ITV

Tag: Arun Jaitley

  • Govt earned Rs 48 crore from foreign TV channels as fees

    Govt earned Rs 48 crore from foreign TV channels as fees

    NEW DELHI: The Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry earned a sum of Rs 48.05 crore during the current year and the last three years from foreign television channels towards registration and annual renewal fees.

     

    Three broadcasting companies, which have permission of 17 foreign TV channels, obtained permission for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) during the last three years as well as the current year.

     

    Speaking in the Lok Sabha, I&B minister Arun Jaitley said that the Ministry has permitted 822 TV channels as on 5 August, 2015 under Uplinking/Downlinking Guidelines. The details are available on the Ministry’s website www.mib.nic.in.

     

    Under the Downlinking Guidelines, the companies are not required to report changes in shareholding pattern to the Ministry for channels uplinked from abroad.

     

    Content telecast on private satellite TV channels is regulated in accordance with the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act 1995 and the Rules framed thereunder.

  • DD Urdu relies on consultants in absence of programme executives posts

    DD Urdu relies on consultants in absence of programme executives posts

    NEW DELHI: A sum of Rs 10.16 crore including Rs 9.38 crore for commissioned and the balance Rs 78.05 lakh on in-house programmes was spent for Doordarshan’s Urdu channel during 2014-15, the Rajya Sabha was told on 4 August.

    Even as there is no sanctioned post of Urdu programme executive in Doordarshan Kendra Delhi, three consultants (retired programmers) and one external consultant conversant with Urdu have been taken in to help the production work of DD Urdu channel.

    Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Minister Arun Jaitley and Minister of State Rajyavardhan Rathore said in replies to different questions that there are other programme executives in DDK Delhi but Prasar Bharati had informed that no post of programme executive had been sanctioned for DD Urdu and DD News Urdu.

    Programme executives are also called on tour as and when required to meet additional requirements, Jaitley said.

    The work of DD News Urdu is being looked after by assistant director (news) who is fully conversant with Urdu language. Urdu programmes of DDK, Delhi, are produced by existing programme executives. The channel is run by the in-house staff of Doordarshan as well as contractual staff hired as required.

    Rathore said DD Urdu had been refurbished with new content through commissioning of programmes under different genres apart from increasing in-house productions.

    Ten news bulletins in Urdu are also being telecast daily on DD Urdu channel. Programmes of specific interest to the Urdu speaking audiences like minority issues, Government schemes for minorities, events in the neighbouring countries, etc. have also been launched to give a new look to DD Urdu channel.

    DD Urdu has an updated website as a part of Doordarshan. Promos about DD Urdu are also loaded on YouTube and Facebook, he added.

                           Amount spent on DD-Urdu programmes in the last 3 years

  • Agri graduates hired by AIR, no plans for recruitments for Kisan TV: Jaitley

    Agri graduates hired by AIR, no plans for recruitments for Kisan TV: Jaitley

    NEW DELHI: All India Radio has appointed 26 agricultural graduates as Farm and Home/Farm Radio reporters for its programmes aimed at the farming community.

     

    The Parliament was informed by Information and Broadcasting Minister Arun Jaitley that these appointees are from the recently concluded recruitment for the post of Transmission Executive. 

     

    Meanwhile, he said Prasar Bharati has ‘no proposal as of now’ to recruit agricultural graduates for Kisan TV channel. 

     

    He said Kisan TV was being run by the in-house staff of Doordarshan and by engagement of casual staff according to the requirement of the channel. 

     

    Experts from the agricultural field are consulted from time to time as required, he added in reply to a question.

     

  • Govt. cans plans of introducing comprehensive broadcast legislation

    Govt. cans plans of introducing comprehensive broadcast legislation

    NEW DELHI: Contrary to plans of the previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, the present government has said there are no plans to introduce a comprehensive broadcast legislation in the Parliament.

     

    Replying to a question in the Lok Sabha, Information and Broadcasting Minister Arun Jaitley said, “No such proposal is under consideration of the Ministry.”

     

    The previous government had not only drawn up plans for such legislation but placed it on the Ministry website. In fact, a draft of the proposed Broadcasting Services Regulation Bill 2007 – which was a revised version of the proposed legislation of 2006 – is still on the website.   

     

    Meanwhile, Jaitley told Lok Sabha that all the areas uncovered by terrestrial transmitters along with rest of the country have been provided with multichannel TV coverage through Doordarshan’s free to air direct-to-home Freedish service anywhere in the country. 

     

    Doordarshan coverage is estimated to be available to about 92 per cent population spread over about 81 per cent area of the country.

     

    DD has 1416 TV transmitters of varying power in terrestrial mode, whereas DD’s Free Dish services on DTH has currently 64 TV channels on air.

  • 20 TV channels banned for flouting rules over last three years: Jaitley

    20 TV channels banned for flouting rules over last three years: Jaitley

    NEW DELHI: There have been 20 cases in the past three years in which certain television channels were asked to prohibit transmission for specific time ranging from one to 30 days, the Lok Sabha was told on 31 July.

     

    Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Minister Arun Jaitley said action was taken in a total of 86 cases with the Ministry issuing specific warnings or advisories to channels to comply with the Programme and Advertising Codes or directing them to scroll apologies on their channel in the other 66 cases.

     

    The Minister said there is no provision of pre-censorship of the content telecast on TV channels but all programmes telecast are required to adhere to the Programme Code prescribed under the Cable TV Networks (Regulation) Act 1995 and the rules framed there under.

     

    “Action is taken whenever any violation of the said code is noticed or brought to the notice of the Ministry,” he added.

     

    Section 5 of the Programme Code provides that “No person shall transmit or re-transmit through a cable service any programme, unless such programme is in conformity with the prescribed programme code.” Accordingly, Programme Code has been notified through the Cable Television Networks Rules, 1994 under Rule 6. 

     

    Click here for list of channels banned for varying periods during the last three years. 

  • PMO unlikely to intervene in Sun TV case

    PMO unlikely to intervene in Sun TV case

    MUMBAI: There seems to be no respite for Kalanithi Maran owned Sun TV Network, as the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) is unlikely to intervene on the issue of withdrawal of security clearance to the 33 channels of the network.

     

    According to a PTI report, the PMO is not keen on over-ruling the Home Ministry’s decision of withdrawing the security clearance given to Sun TV Network, on grounds of the ongoing criminal probes against promoter Kalanithi Maran and his brother and former Union Minister Dayanidhi Maran.

     

    It can be noted that Information and Broadcasting Minister Arun Jaitley had recently met the Prime Minister to take his opinion, after the Attorney General ruled in favour of Sun TV Network and the Ministry of Home Affairs decided to not budge from its stand of not giving security clearance to the Chennai based broadcast network.

     

    According to the report, the key reason for the PMO’s unwillingness to get involved in the Sun TV issue is the CBI probe that the Maran brothers were facing over alleged allotment of 300 high-speed BSNL telephone lines to their installations when Dayanidhi Maran was Telecom Minister. 

    Last week, the CBI questioned Dayanidhi Maran for 22 hours spread over three days in connection with the case.

  • Arun Jaitley to meet PM to discuss Sun TV issues

    Arun Jaitley to meet PM to discuss Sun TV issues

    MUMBAI: India’s Finance and Information & Broadcasting Minister Arun Jaitley is expected to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 2 July, 2015 to discuss the security clearance issue for Kalanithi Maran owned Sun TV’s 33 television channels and FM radio stations.

     

    The issue has assumed urgency given that the entire auction process of FM phase III has been held up with the I&B Ministry not convening a meeting of the application review committee. All the other 28 companies, barring those affiliated to Maran’s Sun TV Network, that had applied for the auction and migration from phase II to phase III, have been granted security clearance. 

     

    According to an Indian Express report, what has also stumped the I&B Ministry is the Union Home Ministry’s stance with respect to the print publications of the Sun TV Group.

     

    In response to the I&B Ministry’s query regarding the fate of the newspapers and magazines from the Sun stable such as Dinakaran, Kumudham and Murasoli, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said print publications “do not fall under the ambit of national security clearance.”

     

    At a recent meeting in the Prime Minister’s Office, the Law Secretary is said to have pointed out that such a move would go against the spirit of Article 19 (1) of the Constitution on freedom of speech. This was subsequently reiterated in an opinion obtained from the Attorney General’s office. But the PMO had opined in the meeting then that once security clearance has been denied, there was no need perhaps to seek even the AG’s opinion.

     

    In his letter to Singh dated 1 April following the denial of security clearance on 30 March to Sun TV’s FM radio channels, Jaitley had said this was likely to be challenged in the court. “Such a situation will result in unnecessary embarrassment besides eliminating a large group from the FM channels. In view of the above mentioned position, it is felt necessary to request your indulgence for reconsidering the decision,” the letter stated.

  • Sun TV Network writes to Home Minister to reconsider security clearance

    Sun TV Network writes to Home Minister to reconsider security clearance

    NEW DELHI: Kalanithi Maran owned Sun TV Network Limited (Sun TV) has written to Home Minister Rajnath Singh to reconsider his Ministry’s refusal of security clearance to the network, even as it claims that it has still not received any official note from the Information and Broadcasting Ministry.

     

    An official of the I&B Ministry had told Indiantelevision.com last week that it was the responsibility of that Ministry and not the Home Ministry to inform Sun TV.

     

    A Sun TV spokesperson said that any action that the network may want to take would be based on the text of the communication from the I&B Ministry.

     

    The Home Ministry is said to have taken this decision in the backdrop of the three pending criminal cases being looked into by the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED), against Maran and his brother and former Union Minister Dayanidhi Maran.

     

    Home Ministry sources denied that the decision was based on political considerations.

     

    The network has urged the Home Minister to differentiate between security clearance on grounds of national security and cases linked to financial matters, which are still pending and not proven. It has also raised issues relating to freedom of the media.

     

    Even as the stock market had showed an increase for Sun TV shares late last week when reports appeared about the Home Ministry agreeing to reconsider its decision following a letter by I&B Minister Arun Jaitley, it is learnt that senior officials of the Home Ministry have so far failed to fix a meeting with officials of the Law Ministry in this regard.

     

    It was learnt that some Home Ministry officials were planning to discuss the issue with the Law Ministry and some legal experts and some junior officials had in fact held informal discussions.

     

    It is expected that Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi may be consulted on the issue.   

     

    The I&B official had also confirmed that this will affect all 33 television channels of the Network. This may mean cancellation of the broadcasting license. However, the Ministry official said that no decision would be taken in haste.

     

    Sun TV had applied to the I&B for renewing its broadcasting license for 10 years, which also entails getting the required security clearance from the Home Ministry.

      

    Earlier, in April, Jaitley had written to Rajnath Singh to reconsider the denial of security clearance to 40 FM radio stations run by the Sun Network.

     

    Observers in Chennai said the Madras High Court order in September last year commented adversely against the I&B Ministry for cancelling the multi system operator (MSO) license to Sun TV Network’s subsidiary Kal Cables. The observation had come in a case relating to denial of security clearance as the Maran brothers were facing criminal cases.

  • MIB organises talkathon with Ministers to mark Modi govt’s one year

    MIB organises talkathon with Ministers to mark Modi govt’s one year

    NEW DELHI: Even as the Modi Government is marking completion of one year in office, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) has organised a talkathon with three union ministers as part of its initiative to highlight the achievements of the Government.

     

    In the first Talkathon of its kind, Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani,  Power, Coal, New and Renewable Energy minister Piyush Goyal, and Commerce and Industry minister Nirmala Sitharaman will be participating for a duration of 90 minutes on 30 May from 6 pm onwards. The programme would be live from National Media Centre, New Delhi.

     

    Talkathon is an initiative by the New Media Wing of the MIB, which connects the virtual space with the physical world. Under the platform, participants in the social media space can post questions on Twitter, which would be answered by the guests. The users can use the hashtag #AskYourGovt to post their queries to the Twitter handle of the Ministry @MIB_India. 

     

    The speakers will reply to the queries posted on Twitter, in real time. The event will be webcast LIVE on MIB’s YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/inbministry),pib.nic.in, india.gov.in, www.youtube.com/DDNewsofficial and DD News.

     

    This is the third edition of the Talkathon. It was introduced at the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) 2014 followed by Talkathon with Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu after the Rail Budget. The last edition of the Talkathon was with Finance, Corporate Affairs and MIB minister Arun Jaitley soon after he presented the Budget on 28 February. The latter was especially successful with the hashtag #AskFM trending at Number 1 on Twitter. 

     

    The current edition of Talkathon is a collaborative effort of the New Media Wing, Press Information Bureau and Doordarshan News under the aegis of the MIB.

  • MIB launches pan-India multimedia exhibit highlighting Modi Govt’s one year

    MIB launches pan-India multimedia exhibit highlighting Modi Govt’s one year

    NEW DELHI: A multi-media exhibition titled “Saal Ek Shuruaat Anek” set up by the Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity (DAVP) opened here today to showcase the achievements and policy initiatives across different sectors of the Narendra Modi helmed government.

     

    Inaugurating the exhibition, Information and Broadcasting Minister Arun Jaitley said that the multimedia mode had been adopted to sensitize the people on different initiatives taken across critical sectors. The exhibition would be taken to State Capitals and rural areas.

     

    MoS Rajyavardhan Rathore and secretary Bimal Julka apart from DAVP DG and senior officers of the Ministry were present on the occasion.

     

    Jaitley said that under the current initiative, exhibitions of the similar kind would be organized in all State Capitals along with one more city in each state except Bengaluru (Bengaluru), which will be covered in the second phase as model code of conduct is in place for local body elections in the state.
     

    The exhibition in the state capitals would commence on 26 May, 2015 and end on 1 June, 2015. Under Phase-II of the exhibition outreach programme, 30 sites had been selected with varying dates of commencement. The campaign on such sites would commence around 7 June and end on 20 June. In all 60 static multimedia exhibitions will be organized.

     

    As part of the rural outreach programme to sensitize the rural masses, DAVP was deploying 345 mobile exhibitions to reach out to 643 districts in the country for a period of one month.

     

    Jaitley also flagged off the Multi Media Mobile Van from the exhibition site along with Rathore.

     

    The Minister also highlighted the key features of the proposed Kisan Channel to be launched on 26 May by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Jaitley specifically mentioned the key benefits that would accrue to the farming community in terms of knowledge, understanding of issues, matters related to meteorology and the new technologies being adopted in the agriculture sector.

     

    The Multi Media Exhibition focuses on critical sectors highlighting the achievements in the last one year. These are: Annadata Sukhi Bhava (Farmers’ Welfare), Sarve Bhavantu Sukhinah (Mainstreaming the Deprived), Shrameva Jayate (Ensuring Dignity of Labour), Nari Shakti, Desh ki Tarakki (Our Daughters Our Pride), Jan Dhan se Jan Suraksha (Financial Inclusion and Security), Bharosa (Government that Trusts the People), Sushasan (Transparent and Corruption-free Government), Saksham Bharat (Education and Skilling), Sarve Santu Niramayah (Health Assurance to All), Swachh Bharat (Cleanliness is next to Godliness), Dharti ki Dharohar (Leaving behind a better planet), Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (Friendship on equal Footing), Ashtalakshmi (Development of the North East), Nagar – Shehar, Vikas ki Lehar (Urban Transformation), Tamaso Ma Jyotirgamaya (Power for All), Parivahan se Parivartan (Transportation for Transformation), Swarajya se Surajya (Delivering Good Governance), Vibrant Economy (Tej Gati, Aarthik Pragati) and Har Haath ko Kaam (Jobs for All).