Evening bulletin March 14: YouTube blocks Nijjar story, what Kovind panel said

Good evening! Here are the top stories in your evening news bulletin.

2 new election commissioners: Former bureaucrats Sukhbir Sandhu and Gyanesh Kumar have been selected as new election commissioners by Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led selection committee, said Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Thursday. Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, who is an Opposition member in the panel, however, registered his dissent and questioned the selection process, alleging the shortlisted names of officers were not made available to him in advance. Addressing reporters at his residence soon after the meeting ended, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said six names came up before the panel for the selection of the two election commissioners and the names of Balbir Sandhu and Gyanesh Kumar were finalised by a majority of members of the high-powered panel. He, however, said the Chief Justice of India should have been part of the selection panel and there was no clarity on how six names were shortlisted from over 200 candidates that are said to have come before the search committee headed by the Law Minister. The six names shortlisted were those of Utpal Kumar Singh, Pradeep Kumar Tripathi, Gyanesh Kumar, Indevar Pandey, Sukhbir Singh Sandhu, Sudhir Kumar Gangadhar Rahate, all former bureaucrats. Read story.

One nation, one election: A high-level committee headed by former president Ram Nath Kovind on Thursday submitted its report on the feasibility of holding simultaneous elections for Lok Sabha, state assemblies and local bodies (also known as ‘one nation, one election’) across the country. The panel submitted the report, comprising 18,626 pages, to President Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan, a statement said. The report is an outcome of extensive consultations with stakeholders, experts and research work of 191 days, since its constitution on September 2, 2023, it added. The Kovind committee submitted the report in the presence of all committee members including Union home minister Amit Shah, Union law minister Arjun Ram Meghwal, Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP) chief Gulam Nabi Azad and others. Recently the High Level Committee also met and interacted with representatives of several Political parties including BJP, Trinamool Congress, Samajwadi Party, CPI, CPI(M), AIMIM, RPI, Apna Dal etc. The committee emphasised the need to restore the cycle of simultaneous elections, which was disrupted after the initial decades of India's independence. They noted that holding multiple elections every year places a significant burden on various stakeholders, including the government, businesses, workers, courts, political parties, candidates, and civil society. Read story.

Supreme Court raps Ajit Pawar's NCP: The Supreme Court on Thursday pulled up the Ajit Pawar camp over the alleged use of National Congress Party (NCP) founder Sharad Pawar's name and pictures for campaigning. A bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and K V Viswanathan directed the Ajit Pawar faction to file a response by Saturday, questioning the rationale behind the continued use of Sharad Pawar's image despite their split. “You are a different political party now. You have chosen not to be with him. So why use his picture… Go with your own identity now,” the bench said. “We need a categorical and unconditional undertaking that the name, pictures of Sharad Pawar will not be used,” the bench added. The court fixed it for further hearing on March 19. This judicial intervention follows an application filed by the Sharad Pawar group, which alleged that the Ajit Pawar faction had been misusing Sharad Pawar's name and images to sway voters. Read story.

18 OTT platforms blocked because…: Union I&B minister Anurag Thakur said that eighteen OTT platforms have been blocked for obscene and vulgar content after multiple warnings. Additionally, 19 websites, 10 apps (7 on Google Play Store, 3 on Apple App Store), 57 social media handles of the OTT platforms have also been blocked nationwide. The ministry said that one of the OTT apps had more than 1 crore downloads, while two others had over 50 lakh downloads on Google Play Store. Social media accounts of these OTT platforms had a cumulative followership of over 32 lakh users, the ministry said but their content was found in violation of IT Act, Indian Penal Code, and Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act. "These OTT platforms extensively utilised social media to disseminate trailers, specific scenes, and external links aimed at attracting audiences to their websites and apps," I&B ministry said. The banned platforms are: Dreams Films, Voovi, Yessma, Uncut Adda, Tri Flicks, X Prime, Neon X VIP, Besharams, Hunters, Rabbit, Xtramood, Nuefliks, MoodX, Mojflix, Hot Shots VIP, Fugi, Chikooflix, Prime Play. Read story

CBC news of Nijjar: YouTube has blocked access to a 45-minute report that appeared in Canada’s Government-funded broadcaster CBC on Friday and focused on the killing of pro-Khalistan figure Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey, British Columbia, on June 18 last year. The report was aired on the programme, The Fifth Estate, and also included a lengthy interview with the separatist group Sikhs for Justice or SFJ’s general counsel Gurpatwant Singh Pannun. CBC reported on Wednesday that it had been informed by YouTube that it had received an order from India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information technology “to block access to the video of the story from its website” and the content was subsequently “blocked from view” in India. However, it remains accessible elsewhere in the world. CBC also reported that the Indian Government had asked X, formerly Twitter, to also block access to the content on the social media platform. “Indian law obligates X to withhold access to this content in India; however, the content remains available elsewhere,” X informed CBC, adding.kovind .