ITV

Category: I&B Ministry

  • Delhi media protests Home Ministry order on briefings

    Delhi media protests Home Ministry order on briefings

    NEW DELHI: The Delhi Union of Journalists (DUJ) has condemned the gag order for journalists covering the Union Home Ministry.

     

    It noted that such curbs are not new and have been in force since 2014, albeit in a not such an overt manner. It said the new thing was that they are now becoming more obvious and blatant.

     

    A report in a Delhi daily in this regard is an ominous indicator of things to come. It has been reported that the practice of journalists meeting senior officers in their chambers virtually comes to an end.

     

    The directive from Joint Secretary Satpal Chouhan said, “The information flow to mediapersons will be arranged in media room no. 9, North Block. Mediapersons will be told by ADG [Media] that they do not have briefing/meeting with officers other than in the media room.”

     

    Chouhan, in his directive, added that MA Ganapathy, joint secretary (Internal Security), being the official spokesperson of the Ministry, will brief the media on a need-to-do basis.

     

    The DUJ, while expressing its strongest disapproval of this order, expressed its solidarity with the protesting journalists.

  • Govt. backs Gajendra Chauhan’s appointment as FTII chairman

    Govt. backs Gajendra Chauhan’s appointment as FTII chairman

    NEW DELHI: The Government has backed the appointment of Mahabharat star Gajendra Chauhan as chairman of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), saying that the appointment was in accordance with the prescribed guidelines.

     

    “The appointment in the FTII is made as per the prescribed guidelines incorporated in FTII rules,” Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Rathore said in the Lok Sabha.

     

    Rathore said he is in touch with the representatives of the students and the alumni, who are on an agitation to protest the appointment of Chauhan.

     

    “The Government had held talks on 3 July with representatives of FTII students and alumni wherein they were told that the appointment of Chauhan was made in accordance with the prescribed rules.” He also said that they were asked to resume their academic activities.

     

    Rathore said the appointment of FTII is governed by the set of provisions of FTII rules. “As per section 3 (1) of the FTII rules, president of the institute is nominated by the Central government. Further, under section 22 of the Rules, president of the institute acts as chairman of the Governing Council,” he added.

     

    FTII students have been agitating for over six weeks to protest the appointment of Chauhan as FTII chairman. 

  • Channels uplinked for beaming overseas have to follow laws of receiving country: Rathore

    Channels uplinked for beaming overseas have to follow laws of receiving country: Rathore

    NEW DELHI: Although the 36 channels uplinked from India and downlinked overseas are not bound by the Programme and Advertising Codes, the Indian government said that the uplinked content should not contain anything, which is against the sovereignty, integrity and national security of India as well as its relations with friendly countries.

     

    The permission to these channels was given under the Uplinking Guidelines of November 2011.

     

    Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Rathore told the Lok Sabha today that these channels will be required to ensure compliance of the rules and regulations of the target country for which content is being produced and uplinked.

     

    These channels will be required to preserve the recordings of proceedings for at least six months for monitoring purposes, he said.

     

    A majority of the channels are from the Zee Group targeting different countries including the United States and South Africa, while others include Raj TV and South Asia World TV.

  • Mock auctions extended by a day to accommodate Sun Group FM bidders

    Mock auctions extended by a day to accommodate Sun Group FM bidders

    NEW DELHI: Even as the e-auction for the first batch of bidders for FM Phase III is to commence on 27 July, the Government held three rounds of mock auctions instead of the originally announced two.

     

    The mock auctions while earlier were slated for 22 and 23 July, were extended by one more day to 24 July.

     

    Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry sources told Indiantelevision.com that the mock exercise had been extended in the light of the Delhi High Court order of 22 July with regard to Red FM for taking part in the auctions and the Madras High Court order of 23 July with regard to Kal Radio-run Suryan FM to take part in the e-auctions.

     

    C1 India Pvt. Ltd is serving as the e-auctioneer and auction adviser to the I&B Ministry, who arranged the training of pre-qualified bidders for the first batch of private FM radio Phase III on 17 July, 2015. The training was held in two batches on the same day, at National Media Centre in New Delhi.

     

    A total of 28 applicants had applied for the e-auction of 135 private FM radio channels for the first batch of the Phase III expansion plan. The 28 applicants had cumulatively submitted Rs 316.91 crore as earnest money deposit by 27 March, 2015, which was the deadline for the application process.

     

    Meanwhile the petition related to participation Red FM in the FM Phase III auction will be heard by the Supreme Court on 25 July. 

  • Rajya Sabha panel approves GST with minor changes, several parties attach dissent notes

    Rajya Sabha panel approves GST with minor changes, several parties attach dissent notes

    NEW DELHI: Even though the Rajya Sabha Select Committee on the Goods and Services Tax (GST) gave its green signal today, the going will not be easy in view of the fact that the opposition – which is in a majority in the house – may ultimately have its way.

     

    The Committee endorsed almost all the provisions and also agreed to demands of parties like the Trinamool Congress for a five-year compensation to states. 

     

    Chaired by the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Bhupender Yadav, changes were suggested in some clauses pertaining to compensation, and levy of one per cent additional tax by the states on inter-state supply of goods. 

     

    The government plans to implement GST from April next year, which has been pending for several years with every Finance Minister making promises. The GST is expected to provide great relief as it will subsume within itself many other taxes being levied at present like excise, service tax, and local levies. 

     

    The report placed in the House today contains dissent notes from Congress, AIADMK and Left parties, which have expressed their opposition to the GST Constitution Amendment Bill in the existing form. 

     

    The GST Bill, which has already been approved by the Lok Sabha where the ruling party is in majority, will now be taken up by the Rajya Sabha for discussion. Being a Constitution Amendment Bill, it has to be approved by two-thirds of the members present and voting. 

     

    The Committee has suggested that the provision in the bill that provided Centre “may” compensate states for a period up to five years for any revenue loss be substituted by a commitment for compensation for five years. 

     

    In a clause relating to levy of one per cent additional tax by states, the committee suggested that the levy should only be on “all forms of supply made for a consideration.”

     

    It, however, retained the representation of the Centre and States at the proposed level at one-third and two-third despite demand to reduce Centre’s representation to one-fourth. 

  • Radio Mirchi gets I&B nod to purchase Oye FM

    Radio Mirchi gets I&B nod to purchase Oye FM

    MUMBAI: Radio Mirchi FM’s mother company Entertainment Network (India) Limited (ENIL) has received the Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry’s nod to purchase TV Today Network’s (TVTN) four radio stations, which owns 104.8 FM Oye.

     

    This includes the company’s radio business in Amritsar, Jodhpur, Patiala and Shimla.

     

    The purchase will be subject to fulfilment of conditions specified by I&B Ministry, execution of relevant documents with TVTN and completion of all other relevant formalities.

     

    It can be noted that ENIL had signed the non-binding memorandum of understanding (MoU) with TV Today Network for the purchase of seven radio stations. However, on 13 February, 2015 and 8 May, 2015, I&B Ministry declined its approval on the grounds that the proposed sale by TVTN and proposed purchase by ENIL is not in conformity with the FM Radio Guidelines.

     

    With this approval, the shares of ENIL saw a hike of close to 17 per cent in intraday trading on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) to touch a life high of Rs 849 on 22 July.

  • Narendra Modi invites inputs for ‘Mann Ki Baat’ on 26 July

    Narendra Modi invites inputs for ‘Mann Ki Baat’ on 26 July

    NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has invited inputs from the people for his next ‘Mann ki Baat’ radio broadcast on 26 July.

     

    The inputs can be sent on MyGov.in.

     

    In a message, Modi said, “Looking forward to share ‘Mann Ki Baat’ this Sunday. Share your inputs and ideas for the programme.”

     

    Unlike earlier this year, Modi has declined for the second month in a row to spell out the subject for his broadcasts on All India Radio.

     

    Earlier, he had in his broadcasts dealt with students going to examinations, or farmers’ issues.

     

    Observers felt that this was because Modi wants to avoid taking up subjects that might turn controversial.

     

    The broadcast at 11 am will be carried by all stations of AIR and also by Doordarshan and several private television channels.   

  • Pathrabe to replace Narain as FTII director; no decision on Gajendra Chauhan

    Pathrabe to replace Narain as FTII director; no decision on Gajendra Chauhan

    NEW DELHI: Even as the protest against the appointment of actor Gajendra Chauhan as chairman of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) continues, former National Film Archives of India head Prashant Pathrabe has been appointed as the director of the Institute, replacing DJ Narain.

     

    The Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry decided to replace Narain, who is considered popular with students, despite reprimands from the government.

     

    Meanwhile, the protest against Chauhan’s appointment as FTII chairman has been going on for over a month now and has even seen multiple actors entering the fray either for or against him.

     

    Many Bollywood celebrities including Salman Khan and his father Salim Khan, Ranbir Kapoor, Anupam Kher and Rishi Kapoor have expressed their opinion on the issue, siding with students.

     

    FTII students have been protesting against government interference, saying that Chauhan who had enacted the role of Yudhishtra in the mega series Mahabharata, lacked qualification for the important post.

     

    On the other hand, Narain’s term was to end at the end of July. He is a 1990 officer of the Indian Information Service.

     

    Pathrabe has been in the media field for more than 18 years, having previously worked in Doordarshan News and All India Radio News in Mumbai. He has also been spokesperson for Southern Command, Pune.

     

    Pathrabe, a MBA from IIM Ahmedabad, joined the Indian Information Service in 1993 after a stint in public and private sector companies. He is currently with the Press Information Bureau in Pune.

  • Sun TV to move HC on denial of permission to bid for FM Phase III auctions

    Sun TV to move HC on denial of permission to bid for FM Phase III auctions

    NEW DELHI: The Sun TV Group is planning to move the High Court in Delhi or Chennai on Monday (20 July) to challenge the denial of permission to Red FM to bid in Phase III of FM auctions.

     

    Sun Group chief financial officer SL Narayanan told Indiantelevision.com that the Group had received a formal communication from the Information and Broadcasting Ministry on night of 16 July that it would not be allowed to bid in view of pending cases against the Maran brothers.

     

    Narayanan said that the Group had so far refrained from commenting as “we do not want to fight in the media,” but was not reacting as the Ministry had given it a cause of action for a writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution.

     

    The list of 21 bidders, which had got the go-ahead on 15 July did not contain the name of Red FM, which is a strong contender.

     

    Narayanan also said that the cases against the Marans were not linked to security issues and had in any case not been concluded. Further, he said that a company could not be asked to close down merely because it had some cases pending against it.

     

    Expressing his gratitude to the manner in which the Indian media had taken up the cause of freedom of the press on behalf of Sun, he said that no plans had been drawn up for moving the Courts on Sun TV since there was no cause for action as the government had so far failed to send any communication relating to the security clearance issue pending with the Home Ministry.

     

    He was particularly grateful to Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) president Uday Shankar and Association of Radio Operators in India’s (AROI) Uday Chawla for writing to Prime Minister Narendra Modi as well as Home Minister Rajnath Singh and I&B Minister Arun Jaitley.

     

    In addition, political parties Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and PMK had also issued statements condemning the delay by the Government in taking a decision.

  • MIB gives go ahead to 21 FM radio phase III bidders

    MIB gives go ahead to 21 FM radio phase III bidders

    MUMBAI: A gaggle of existing radiocasters, print media behemoths,  TV broadcasters,  builders, film producers and auto car dealers, are in the list of 21 pre-qualified bidders eligible to participate in the first batch e-auctions for 135 private FM channels in 69 existing cities of phase II. The list was released by the information & broadcasting ministry (MIB)  today.

     

    Among the companies which have got the go ahead figure: A M Television Pvt Ltd, Abhijit Realtors and Infraventures Pvt Ltd, Abir Buildcon Pvt Ltd, DB Corp Ltd, Embassy Nirman Pvt Ltd, Entertainment Network (India) Ltd, HT Media Limited, Malar Publications Ltd, Music Broadcast Pvt Ltd,  Next Radio Ltd, Nirmal Sagar Buildcon Pvt Ltd, Odisha Television Ltd, Pratidin FM Pvt Ltd, Pudhari Publications Pvt Ltd, Rajasthan Patrika Pvt Ltd, Reliance Broadcast Network Ltd, Remi Overseas Pvt Ltd, Renderlive Films & Entertainment Pvt Ltd, Sarthak Films Pvt Ltd, The Mathrubhumi Printing & Publishing Co. Ltd and Venus Autoworks Pvt Ltd

     

    28 applicants had cumulatively submitted Rs 316.91 crore as earnest money deposit by end of day 27 March 2015 which was the deadline for the application process.

     

    The Sun TV group is prominent amongst the bidders whose application was rejected.  The group had routed its applications through five companies, and the application review committee in MIB rejected their applications as they had failed to get security clearance from the ministry of home affairs.