Agartala Mar 31 PTI Voting for Tripuras lone Rajya Sabha seat is underway in the state assembly on Thursday amid strict adherence to COVID-19 protocols an Election Commission official saidAltogether 27 legislators have exercised their franchise till 1030 am Chief Electoral Officer Gitte Kirankumar Dinkarrao told PTIThe turnout is very good The polling has been going on smoothly without any trouble or technical snag It is scheduled to end at 4 pm and the counting of votes will take place later in the day after getting permission from the Election Commission of India ECI he saidState BJP president Dr Manik Saha who had joined the party in 2016 is in the fray while the CPIM has fielded former Tripura finance minister and sitting MLA Bhanu Lal Saha as its nominee for the electionMLAs in the 60-member Tripura assembly are participating in the Rajya Sabha election as members of the Upper House of Parliament are elected by legislators in state assemblies It is an election through proportional representationChief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb held a meeting with the BJP and IPFT MLAs in his residence on Wednesday nightBJP legislator Kalayani Roy issued a whip to its MLAs to avoid cross-voting in the electionThe Left Front currently has 15 MLAs in the Tripura assembly while the ruling BJP has a strength of 33 and its ally IPFT has eightBJP legislators Sudip Roy Barman and Asish Saha resigned from the assembly and gave up their memberships of the party in February They later joined the CongressTripura Speaker Ratan Chakraborty in January disqualified BJP MLA Ashish Das who has joined the Trinamool Congress while CPIM legislator Ramendra Chandra Debnath died recentlyThe tenure of incumbent Rajya Sabha MP from Tripura Jharna Das Baidya will expire on April 2 PTI PS BDC BDC

New Delhi Mar 30 PTI Noting that there is a censor board for films but not for web channels a BJD MP in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday demanded a law to bring in censorship for OTT platforms and web channels to cull out obscene scenes and content spreading religious hatred Raising the issue in the House through a zero hour mention Biju Janata Dals Prasanna Acharya said OTT platforms had gained unprecedented viewership during the pandemic when traditional entertainment sources were hugely impacted due to restrictions Taking advantage of this web channels are showing very obscene pictures and sometimes using very objectionable language this is having a very bad impact particularly on the younger generation he said Such shows on web channels are also seriously affecting communal harmony as India is a multi-language and multi-religious society he said If there was a censorship provision this could not have happened he said adding that there is a censor board for films but not for web channels In the name of freedom of creativity and in the name of expression of views we cannot encourage debauchery and exploitation of women and disrespecting religious sentiments he said Acharya mentioned the Delhi High Courts recent strictures against microblogging platform Twitter for allowing objectional comments against religious communities creating an atmosphere of intolerance Law should be made to impose censorship on web channels who are taking undue advantage of not being censored and spreading hatred among religions and communities he added Vijay Pal Singh Tomar BJP wanted lifting of the ban on some pesticides as there was no alternative available for them and costly imports were not as effective Neeraj Dangi Congress raised the issue of all sportspersons not being allowed to import tax-free air guns of 077 inches 45 mm calibre bore Only renowned shooters are allowed duty-free or GST-free import of air weapons which is impacting the training of upcoming sportspersons he said The import of air weapons which do not require to be registered for arms licence should be allowed for all the citizens who are seriously adopting this sport he said adding that spare parts of these air guns should also be exempt from import taxes M Shanmugham DMK demanded the convening of the Indian Labour Conference which has not been held since 2015 to discuss labour matters He said all 12 recognised trade unions have given a call for early convening of the meeting Narendra Jadhav Nominated wanted the government to conduct a survey to find out the state of international medal-winning sportspersons and extend them recognisation and social and employment security Jharna Das Baidya CPM raised the issue of large scale timber smuggling and migration in Tripura Santanu Sen TMC need for better health services and education for adolescent women PTI ANZ ANZ MIN MIN

New Delhi [India], November 30 (ANI): A proportion of the vaccinated individuals may still have mild or asymptomatic infections of COVID-19 deadly virus, Union Minister of State for Health Bharati Pravin Pawar warned through Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.