The COVID-19 Vaccination sessions currently being conducted will not be scheduled for the 27th and 28th of February, a release issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare informed.

The break is being taken as the Co-Win digital platform will be transitioning from Co-Win 1.0 to Co-Win 2.0 on these two days.

The countrywide vaccination exercise is being exponentially expanded to include those above 60 years of age and those above 45 years with co-morbidities, from 1st March 2021.

Over 21000 candidates were conferred with Degrees and Diplomas in the 33rd Convocation of The Tamil Nadu Dr. M.G.R Medical University today.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who addressed the Convocation, expressed happiness that more than 70 per cent of the candidates who received Degrees and Diplomas were women. He congratulated all the graduates and conveyed his special appreciation to the women candidates. He said it is always special to see women leading from the front in any field. 

The Prime Minister said the success of the students and the institution would have made the great MGR very happy. Recalling that MGR's governance was full of compassion towards the poor, Mr Modi said the subjects of healthcare, education and empowerment of women were dear to him. He said India is honoured to be working in the health sector for our Tamil sisters and brothers in Sri Lanka where MGR was born. Ambulance service financed by India is widely used by the Tamil community in Sri Lanka. He said these efforts in healthcare that too for the Tamil community would have made MGR very happy.

The Prime Minister said the Government is transforming the entire medical education and health sector and the National Medical Commission will rationalize the norms to set up new medical colleges, bring greater transparency and improve the quality and availability of Human Resources in this sector. 

The Prime Minister announced that the Government has permitted the establishment of 11 new medical colleges in those districts in Tamil Nadu which do not have a medical college and for these medical colleges, the Government of India would give more than Rs 2000 crore. 

The Prime Minister said, "Doctors are among the most respected professionals in our country and this respect has gone up even more after the pandemic. This respect is because people know the seriousness of your profession where many times, it is literally a life and death question for someone." He said to be serious and to look serious are two different things and requested the students to keep their sense of humour intact. He said this will also help them to cheer up their patients and keep their morale high.

Mr Modi also advised the students to focus on their health and fitness as they take care of the nation's health. He gave a call to the students to rise above self-interest and said doing so will make them fearless.

A Memorandum of Understanding has been signed between IWAI and MOL (Asia Oceania) Pte. Ltd for transportation of LPG (Liquified Natural Gas) through barges on National Waterways-1 and National Waterways-2, in the presence of Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways Mansukh Mandaviya.

Inland Waterways Authority of India will provide support for:

• 1. Facilitating with the adequate fairway.
  2. Handling of LPG cargo on IWAI terminals/ Multimodal Terminals at Haldia, Sahibganj and Varanasi as per notified provisions and rates on request of MOL.
  3. Providing Lease Available Depth (LAD) information on a fortnightly/monthly basis.

•  
• MOL Group is the world's largest gas carrier company and will invest in the construction and operation of dedicated LPG barges under the Make-in-India initiative of the Government of India. Aegis Group proposed investments for setting up storage terminals, dedicated pipelines between the jetty to the terminal and necessary infrastructure at the jetty for the evacuation of products from barges.
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• Presently, 60 per cent of the LPG is moved through road to the various locations with a cost of Rs 5 to 6 per metric tonne per kilometre, which the oil companies are interested in reducing. Also at times, there are issues of strikes by transporters, road blockages which cause a delay in transportation. Therefore, the main area of interest for the companies is to use waterways to have a cheaper alternative to the existing mode of transportation, which is also cleaner and greener mode. Also, there are some areas that are difficult to approach through rail/ road especially in the North-East Region where the IWT sector may provide usable solutions, besides the parcel size as compared to road trucks which can carry 17 MT of LPG in case of barges shall be of bigger size depending on the barge leading to economies of scale.
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• Besides salient features of LPG over other commodities, is that LPG is a clean cargo with zero leakages and spillage as the products are handled by pipelines in a fully closed loop with utmost safety precautions being regulated by PNGRB and PESO. LPG cargo needs less berthing time compared to any other bulk cargo. Besides, there is no requirement of conveyors, etc., installed on berths/ jetties.
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• Handling LPG by inland waterways will help reduce the carbon footprints, lowering the overall logistics cost, which in India stands approximately 13 to 14 per cent of GDP, compared to the global average of 8 per cent and contributing to Government social schemes like "UJJAWLA" for LPG supply.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated to the nation the 1000 MW Neyveli New Thermal Power Project and 709 MW Solar Power Project of NLCIL today.

PM Modi laid the foundation stone for design, supply, installation and commissioning of a 5MW grid-connected ground-based solar power plant at V.O.Chidambaranar Port and for the extension, renovation and modernisation of the Lower Bhavani Project System. He also laid the foundation stone for the development of Integrated Command and Control Centers (ICCC) in nine Smart Cities including Coimbatore, Madurai, Salem, Thanjavur, Vellore, Tiruchirappalli, Tiruppur, Tirunelveli and Thoothukudi. He inaugurated the 8-laning of Korampallam Bridge and Rail Over Bridge (ROB) at V.O.Chidambaranar Port and the tenements constructed under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) scheme. Governor, Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu and Union Minister Pralhad Joshi were present on the occasion.

Addressing the event, the Prime Minister said Coimbatore is a city of industry and innovation. Development works launched today will benefit Coimbatore and the entire Tamil Nadu, he said.

The Prime Minister said that the modernization of Bhawani Sagar Dam will irrigate over 2 lakh acres of land and farmers of several districts will benefit from this project. He lauded Tamil Nadu for making a major contribution to India's industrial growth. He expressed happiness to inaugurate several major power projects, as one of the basic needs of industrial growth is continuous power supply. He said that the 709 MW solar power project is indigenously developed and the cost of this project is over Rs 3,000 crore. He further said that another 1,000 MW thermal power project constructed at a cost of Rs 7,800 crore will be hugely beneficial to Tamil Nadu. He added that over 65 per cent of the power generated will be given to Tamil Nadu.

As the Prime Minister launched various projects related to V.O. Chidambaranar Port, Thoothukudi, he said that Tamil Nadu has a glorious history of sea trade and port-led development. The projects launched today will further strengthen the cargo handling capacity of the port and support the green port initiative. He noted that efficient ports contribute to India being Aatmnirbhar and a global hub for trade as well as logistics. Shri Modi paid tribute to the great freedom fighter VOC. "His vision for a vibrant Indian shipping industry and maritime development inspires us greatly," said the Prime Minister.  He expressed happiness that VOC Port has taken up a grid-connected 5 MW ground-based solar power plant at a cost of Rs 20 crore and installation of a 140 KW rooftop solar project is in progress. He called it an example of Urja Aatmnirbharta.

The Prime Minister asserted that the Government of India’s commitment to port-led development can be seen through the Sagarmala Scheme. About 575 projects at a total cost of over six lakh crore rupees have been identified for implementation during the 2015-2035 period. These works cover Port modernisation, New port development, Port connectivity enhancement, Port-linked industrialisation and Coastal community development, the Prime Minister informed. He informed that a new Multi-Modal Logistics Park is going to be launched soon at Mappedu near Sriperumbudur in Chennai. He further added that the 8-laning of Korampallam Bridge and Rail Over Bridge was also taken up under 'Sagarmala programme'. The Project will facilitate seamless and congestion-free transit to and from the Port. It will also further reduce the turnaround time of the cargo trucks, Mr Modi said.

Mr Modi said that at the core of development is ensuring dignity to every individual. "One of the basic ways of ensuring dignity is to provide shelter for everyone. To give wings to the dreams and aspirations of our people,  Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna was started," he said. He expressed happiness to inaugurate 4,144 tenements built in several areas and to lay the foundation stone to integrated command and control centres in smart cities across Tamil Nadu. He also said that the cost of this project is Rs 332 crore and these houses will be handed over to those who were homeless even after 70 years of Independence. He said the Integrated Command and Control Centres will provide an intelligent and integrated IT solution to manage various services across these cities.

To decongest ticket booking counters and to ensure smooth compliance with social distancing norms, the facility to book unreserved tickets through UTS ON MOBILE app is being reactivated by Indian Railways, a release issued by the Ministry of Railways stated.

On Indian Railways, unreserved train services are being introduced in a phased manner. In order to avoid any inconvenience to passengers in booking unreserved tickets and to ensure norms of social distancing at booking counters while purchasing the tickets, it has been decided that in addition to UTS ON MOBILE App facility available on suburban sections, this facility may also be reintroduced on non-suburban sections of zonal Railways.

Zonal Railways have been instructed that whenever unreserved train services are introduced on any zonal Railway, the zonal Railway concerned may accordingly enable UTS ON MOBILE app for issuing unreserved tickets.

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has approved the proposed merger of NAM Estates and Embassy One Commercial Property Developments into Indiabulls Real Estate.

The proposed combination envisages the merger of NAM Estates Private Limited (NAM Estate) and Embassy One Commercial Property Developments Private Limited (EOCPDPL) into Indiabulls Real Estate Limited (IBREL).

The proposed combination will be carried out through a series of inter-connected steps viz.: (i) certain identified assets, securities and/or investments of certain entities of the Embassy group will be transferred to Embassy Group entity(ies); (ii) certain third-party investors will swap their shareholding in these identified assets, securities and/or investments of certain entities of the Embassy group, for a shareholding in NAM Estates and EOCPDPL; (iii) the restructured NAM Estates and EOCPDPL will merge with and into IBREL. and IBREL will issue shares to all existing shareholders of NAM Estates and EOCPDPL.

NAM Estates is engaged in the business of real estate development of commercial and residential assets and other related activities. NAM Estates belongs to the Embassy group of companies.

EOCPDPL is engaged in the business of providing common area maintenance services to the construction and development of real estate projects (both residential and commercial) and other related activities. EOCPDPL belongs to the Embassy group of companies.

IBREL is a publicly listed, real estate company in India. Geographically, the company’s strategic focus is in key markets of Mumbai Metropolitan Region and National Capital Region.

The Director Generals of Military Operations of India and Pakistan held discussions over the established mechanism of hotline contact. The two sides reviewed the situation along the Line of Control and all other sectors in a free, frank and cordial atmosphere, a joint statement issued by both the sides informed.

In the interest of achieving mutually beneficial and sustainable peace along the borders, the two DGsMO agreed to address each other's core issues and concerns which have the propensity to disturb the peace and lead to violence. Both sides agreed for strict observance of all agreements, understandings and cease firing along the Line of Control and all other sectors with effect from midnight 24/25 Feb 2021, the statement said.

Both sides reiterated that existing mechanisms of hotline contact and border flag meetings will be utilised to resolve any unforeseen situation or misunderstanding, the statement added.

Popular Karnataka located hill station Nandi Hills in Chikkaballapur will be developed as an international tourist destination, Health and Medical Education Minister Dr K Sudhakar who is also district in-charge Minister said on Thursday.

He was speaking to the media in Chikballapur after inspecting the ongoing works at Nandi Hills.

"Nandi Hills and surrounding places are very attractive. Along with beautiful Flora and Fauna Nandi Hills also has a historical and spiritual significance. This has all the qualities to be developed as an international tourist destination. The government has already sanctioned Rs 10 crore for the purpose," said the Minister.

There was a popular demand from the public for a ropeway since 15 years. Though an international agency earlier agreed for the project, later it was dropped. Now the dream is becoming reality. More than 10-acre land will be allotted in the foothills to convert as a parking area. The work will be completed in 3-4 months, said Dr Sudhakar.

"Nandi Hills is 30 km away from Bengaluru International airport. People can reach here in just 1 hour from Bengaluru. We are making efforts to develop this area. Chief Minister B.S.Yediyurappa has extended full co-operation in this regard, tender will be called soon to allocate the work order," said the Minister.

Trekking trials to 5 hills surrounding the Nandi Hills, eco-tourism, conservation of archaeological monuments, beautification, infrastructure development etc will be done in the coming days. CM will give priority for tourism sector in the coming budget, he added. He also said that it is decided to completely ban use of plastic in the Nandi Hills.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for 4 laning of NH45-A covering Karaikal District and Medical College Building at Karaikal New Campus- Phase I, Karaikal District (JIPMER). 

He also laid the foundation stone for the development of Minor Port at Puducherry under Sagarmala Scheme and Synthetic Athletic Track, Indira Gandhi Sports Complex, Puducherry.

Mr Modi inaugurated the Blood Centre at Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education & Research (JIPMER), Puducherry and a 100-bed girls' hostel at Lawspet, Puducherry for female athletes. He also inaugurated the reconstructed Heritage Marie Building.

The Prime Minister said Puducherry has been home to sages, scholars and poets and also to revolutionaries like Mahakavi Subramania Bharathi and Sri Aurobindo. Admiring Puducherry as a symbol of diversity, he said here people speak different languages, practice different faiths but live as one.

Inaugurating the re-built Mairie Building, the Prime Minister said that the building will add to the beauty of Beach Promenade and attract more tourists.

The Prime Minister said that four laning of NH 45-A would cover Karaikal District and improve the connectivity to the holy Saneeswaran Temple and also provide easy interstate connectivity to the Basilica of Our Lady of Good Health and Nagor Dargah. He said the Government has made several efforts to improve rural and coastal connectivity and the agriculture sector will gain from this. He said that it is the obligation of the Government to ensure their produce reaches good markets in a timely manner and good roads would aid in achieving that goal. He further stated that the four laning of the road will also add momentum to the economic activity in this area and generate job opportunities for local youth.

The Prime Minister remarked that in the last seven years, India has made many efforts to improve fitness and wellness as economic prosperity is closely linked to good health. In this context, he laid the foundation stone for the 400 meters synthetic athletic track at the sports complex, as a part of the Khelo India scheme. It will nurture sporting talent among the youth of India. He remarked that with the coming of good sports facilities to Puducherry, youth from this state can excel in national and global sports meets. He said the 100-bed girls' hostel constructed at Lawspet inaugurated today would accommodate hockey, volleyball, weightlifting kabaddi and handball players who would be trained under SAI coaches.

The Prime Minister said that healthcare would play a key role in the coming years. In line with the objective of providing quality health care to all, Blood Centre in JIPMER is being inaugurated, which will accommodate advanced facilities for long term storage of blood, blood products and stem cells banking. He added that the facility will function as a research laboratory and a training centre for personnel training in all aspects of transfusion.

The Prime Minister said, to promote quality healthcare, we need quality health professionals. Phase-I project of Medical College Building at Karaikal New Campus is an environment friendly complex and will have all modern teaching facilities required for teaching MBBS students.

Laying the foundation of Puducherry Port Development under Sagarmala Scheme, the Prime Minister hoped that once completed, it will help the fishermen who have been using this port for venturing into the sea for fishing operations. It will provide much-needed sea connectivity to Chennai. This will facilitate the cargo movement for industries of Puducherry and ease the load on the Chennai port. It will open up possibilities of passenger traffic among the coastal cities, he said.

The Prime Minister said Direct Benefit Transfer has helped beneficiaries under various welfare schemes. He said this makes people empowered for making their choices. He stated that Puducherry has got rich human resources because of various educational institutions present, both in the government and private sector. It has potential for a lot of industrial and tourism development that will provide a lot of employment and opportunity. "The people of Puducherry are talented. This land is beautiful. I am here to personally assure all possible support from my Government for the development of Puducherry," the Prime Minister concluded.

Amidst growing concerns around lack of transparency, accountability and rights of users related to digital media and after elaborate consultation with the public and stakeholders, the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021 has been framed in exercise of powers under section 87 (2) of the Information Technology Act, 2000 and in supersession of the earlier Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines) Rules 2011.

According to a release issued by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, while finalizing these Rules, both the Ministries of Electronics and Information Technology and the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting undertook elaborate consultations among themselves in order to have a harmonious, soft-touch oversight mechanism in relation to social media platform as well as digital media and OTT platforms etc.

Part- II of these Rules shall be administered by the Ministry of Electronics and IT, while Part-III relating to the Code of Ethics and procedure and safeguards in relation to digital media shall be administered by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, the release stated.

Salient Features:-

Guidelines Related to Social Media to Be Administered by the Ministry of Electronics and IT:

• Due Diligence To Be Followed By Intermediaries: The Rules prescribe due diligence that must be followed by intermediaries, including social media intermediaries. In case, due diligence is not followed by the intermediary, safe harbour provisions will not apply to them.
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• Grievance Redressal Mechanism: The Rules seek to empower the users by mandating the intermediaries, including social media intermediaries, to establish a grievance redressal mechanism for receiving resolving complaints from the users or victims. Intermediaries shall appoint a Grievance Officer to deal with such complaints and share the name and contact details of such officer. Grievance Officer shall acknowledge the complaint within twenty-four hours and resolve it within fifteen days from its receipt.
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• Ensuring Online Safety and Dignity of Users, Especially Women Users: Intermediaries shall remove or disable access withing 24 hours of receipt of complaints of contents that exposes the private areas of individuals, show such individuals in full or partial nudity or in a sexual act or is in the nature of impersonation including morphed images etc. Such a complaint can be filed either by the individual or by any other person on his/her behalf.
•  
• Two Categories of Social Media Intermediaries: To encourage innovations and enable the growth of new social media intermediaries without subjecting smaller platforms to significant compliance requirement, the Rules make a distinction between social media intermediaries and significant social media intermediaries. This distinction is based on the number of users on the social media platform. The government is empowered to notify the threshold of the user base that will distinguish between social media intermediaries and significant social media intermediaries. The Rules require significant social media intermediaries to follow certain additional due diligence.
•  
• Additional Due Diligence to Be Followed by Significant Social Media Intermediary:
  • Appoint a Chief Compliance Officer who shall be responsible for ensuring compliance with the Act and Rules. Such a person should be a resident in India.
  • Appoint a Nodal Contact Person for 24x7 coordination with law enforcement agencies. Such a person shall be a resident in India.
  • Appoint a Resident Grievance Officer who shall perform the functions mentioned under the Grievance Redressal Mechanism. Such a person shall be a resident in India.
  • Publish a monthly compliance report mentioning the details of complaints received and action taken on the complaints as well as details of contents removed proactively by the significant social media intermediary.
  • Significant social media intermediaries providing services primarily in the nature of messaging shall enable identification of the first originator of the information that is required only for the purposes of prevention, detection, investigation, prosecution or punishment of an offence related to sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the State, friendly relations with foreign States, or public order or of incitement to an offence relating to the above or in relation with rape, sexually explicit material or child sexual abuse material punishable with imprisonment for a term of not less than five years. The intermediary shall not be required to disclose the contents of any message or any other information to the first originator.
  • Significant social media intermediary shall have a physical contact address in India published on its website or mobile app or both.
  •  
  • Voluntary User Verification Mechanism: Users who wish to verify their accounts voluntarily shall be provided an appropriate mechanism to verify their accounts and provided with a demonstrable and visible mark of verification. 
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  • Giving Users An Opportunity to Be Heard: In cases where significant social media intermediaries removes or disables access to any information on their own accord, then a prior intimation for the same shall be communicated to the user who has shared that information with a notice explaining the grounds and reasons for such action. Users must be provided with an adequate and reasonable opportunity to dispute the action taken by the intermediary. 
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• Removal of Unlawful Information: An intermediary upon receiving actual knowledge in the form of an order by a court or being notified by the Appropriate Govt. or its agencies through an authorized officer should not host or publish any information which is prohibited under any law in relation to the interest of the sovereignty and integrity of India, public order, friendly relations with foreign countries etc.
• The Rules will come in effect from the date of their publication in the gazette, except for the additional due diligence for significant social media intermediaries, which shall come in effect 3 months after publication of these Rules.

Digital Media Ethics Code Relating to Digital Media and OTT Platforms to Be Administered by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting:

There have been widespread concerns about issues relating to digital contents both on digital media and OTT platforms. Civil Society, film makers, political leaders including Chief Minister, trade organizations and associations have all voiced their concerns and highlighted the imperative need for an appropriate institutional mechanism. The Government also received many complaints from civil society and parents requesting interventions. There were many court proceedings in the Supreme Court and High Courts, where courts also urged the Government to take suitable measures.

Since the matter relates to digital platforms, therefore, a conscious decision was taken that issues relating to digital media and OTT and other creative programmes on Internet shall be administered by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting but the overall architecture shall be under the Information Technology Act, which governs digital platforms.

Consultations:

Ministry of Information and Broadcasting held consultations in Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai over the last one and half years wherein OTT players have been urged to develop a "self-regulatory mechanism". The Government also studied the models in other countries including Singapore, Australia, the EU and the UK and has gathered that most of them either have an institutional mechanism to regulate digital content or are in the process of setting up one.

The Rules establish a soft-touch self-regulatory architecture and a Code of Ethics and three-tier grievance redressal mechanism for news publishers and OTT Platforms and digital media.

Notified under section 87 of the Information Technology Act, these Rules empower the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to implement Part-III of the Rules which prescribe the following:

• Code of Ethics for online news, OTT platforms and digital media: This Code of Ethics prescribe the guidelines to be followed by OTT platforms and online news and digital media entities.
•  
• Self-Classification of Content: The OTT platforms, called the publishers of online curated content in the rules, would self-classify the content into five age-based categories- U (Universal), U/A 7+, U/A 13+, U/A 16+, and A (Adult). Platforms would be required to implement parental locks for content classified as U/A 13+ or higher, and reliable age verification mechanisms for content classified as "A". The publisher of online curated content shall prominently display the classification rating specific to each content or programme together with a content descriptor informing the user about the nature of the content, and advising on viewer description (if applicable) at the beginning of every programme enabling the user to make an informed decision, prior to watching the programme.
• Publishers of news on digital media would be required to observe Norms of Journalistic Conduct of the Press Council of India and the Programme Code under the Cable Television Networks Regulation Act thereby providing a level playing field between the offline (Print, TV) and digital media.
• A three-level grievance redressal mechanism has been established under the rules with different levels of self-regulation.
  • Level-I: Self-regulation by the publishers;
  • Level-II: Self-regulation by the self-regulating bodies of the publishers;
  • Level-III: Oversight mechanism.
•  
• Self-regulation by the Publisher: The publisher shall appoint a Grievance Redressal Officer based in India who shall be responsible for the redressal of grievances received by it. The officer shall take the decision on every grievance received by it within 15 days.
•  
• Self-Regulatory Body: There may be one or more self-regulatory bodies of publishers. Such a body shall be headed by a retired judge of the Supreme Court, a High Court or independent eminent person and have not more than six members. Such a body will have to register with the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. This body will oversee the adherence by the publisher to the Code of Ethics and address grievances that have not been resolved by the publisher within 15 days.
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• Oversight Mechanism: Ministry of Information and Broadcasting shall formulate an oversight mechanism. It shall publish a charter for self-regulating bodies, including Codes of Practices. It shall establish an Inter-Departmental Committee for hearing grievances.