Category: Software

NEW DELHI: The National Policy on Electronics has been framed to supporting and developing expertise in the electronics in various sectors including Information and Broadcasting, and Games and Toys.

The Policy, approved by the Cabinet this week, will help develop core competencies in strategic and core infrastructure sectors like telecommunications and Information and Broadcasting, Railways, etc through use of Electronic System and Design and Manufacturing (ESDM) in these sectors.

A draft National Policy on Electronics had earlier released for public consultation and the Policy has now been finalised based on comments from various stakeholders.

India is one of the fastest growing markets of electronics in the world. There is potential to develop the ESDM sector to meet domestic demand as well as to use the capabilities so created to successfully export ESDM products from the country. The National Policy on Electronics aims to address the issue with the explicit goal of transforming India into a premier ESDM hub.

The strategies include setting up of a National Electronics Mission with industry participation and renaming the Department of Information Technology as Department of Electronics and Information Technology (Deity). The Department has since been renamed on 26 February 2012.

The policy is expected to create an indigenous manufacturing eco-system for electronics in the country. It will foster the manufacturing of indigenously designed and manufactured chips creating a more cyber secure ecosystem in the country. It will enable India to tap the great economic potential that this knowledge sector offers. The increased development and manufacturing in the sector will lead to greater economic growth through more manufacturing and consequently greater employment in the sector.

ESDM is of strategic importance as well. Not only in internal security and defence, the pervasive deployment of electronics in civilian domains such as telecom, power, railways, civil aviation, etc. can have serious consequences of disruption of service. This renders tremendous strategic importance to the sector. The country, therefore, cannot be totally dependent on imported electronic components and products.

Among other things, the Policy aims to create an eco-system for a globally competitive ESDM sector in the country to achieve a turnover of about $400 billion by 2020 involving investment of about $100 billion and employment to around 28 million people at various levels.

It will build on the emerging chip design and embedded software industry to achieve global leadership in Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI), chip design and other frontier technical areas and to achieve a turnover of $55 billion by 2020.

A strong supply chain of raw materials, parts and electronic components will be built to raise the indigenous availability of these inputs from the present 20-25 per cent to over 60 per cent by 2020.

The export in ESDM sector will be raised from $5.5 billion to $80 billion by 2020.

An institutional mechanism will be created for developing and mandating standards and certification for electronic products and services to strengthen quality assessment infrastructure nationwide.

Based on Cabinet approval, a high level Empowered committee has been constituted to identify and shortlist technology and investors for setting up two semiconductor wafer manufacturing fabrication facilities.

Based on another Cabinet approval a policy for providing preference to domestically manufactured electronic goods has been announced. Separate proposals have also been considered by the Cabinet for approval of Modified Special Incentive Package for the ESDM Sector and for setting up of Electronics Manufacturing Clusters (EMCs).

MUMBAI: Pubcaster Doordarshan has entered into a three-year content distribution partnership with search engine giant Google. This will ensure that DD‘s content gets distributed on Google‘s platforms including YouTube, the video sharing portal.

According to the agreement, Google will coordinate with Doordarshan for sharing and publishing of website-content. Google will share advertisement revenue with Doordarshan that will be generated after selling the pubcaster‘s content.

The agreement was signed between Director General of Doordarshan Tripurari Saran and Google Head of Strategic partnership Manan Singhi.

Saran said the reason behind signing this deal was to reach out to younger audiences.

“As broadcasters we are specially trying to reach out to the younger generation through this medium and the prime advantage that we get is that our content will be uploaded in a legitimate fashion and there is also a provision of blocking un-authorised and illegitimate uploading of our content. This also brings the advantage of revenue sharing on our content through YouTube.”

Said Singhi, “We are very happy to be a part of the agreement between Doordarshan and YouTube which has helped in terms of content distribution across our platform. It also gives the benefit to Doordarshan to reach the millions and billions users and fans all around the world, we reach over 800 million users.”

MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court Tuesday deferred the hearing of petition filed by cable operators seeking extension of cable TV digitisation to 31 October.

A clutch of cable operators had approached Bombay High Court seeking extension on the ground that they needed more time to get their networks up and running. The matter was to come up for hearing on Monday but has been scheduled for 31 October which incidentally is the last date of deadline.
 
The petitioners which includes Puri brothers and Paresh Thakkar, both associated with Hathway Cable & Datacom besides operators from the eastern suburbs of Mumbai like Chembur, Ghatkopar and Govandi.

NEW DELHI: Even as the government faces opposition from political parties on the issue of deadline for first phase of digitisation, newly appointed Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari has exuded confidence that the 1 November deadline for the first phase of digitisation in the four metros would be met.

Tewari said that the ministry had put in place a roadmap for achieving the target of switching over from analogue to digital. The Ministry has taken efforts to involve the key stakeholders associated with the digitisation initiative.

Later in the day Tewari held a series of meetings with different officials to understand the implications of cable television digitisation, particularly in the light of contradictory claims by different stakeholders.

Tewari, who took charge of his new assignment this morning, said that he would take forward the comprehensive policies of the UPA Government in the media and entertainment sectors.

The first-time Minister met his predecessor Ambika Soni to understand the Ministry‘s stand on various programmes, including digitisation. He was also briefed by I&B secretary Uday Kumar Verma who gave him a preview of the work being done by the ministry and the priorities that have been set.

Queried about key priority areas, Tewari said that he would like to express his views only after he had a comprehensive briefing by officials. However, digitisation is clearly the key priority for the ministry at this point.

“With regards to digitisation, the ministry has already put a road map in place and there are certain benchmarks which they have delineated. After talking to people who have been looking into this particular aspect, I will be in a better position to apprise you where have we reached and how much of the benchmarks that we had set out have been fulfilled,” Tewari told reporters during a brief interaction after taking office as the Minister.

Tewari will have his task cut out as only two days are left for the deadline and political parties in Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai are already pressurising the government to have the deadline extended on the ground that a large number of homes are yet to be digitised.

Cable operators in these cities have also warned that there will be public backlash if the government goes ahead with the deadline and signals to analogue homes are switched off which would mean a large number of dark homes, particularly in Chennai and Kolkata.

Contesting government‘s claim of 85 per cent digitisation in the four metros, the cable operators have said that there would be law and order problems in the metros if broadcasters switch off analogue signals.

Asked about the issue of paid news, Tewari said that the goal was to evolve a political consensus since the I&B ministry as such doesn‘t have the regulatory power.

“In so far as paid news is concerned, I am aware of the immensity of the problem. This is something that requires political consensus across the board and all the stakeholders need to be brought on board. The Information and broadcasting ministry unlike other ministries does not have the regulatory remit in that sense of the word,” he said.

In a related issue on digitisation, I&B secretary Uday Kumar Varma said an average of 45 to 50,000 set top boxes were being installed every day and the digitisation would be completed by the end of the month.

“A quiet revolution is unfolding in the broadcasting sector as we are just a few days away from complete digital switchover from the analogue cable television network to digital cable television networks in the four metro cities of India,” he said, while addressing the CII Media and Entertainment Meet on ‘The Big Picture‘ Summit 2012 in New Delhi.

“The transformation, we all agree, will bring in rich dividends to the entire broadcasting industry, government and importantly the people of the country,” Varma added.

Also read:

Manish Tewari gets charge of I&B ahead of digitisation

MUMBAI: After Chennai and Kolkata, the government is facing political opposition in Mumbai with Shiv Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray warning the centre that any move to switch-off TV signals to analogue cable homes post the digitisation deadline will be fiercely opposed.

Taking a dig at Congress-led UPA government for failing to control inflation, Thackeray said that the government has further burdened the common man by making it compulsory to purchase set-top boxes, which costs anywhere between Rs 1000 to Rs 1200.

Thackeray also warned the government that the deadline is close to the festive season and any efforts to switch off signals to analogue homes would result in protest from common man.

“With the Diwali festival round the corner, many poor families are unable to afford it (STB) in these times of high inflation. Where will they get this money from suddenly? We shall not allow this type of compulsion on the people to install an STB,” Thackeray said in a statement in party mouthpiece Saamna.

Echoing Thackeray‘s sentiment, Shiv Sena leader and Cable Operators Association president Anil Parab said that the Information & Broadcasting ministry must extend the deadline by at least two months till December as 30 per cent homes are still to be seeded with STBs. This is contrary to government‘s claim that 100 per cent digitisation has been achieved.
“We did a review and found out that only 70 per cent of the homes have been digitised. Therefore we have requested the government to extend the deadline. Otherwise it will lead to law and order problem,” Parab said.

The 30 per cent homes that are yet to be seeded mostly fall in slum areas, he added.

The deadline for the first phase of digitisation covering the four metro cities of Chennai, Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata is 31 October. As per Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Amendment Bill 2011, all television homes will have to compulsorily switch to digital cable in a phased manner.

Earlier, the government had faced opposition from Mamata Bannerjee-led Trinamool Congress in Kolkata while the Tamil Nadu government owned Arasu Corporation is also wanting extension of deadline in Chennai.

The cable operators association from both the Kolkata and Chennai have also urged the government to extend the digitisation deadline in order to allow cable operators to install STBs in all the consumer homes.

Also read:

IMCL sets foot in Kolkata, acquires two cable networks

Chennai cable ops say Govt’s digital STB figures faulty

NEW DELHI: Worldspace Radio, which had bid adieu to India some time earlier, is returning in a new format. Rechristened iMusicSpace, it will be available on Airtel digital TV.

DTH customers can now listen to an extensive collection of latest and retro Hindi songs, popular ghazals and their favourite regional music channels on the new avatar radio. Customers can now enjoy 24X7 radio on their TV in their native dialect be it Hindi, Bengali, Gujarati, Marathi, Punjabi, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada or Telugu.

Comprising 12 channels including devotional and kids channels, iMusicSpace is now available to customers at Rs 35 per month.

Bharti Airtel CEO-DTH/Media Shashi Arora said, “The launch of Worldspace Radio on Airtel was an industry first and we are ecstatic to re-launch the new and evolved iMusicSpace application today on Airtel Digital TV. This service is yet another step by Airtel towards making TV a wholesome entertainment package for customers and we look forward to our partnership with Timbre Media for the WorldSpace Radio service”.

The service has been launched on the DTH platform in association with Saregama and Timbre Media who will jointly provide the content for the application.
 
Mathewkutty Sebastian, CEO of Timbre Media, a company formed in 2010 by the erstwhile employees of Worldspace India, said: “Timbre Media is happy to be able to offer Airtel DTH subscribers the music experience they enjoyed in the past on this platform, brought to them by the very same dedicated team of radio professionals who pioneered genre based programming in India for WorldSpace.”

Airtel digital TV customers can easily access the application by just clicking the iTV button on their remote. The new channels include Magikbox (kids), Shraddha (Devotional) Farishta (Retro Hindi), Falak (Ghazals), Sonar (Bengali), Umang (Gujarati), Surabhi (Marathi), Tunak (Punjabi), Thenisai (Tamil) Madhuri (Malayalam), Sparsha (Kannada) and Spandana (Telugu).

Worldspace had gone bust globally and in India it has come back as a restructured organisation.

NEW DELHI: Multi-system operator Home Cable has written to the Information and Broadcasting Ministry protesting its ignoring a Delhi High Court order for reconsidering the cancellation of his digital access system licence within three days.

Vikki Choudhary, founder Director of Home Cable Network (P) Limited, said in a letter to the Ministry that he had furnished the documents on 18 October itself by e-mail as directed by the Court and also sent copies by speed post on 22 October.

He said that more than a week had passed since then but there had been no response despite the court’s directive about three days. He pointed out that “we are being kept in the dark” despite the fact that the sunset date was fast approaching.

The order by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice Vipin Sanghi said the order is subject to Home Cable filing all DAS related information sought by the Ministry.

The Court also permitted the MSO to negotiate and enter into the DAS Interconnect Agreements with the Pay TV broadcasters/ Channel aggregators.

The registration of Home Cable and Swami Cable Network had been revoked by the Ministry on 28 August on the ground that they had failed to submit necessary documents.

Both the MSOs were registered with the Ministry and had been asked to furnish information regarding preparations for implementation of DAS and their plans for infrastructure expansion as mandated in the DAS regime.

Senior advocate Aman Lekhi and Gaurang Kanth, counsel for Home Cable, argued that there was no ground available with the MIB to take such a punitive action against the MSO, which already had already installed DAS and had been running it since 2007 and catering to more than 11,000 digital subscribers since Conditional Access System (Cas) was introduced in South Delhi with a capacity to carry 650 digital TV channels.

MUMBAI: Continuing to expand the reach and diversity of its membership, Casbaa has welcomed Corporate Members VTC from Vietnam and Sky Net of Myanmar, as well as Hong Kong‘s TMS and the Motion Picture Association. Patron Member upgrades have also been registered by satellite operator Eutelsat of Paris and Sky News Australia in Sydney.

Casbaa CEO Simon Twiston Davies said, “The Casbaa membership roster increasingly reflects the growing importance of emerging markets such as Vietnam, which saw a 74 per cent pay-TV growth between 2009 and 2011, and Myanmar, where the TV advertising market has been growing at 49 per cent per annum over the last few years”.

VTC Digital Television Station was launched in 2005 with nation-wide coverage and now has 20 self-produced channels plus a bouquet of international channels broadcast via satellite, DTT, analogue, IPTV, Internet and cable television.

Launched in 2010, Sky Net is a Direct to Home and Multiplay Service system provided nationwide in Myanmar.

Hong Kong-based TMS designs, builds and manages mobile marketing and commerce campaigns linked to traditional advertising campaigns.

The Motion Picture Association serves as an advocate of the American motion picture, home video and television industries.

Eutelsat provides transponder capacity on 23 satellites delivering more than 2,500 television channels to over 120 million cable and satellite homes around the world.

Sky News of Australia delivers news coverage as well as an extensive line-up of national affairs programming and is a leader in digital news production and delivery.

Twiston Davies added, “As the multichannel TV industry continues to grow (and new markets emerge as major players in the region), Casbaa‘s core directive to Inform, Represent and Connect plays a vital role in the continued success of all our member organisations.”

MUMBAI: US cable major Comcast and broadcaster The CW Network have reached an agreement that brings The CW‘s primetime lineup to Xfinity On Demand.

Customers can watch the four most-recent episodes from each CW series – including their favourite CW programs the day after they air on live TV – on Xfinity On Demand at no additional charge. This agreement marks the first time The CW has made its shows available on Video On Demand (VOD) by a multi-service operator (MSO).

Comcast senior VP Matt Strauss said, “Our customers turn to Xfinity On Demand for the latest and most popular programs, and now we‘re pleased to add The CW‘s popular primetime lineup to our offerings. We‘re committed to giving customers access to the best and newest TV shows when they want, at their fingertips.”

The CW executive VP John D. Maatta said, “We‘re very excited to partner with Comcast to offer our viewers another platform where they can watch their favourite CW shows. With our primetime series now available on Xfinity On Demand, The CW will continue to expand its reach as well as provide our advertisers an opportunity to deliver their message to even more viewers.”

Xfinity On Demand viewers will be able to catch The CW‘s shows in both HD and SD. Series include The Vampire Diaries, Supernatural, America‘s Next Top Model, Hart of Dixie, 90210, Arrow, Nikita, Beauty & the Beast, Emily Owens, M.D. and the final season of Gossip Girl, Xfinity On Demand offers HD TV shows and movies – with thousands available for free – and a broadcast offering that enables Xfinity TV customers to catch up and keep up with shows from additional networks including ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC.

With more than 20 million digital TV homes, Xfinity On Demand has the broad reach to help programmers maximise their viewership and promotional activities. The platform also supports Nielsen C3 ratings measurement, proving valuable for programmers and advertisers. Each month, there are nearly 400 million views on Xfinity On Demand; and since its launch in 2003, there have been more than 25 billion views.

MUMBAI/NEW DELHI: Just three days before the four metros move towards digital cable, a clutch of cable operators will have their petition heard in the Bombay High Court on 29 October seeking extension on the ground that they need more time to get their networks up and running.

They will argue that digital set-top boxes (STBs) have not reached a large number of consumer homes and they are yet to get the channels from broadcasters for carrying on their cable networks for their subscribers to watch.

“We will seek for more time as 1 November is too short a period to sort out a myriad of issues. The STB penetration is not what the government is stating. We haven’t got the decoders from broadcasters. How can we run our businesses? There should be an extension of the digitisation deadline,” said Kuldeep Puri, a promoter of Hathway Bhawani Cabletel & Datacom.

Among the petitioners are the Puri brothers and Paresh Thakkar, both associated with Hathway Cable & Datacom. The operators are from the eastern suburbs of Mumbai like Chembur, Ghatkopar and Govandi.

“We have signed with IndiaCast and have finalised terms with OneAlliance and Media Pro Enterprise India. But the decoders have not reached us,” said Kuldeep Puri.

The petitioners want time so that new entrants would be given a fair opportunity to set up their independent ventures.

The Puri brothers are planning to set up an independent operation outside their joint venture with Hathway Cable & Datacom. They will have Ericsson as their digital head-end while Sumavision Technologies will provide the encryption solution. They own 12 per cent stake in Hathway Bhawani Cabletel & Datacom, according to data available till 30 September 2012.

“Our joint venture arrangement continues. Hathway has also agreed that we can go ahead and independently run our operations to tap other subscribers,” said Kuldeep Puri.

The government has claimed that the average percentage in the four metros of Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai had touched 85 per cent and goes up to 90 per cent if direct-to-home (DTH) is taken into consideration. Mumbai, according to the government, has achieved nearly 100 per cent digitisation. These figures, however, have been hotly contested by the cable operators. Other stakeholders also find it difficult to believe the government figures, though they are not open about it.

Thakkar has said that television sets going blank from 1 November may result in a law and order problem and also create a hazard for the operators.

The petition also says that there is still no clear picture on the monthly subscription bill of cable TV subscribers after the switch over to digital reception of cable television.

The government has mandated compulsory switch over to digital delivery of cable television from 1 November in the four metros of Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Kolkata.