VIJAYAWADA  TUESDAY  NOVEMBER 19, 2024  `9.00  PAGES 12  LATE CITY EDITION COMPETITION COMMISSION SLAPS `213 CRORE PENALTY ON META The Competition Commission of India (CCI) on Monday imposed `213.14 crore penalty on the company for abusing its dominant position ACTION OVER 2021 WHATSAPP PRIVACY UPDATE ASKS META TO BAR WHATSAPP DATA SHARING The penalty is over Meta-owned WhatsApp’s 2021 privacy policy update on a ‘take-it-or-leave-it’ basis. The commission said the update forces users to comply, undermining their autonomy, and constitutes an abuse of Meta’s dominant position. The CCI said it constituted “an imposition of unfair condition” under the Competition Act, 2002 ■ ■ The regulator asked the US social media giant to bar WhatsApp from sharing data it collected with other Meta companies The CCI said sharing of user data collected on WhatsApp with other Meta companies for purposes other than for providing WhatsApp services shall not be made a condition for users to access in India Sec 4(2) OF COMPETITION ACT, 2002 BREACHED BY THE 2021 PRIVACY POLICY UPDATE CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOGGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI Protester killed; more troops sent to Manipur Helpless local BJP office bearers resign; Shah holds 2nd review meet M U K E S H R A N J A N A N D P R A S A N TA M A Z U M D A R @ New Delhi/ Guwahati UNION home minister Amit Shah on Monday chaired a high-level meeting to review the security situation in Manipur with senior officials, his second in as many days. One person was killed and another injured in alleged police firing during mob violence in Jiribam town on Sunday night even as several local office bearers of the ruling BJP submitted their resignations expressing deep concern over the prevailing “unwelcome/ helpless situation”. A mob had gone on the rampage in Jiribam and attacked the offices of the BJP and the Congress, prompting the police to allegedly open fire. The state government has ordered a probe. Given the volatile situation, the Union home ministry decided to send 50 more companies of the Central Armed Police Forces to the trouble-torn state. At the meeting, Shah directed the CAPFs and the state police to intensify their operations to quickly restore normalcy In Imphal, Chief Minis. ter N Biren Singh chaired a Minister Govindas Konthoujam’s residence, that was set on fire in Bishnupur | PTI There is no question of withdrawing support. The govt is doing its best but unfortunately, it could not save lives. We appeal to people to exercise restraint — BJP ally Naga People’s Front minister Awangbou Newmai meeting with the NDA legislators. Twenty-three MLAs — 14 from BJP, five from its ally Naga People’s Front, three from NPP and an Independent — besides the lone Rajya Sabha member attended the meet. The NDA has a strength of 46 in the 60-member House. The NPP served notices to its three MLAs who attended the meet despite the party’s withdrawal of support to the government. The meetings came in the wake of arson attacks and vandalism by mobs targeting the houses and the properties of over a dozen legislators, including ministers. Leishangthem Susindro, a minister, has built a bunker at his house, which was targeted by a mob. The government extended the ban on internet and mobile data services in seven affected districts, and ordered the closure of all educational institutes in Imphal East, Imphal West and Bishnupur districts. Influential Meitei organisation, ‘Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity’, locked the GST Bhavan and election department office on Monday . Govt scraps 2-child policy for local polls S V I S W A N AT H @ Vijayawada CHIEF Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, who in recent times underlined the need for increasing population, has came up with bills removing the restrictions on those having more than two children to contest the local body elections. The Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly on Monday passed the bills to amend the AP Panchayat Raj and AP Municipal Acts. As per the amendments, individuals irrespective of the number of children they have, can contest the local body elections hereafter. In fact, it was the Naidu government, which amended the Panchayat Raj and Municipal EXPRESS READ KGBV principal cuts hair of girls as punishment Visakhapatnam: A shocking incident has emerged at Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya (KGBV) in GM Kothuru of G Madugula mandal in Alluri Sitarama Raju district, where the principal allegedly cut the hair of several girl students as punishment for arriving late to school. The incident occurred on November 15 and came to light on Monday, sparking widespread outrage from parents and locals | P3 Administration Department Acts in 1994 to control the population by incorporating the ‘Two children norm’ to disqualify individuals with more than two children from contesting the local body elections. Now, Naidu is of the firm opinion that population management is going to be an asset for the country in the years to come, and is advocating the same on different platforms. Accordingly, the State government tabled the bills to amend the Andhra Pradesh Panchayat Raj Act, 1994, the Andhra Pradesh Municipalities Act, 1965, and the Municipal Corporation Act, 1955 to relax the two children norm. While reviewing the popula- tion policy three decades after implementation of the two children norm, the government found that as per the National Family Health Survey, the Total Fertility Rate (TFR) declined from 3.7 children in 199292 to 2.1 in 2019-21 in rural areas, and from 2.6 in 2001 to 1.5 in urban areas. “As the declining fertility rates, population stabilisation and changing socio-economic conditions proved to be outdated and counterproductive, the government felt that repealing sections intended to control the population, will promote inclusive governance, reflect contemporary social values and align with global best practices and demographic trends,” the bills read. Considering the decline of TFR, the government came up with the bills to amend the AP Panchayat Raj Act, 1994, the AP Municipalities Act, 1965 and the Municipal Corporation Act, 1955. Hence, individuals with more than two children will be eligible hereafter to contest the local body elections. TTD to cede non-Hindu staff to govt EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Tirumala THE newly constituted Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) Trust Board, which met for the first time at Annamayya Bhavan here on Monday, took several key decisions, including surrender of non-Hindu employees working in Tirumala to the State government, cancellation of lease of land given to Visakha Sarada Peetham, and provision of Darshan to lo- cal people on first Tuesday of every month. Disclosing the details of the meeting to mediapersons, TTD Trust Board Chairman BR Naidu said the board took a decision to hold consultations with the employees of other religions working with the TTD. They will be given the option of taking voluntary retirement or joining any other government department, he said. Asser ting that Visakha Sarada Peetham, which took land on lease from the TTD, committed several violations, he said the land lease will be cancelled and the building constructed on the land will be demolished. The board also discussed at length on reducing the waiting time for Sarva Darshan. After observing that it is taking up to 30 hours for having Sarva Darshan in some days, the board decided to make use of AI and hire a consultancy to reduce it to not more than two hours. P4