Mumbai: The government is all set to certify permissible online games till the gaming industry forms a self-regulatory organisation, according to the media reports quoted by MeitY minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar.
Chandrasekhar has also said that nearly 70 apps have been taken down, mostly those that involve wagering.
Tech giants Google and Apple will be sent a notification about the same, the report said.
Mumbai: Representatives from various sections of society came together at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi, at a session titled “Jan Jan Ka Vishwas” to deliberate on how government policies and programmes have contributed to inclusive development during the last nine years. The session was held at the conference “National Conclave: 9 Saal – Seva, Sushasan, Gareeb Kalyan”, organised by Prasar Bharati. The panelists included boxer Nikhat Zareen, actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui, UNICEF Representative to India and nurse Cynthia McCaffrey and Padma Shri awardee Shanti Teresa Lakra; environmentalist Anil Prakash Joshi and Divya Jain, co-founder Seekho. The session was moderated by journalist Richa Anirudh.
National Education Policy helping holistic education
UNICEF representative in India McCaffrey said that the government of India conducted a National Achievements Survey, which looked at the system to understand what children are learning and what Indian students really know. “Based on that, the government created policies in order to reach individual students and make the education system stronger. What this leads to is that India has made an investment in foundational learning, ensuring also that we keep children at schools in a safe environment. Swachh Bharat Mission, Ayushman Bharat have all come together to be important parts of a child’s life and bring in convergence in learning. Schemes come together to make sure you have sanitation and nutrition. The government has laid focus on foundational learning with an innovative approach, with skilling through multiple pathways, enabling children to grow up healthy and helping them acquire 21st century skills.” She added that the emphasis given in the National Education Policy on foundational learning, vocational education and entrepreneurial learning has empowered children, enabling them to get a holistic education.
Mumbai: ZEE Entertainment Enterprises is set to appeal against the NCLT order, according to media reports.
The network is expected to contest that it did not have the opportunity to present its arguments. ZEEL may challenge NCLT’s jurisdiction regarding the non-compete fees issue.
The exchanges have also been asked to review whether the payment method for the non-compete fee between two Mauritius entities is in accordance with the relevant SEBI policies.
SEBI has passed an interim ruling against one of the promoters of the Essel Group, which owns Zee.
Mumbai: National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has asked the National Stock Exchange (NSE) and Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) to reconsider their initial approvals for the merger and issue no-objection certificates before the next hearing. The bench headed by HV Subba Rao and Madhu Sinha will hear the case on 16 June.
According to the news report, on 11 May, the NCLT directed the exchanges to reassess the approvals, which previously got a thumbs up from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).
The new instructions come close on the heels of SEBI’s interim ruling against one of the promoters of the Essel Group, which owns Zee.
The proposal for the merger has already been green-lighted by the BSE, NSE, Zee shareholders and the Competition Commission of India.
Mumbai: The Union government has extended the tenure of Vikram Sahay as joint secretary of the information and broadcasting ministry, according to media reports. The extension is for a period of two years. The current tenure will expire on May 23 until further orders.
The tenure extension has been notified by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet.
Mumbai: The News Broadcasting & Digital Standards Authority (NBDSA), has taken cognizance of three debate shows aired by Times Now channel on Teesta Setalvad. This was based on a complaint dated 1 July, 2022 filed by Citizens for Justice and Peace, which mentioned about three debate shows aired on Times Now channel on 25, 27 and 28 June 2022, titled “Teesta Setalvad arrested by Gujarat Crime branch; Plot nailed; plotters next?”; “Was Teesta’s NGO given money? Did Congress plotted (sic) conspiracy against Modi?”; and “Teesta Setalvad exposed; Rules bent to grant funds, proof of Congress patronage uncovered”.
The complainant stated that the tone, tenor and choice of words spoken as well as displayed on the screen during the impugned shows, suggested that the intention of the programmes was to project journalist and human rights defender Setalvad as someone unworthy of trust or compassion. The complainant maintained that it believed that the impugned broadcasts had violated the principles of impartiality, objectivity and neutrality enshrined under the Code of Ethics & Broadcasting Standards and Guidelines.
Meanwhile, in its written submissions dated 2 September 2022, Times Now denied and disputed all allegations/ contentions/ averments made by the complainant in the subject. Times Now further stated, “That there was no violation of any Code of Ethics, regulations of NBDSA/ NBDA in the impugned broadcasts as the said news coverages did not impede any individual’s right and the public has the right to know. Investigative journalism was carried out and only pertinent and contextual questions were posted on the debate to bring out all aspects of the situation. Pertinently, no opinion was formulated by the channel, or its reporters and these questions were neither leading nor accusatory as alleged.”
After considering the application seeking condonation of delay filed by the complainant and the response received thereof from the broadcaster. NBDSA decided to call both parties for a hearing. After considering the complaint, response of the broadcaster and also giving due consideration to the arguments of the complainant and the broadcaster and viewing the footage of the broadcasts, NBDSA noted that the broadcaster had during the impugned broadcasts sought the views of several persons and the allegations made in respect of Setalvad.
Mumbai: Public broadcaster Prasar Bharati has earned over Rs 191 crore on Day 2 of the fifth annual 67th e-auction for vacant MPEG-2 slots on DD FreeDish.
According to the sources, 11 channels secured slots on the second day; six in the Bucket A+ category (Hindi GEC) and five in Bucket A category (movie channels). The reserve prices for Bucket A + and Bucket A were Rs 15 crore and Rs 12 crore, respectively.
As already reported, The Q, Dangal, Shemaroo TV, Manoranjan Grand, Manoranjan TV and Big Magic bagged slots in the Hindi GEC category. The highest bid in the category was placed at Rs 17.9 crore. Prasar Bharati is believed to have collected more than Rs 100 crore from this category. There were six slots in this category.
In the Bucket A category, the public broadcaster has earned more than Rs 85 crore. Star Utsav Movies, B4U Kadak, B4U Movies, It’s Colors Rishtey Cineplex Superhit and Dhamaka Movies B4U have secured the slots in this category. The highest bid for this category was Rs 17.5 crore. The category had six slots. Bidding for this slot will take place on Wednesday.
Mumbai : The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on Friday stayed the order directing the initiation of insolvency proceedings against Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd ( Zeel) which was a huge relief for the company.
The decision came after the NCLAT heard Zeel CEO Punit Goenka challenge the company’s insolvency proceedings.
Also read : ZEEL CEO Punit Goenka moves NCLAT over insolvency case
Zeel CEO Punit Goenka said “We respect the decision taken by the Hon’ble National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) and remain committed towards protecting the interests of all stakeholders. Our focus continues to be on the timely completion of the proposed merger.”
The National Company Law Tribunal’s Mumbai bench granted Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. permission to initiate insolvency proceedings on Wednesday.
The order came as a result of a petition filed by IndusInd Bank Ltd. after the company failed to meet its obligations under a Debt Service Reserve Account Agreement between the bank and Siti Networks Ltd., to which Zee was also a party.
Mumbai : The impasse between broadcasters and major cable operators escalated and on the 18t Feb, the three main broadcasters Star, Sony and Zee disconnected leaving everyone in a lurch.
The AIDCF members refused to sign the agreement with the broadcasters due to a steep hike in prices. As per them the prices can go up to 60 per cent , but the MSOs have not indicated a price rise to the LCO’s to communicate the same to the customers.
The LCO’s are in the front line as they serve 98 per cent of the customers directly and they have been facing irate customers for the past 6 days. As the customers are not aware of the rise in prices, their main query is what will be the revised prices? Second, if a customer has paid in advance, why my cable is cut without any prior notice and will I get my money back and lastly why are DTH and a few MSO’s have not been affected by this price hike?
The LCO’s have been sending emails to their respective MSO’s regarding the questions asked by their customers, but there has been no response from the MSO’s.
In Maharashtra, the prominent languages The Star Value Marathi pack was at Rs. 49/- and now with the hike in price it would go up to Rs. 62/-.
Even if this situation gets resolved in a day or two, the LCO’s are going to bear the brunt as they would have to give additional benefits for the days loss of services to their customers, to retain them whilst they have already paid MSO’s the full rate in advance.
Mumbai : Maharashtra LCO associations MCOF and DCOAM have released a statement to clear their stand on the ongoing tussle between AIDCF and broadcasters.
The release from LCO associations is as follow
Broadcasters like Star, Sony & Zee have shut off AIDCF members who have taken a stand that they will not sign the Interconnect agreements with Broadcasters due to their asking for exorbitant rate hikes. They then go on to give a press release that says that increases could be as high as 60 per cent . But they do not show a single case of such an increase which any customer can see and understand.
As an LCO Association DCOAM was corresponding with Hathway but they find that their Association’s official email id is blocked by Hathway. Thereafter individual members have been writing emails but not a single email has ever been responded to yet.
Right now we have received news that KCCL, one of the 2 petitioners in that case in Kerala HC has signed the agreement.
Now that broadcasters are also joining the litigation, this matter is going to get extended. A HC judge has little experience of Broadcasting and Distributions laws, so he/she has to first understand the Regulations first before passing any orders. The double standards of MSOs to says that since matter is sub judice, hence no action should be taken by any Broadcasters goes entirely against them, as when they wanted the NTO to be rolled out in Feb 2019 they forced NTO 1.0 on LCOs when so many pending cases where filed in different High Courts.
That all MSOs turned PAT positive immediately thereafter shows how they have profited at the cost of LCOs who’s revenue streams have dwindled due to their muscle power. If we refer to the Table 2.3 TRAI Consultation Paper on Market Structure and Competition in CATV dated 25 october 2021 , one will observe that MSOs serve direct customers only in upto 2 per cent cases and the rest 98 per cent is served by LCOs. Hence it is we who have been facing the brunt of customer calls in the past 6 days. The most basic question that every customer asks is What is the revised pricing going to be for my existing pack ?
When we seek answers to this Question there is not one person ready to provide answers in any MSO. Second question they ask is I have paid already but why did you disconnect services without any prior notice. This is a very difficult situation for us as MSOs have introduced prepaid wallet system for all of us. So we need to pay the MSO immediately and then only can any pack/channel be activated. MSOs get around 2 months of activation to pass on the payments to Broadcasters due to the submission of weekly reports and then calculating the invoice amounts. Even today when channels are not there we continue to pay MSOs the full rates for packages with no sign of refunds. But our customers are demanding reductions for lack of services.
Even during the first wave of Covid all LCOs paid in spite of not being able to send staff for collections and we had many bad debts as many customers had fled to native places. Those bad debts have been borne by LCOs only. The third question that customers ask is why are the channels available on DTH and some MSOs? When DTH and many MSOs have signed up already, AIDCF is unwilling to say in Court that they will abide by Court orders as and when the matter is decided, hence please get signals restored. Hence we ventured out to see the impact of additional content cost if we are to retain same package structure. The results for Maharashtra where Hindi & Marathi are the dominant languages is shown below
We have seen that in any industry when prices increase, the Co. tries to retain the same product but will reduce the weight and/or size so that the impact to customers is nil/minimal. In the above case too we can sit and work out what customers will find critical and what is expendable to minimize rate increases. But are MSOs ready to talk with us. ? So that brings us to the Question of what is this fight all about ? A reading of their petition filed in Kerala HC indicates that their major grouse is : “7(4) It shall be permissible to a broadcaster to offer discounts, on the maximum retail price of pay channel or bouquet of pay channels, to distributors of television channels, not exceeding fifteen percent of the maximum retail price:”
This revenue is not at all shared with LCOs and is the point of dispute with the Broadcasters. Price increase is a mere façade. Customers and LCOs are just being used as pawns to help them achieve their MSO revenues
Today is the 6th day of a blackout that we have little control over and we wish that through this Press Release we can convey to customers the helpless situation that we face in a highly competitive market. As LCOs we will be taking our legal steps too and will be filling our grouses in appropriate forums. This event should never happen again.