ITV

Category: I&B Ministry

  • MIB awaits note on Sun security clearance denial from Home Ministry before moving SC

    MIB awaits note on Sun security clearance denial from Home Ministry before moving SC

    NEW DELHI: The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) is still awaiting detailed instructions from the Ministry of Home Affairs on rejection of security clearance to the Sun TV group, even as the Government appears to have made up its mind to file a special leave petition (SLP) in the Supreme Court challenging orders of the Delhi and Madras High Courts with regard to the Sun TV group participating in FM Phase III e-auctions.

     

    An MIB official told Indiantelevision.com that the Home Ministry had been asked earlier and also later reminded to send a detailed note on its reasons for rejection of security clearance. The official added that it is the MIB, which will file the SLP being the Ministry dealing with FM Radio and therefore it needed to be clear on the reasons for rejection of security clearance.

     

    Meanwhile, it is learnt that top officials of the Home Ministry are taking legal opinion on the issue of framing an SLP to challenge the 26 July order by the Delhi High Court and that of the Madras High Court earlier. 

     

    The Delhi High Court had allowed Red FM, which is owned by Sun TV, to participate in Phase III of the first FM e-auction, which commenced on 27 July.

     

    It is expected that the government will take the ground that the two courts had not taken into consideration: the pending criminal charges against Sun Group promoters including Kalanithi Maran, who is one of the Directors of Red FM, and the implication it has on national and economic security.

     

    Justices Badar Durrez Ahmed and Sanjeev Sachdeva of the Delhi High Court had said Clause 3.8 of the Notice Inviting Applications for the auction had reference only to the company and its directors and there is no mention of its shareholders. Both Dayanidhi Maran and Kalanithi Maran are shareholders and therefore the Clause does not apply to them.

    The Court had said Digital Radio (Delhi) Broadcasting Ltd and Digital Radio (Mumbai) Broadcasting Ltd, which run Red FM in these two cities have not been alleged to be vehicles of any transgression of law and have been functioning since 2002-2003 without there being any allegation regarding their functioning resulting in any security concerns.

  • Day 16: Bidding slow for FM Phase III as winning price touches Rs 1090 crore

    Day 16: Bidding slow for FM Phase III as winning price touches Rs 1090 crore

    NEW DELHI: Bidding has begun to slow down though the number of channels being bid for has gone up on the sixteenth day of the e-auction for the first batch of FM Phase III cities. The cumulative provisional winning price touched Rs 1090 crore at the end of the 64th round.

     

    With this, a total of 92 channels in 56 cities became provisional winning channels against their aggregate reserve price of about Rs 451 crore.

     

    Thus the summation of provisional winning prices surpassed the cumulative reserve price of the corresponding 92 channels by Rs 638.71 crore or 141.5 per cent.

     

    The cumulative provisional winning price exceeded the total reserve price of the first batch of 135 FM channels in 69 existing cities – Rs 550.18 crore – by almost 98.1 per cent.

     

    The Auction Activity Requirement rose to 100 per cent, after being 90 per cent after the 37th round on 7 August.

     

    The thirteen cities for which bids have still not come are Asansol, Gulbarga, Mangalore, Mysore, Puducherry, Rajahmundry, Siliguri, Tiruchy, Tirunveli, Tirupati, Tuticorin, Vijaywada and Warangal.

     

    The demand in most cities fell by up to three per cent and by four per cent below the excess demand at the price in 60th round in Hyderabad.

     

    The Percentage Price Increment (in INR) applicable for the Next Clock Round was just one in Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Cochin, Guwahati, Jodhpur, Kanpur, Mumbai and Nashik.

     

    The highest provisional winning price in Delhi remained the same for the second consecutive day at Rs 169.16 crore (for just one channel), but rose marginally in Mumbai at Rs 114.66 crore (for two channels) and Bengaluru with Rs 109.25 crore.

     

    Among cities recording more than Rs 10 crore, it rose marginally in Cochin at Rs 14.18 crore and Nasik at Rs 10.72 crore.

     

    Chennai at Rs 53.38 crore; Ahmedabad at Rs 42.68 crore, Pune at Rs 42.03 crore, Chandigarh at Rs 19.04 crore, Jaipur at Rs 28.34 crore, Hyderabad at Rs 18 crore, Patna at Rs 17.89 crore and Lucknow at Rs 14 crore remained static.

  • MIB criticised for violating contractual norms for national film museum construction

    MIB criticised for violating contractual norms for national film museum construction

    NEW DELHI: The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) failed to secure compliance with provisions of the contract before releasing advance payments to National Buildings Construction Corporation for the National Museum on Indian Cinemas (NMIC) leading to blocking of funds while the intended objective of commissioning the Museum for public remained unfulfilled.

     

    Rejecting the reasons given by the Ministry, the Comptroller and Auditor General has said in its latest report that the Ministry prematurely released payments without observing linkages with various milestones of construction activity and their completion. 

     

    Out of a total sum of Rs 88.11 crore released to NBCC between March 2010 and March 2011, only Rs 36.72 crore had been utilised leading to blocking of substantial sum with the NBCC.

     

    CAG said there was no provision of advance payment except payment on signing of contract between the Ministry and the NBCC.

     

    The Films Division of the Ministry had in 2010 initiated a project on turnkey basis of constructing the NMIC in the Films Division Complex at Mumbai proposed to be commissioned for public during the centenary year of Indian Cinemas in 2013. 

     

    Under the contract, the estimated cost of work was Rs 101.20 crore with expected date of completion being June 2012. 

     

    Under clause 7 of the contract, the payment to NBCC was to be based on actual cost of all the works of the project and it included all the costs as paid to contractors/suppliers etc. Payments to NBCC were to be released on completion of various milestones as specified in the contract. 

     

    NBCC had to submit report for requirement of funds and while submitting the invoice it had to certify that it had completed the activity as per schedule. In terms of clause 10 of the contract, NBCC had to submit quarterly report indicating physical and financial progress of the work.

     

    The CAG examination of records disclosed that the Ministry in contravention of the terms of contract, released funds to NBCC without linkages with the specific milestones as provided in the contract. It also did not ascertain the actual progress of work before releasing payments.

     

    CAGt also observed that the required statutory approval from Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai was obtained by the Ministry only in August 2013. The Ministry had thus released more than 85 per cent of the estimated project cost (Rs 88 crore out of Rs 101 crore) even before obtaining the required statutory approval.

     

    It was also noted that NBCC could incur expenditure of only Rs 36.72 crore out of released amount of Rs 88.11 crore as of December 2014, resulting in blocking of substantial sums for different durations during the period March 2010 to December 2014.

     

    When this was pointed out, the Ministry said in February this year that since the project was to be completed before Centenary Celebration of Indian Cinema in 2013, the Ministry had relaxed/modified the milestones of construction of NMIC, before releasing the funds to NBCC through FD. It also said the NBCC opened a separate Bank Account for the NMIC project. The bank interest was being credited to that account. 

     

    The construction work of the Museum was in progress and according to the revised timeline for completion, the Museum was to be completed and handed over by December 2015.

     

    But CAG noted that the reply of the Ministry did not address the issue of premature release of funds without synchronising the payments with the progress of work. 

     

    Furthermore, the fact remained that the Ministry failed to secure compliance with the provisions of the contract before releasing advance payments to NBCC leading to blocking of funds while the intended objective of commissioning the National Museum on Indian Cinemas for public remained unfulfilled.

  • I&B secy Bimal Julka stresses value of social media in reaching out to people

    I&B secy Bimal Julka stresses value of social media in reaching out to people

    NEW DELHI: Information and Broadcasting Ministry Secretary Bimal Julka has said social media initiatives of the government had provided people a platform to communicate directly with the government through methods such as Crowdsourcing, which encouraged such innovations.

     

    He stressed the need for qualitative information flow and interface of citizens with the communication strategy of the government. “This has led to people centric communication and facilitated enhanced outreach and visibility of government communication across platforms,” he said.

     

    Julka said this in discussions with Queensland University of Technology, Australia vice chancellor Professor Peter Coaldrake, here today.

    “The communication paradigm has undergone a shift with a 360 degree approach being adopted to address the communication needs and challenges,” he said.

     

    He also referred to flagship schemes of the government namely Digital India, Skill India, Make In India, which had provided an opportunity to media units to reach out to defined target audiences. 

      

    He specifically highlighted the use and effectiveness of initiating Talkathons, which provided a direct interface with the people leading to effective citizen centric communication. “Such initiatives would encourage a culture of inclusive and participative decision making,” he said.
     

    During the meeting, Julka and Professor Coaldrake reviewed the current training mechanism between the Ministry and QUT with regard to in-service training of Indian Information Service officers. Both agreed that the future training agenda should include contemporary issues related to media and communication studies. They emphasized that Skill Development was critical for in-service training of officers handling government communication.

  • Day 15: FM Phase III winning price touches Rs 1079 crore; bidding moderate

    Day 15: FM Phase III winning price touches Rs 1079 crore; bidding moderate

    NEW DELHI: Bids remained modest though greater interest was shown in some more channels on the fifteenth day of the e-auction for the first batch of FM Phase III cities as the cumulative provisional winning price touched Rs 1079 crore. However, the overall progress showed only mild signs of rise at the end of the 60th round.

     

    With this, a total of 91 channels in 56 cities became provisional winning channels against their aggregate reserve price of about Rs 449 crore.

     

    Thus, the cumulative provisional winning price exceeded the total reserve price of the first batch of 135 FM channels in 69 existing cities – Rs 550.18 crore – by almost 90 per cent.

     

    While Delhi continued to show a rise, Mumbai overtook Bengaluru although the latter also showed a moderate increase after being static yesterday. The Auction Activity Requirement continued to remain at 90 per cent, raised after the 37th round on 7 August.

     

    The 13 cities for which bids have still not come are Asansol, Gulbarga, Mangalore, Mysore, Puducherry, Rajahmundry, Siliguri, Tiruchy, Tirunveli, Tirupati, Tuticorin, Vijaywada and Warangal.

     

    The demand in most cities fell by up to three per cent and by four per cent below the excess demand at the price in 60th round in Hyderabad.

     

    The Percentage Price Increment (in INR) applicable for the Next Clock Round was just one per cent in Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Cochin, Guwahati, Jodhpur, Kanpur, Mumbai and Nasik.

     

    The highest Provisional winning price was in Delhi at Rs 169.16 crore (for just one channel), followed by Mumbai at Rs 112.40 crore (for two channels) and Bengaluru with Rs 107.10 crore, showing marginal increase as compared to yesterday.

     

    Among cities recording more than Rs 10 crore, it rose sizeably in Chennai at Rs 53.38 crore and Pune at Rs 42.03 crore and marginally in Jaipur at Rs 28.34 crore, Chandigarh at Rs 19.04 crore, Cochin at Rs 13.63 crore and Nasik at Rs 10.61 crore.

     

    Ahmedabad at Rs 42.68 crore, Hyderabad at Rs 18 crore, Patna at Rs 17.89 crore and Lucknow at Rs 14 crore remained static.

     

    e-Auction for the first batch of private FM Radio phase III channels began on July 27, 2015. Four rounds of bidding are held. The auction is being closely monitored and supervised by senior officials to maintain integrity of the process.

     

    The first batch auction will pave the way for onset of FM Phase III regime, which will bestow many new facilities on the operators. In Phase III, license will be for 15 years as against 10 years in Phase II.

     

    Total FDI / FII allowed in new regime is 26 per cent as compared to 20 per cent in Phase II. An operator in Phase III regime may own upto 40 per cent of channels in the same city subject to three different operators in the city, whereas earlier policy provided for only one channel per operator per city. The new regime also gives an operator facility to network its own channels within the country.

     

    Unlike Phase II, Phase III regime permits operators to carry news bulletins of All India Radio in unaltered form on mutually agreed terms and conditions with Prasar Bharati.

     

    As the government has rejuvenated its approach towards North Eastern part of India with its ‘Act East’ policy, FM phase III policy provides much needed support to the FM radio broadcasting services in cities of North Eastern part of India as in the cities of Jammu & Kashmir and island territories, with provision of annual fee of the channels in these areas at half the rates for first three years, besides Prasar Bharati Infrastructure at half the lease rentals.

     

    The ongoing auction is a Simultaneous Multiple Round Ascending (SMRA) e-auction, which is being conducted online from Auction Control Room No. 404 B Wing, Shastri Bhawan by C 1 e-auctioneers.

  • Day 14: Mumbai joins Rs 100 crore club for FM Phase III channels

    Day 14: Mumbai joins Rs 100 crore club for FM Phase III channels

    NEW DELHI: Mumbai finally became the third city to join the Rs 100 crore club on the fourteenth day of the e-auction for the first batch of FM Phase III cities. The cumulative provisional winning price touched around Rs 1022 crore on day 14, though the overall progress showed only mild signs of rise at the end of the 56th round.

     

    With this, a total of 88 channels in 56 cities became provisional winning channels whose aggregate reserve price was about Rs 425 crore. Thus the summation of provisional winning prices surpassed the cumulative reserve price of the 88 channels by Rs 596.61 crore or 140.1 per cent. 

     

    Overall, cumulative provisional winning price exceeded the total reserve price of the first batch of 135 FM channels in 69 existing cities – Rs 550.18 crore – by Rs 472.08 crore or 85.8 per cent – around three per cent above yesterday. 

     

    While Delhi continued to show a rise, Bengaluru remained static though it was still above Mumbai where two channels were allocated to provisional winning bidders for Rs 100.94 crore each.

     

    The Auction Activity Requirement continued to remain at 90 per cent, raised after the 37th round on 7 August. 

     

    The thirteen cities for which bids have still not come are Asansol, Gulbarga, Mangalore, Mysore, Puducherry, Rajahmundry, Siliguri, Tiruchy, Tirunveli, Tirupati, Tuticorin, Vijaywada and Warangal.

     

    The demand over the price in most cities fell by up to three per cent and four per cent below the excess demand at the price in 56th round in Hyderabad. 

     

    The Percentage Price Increment (in INR) applicable for the Next Clock Round rose to five in Chennai and Mumbai but was just one in Amritsar, Chandigarh, Cochin,  Jaipur and Pune.

     

    The highest Provisional winning price was in Delhi at Rs 167.49 crore (for just one channel), followed by Mumbai at Rs 100.94 crore, both showing marginal increase compared to yesterday. Bengaluru with Rs 106.04 crore remained static.

     

    Among cities recording more than Rs 10 crore, it rose sizeably in Chennai at Rs 49.84 crore and Pune at Rs 41.20 crore and marginally in Jaipur at Rs 28.06 crore, Chandigarh at Rs 18.67 crore and Cochin at Rs 13.36 crore.

     

    Besides, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad at Rs 42.68 crore, Hyderabad at Rs 18 crore, Patna at Rs 17.89 crore, Lucknow at Rs 14 crore and Nasik at Rs 10.30 crore remained static.

  • Day 13: FM Phase III bids cross Rs 1000 crore mark; no bids for 13 cities yet

    Day 13: FM Phase III bids cross Rs 1000 crore mark; no bids for 13 cities yet

    NEW DELHI: The thirteenth day of the e-auction for the first batch of FM Phase III cities saw the cumulative provisional winning price cross the Rs 1000 crore mark, though the progress showed only mild signs of rise at the end of the 52nd round.

     

    A total of 87 channels in 56 cities became provisional winning channels with cumulative provisional winning price of Rs 1005 crore against their aggregate reserve price of about Rs 425 crore. Thus the summation of provisional winning prices surpassed the cumulative reserve price of the corresponding 87 channels by Rs 580.23 crore or 136.5 per cent.

     

    Overall, cumulative provisional winning price exceeded the total reserve price of the first batch of 135 FM channels in 69 existing cities of Rs 550.18 crore by Rs 455.08 crore or 82.7 per cent, which is three per cent above yesterday. 

     

    The Auction Activity Requirement continued to remain at 90 per cent, raised after the 37th round on 7 August. 

     

    The 13 cities for which bids have still not come are Asansol, Gulbarga, Mangalore, Mysore, Puducherry, Rajahmundry, Siliguri, Tiruchy, Tirunveli, Tirupati, Tuticorin, Vijaywada and Warangal.

     

    The demand over the price in most cities fell by up to three per cent and four per cent below the excess demand at the price in 52nd round in Hyderabad.

     

    The Percentage Price Increment (in INR) applicable for the Next Clock Round rose to just one per cent in Amritsar, Chandigarh, Chennai, Cochin, Delhi, Hisar, Mumbai and Pune.

     

    The highest Provisional winning price was in Delhi at Rs 162.56 crore (for just one channel), followed by Mumbai at Rs 98.95 crore, both showing marginal increase as compared to yesterday.

     

    Among cities recording more than Rs 10 crore, it rose sizeably in Chennai at Rs 47.89 crore and Pune at Rs 39.59 crore and marginally in Jaipur at Rs 27.24 crore; Chandigarh at Rs 18.30 crore and Cochin at Rs 12.84 crore.

     

    Thus Mumbai is the only other city inching towards the Rs 100 crore figure.

     

    Bengaluru at Rs 106.04 crore; Ahmedabad at Rs 42.68 crore, Hyderabad at Rs 18 crore, Patna at Rs 17.89 crore, Lucknow at Rs 14 crore and Nasik at Rs 10.30 crore remained static.

  • Day 12: Phase III FM bids slow down with moderate increase in winning price

    Day 12: Phase III FM bids slow down with moderate increase in winning price

    NEW DELHI: The twelfth day of the e-auction for the first batch of FM Phase III cities continued to slow down even though the cumulative provisional winning price rose marginally to touch Rs 987 crore against the aggregate reserve price of about Rs 425 crore at the end of 48 rounds.

     

    A total of 86 channels in 56 cities – dropping by one channel compared to yesterday – became provisionally winning channels with cumulative provisional winning price. Thus the summation of provisional winning prices surpassed the cumulative reserve price of the 86 channels by Rs 562.19 crore or 132.3 per cent.

     

    Overall, cumulative provisional winning price exceeded the total reserve price of the first batch of 135 FM channels in 69 existing cities – Rs 550.18 crore – by Rs 436.89 crore or 79.4 per cent.

     

    The Auction Activity Requirement remained for the second day at 90 per cent, raised after the 37th round on 7 August. 

     

    The thirteen cities for which bids have still not come are Asansol, Gulbarga, Mangalore, Mysore, Puducherry, Rajahmundry, Siliguri, Tiruchy, Tirunveli, Tirupati, Tuticorin, Vijaywada and Warangal.

     

    The demand over the price in most cities fell by up to three per cent and four per cent below the excess demand at the price in 48th round in Hyderabad.

     

    The Percentage Price Increment (in INR) applicable for the Next Clock Round rose to five per cent in Aurangabad and Kolhapur but was just one per cent in Amritsar, Chandigarh, Chennai, Cochin, Delhi, Hisar, Jaipur, Mumbai, Nasik and Pune.

     

    The highest Provisional winning price – the same as the Clock round price at the start of the twenty-eighth round – was in Delhi – Rs 156.22 crore (for just one channel), followed by Mumbai – Rs 97 crore, both showing marginal increase compared to yesterday.

     

    Among cities recording more than Rs 10 crore, it rose sizeably in Chennai at Rs 46.03 crore and Pune at Rs 38.05 crore and marginally in Jaipur at Rs 26.70 crore, Chandigarh at Rs 17.94 crore, Cochin at Rs 11.86 crore and Nasik at Rs 10.30 crore.

     

    Thus Mumbai remains the only city, which may soon cross the Rs 100 crore figure.

     

    Bengaluru at Rs 106.04 crore; Ahmedabad at Rs 42.68 crore, Hyderabad at Rs 18 crore, Patna at Rs 17.89 crore and Lucknow at Rs 14 crore remained static.

  • TV channels require bandwidth of 28.5 Mbps to transmit: Rathore

    TV channels require bandwidth of 28.5 Mbps to transmit: Rathore

    NEW DELHI: The typical value of bandwidth or data rate required to transmit (uplink / downlink) TV channels is around 28.5 Mbps, the Parliament was told today.

    Rathore said that 822 private satellite TV channels had been permitted by the Ministry under the Uplinking / Downlinking Guidelines.

    In reply to a question, Rathore informed that the permitted satellite TV channels, after obtaining permission from the Ministry, have to operationalise within one year in accordance with the provisions of Clause 2.4.2, 2.5.1 and 3.5.1 of the Uplinking Guidelines.

    In order to ensure operationalisation, a Performance Bank Guarantee of certain amount has to be deposited by the permission holding company, which is forfeited if the company fails to operationalise by the due date. 

    Quoting information supplied by the Department of Telecommunications, Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Rajyavardhan Rathore said the spectrum was as follows:

  • Day 11: FM Phase III auction provisional winning price touches Rs 969 crore; Nasik shows sizeable rise

    Day 11: FM Phase III auction provisional winning price touches Rs 969 crore; Nasik shows sizeable rise

    NEW DELHI: Nasik became the only new city to enter the Rs 10 crore club even as the cumulative provisional winning price slowed down and touched Rs 969 crore against the aggregate reserve price of about Rs 425 crore at the end of 44 rounds on the eleventh day of bidding for FM Phase III.

     

    A total of 87 channels in 56 cities became provisionally winning channels with cumulative provisional winning price. Thus the summation of provisional winning prices surpassed the cumulative reserve price of the 87 channels by Rs 543.83 crore or 127.9 per cent.

     

    Overall, cumulative provisional winning price exceeded the total reserve price of Rs 550.18 crore of the first batch of 135 FM channels in 69 existing cities by Rs 418.68 crore or 76 per cent. 

     

    The Auction Activity Requirement remained for the second day at 90 per cent, which was raised after the 37th round on 7 August.

     

    The 13 cities for which no bids have come are Asansol, Gulbarga, Mangalore, Mysore, Puducherry, Rajahmundry, Siliguri, Tiruchy, Tirunveli, Tirupati, Tuticorin, Vijaywada and Warangal.

     

    The demand over the price in most cities fell down by up to three per cent and went down by four per cent below the aggregate demand in Gulbarga.

     

    The Percentage Price Increment (in INR) applicable for the Next Clock Round was just one per cent in Amritsar, Chandigarh, Chennai, Cochin, Delhi, Hisar, Jaipur, Kolhapur, Mumbai, Nasik and Pune.

     

    The highest Provisional winning price – the same as the Clock round price at the start of the twenty-eighth round – was in Delhi at Rs 150.12 crore (for just one channel), followed by Bengaluru at Rs 106.04 crore and Mumbai at Rs 95.09 crore, showing marginal increase compared to yesterday.

     

    Among cities recording more than Rs 10 crore, it rose sizeably in Jaipur at Rs 25.92 crore and marginally in Chennai at Rs 44.23 crore, Pune at Rs 36.56 crore, Chandigarh at Rs 17.58 crore, Cochin at Rs 11.86 crore and Nasik where it crossed the Rs 10 crore figure today at Rs 10.20 crore.

     

    Thus Mumbai is the only citiy, which may soon cross the Rs 100 crore figure.

     

    Ahmedabad at Rs 42.68 crore, Hyderabad at Rs 18 crore, Patna at Rs 17.89 crore and Lucknow at Rs 14 crore remained static.