HYDERABAD  FRIDAY  FEBRUARY 26, 2021  `7.00  PAGES 30  LATE CITY EDITION U.K. COURT RULES NIRAV MODI CAN BE EXTRADITED TO INDIA The fugitive diamantaire will now have to face trial in India in the `14,000-crore Punjab National Bank scam case BRITISH HOME SECRETARY TO SIGN THE ORDER 14-DAY WINDOW TO CHALLENGE DECISION District Judge at Westminster Magistrates’ Court, Sam Goozee, will send his findings to the Secretary of State for Home Affairs, Priti Patel, who is authorised to order an extradition under the India-UK Extradition Treaty. She has two months to make that decision. The Home Secretary’s order rarely goes against the court’s conclusions | P9 ■ ■ ■ Nirav Modi has 14 days to approach the High Court and seek leave to appeal after the Home Secretary has made her decision known Any appeal, if granted, will be heard at the Administrative Division of the High Court in London Nirav Modi is currently lodged at Wandsworth Prison Barrack #12 IF EXTRADITED, HE WILL BE LODGED IN MUMBAI’S ARTHUR ROAD PRISON CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOGGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ WARANGAL ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI Centre tightens grip on social media content New rules call for stricter monitoring, tools to trace obscene texts R I T W I K A M I T R A @ New Delhi THE Centre on Thursday announced sweeping regulations for social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, online streaming or over-thetop (OTT) services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, and messaging apps like WhatsApp and Telegram to protect users’ interest and curb fake news and other harmful content. Social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter will have to deploy automated tools to remove objectionable content. In the case of a government or court order, they must take down the flagged content within 36 hours. The new rules will require messaging to enable ‘traceability’ so that the sender of harmful messages could be identified. Experts fear this could result in compromising end-to-end encryption. Also, if a social media platform decides on its own to remove a user’s content, it must inform the user in advance and explain the reasons. Digital news media publishers should follow Press Coun- OVER THE TOP  Social media platforms must remove content depicting nudity, sexual acts or morphed images of women within 24 hours of receipt of complaints  Social media intermediaries to publish a monthly compliance report on complaints received, action taken, and content removed proactively  Code of Ethics for OTT platforms, online news and digital media entities  A grievance officer should be appointed to deal with complaints  OTT platforms to self-classify content into five age-based categories - U (Universal), U/A 7+, U/A 13+, U/A 16+, and A (Adult)  If a social media platform removes any content on its own, it must explain the reason to the user, who will have the opportunity to contest it  OTT platforms must deploy age verification mechanisms for A-rated content and implement parental locks for U/A 13+ or higher cil of India’s norms of journalistic conduct and adhere to the programme code under the Cable Television Networks Regulation Act. This, according to Information and Broadcasting Prakash Javadekar, will provide a level-playing field to all media platforms. The new laws, called Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021, came into effect from Thursday. However, social media platforms will be given an additional window of three months to come under the purview of the new regime. The new rules will establish a “soft-touch self-regulatory architecture and a Code of Ethics and three-tier grievance redressal mechanism” for news publishers, OTT platforms and digital media. The grievance redressal mechanism stipulates that publishers must address complaints within 15 days. The self-regulating body will be led by a retired judge or an eminent person and have not more than six members. “The new rules can be interpreted to target websites/platforms. It may hamper free speech,” said lawP9 yer Ankur Raheja. Hindu dharma for Akhand Bharat: Bhagwat EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Hyderabad RASHTRIYA Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat on Thursday said Hindu Dharma will establish Akhand Bharat and advised people to not have doubts about the same. Bhagwat was speaking MOTERA MELTDOWN Biggest cricket stadium, shortest game V E N K ATA K R I S H N A B @ Ahmedabad THE sheer grandeur of the Narendra Modi Stadium is something else. That was in full view in the lead up to the third Test. However, in less than two days the focus shifted to the pitch. A strip with spin and unpredictability produced a match that ended in less than two days: shortest in the post-War era. The surface seemed like it would gift any spinner, regular or part-timer. That Joe Root walked away with 5/8 only supports that theory. So, it was no surprise that India’s lead spinners, between them, accounted for 19 wickets. It was a far from an ideal Test wicket, with spinners picking up 28 of the 30 wickets to fall in just over five sessions. It was a turner from the first day and was turning blind on second. With modern-day batsmen lacking the skill to bat on turning wickets, the script is foretold. That India have opted for these kinds of surfaces, especially after outplaying Australia there, was a surprise. In the last four years or so, they have largely — with exception of South Africa in 2015 and one Test against Australia in 2017 — played and won on normal pitches. In this Test, however, it can be argued that it was loaded too much in favour of the P13 ball. after launching ‘Viswabharatam’, a book in Sanskrit authored by Dr Madugula Nagaphani Sar ma. “Till six months prior to Partition, no one thought it would happen. When Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru was asked about the creation of Pakistan, he had said it was a dream of the fools. Lord Wavell had said in British Parliament that ‘God has made India one, who is going to divide it?’ But it happened,” Bhagwat said. “More than the need for Khandit Bharat (partition of India), there is a need for Akhand Bharat for those countries which were part of P4 India earlier,” he added. Guns fall silent on LoC as both sides agree to truce M AYA N K S I N G H @ New Delhi GUNS fell silent on the Line of Control and the International Border India shares with Pakistan on Wednesday-Thursday midnight in a surprising deescalation of tensions after both sides agreed to strictly observe all bilateral ceasefire agreements and protocols. The truce came about two weeks after China announced disengagement of troops in the Pangong lake, Ladakh, from stand-off positions and both sides pulled back their troops. In the space of a fortnight, both the volatile China and Pakistan frontiers have become tranquil, indicating hectic Auto driver’s wife ends life The wife of one of the auto drivers ended her life recently after police picked up her husband for questioning. Cops were “inquiring” if he had kidnapped and raped the student. Unable to bear the humiliation, the wife killed herself under the impression that her husband was a rapist. An officer admitted privately to Express that he had made the “mistake” of handling the drivers roughly EXPRESS READ Change in flying rules Hyderabad: The change in travel rules for those returning to India from the US has left many stranded at US airports | P3 back channel diplomacy giving , peace an unexpected booster shot in the often troubled neighbourhood. “Both sides agreed for strict observance of all agreements, understandings and cease firing along the LoC and all other sectors with effect from midnight 24/25 Feb,” both countries stated in a joint statement. The Indian Army attributed the truce to the realisation on both sides of collateral damage as innocent civilian lives were needlessly lost in the cross-border firing. “One of the aims is to safeguard the lives of innocent civilians as we are bound to retaliate to ceasefire violations,” said a senior officer. This agreement will be a big relief for the people living on the border and their cattle. The Union home ministry has built community bunkers in the villages along NO LET-UP IN TAKING ON TERRORISTS The truce will not stop the Army’s fight against infiltrating terrorists. “The operational posture won’t change and we will follow the policy of zero tolerance to any action from the other side,” an officer said the LoC to safeguard civilians. Seventy civilians on the Indian side were killed in cross-border firing between 2018 and 2020. But there won’t be any let up in the deployment of forces. The decision to enforce truce was taken by the Directors General of Military Operations on both sides. “India desires normal neighbourly relations with Pakistan. We are committed to addressing issues, if any, in a peaceful manner. On key issues, our position is unchanged,” MEA spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said. India has maintained that there can be no dialogue with Pakistan if cross-border terror doesn’t end. (Inputs from Pushkar Banakar) BPHARM STUDENT CASE: DID COPS GOOF UP? PROBE LED TO 2 SUICIDES, NOT ONE EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Hyderabad IT was not just the BPharmacy student who “died by suicide” on Wednesday at her un, cle’s house in Ghatkesar due to alleged police harassment, but also the wife of one of the auto drivers who ended her life in a similar fashion recently after police picked her , husband up for questioning. They were “inquiring” if he had kidnapped and raped the student. When Express enquired into the death of the 19-year-old girl, it became known that the family of one of the auto drivers lay in tatters after his spouse, unable to bear the humiliation, killed herself under the impression that her husband was a rapist. The police registered cases of deaths occurring under suspicious circumstances in respect of the girl and the auto driver’s wife. A few days later, they declared that the auto driver, along with a couple of others, whom they had detained and beaten up, was innocent and the Rachakonda Police Commissioner had even apologised for causing them “inconvenience”. An officer, who was part of the probe, admitted privately to Express that he had made the “mistake” of handling the drivers roughly which led to the wife of one of them ending CONTINUED ON P3 her life.