s order has noted that “such people make the revered figures of the religion of majority community source of earning money in most brazen manner taking benefit of the liberal and tolerant tradition of country.”
Making strong observations while rejecting Purohit’s anticipatory bail plea in a case filed against her in Greater Noida, Justice Siddharth said, “The conduct of the applicant shows that she has scant respect for the law of the land and her conduct further disentitles her to any relief from this court.”
Earlier on January 27 the Supreme Court had refused to grant interim protection from arrest to actor and makers of web series ‘Tandav’ and allowed them to approach High Courts for relief from arrest or quashing of FIRs.
Justice Ashok Bhushan while denying to grant interim protection from arrest however had agreed to hear issue of transferring and clubbing several FIRs registered against them across the country and issued notice to complainants on the prayer.
‘Tandav’ actor Mohammad Zeeshan Ayyub, Purohit and the makers had approached the top court seeking protection from arrest on the FIRs registered against them for allegedly hurting religious sentiments and telecasting objectionable content.
‘Tandav’, a nine-episode political thriller that started streaming in January this year on Amazon Prime Over The Top (OTT) platform, featuring Saif Ali Khan, Dimple Kapadia and Ayyub, has created uproar for allegedly hurting religious sentiments.
The petitions filed in January had requested the top court that criminal proceedings initiated against them for offences including hurting religious sentiments be quashed or alternatively club all the seven FIRs registered in different states and transfer them to a court in Mumbai.
Three FIRs were registered in Uttar Pradesh’s Lucknow, Greater Noida and Shahjahanpur. Two FIRs were lodged in Madhya Pradesh while one FIR each was lodged in Karnataka and Bihar. Apart from the FIRs, at least three other criminal complaints are pending in Maharashtra, Delhi and Chandigarh respectively.
The FIRs were registered for the alleged inappropriate depiction of Uttar Pradesh Police personnel, deities, and adverse portrayal of a character playing the role of Prime Minister in the show.
The FIRs mention that the show portrayed Hindu deity Shiva in “a poor light” as the actor playing him on-screen was shown using foul language. (ANI)

Gairsain (Uttarakhand) [India], March 5 (ANI): The Congress Party under the leadership of state chief and Chakrata MLA Pritam Singh on Friday protested holding sugarcanes outside Uttarakhand Assembly.
The protest was against Trivendra Singh Rawat-led BJP government’s demanding an increase in the sugarcane price for farmers.
On Thursday amid the Budget session, Pritam Singh along with other party workers had staged a sit-in protest with the Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) cylinders over the increase in prices, at the entrance of the House in Gairsain.
The Uttarakhand assembly met in Gairsain on March 1 for its first session of this year.
Gairsain in Chamoli district was declared as the summer capital of Uttarakhand last year. The Uttarakhand government has planned to develop its summer capital in the next 10 years. (ANI)

Dehradun [India], March 5 (ANI): Uttarakhand Governor Baby Rani Maurya on Friday received her first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at the Doon Hospital here.
“Today I received the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine at the Doon Medical College. I am healthy. I appeal to everyone to get vaccinated whenever their turn comes,” Rani said in a tweet in Hindi.
Several union ministers, including Amit Shah, Prakash Javadekar, S Jaishankar, Jitendra Singh among others, have already received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in the second phase of the vaccination drive.
India commenced its second phase of the vaccination drive to inoculate people above 60 years and those over 45 with comorbidities against the coronavirus from March 1.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi administered the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi and appealed to all those who are eligible to get inoculated.
The country registered a cumulative figure of more than 1.8 crore (1,80,05,503) COVID-19 vaccination doses, as per the provisional report till 7 am on Friday. These include 68,53,083 Health Care Workers or HCWs (first dose), 31,41,371 HCWs (second dose), 60,90,931 Frontline Workers or FLWs (first dose) and 67,297 FLWs (second Dose), 2,35,901 beneficiaries aged more than 45 years with specific co-morbidities (first Dose) and 16,16,920 beneficiaries aged more than 60 years.
Nearly 14 lakh (13,88,170) vaccine doses were given on Thursday, Day 48 of the vaccination drive, the ministry informed. (ANI)

Chandigarh (Haryana) [India], March 5 (ANI): Chief Minister of Haryana Manohar Lal Khattar unveiled a statue of Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar, known as the chief architect of the Indian Constitution, in the Haryana Legislative Assembly premises on Friday.
“The statue of the creator of our Constitution, Dr. B R Ambedkar has been unveiled today. He will always be remembered for the constitution, it is the job of the Legislative Assembly that rules should be made in the state according to the constitution,” said Khattar.
“It is a matter of pleasure that MLAs of opposition were also present in the ceremony. I urge everyone to proceed on the path shown by Babasaheb Ambedkar,” he added.
Born on April 14, 1891, Babasaheb Ambedkar was an Indian jurist, economist, politician and social reformer, who campaigned against social discrimination towards the untouchables (Dalits) and supported the rights of women and workers. (ANI)

Bhubaneswar (Odisha) [India], March 5 (ANI): Odisha Chief Minister and Biju Janata Dal (BJD) chief Naveen Patnaik on Friday paid floral tribute to his father and former CM Bijayananda Patnaik, popularly known as Biju Patnaik, on his 105th birth anniversary at BJD headquarters in Bhubaneswar.
The Odisha CM also reiterated his commitment to building a new Odisha in line with his father’s ideals.
“My humble tribute to Biju Babu, the great Jananayaka and former Chief Minister, a symbol of Odia self-respect. He dedicated his life to making Odisha a leading state and serving the people. We are committed to building a new Odisha by respecting his Odia self-esteem and values,” he tweeted (translated from Odia).
“In a democracy, people are the real owners. Bijubabu was a pioneer in strengthening the panchayat system by decentralizing power for the betterment of the people. In memory of his contribution, let us be determined on the occasion of Panchayati Raj and Lok Sabha Day to be determined to build a new Odisha,” he said in another tweet (translated from Odia).
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also paid tribute to Biju Patnaik.
“Tributes to Biju Babu on his birth anniversary. His futuristic vision for India, emphasis on human empowerment as well as social justice inspires us all. The nation is proud of his efforts for Odisha’s progress,” Prime Minister said in a tweet.
Biju Patnaik served twice as the Chief Minister of Odisha. He died on April 17, 1997. (ANI)
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