ITV

Tag: bans

  • Government bans ‘Free X-TV’ satellite channel

    NEW DELHI: The government has prohibited transmission or re-transmission of satellite channel ‘Free X-TV’ in the country as the content breaches the programming code.

    In a statement, the information and broadcasting ministry said yesterday that the channel has been banned as the content is “against good taste or decency” and “likely to adversely affect public morality.”

    An order prohibiting transmission/re-transmission of Free X-TV has also been forwarded to the Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF), cable operators, MSOs and state and union territories officials concerned.

    The decision has been taken under the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995.

    The government said some cable operators in the country were are transmitting/re-transmitting Free X-TV channel and complaints have been received against it.

    The ban on Free X-TV follows earlier bans on channels such as Ren TV. It may be recalled that in May the government clamped down on erotic channels beaming over Indian skies. Three adult channels BlueKiss, BlueKiss Express and BlueKiss Promo beaming off Asiasat 3, and TBL came under the government scanner in this regard.

    Earlier to that, the government had cancelled the uplinking permission for an English movie channel, Cine World, for a month over programming code violations.

  • Government bans four adult channels

    MUMBAI: Now you see them now you don’t. The game of hide and seek that has been going on the last few years between adult channels trying to get around existing restrictions and the authorities has come to the fore again. The government has just clamped down on three erotic channels beaming off Asiasat 3 over Indian skies.

    Three adult channels BlueKiss, BlueKiss Express, BlueKiss Promo and TBL have come under the government scanner in this regard.

    The ban that came into effect late last week has been put in place as the government anticipates that these channels can be viewed by the Indian public after buying smart cards from abroad.

    Though these channels are not freely available in India at the moment, the fact that they are being downlinked off Asiasat 3 means that anyone who accesses the smart card can get to view the content.
     

    These channels air programming which are adult and explicit in nature, according to information and broadcasting ministry sources.

    The programming of these channels breach the specified codes set by the government for channels beaming into India, irrespective of the fact whether they are uplinked from here or not.
     
     

    Concerned with the possibility of increasing sleaze that could be available to India viewers through satellite channels, the Indian government had cancelled the uplinking permission for Cine World, an English movie channel, in the recent past for a month.

    By and large, the Indian government has been fairly liberal as far as television channels are concerned. One of the rare cases of a clamp down related to PTV during the Kargil war, but the ban was for a limited period.

  • Kerala bans all lotteries in State

    BANGALORE: Describing lotteries as a social evil, Kerala – one of the pioneers of government run lotteries in India, has decided to ban all lotteries in the state, including its own state run paper lottery.

    In a bid to prevent the return of online lotteries and lotteries of other states which were garnering a major chunk of income from the lottery business in Kerala, the state cabinet on 25 January issued a blanket ban on all lotteries.

    Lotteries in the country are governed by the Lotteries (Regulation) Act, 1998 (Act No 17 of 1998). As per Section 6 of the Act: The Central Government, may by order published in the Official Gazette, prohibit lottery organized, conducted or promoted in contravention of the provisions of Section 4, or where tickets of such lottery are sold in contravention of the provisions of Section 5. As per various orders of the Supreme Court, lotteries cannot be banned selectively.

    Earlier too, the Kerala Government on 8 November 2003, attempted to prevent the sale of other State lotteries, but this was stayed by the Kerala High Court on 19 December and subsequently upheld by the Supreme Court, in its interim order.

    In the present situation, when the government recently banned on-line lotteries again, the concerned affected parties; namely the Government of Meghalaya and online lottery players approached the Supreme Court. The apex court’s verdict on Monday (24 January) underlined two options to the state governement – either to allow all lotteries or to ban the entire trade in the state.

    This ban, directly or indirectly, will affect around 200,000 people including about 30,000 handicapped persons who will loose their income and livelihood earned by the sale of lottery tickets. The state exchequer will also be poorer by around Rs 200-300 million every year. The gazetted and non-gazetted officers of the state lotteries department would be deployed to other government departments, while alternative rehabilitation plans for people, directly affected by the ban, especially the handicapped, are being mooted by the government according to the state chief minister Oommen Chandy.

  • Kerala government bans online lottery

    MUMBAI: The Kerala government has issued a notification banning sale of all kinds of computer and online lottery tickets in the state. The order, which comes into force with immediate effect, asserts the state as a `free zone from online and internet lotteries’.

    Prominent online lottery operators in Kerala include Essel group’s Playwin, Martin Group’s Smartwin, DhanDhanaDhan from Forbe’s group, Dhoot Entertainment Network’s V1 online lottery and Apollo International’s Lottus.

    When contacted, Playwin CEO Sanjay Das told indiantelevision.com that the company closed all its installations in the state in deference to the notification. He said the company was contemplating its next move.

    Kerala is an important market for online lottery operators. Playwin, for instance, used to collect approximately 20 per cent of its total revenue (Rs. 800 – Rs. 900 million per month) from this market. According to an industry insider, the Kerala online lottery market is valued at Rs. 500 million to Rs. 750 million approximately.

    Online lottery in the state is now banned using the 5th section of Union Lottery law. Earlier, online lottery operators had obtained a stay from the SC against a High Court Order banning the sale of other state lotteries in the state. Reportedly, the government’s decision now to ban online lottery in the state is based on expert opinion that the SC order is applicable to paper lotteries only.

    The Supreme Court had earlier pulled up Kerala government officials for remarks and taking action against on-line and paper lotteries in the state while the matter has been pending before the court and hence sub-judice. It had asked the chief secretary to present himself before the court on 17 January.
     

  • Pakistan bans five TV networks

    Pakistan bans five TV networks

    MUMBAI: The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) has proscribed five unregistered television channels in the country.

    The channels Tele Track, MM, MM2, M-Net and Series were also found guilty of violating Pemra’s code of conduct by airing “objectionable pornographic” content.

    Pemra had issued a circular to all cable TV operators to stop the relay of the five channels from their networks. Pemra warned that the telecasting the five channels would be an offence under section 33 of Pemra Ordinance to sell cards / decoders and relay, show, transmit those channels on cable TV or Microwave Multipoint Distribution Service (MMDS).

    “These channels are shown by pirated decoder cards in various parts of the country. The principal of Multi-choice Africa have taken up the issue of piracy with Pemra and requested to adopt measures to stop piracy through TV channels,” said a press release issued by Pemra.