New Delhi Apr 25 PTI A policy advocacy group has sought a regulatory framework for skill-based online gaming to protect children and weed out unscrupulous offshore playersChase India has released a paper highlighting the need for unified framework for the online skill-based games ecosystemA clear and sound national regulatory framework for skill-based online gaming will protect children consumers ensure the growth of the sunrise sector while keeping at bay illegal actors operating from overseas in the space the group said in the paperAt present different states have interpreted laws on gaming differently causing confusion for legitimate players while unwittingly allowing illegal offshore players with no accountability in the country to operate with abandon it saidThe policy paper examined the issues relating to online skill gaming and proposes the way forwardBased on the issues faced by users industry and other stakeholders the policy paper recommended reforms in the existing regulatory framework to ensure that the growth of the industry is balanced with protective measures so that consumers particularly children are not harmed and unscrupulous players are weeded outThe paper said the framework of regulation can ensure growth of the ecosystem and protection of users of online skill gaming platformThe paper recommended that games of skill should be clearly defined in the proposed regulatory framework and a robust self-regulatory mechanism must be built that sets high standards of ethics for the industry while maintaining their operational efficienciesA grievance redressal mechanism on the lines of OTT platforms regulatory framework should be prescribed in the gaming industry it saidThe provisions to ensure protection of children should be built into the system such that their access to age-inappropriate content can be blocked and the regulations should ensure reasonable security and privacy of the users and the platforms it saidThe policy paper recommended that the Information Technology Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code Rules 2021 may be amended to include specific provisions for online game of skill intermediaries The proposed reforms will address the urgent need to protect players and online games of skill ecosystemThe policy paper urged the nodal ministry Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology to initiate the process of inclusion of guidelines for online games of skill intermediaries with administrative support from the concerned ministry PTI UZM RHL

New Delhi Apr 25 PTI Apex child rights body NCPCR has asked the West Bengal authorities to give specialised medical treatment to the four children who sustained injuries in a crude bomb blast in Malda district on SundayIn a letter to the West Bengal chief secretary and director general of police the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights NCPCR asked them to conduct a detailed investigation into the incident and submit a report within 10 daysHowever the Commission sought an action taken report within 24 hours on three issues -- providing immediate relief to the children ensuring specialised medical treatment for them and access to their medical reportsThe Commission said the officials must undertake remedial measures to avert a recurrence of such an event and also sought the lodging of an FIR against those responsibleAccording to police the children thought that the bombs were balls and started playing with them when the explosion occurredOf the four children two are critical and undergoing treatment at the Malda Medical College and Hospital while the other are getting treated at the local health centre they saidPolice said they are trying to find the person who kept the bombs underneath a tree besides the local mosque PTI UZM RHL

New Delhi Mar 20 PTI The government is planning to fortify sludge from the Ganga river to use it as fertiliser to promote organic farming and prevent chemicals from entering rivers a senior official saidTreated water rich in phosphorus and nutrients is good for crop growth and in the last two weeks various rounds of discussions have been held on ways to handle the sludge from the Ganga river National Mission for Clean Ganga NMCG Director General Asok Kumar saidAccording to him efforts are underway to produce fortified sludge and provide it to farmers at subsidised ratesWe found that treated sludge can be very similar to fertiliser So if we can add a little bit of fortification then it sludge can be as good as a fertiliser and will help in organic farming Kumar told PTIWe are in talks with companies to produce fortified sludge that could be used as fertilisers and given to farmers at a subsidised rate he addedHe said two objectives can be achieved through this -- first the farmers will use natural fertilisers and second the problem of piling of sludge will be solvedIf I can make a fair deal with the farmers then they might prefer that also We can also get farmers incentivised for taking up this deal We are in talks with companies to produce good fortified fertilisers from the sludge he saidHe said it will also prevent chemicals from entering rivers and causing pollutionChemical fertilisers contain phosphates and nitrates which are the main reason behind water pollution he saidKumar said another major issue is of cow dung entering the rivers and advised farmers to use it in farmingIf I can also convince the farmers to use gobar cow dung as it is a major problem in the Ganga basin due to the large bovine population in the area If we can go for natural farming then we can use this cow dung as manure which again prevents Ecoli from getting into the river Kumar saidKumar said now the focus of the NMCG is on Arth Ganga which aims to connect people with the river and establish an economic linkage between them for sustenanceFor the last two months we have been working extensively on Arth Ganga to make that economic connect he saidIn 2015 the government launched the NMCG or Namami Gange with an indicative cost of Rs 20000 crore as an umbrella programme with an aim to integrate previous and ongoing projects and new initiatives planned for cleaning the GangaUnder the programme a total of 347 projects were sanctioned against a cost of Rs 30255 croreThe projects comprise infrastructure and non-infrastructure development towards rejuvenating the GangaThe projects directly related to the cleaning process include development of sewerage infrastructure industrial effluent treatment plants rural sanitation and river surface cleaning PTI UZM RHL

New Delhi Jan 30 PTI With 234281 people testing positive for the coronavirus infection in a day Indias total tally of cases increased to over 410 crore according to the Union health ministry data updated on SundayThe death toll climbed to 494091 with 893 fatalities reported during the 24-hour period the data updated at 8 am showedThe active cases decreased by 119396 to reach 1884937 -- 459 per cent of the total infections -- while the countrys recovery rate stands at 9389 per cent the ministry saidThe daily positivity rate was recorded at 1450 per cent while the weekly positivity rate was 1640 per cent according to the health ministryThe number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 38713494 while the case fatality rate was recorded at 120 per cent it saidAfter the Sunday update the total number of infections stands at 41092522 it saidMeanwhile the cumulative number of anti-Covid vaccine doses administered in the country so far has crossed 16570 croreIndia surpassed the one-crore mark in the number of cases on December 19 2020 It crossed the grim milestone of two crore on May 4 and three crore on June 23 PTI UZM RHL