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Tag: Deepak Sandhu

  • Neelam Kapur moved from top post in PIB, DD News ADG SM Khan put on compulsory wait

    Neelam Kapur moved from top post in PIB, DD News ADG SM Khan put on compulsory wait

    NEW DELHI: Neelam Kapur, who has been holding the post of principal director general of media and communication of the Press Information Bureau (PIB), has been shifted to the directorate of field publicity (DFP).

     

    Highly placed sources said Frank Noronha, posted in the DFP as director general, has been brought in her place.

     

    These sources said that while Kapur has not been demoted as she retains her position of principal DG which is of secretary level, the DFP is seen as an office lower in stature to that of PIB, where she was the official spokesperson of the government.

     

    Kapur had taken over in December 2008 after Deepak Sandhu’s retirement. Kapur’s removal could be seen as a move made because she was appointed at the time of the united progressive alliance government.

     

    Frank Noronha, a 1982-batch officer of the Indian Information Service, was earlier in PIB.

     

    There has been no formal announcement so far of these changes.

     

    He has worked as information officer in various ministries and has served as deputy press secretary in the Rashtrapati Bhavan during his long tenure, apart from heading the directorate of advertising and visual publicity immediately prior to his posting in DFP.

     

    Doordarshan News additional director general SM Khan who was heading DD News has been put on compulsory wait, and Archana Dutta who is director general (News) in All India Radio, has been given additional charge of Doordarshan News.

     

    During the run-up to the elections, Khan was reported to have delayed the transmission of Narendra Modi’s interview to Doordarshan. Answering a query about editing out certain portions, he had said this was done only because of references made about people who had not been given an opportunity to have their say.

  • Survival of small and medium newspapers critical to society: Arjun

    NEW DELHI: Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh has stressed the importance for small and medium newspapers at a time when the face of Indian Media was changing because of the growth of Internet, the phenomenal rise of Satellite and cable networks, the continuing growth of regional press, and blurring of lines between news and entertainment.

    He said all this had obviously led to technological and commercial pressures and changes in professional practices for the media sector.

    Inaugurating a seminar on ‘Media and its Responsibilities’ here yesterday, the Minister said the media was rightly acknowledged as one of the important pillars of democracy as it performed the most critical function among institutions that contribute to the makeup of a public sphere in society. ‘It is always interesting to study how the media report and interpret political events and issues, and how media itself influences the political processes and shapes public opinion’, he said.

    The Minister said it was very important for the small and medium newspapers to grow in order to ensure multiple access to media by everyone, including the poor and underprivileged sections of society. These newspapers were largely catering to information, communication and entertainment needs of rural and semi-urban India. They drew their strength from being local. One needed to appreciate that people belonging to rural areas possibly would not have access to mediums like internet and satellite and cable television. Their information requirement could either be met by Doordarshan, Radio or newspapers.

    Singh said he was aware that small and medium newspapers had to face problems because of small scale of production and lack of resources for continuous technological improvement in production processes. Small newspapers, because of their inherent disability to circulate in huge numbers, and their localized nature, failed to attract enough commercial advertisements, adversely affecting the quality of news gathering and the final product.

    Others who spoke at the seminar included former Governor Bhishma Narain Singh, former Central Bureau of Investigation Director Joginder Singh, former Election Commissioner G.V.G. Krishnamurthy, Mrs Deepak Sandhu who is Director General (Media & Communications) Press Information Bureau, All India Small and Medium Newspapers Federation President Gurinder Singh, and Congress spokesperson Tom Vadakkan.

  • MIB inaugrates PIB’s Audio Visual Unit

    MIB inaugrates PIB’s Audio Visual Unit

    MUMBAI: The Minister for Information & Broadcasting and Parliamentary Affairs, PR Dasmunsi inaugurated the Audio Visual Unit of the Press Information Bureau(PIB).

    Speaking on the occasion, the Minister said it has become important to meet people’s growing needs for information through 24 hour TV channels. He asserted that the audio visual cell will satiate the hunger of large sections of people concerned with information on day to day developments of the Nation.

    Describing this initiative as a “big jump” and “stage II revolution” in the efforts of PIB to cater to the requirements of electronic media, the Minister for I&B expressed hope that it would provide valuable feedback to the Government and meet the needs of TV channels who do not have necessary infrastructure.

    In his address, I&B secretary, SK Arora, welcomed the launch of the audio visual cell by observing that mediapersons could access authentic and accurate information about government’s activities, initiatives and policy pronouncements by visiting PIB’s website.

    He also announced that several lakh rare photographs of last 50 to 60 years available with the Photo Division in a digital form will be placed on the PIB’s website shortly. He expressed hope that this measure would further increase PIB’s popularity among the media.

    In her welcome address, PIB director general, Deepak Sandhu stated that the advent of television channels, especially regional and local channels have brought a new challenge to PIB for meeting the demand for visual content of Government information. AV Unit which was started by PIB in response, will disseminate important information in the audio-visual format including special interviews with senior ministers.

    The format which has been adopted to start with, is to web-stream the audio-visual content on the website in a preview format and downloadable format. The video clips will be confined to a maximum of two minutes so that there is no difficulty in downloading the contents. At a later stage, PIB hopes to distribute this audio-visual material in DVD format as well.