Indian broadcast rules

NEW DELHI: Indian broadcasters unveiled on Thursday a new set of rules on covering live events after accusations that TV news channels may have unintentionally aided militants during the Mumbai attacks. The guidelines ban broadcasting of footage that could reveal security operations and any live contact with hostages or attackers during terror attacks or similar public order situations. Such reporting “glamourises” militant outfits and their causes, said a statement by the News Broadcasters Association, an umbrella group of Indian TV channels. The repeated screening of gory images or dead bodies must also be avoided. — AFP

No to troop build-up

PARIS: The French military denied reports on Thursday that it was planning to expand its troop presence in Afghanistan to become a full combat brigade in the east of the country. A report by the newspaper Liberation’s respected defence correspondent said France was planning to boost its 2,600-strong contingent and create a brigade with three or four full combat batallions under a general officer. But General Christian Baptiste, deputy spokesman at the defence ministry, told AFP: “Right now, sending extra troops is not on the agenda.” — AFP

Scarlett Keeling case

PANAJI: Authorities in the Indian resort state of Goa on Thursday dismissed a neglect complaint against the mother of British teenager Scarlett Keeling, whose body was found on a beach earlier this year. A local social welfare organisation brought the case, charging that Fiona MacKeown failed in her duty as a parent by leaving the 15-year-old in “unlawful custody” in Goa, while she and the rest of her family holidayed elsewhere. But the state government’s directorate of women and child development department threw out the complaint. — AFP