[Parliament Watch] Crimes against transgenders, YouTube news channels blocked, tyre company cartelisation

The second day post recess of the ongoing Budget Session of Parliament saw replies on issues ranging from tyres companies being fined for cartelisation, crimes against transgenders, YouTube news channels and URLs blocked by the government, and more. .To a question in the Lok Sabha by Congress Member of Parliament from Kerala's Thrissur, Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Anurag Thakur revealed that under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, between 2014 and 2021, 25,368 URLs have been blocked. "The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has issued directions for blocking of 56 YouTube based news channels and their social media accounts for public access during 2021-2022," the reply added. .The government in a reply by Union Home Minister of State Ajay Mishra Teni in the Lok Sabha, stated that it has approved Phase II of the Inter-operable Criminal Justice System, for implementation till 2025-26, at a cost of ₹3,375 crore. The same includes:i. Machine to Machine seamless data exchange between the IT Systems for criminal justice; ii. Enhanced efficiency and timeliness in investigation; iii. Enabling a shift towards Smart Policing; iv. Enhanced data quality by reducing errors in data entry; v. Move towards paper-less work systems. Inter-operable Criminal Justice System (ICJS) provides for the "integration of data maintained by Police, Courts, Prosecution, Forensic Sciences Laboratories and Prisons to streamline workflow and a comprehensive search and query for timely and scientific investigation. ICJS is available for use by law enforcement agencies/officers in a secured network," the reply added. Further, a total of ₹168 crore has been released to states and union territories for the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS) project..To a question in the Rajya Sabha by CPI(M) Member of Parliament from Kerala John Brittas about fines on tyre manufactures by the Competition Commission of India (CCI), Union Minister of State for Corporate Affairs Rao Inderjit Singh revealed that, "The Competition Commission of India (‘Commission’) imposed penalties of Rs. 425.53 crores on Apollo Tyres Ltd., Rs. 622.09 crores on MRF Ltd., Rs. 252.16 crores on CEAT Ltd., Rs. 309.95 crores on JK Tyre and Industries Ltd., Rs. 178.33 crores on Birla Tyres Ltd. and Rs. 8.41 Lakh on their association i.e. Automotive Tyre Manufacturers Association (ATMA) respectively.".In a reply to a question by a YSR Congress Member of Parliament from the Tirupati Lok Sabha Constituency, the Union Home Ministry shared that in 2020, 236 cognizable offences under the Indian Penal Code were committed against transgenders.The following data was shared:.Offences affecting the human body including murder, rape and unnatural offences, among others, accounted for an overwhelming majority of crimes (182) against transgenders. The reply further stated,"Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has launched a scheme "SMILE - Support for Marginalized Individuals for Livelihood and Enterprise", which includes sub-scheme 'Comprehensive Rehabilitation for Welfare of Transgender Persons'. The focus of the sub-scheme is on rehabilitation, provision of medical facilities and intervention, counselling, education, skill development, economic linkages to the transgender persons. The sub-scheme also has a provision of Transgender Protection Cell under Director General of Police of every State/UT to monitor cases of offences against Transgender persons and to ensure timely registration, investigation and prosecution of such offences."