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Tag: AIR

  • AIR conducts trial runs for digital short wave

    AIR conducts trial runs for digital short wave

    NEW DELHI: The first digital transmitter for All India Radio (AIR) on the short wave is already going through a successful trial run, officials say, adding that the pilot run for the medium wave digital radio too, will commence from May or June this year.

    The transmitter (250 kw) – which started operating from Republic Day this year is on the short wave band and broadcasting for Delhi, with the ‘skip distance’ reduced to “near zero”, officials have revealed to indiantelevision.com, and data transmission is also on.

    This means that if you have the required receiver, you could here and now access digital radio, and while listening to radio news or music, you could read on your set the news flashes and even see where the bulls or bears are in the stock market, said officials, requesting not to be named.

    The system is operating on DRM technology, which AIR experts feel is the best choice, as it covers all existing bands, medium, short and long waves.

    The handsets are being taken to various locations in Delhi now, and being tested with the required equipment, and it has been found that the skip distance, or the distance between where the transmitter is and the first point from where the waves are actually accessible, has been reduced from almost zero in some places, to one or two kilometres in others. The usual skip distance would be around 70 km.

    But as a senior official explained, skip distance is not a major issue. “We could reduce the skip distance for analogue too, depending on the content and the target audience.”

    What he meant was that if the programme is being broadcast from Delhi but for Jharkhand, the skip distance could be extended to 1,000 km, and for, say, England, it could made available from about 3,000 km from where the transmission is taking place.

    These adjustments can be made in repositioning the antenna, they explained.

    “The point is that we have been successful in handling this technology and the transmitter is functioning perfectly. The only problem is that receivers are not available in the country,” the official held.

    According to him, the receivers, for which costs have been calculated, at the moment come for euro 200. But as officials in charge of the AIR digitalisation programme have been saying, the cost will come down with increase in demand.

    The big calculation is that once India and China go for DRM technology, that would mean something close to half the world’s population, and most market players would look at the sheer volume and cut the prices.

    “There are various standards in digital radio transmission, officials explained, which include Eureka 147 DAB, IBOC (HD Radio) and DRM. But the latter allows transmission on all the bands we presently have and also the FM band.

    The advantage of DRM technology is that no additional band allocation is required and no additional spectrum is needed.

    What the trial transmission is now giving is FM quality sound on medium and short waves and CD quality sound on FM, officials said.

    “Objective measurements are going on for sound quality and we shall check all the myriad factors before we go for expansion,” the officials asserted.

    There is dialogue within the DRM Consortium, the officials said, and efforts are being made to rope in member countries, with an eye to cutting down the cost of receivers.

    But when would private players come in and add to the market factor that would reduce price for tabletop digital radio sets?

    The officials said that FM had been set up 20 years before the market started seeing the money in it. But with the FM experiment successful, market players may not take that long with digital radio. “This could happen in three or four years.

    “Our point is to create the infrastructure and that has been successfully done in the initial phase of experimentation,” the officials said.

  • HC refuses stay on sports telecast ordinance

    HC refuses stay on sports telecast ordinance

    NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court today refused to stay the operation of the ordinance asking private sports channels to share live feed of cricket and other sports events with public broadcaster Prasar Bharti.

    A division bench headed by Justice Vikramajit Sen adjourned the matter till 15 February for further hearing.

    Senior Counsel Dushyant Dave, appearing for Prasar Bharati, pleaded that the ordinance could only be stayed under extraordinary grounds.

    In any case, he argued, the conditions to share the live feed with the Prasar Bharati was part of the tender documents, and very much known to Nimbus Communications.

    The reply filed by the Government to the petition by Nimbus challenging the Sports Broadcasting (Mandatory Sharing with Prasar Bharti) Ordinance 2007 said it had been made clear to the Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) that any party getting the rights to telecast the matches would have to share the live feed with Doordarshan and All India Radio, the application filed by the government in reply to the private channel contended.

    Additional solicitor general PP Malhotra, appearing for the government, said the petition should be dismissed as it was not the fundamental right of Nimbus, who own Neo Sports channel to monopolise the telecast of cricket matches. In any case, Nimbus should abide by the contract it had signed in February 2006 to share the live feed.

    Terming it as “bad in law”, the petition had said, “The ordinance transgresses the constitutional limits and apart from violating the petitioner’s fundamental rights, it also interferes with the power of the court to review the circular enforcing the private channels to share the feed.”

    On 23 January, in an interim order, the court had allowed Prasar Bharati to download the feed of Nimbus Communications and telecast the India-West Indies ODI series in a delayed transmission of seven minutes on DD and broadcast commentary live on AIR.

    The High Court has decided to merge the hearing of the appeal by Prasar Bharati against this order, and the petition by Nimbus challenging the Ordinance.
     
     

  • AIR’s digitalisation to stretch beyond 2015

    AIR’s digitalisation to stretch beyond 2015

    NEW DELHI: The All India Radio digitalisation programme may not be complete by 2015 due to shortage of funds, says AIR engineer-in-chief AS Guin.

    The Short Wave bands will be digitalised first and this can be achieved by 2015, provided the Planning Commission releases the entire amount, but medium wave “which is the poor man’s band” will not be fully digitalised and more specifically, there will not be complete switch off from analogue to digital radio, Guin explains.

    The AIR has asked for Rs 59 billion from the Commission under the 11th Five Year Plan. They feel the amount is huge, and the government may not be able to release the entire fund. To go for complete digitalisation would take much more funds – almost astronomical – and AIR mandarins feel that they should not ask for the moon, which is why no further plans are afoot for asking for more funds.

    Short wave transmitters that have been in use for more than 20 years will be replaced and these alone would be DRM compatible, not all.

    “But in any case, we shall not switch off the analogue mode for the medium wave by 2015, because that is the wave compatible with the radios costing Rs 50 or 100, the one used by the poorer section of the society. They will not be able to bear the cost, so we cannot deny them the only source of information and entertainment some of them have,” Guin stressed.

    In fact, as of date even the fairly well-to-do would not be able, or may not wish to spend money buying a digital radio set.

    “The ones available cost in today’s prices about $70, that is Rs 3,500,” Guin revealed, adding: “This is prohibitively costly.”

    So why bring in a technology that even the well-off may not opt for?

    “It is expected the prices will come down as we go by,” he averred. There are two factors at play here.

    First, as and when DRM technology goes national, prices will come down. “As of now, most countries are using DRM technology for SW for their external broadcasting. National lever SW DRM tests have been conducted in Mexico and other places,” Guin said. But when DRM goes national, the price will come down.

    The other factor is that as the new digital mode becomes popular, the prices of the sets would also come down.

    “The main thing will be the content,” Guin said. The content for SW and MW have to be different, because if the same content is run on both, why would anyone buy a costly handset to catch SW?” he asks.

    There have to be popular programmes specially developed for SW bands, he felt, otherwise the digital radio programme will not pick up in good earnest.

    The digitalisation process would start with all the studios. Each state capital would have one Short Wave transmitter and there will be three transmission complexes with five transmitters per complex for national digital radio coverage.

    These complexes will be suitably located., Each complex will transmit five digital channels across the country, including regional language channels. This will mean that these channels will be accessible across the country. So, a Bengali in Mumbai would not have a problem if he wishes to hear All India Radio Kolkata.

    Explaining the merits of such a costly technology, Guin said that interactive broadcasts and a number of value-added services will be possible. One of the most important things will be the pro-active role AIR will get to play in disaster management.

    AIR will introduce a system across the channels on the coastal belts, which will be integrated with the early warning systems.

    Thus, whenever an early warning is triggered off the computer linkage with the radio stations will ensure that the channel would automatically switch over to transmitting the warning, with the ongoing programme switched off.

    Once the warning has been issued, the radio station would switch over to the normal ongoing programme. This will give a huge lead time for people to evacuate.

  • Encryption of DD signals: government sets up expert panel

    Encryption of DD signals: government sets up expert panel

    MUMBAI: The information & broadcasting ministry has constituted a joint group of experts to identify the technical parameters and propose a course of action for suitably regulating the sports broadcasting signals.

    The terms of reference of the joint group of experts are:

    (i) Encryption of DD signal being transmitted to regional/local Kendras for transmission terrestrially.

    (ii) Issues relating to free to air DTH of Prasar Bharati; and

    (iii) Any other technical matter related to regulating sports broadcasting signals.

    The 12-member joint group of experts will be headed by All India Radio director general Brijeshwar Singh. Other Members are: Digvijay Singh and H Rajshekaran representing Nimbus, ESPN Software India managing director RC Venkateish, Essel Group vice-chairman Jawahar Goel on behalf of Zee Sports, BCCI vice president Lalit Modi, Punjab Cricket Association president IS Bindra, Becil CMD KRP Verma, AIR chief engineer AS Guin, Doordarshan chief engineer LV Sharma and DD Sports chief engineer ES Issac.

    Rajat Bhargava, ADG (F&A) in AIR will be member-convener of the Group. The group shall submit its report within one month from the date of its constitution on the issues mentioned in the terms of reference.

    The cabinet had last week approved the promulgation of an Ordinance on the issue of mandatory sharing of broadcasting rights of sporting events of national importance with Prasar Bharati and directed the I&B ministry to constitute a joint group of experts to identify the technical parameters and propose a course of action for suitably regulating the sports broadcasting signals.

  • HC questions government reasoning in promulgating ordinance

    HC questions government reasoning in promulgating ordinance

    NEW DELHI: Even as the government today said it would challenge any court order favouring Nimbus on deferred telecast, the Delhi High Court questioned the Centre’s reasoning in promulgating the Sports Broadcasting Signals (Mandatory Sharing with Prasar Bharati) Ordinance.

    (Meanwhile, Prasar Bharati sources confirmed that talks held yesterday between Nimbus and Prasar Bharati over the issue had failed again. Thus, uncertainty prevailed over whether Doordarshan will get live sports feed of the India-Sri Lanka series despite the Ordinance being in force.)

    When the additional solicitor general PP Malhotra informed the court that the government had notified an ordinance making it mandatory for private channels to share the ‘live feed’ of cricket and other international sports events in India with public broadcasters Doordarshan (DD) and All India Radio (AIR), Justice BD Ahmed sought to know why the government was so swift in bringing an ordinance.

    ”The Rule of Law should not have been subverted,” he said. ”It leaves a bad taste in the mouth, when there is a subversion of judicial process,” the Justice observed, while adjourning the matter till tomorrow for further hearing.

    However, the ordinance notified yesterday was not challenged before the court.

    Malhotra said the petition of Nimbus Communications, which owns Neo Sports, should be dismissed as it had challenged the circular of the government to share the live feed under Article 19 of the Constitution as its Fundamental Right.

    Citing judgments of the Supreme Court, Malhotra said it was the fundamental rights of every citizen to view and listen the cricket match or sports events held in the country.

    After submitting copies of the ordinance, Malhotra read out the relevant portions, saying the private channel would have to share live feed with DD and AIR.

    On 23 January, the High Court had in an interim order allowed Prasar Bharati to download the feed of Nimbus Communications and telecast the India-West Indies ODI series in a delayed transmission of seven minutes on Doordarshan (DD) and permitted live commentary on AIR.

    Senior Counsel Harish Salve, appearing for Nimbus Communications, argued the government could not force any private channel to share its live feed as it was against the fundamental rights enumerated in the Constitution.

    Speaking to newspersons early in the morning before the matter came up before the High Court, I&B joint secretary Baijendranath said, ”If such an order comes from court, we will challenge it in the light of the Ordinance which has been promulgated making it mandatory for private broadcasters to share live feeds of important sports events with the public broadcaster Prasar Bharati.”

    He said there was a law of the land in force and if any broadcaster violates that it can be punished by various means including a ban.

    Nobody has challenged the ordinance and no court has passed any order in this respect, so its provisions are binding for all, he said.

    The Ordinance that was cleared by the Union Cabinet on 1 February and given Presidential assent late on 2 February has been promulgated from retrospective effect dating back to 11 November, 2005 when the downlinking guidelines had been issued. These guidelines, along with the uplinking guidelines, have now been given statutory status.

  • Animal Planet circles the globe for ‘Animal Battlegrounds’

    Animal Planet circles the globe for ‘Animal Battlegrounds’

    MUMBAI: The battle between animal predator and prey may look like a straightforward duel between evenly matched opponents, but there is a third factor in these confrontations – the battleground itself.

    The arenas which stage these epic battles are more than just passive backdrops. Battlegrounds are often overlooked, but they are dynamic, dominant and controlling places. The ever changing landscape can tip the balance between the hunter and the hunted – it’s the battleground itself that determines who lives and who dies.

    Now Animal Planet takes a closer look at the showground for these conflicts in Animal Battlegrounds which will air every Saturday at 8:30 pm with a repeat every Wednesday at 11:30 pm.

    The show reveals the effect of the battleground on the hunter and the hunted and how changes in the battleground influence the result of these battles. Viewers explore how each animal has learned to use the dynamic battleground to their own advantage. Battlegrounds have a temperament all of their own and each episode will look at the character of the landscape and how the battleground affects the outcome of all animal battles.
    Travelling across the globe, viewers visit battlegrounds from the polar wastes to the scorching deserts; from the richness of the rainforests to our colorful seas; from the expanses of the world’s flat grasslands to the heights of its snowy mountains. The battlegrounds include Rivers, Seas, Air, Wetlands and Grasslands. Each episode will analyze four epic predator-prey battles in the context of these dynamic battlegrounds.

    The first episode Tundra looks at a vast area of barren treeless plains, most of which lies in the Arctic where the ground is permanently frozen. Viewers look at how golden eagles use precision flying to attack mountain hares in the Highlands of Scotland and how the hares use the seasonal changes in vegetation to their advantage.

    Also, this programme tells the story of how barnacle geese in the tundra in Greenland use the sanctuary of 20 story high cliffs to nest safely from predators and how their starving flightless chicks then have to make a death defying leap to reach the ground and food. Finally, viewers see how one of the longest migrations on earth is driven by one of the smallest animals, the mosquito.

    In Rivers the show looks at how the environment, and changes within it, affects both predators and prey, often shifting the advantage from one to the other. This episode looks at rivers. Their depth, speed, turbulence and turbidity all influence the outcome of battles between predators and prey. Grizzly bears try to catch salmon in Alaska. Mayfly nymphs and adults dodge trout in Britain. Kingfishers dive for minnows as the seasons change in Europe. Piranhas battle through the wet and dry season in Venezuela.

  • ‘B’cast pros will benefit from tec choices at Expo’ : AS Guin – Engineer-in-chief at AIR and president, BES

    ‘B’cast pros will benefit from tec choices at Expo’ : AS Guin – Engineer-in-chief at AIR and president, BES

    The NGO Broadcast Engineers Society is holding its 13th Expo this year from February 1 to February 3 at Delhi’s Pragati Maidan. It is a much larger exposition this year, and with the government setting the cut-off date for digitalisation, will showcase technology options. Possibly the most socially significant technology presented will be the low-band community radio system, supported by Unesco.

     

    Indiantelevision.com’s Sujit Chakraborty met AS Guin, engineer-in-chief at AIR and president, BES, to find out what’s on offer this year.

     

    Excerpts:

    The BES Expo is just a few days away. What are the new things expected this year?

    There are many changes in respect to last year. The participation has grown manifold and instead of the earlier venue of Hotel Taj Palace, as in 2006, this year we have to shift to a much larger arena, the Pragati Maidan, which gives us 20 per cent additional space.

    In terms of revenue, what is BES’ business model?

    Here too, there will be a 20 per cent rise in receipts. There will be 16 new companies who will take part for the first time. BES depends mainly on revenue from the exhibitions and membership. We have 1,600 members across the country, and we expect the number to grow further next year. We have to cut some of the costs, but then we also plan to start an educational programme, which will be no-loss, no-profit.

    What are the major technological windows that you wish to open this time?

    The biggest is of course the community radio solutions and mobile TV and radio. These would be most important in terms of both business and community service, with local NGOs being able to broadcast on their own radio, with all the support of AIR experts. Even our retired engineering staff is willing to offer their services free to persons willing to set up local channels.

     

    As I told you, we have 1,600 members across the country and they give us a tremendous outreach to help spread the low-band community radio movement. We are very excited about this programme, which will be a prime exhibit this year.

    Who all are supporting this event?

    The event is supported by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting , Government of India, and endorsed by International Association of Broadcasting Manufacturers and also by Prasar Bharati, Asian Broadcasting Union, UNESCO, IGNOU and Department of Information Technology, Government of India.

     

    UNESCO is going to showcase its low-cost technological innovations and is with us at BES EXPO 2007, and will push forward the community radio programme. They are going to present suitcase radio, hand-wound sets (which need no battery or electricity to run) solar-powered FM transmitters, and other radio equipment compatible with Indian conditions.

     

    They will also set up in their stall a community multi-media centre, including radio, internet, and content networking programme, with live content programming.

    Many private sportscasters have announced their mobile programmes and one is running already, but these show snaps only. So how is your system going to be different?

    No, ours will be a full streaming. This will not be clips. In fact, this will completely shift prime time to office time, with people seeing DD or hearing AIR news and programmes on their way to office. These will not be clips, but as you see or hear news.
    ‘New technology will always remain in the public domain, because of the sheer scale of operational costs, which the private sector would find very difficult to match‘

    Is this Prasar Bharati’s own technology?

    There is technology available in Europe and the US. The latter is using the MediaFlo. technology and Europe is using DVB-H. MediaFlo is a proprietary system, while DVB-H is an open system. An expert committee constituted by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has recommended DVB-H .With Secretary level approval a final decision is still awaited.

    What are the technical and operational differences in the two?

    DVB-H is IP-based and an open platform, where as MediaFlo has proprietary elements MediaFlo has less channel switching time than DVB-H. Both employ battery-saving techniques. They have different encoding and modulation schemes.

    What is the delay, and how long would it take?

    The proposal has been sent to the Planning Commission, which will study it and will have to sanction money. This could take eight to 10 months.

    What will be the outcome of the event?

    Broadcast professionals will be highly benefited in enhancing their knowledge about emerging broadcast technologies and also have a look and feel of new broadcast equipment systems in the exhibition. It will help the broadcast planners to choose viable and right technologies for their digitalisation plans.

    You have said that AIR and DD will turn digital during the 11th Plan. What is the cost you are looking at?

    For AIR, we have asked for something like Rs 5,900 crore and for DD another Rs 6,000 crore. But these are very large sums of money and chances are we might not get it all during the 11th Plan itself. But even if we get something like half of this, we could go digital and AIR could have seven digital channels. The output would be almost FM quality.

    Would these channels be available on the normal radio sets we use today?

    No, that technology is not available so far and even in the west, it is very costly, about $80 for a digital radio handset.New technology will always remain in the public domain, because of the sheer scale of operational costs, which the private sector would find very difficult to match.

     

    This will completely take away perhaps the only joy of millions of poor Indians who are totally dependent on AIR for news and entertainment, besides the public services as on health and agricultural advice. Well, the decision to go digital, across the world, has been taken, so this will have to happen. In any case the cut-off date set by the government for transition from analogue to digital is 2015. But then, as demand goes up, the prices will come down. A normal radio handset now costs Rs 200, and these sets will cost something like Rs 500, at the most, with cheaper technology coming in. But do remember that the audience will have a choice of seven channels.

    Any other benefits on offer for this costly technology?

    Interactive broadcasts and a number of value-added services will be possible. Well, one of the most important things will be the pro-active role AIR will get to play in disaster management. We will introduce a system all across the channels on the coastal belts, which will be integrated with the early warning systems. Thus, whenever an early warning is triggered off the computer linkage with the radio stations will ensure that the channel would automatically switch over to transmitting the warning, with the ongoing programme switched off. Once the warning has been issued, the radio station would switch over to the normal ongoing programme. This will give a huge lead time for people to evacuate.

    How do you see prices coming down?

    Take the example of DTH. When it started the companies were asking for Rs 5,000 per dish, but we are now giving our DTH, DD Direct Plus at Rs 1,200. So this depends on two things, content and demand.

    Who are you looking to as technical collaborators?

    You see, the US has HD radio, and Korea uses DMB but that’s mostly for TV. China uses DRM technology for external services. We have spoken with China about DRM .It has shown a keen interest and once the two countries collaborate, the prices of receivers would dramatically come down. China would have to collaborate to set up factories in India, because if we have to import, prices would be very high.

    What are the network plans?

    The digitalisation process would start with all the studios. It would be the Short Wave transmissions that would go digital first. Each state capital would have one Short Wave transmitter and there will be three transmission complexes with five transmitters per complex for national digital radio coverage. These complexes will be suitably located., Each complex will transmit five digital channels across the country, including regional language channels. This will mean that these channels will be accessible across the country. So, a Bengali in Mumbai would not have a problem if he wishes to hear All India Radio Kolkata.

    Being a public broadcaster, how do you think the private players would match your line of thinking?

    Interestingly, I think that introduction of new technology will always remain in the public domain, due to the sheer scale of operations and costs that private enterprise would find it difficult to match. This is a Plan expenditure with government support. Only after it is introduced in the country will public private participation happen. For example, the private players have invested a huge amount in Phase 1 and 2 of FM, which is in the analogue mode. AIR is proposing digital FM in the near future, using DRM+, or DAB or HD Radio technology. But forget replacing the existing transmitters, even initial investment will not be easy for the private entrepreneurs, unless the receivers for digital broadcasting become low cost and catch the imagination of the public.
  • Prasar Bharati moves Delhi HC against deferred live telecast

    Prasar Bharati moves Delhi HC against deferred live telecast

    NEW DELHI: A day after terrestrial broadcaster Doordarshan was granted “deferred live” telecast rights to the ongoing cricket series between India and the West Indies, Prasar Bharati approached the Delhi High Court again on the matter.

    A two-judge bench of the Delhi High Court has listed for tomorrow arguments in the appeal filed by the pubcaster against the order yesterday by a single-judge directing Nimbus, the rights holder for BCCI organized cricket events in India, to give the feed to Doordarshan with a seven-minute time lag.

    Prasar Bharati sources told Indiantelevision.com that the pubcaster’s appeal was based on the validity of the Uplink-Downlink Guidelines issued in November 2005 that perforce allows DD to get the telecast feed. The pubcaster’s argument is that the guidelines are clear that the live feed should be given to both Doordarshan and AIR and that there is “no provision (in the guidelines) for a deferred telecast.”

    Prasar Bharati has contended that viewers in the country cannot be divided into two segments and that there has to be equitable distribution of signals for all viewers, irrespective of whether they are linked to DTH, cable or non cable homes.

  • Last-ditch attempt on for cricket broadcast on DD, AIR

    Last-ditch attempt on for cricket broadcast on DD, AIR

    NEW DELHI: With talks breaking down between Prasar Bharati and Nimbus Sports on sharing the live feed of the India-West Indies and the India- Sri Lanka ODI series to be played over the next four weeks, the national broadcaster today indicated that it will make a last-ditch attempt in the interest of them viewers to call Nimbus back to the negotiating table.

    Information and broadcasting ministry sources told indiantelevision.com that in case no agreement was reached, the government may issue an ordinance to implement the Downlinking/Uplinking Guidelines issued by the ministry in November 2005.

    The guidelines make it compulsory for sports telecast rights holder channels to share the live feed of important sporting events with Doordarshan and AIR by entering into a commercial agreement. The terms provide for revenue sharing of 75:25 in favour of the rights holders.

    Prasar Bharati said that negotiations which had been going on for two days had broken down in view of new conditions laid down by Nimbus Sports, the rights holders for the BCCI organized cricket events in India, which were unacceptable to the national broadcaster.

    Prasar Bharati and Nimbus Sports had entered into an agreement in February 2006 for telecast of the India –England series. Prasar Bharati had preferred another agreement on similar lines. But the national broadcaster said Nimbus put forward new conditions – which deviated from the Uplinking/Downlinking Guidelines and were unacceptable to Prasar Bharati.

    Nimbus suggested a 15 minute deferred telecast on Doordarshan’s terrestrial channel referred ‘AS LIVE’. Thus, people having Cable TV would get live feed on NEO SPORTS and those watching DD will see it 15 minutes later.

    This proposal was straightaway rejected by Prasar Bharati CEO BS Lalli who said “it is unacceptable to divide the citizens into two categories – one getting to eat freshly baked bread and others stale stuff.”

    “Equity and propriety demands that uniform clean feed of international quality is made available to all viewers,” he added.

    Nimbus also suggested exclusion of Doordarshan’s free-to-air DTH – DD Direct Plus from the live feed sharing agreement. But the Guidelines cover DTH medium as well.

    Prasar Bharati has been demanding sharing of feed to enable universal viewing of cricket matches. Doordarshan’s terrestrial channel – DD National – has three times higher viewership than the number one satellite channel in the country, according to the Indian Readership Survey 2006.

    With no breakthrough, 55 million terrestrial TV homes, DTH households and cable homes without Set Top Boxes in CAS implemented areas will not be able to watch the Indian team in action against the Caribbeans and the Lankans.

    Prasar Bharati had asked Nimbus Sports to at least allow broadcast of commentary on All India Radio to enable millions of radio listeners to catch latest score, but Nimbus said: “If there is no agreement on Television, there can be no agreement on radio either.”

  • Rs 405 million special package for AIR and DD

    Rs 405 million special package for AIR and DD

    MUMBAI: The Government has initiated a proposal to include North East Package for All India Radio (AIR) and Doordarshan (DD) in the Eleventh Plan.
    The amount sanctioned and utilised during the first phase is as follows:

    (Rs in millions)

    Sanctioned Utilised
    All India Radio
    24.80 17.56
    Doordarshan 380.55 98.33

    Total 405.35 115.89

    This Information was given by information and broadcasting minister PR Dasmunsi in written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha.