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  • Govt withdraws plan for social media hub

    Govt withdraws plan for social media hub

    MUMBAI: The government on Friday told the Supreme Court that it was withdrawing its notification proposing to create a social media hub. Some had alleged that this could become a tool to monitor the online activities of the citizens.

    A bench, comprising justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud and headed by chief justice of India Dipak Misra, considered the submission of attorney general KK Venugopal that the notification was being withdrawn, and disposed off petitions challenging it.

    Venugopal told the bench, that the social media policy would be reviewed completely by the government. The Bench was hearing a petition filed by Trinamool Congress MLA Mahua Moitra, who alleged that the government’s social media hub policy was to be used as a tool to monitor social media activities of citizens and sought the quashing of the same.

    The apex court, which agreed to hear the plea, asked the government whether its move to create such a hub was to tap people’s WhatsApp messages, and observed that it would be like creating a ‘surveillance state’.

  • Union Budget 2018: Populist budget fails to excite industry at large

    Union Budget 2018: Populist budget fails to excite industry at large

    MUMBAI: The Union Budget finally arrived today with all eyes fixated on Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. He presented his fifth Union Budget, which was also the last one for the Modi government before India sets out to choose its new prime minister next year. Riding on optimism, different research firms, news broadcasters and media companies kept speculating for about a month on what exactly should this year’s budget hold for India.

    While the Union Budget 2018 was essentially a populist budget as Lok Sabha elections are due next year, it turned out to be a rather disappointing one for the advertising and media industry but it was a big thumbs up for Digital India and digitisation. The budget focused on the middle class and rural population, guided by the mission to strengthen India’s agriculture, rural development, health, education, employment, MSME and infrastructure sectors.

    With a view to promote digitisation, the government is set to make the necessary investment in robotics, internet of things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), digital manufacturing and big data analysis with the NITI Aayog to establish a national programme to direct efforts in artificial intelligence. The government has committed itself to the development of technology along with concentrating on AI and its applications, a revolutionary move for the digital industry. The ministry has decided to double its Digital India budget to around Rs 3000 crore.

    The ministry has also proposed to set up 5 lakh Wi-Fi hotspots to give access to 5 crore rural citizens, which means digital and internet penetration into smaller pockets of the country will result in increased data consumption across India. The move will help brands, agencies and OTT players to create target content for such markets.

    In a move to regulate the cryptocurrency market in India, Jaitley said that the government would take essential measures to eliminate the use of crypto assets in financing illegitimate activities. He, however, maintained that the Indian government will explore the use of block chain technology proactively to usher in the digital ecosystem.

    Jaitley also announced the allocation of Rs 10,000 crore for creation and augmentation of telecom infrastructure. He also noted that micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) are a major element for growth and mass formalisation of the MSME sector is slated to happen after demonetisation and GST, which took place in 2016-17.

    In what turned out to be the world’s largest government-funded healthcare programme, Indian ministry will launch health scheme to cover 10 crore poor families. The flagship national healthcare protection scheme of the government will provide upto Rs 5 lakh per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalisation of members.

    The television and handset companies did receive a blow as mobile phones are now set to become costlier as the custom duty on them has been increased to 20 per cent. The move comes with an aim to promote the government’s ‘Make in India’ initiative.

    Customs duty on crude edible vegetable oils such as groundnut oil, safflower seed oil has been hiked from 12.5 per cent to 30 per cent while on refined edible vegetable oil it has been hiked from 20 per cent to 35 per cent. Customs duty on imitation jewellery’s been increased from 5 per cent to 15 per cent in 2016 to 20 per cent now with duty on sunglasses, cigarette lighter, toys, bus and truck tyres, select furniture also seeing a similar hike. The import duty on smart watches, wearable devices, footwear has now been doubled to 20 per cent whereas the duty on LCD/LED/OLED panels has been hiked to 15 per cent. The import of solar-tempered glass for manufacture of solar cells will be exempted from customs duty.

    While the health and education cess has been increased to 4 per cent, the aam aadmi who was positive about having to pay less tax will be disappointed as the government did not propose any change in the tax slabs for the salaried class this year.

    Also Read:

    Industry holds bright outlook for budget 2018

    Union Budget 2018: Industry expects govt to favour consumption

    Is India ready for the impact of AI on marketing?

    A year after demonetisation: E-payment services emerged winners 

  • Punjab govt to levy entertainment tax on cable, DTH

    Punjab govt to levy entertainment tax on cable, DTH

    MUMBAI: The Punjab government is cracking down on errant cable ops by getting them to be accountable. It has added entertainment tax to cable and DTH connections. All local gram panchayats and state bodies will collect Rs 5 per month on a DTH connection and Rs 2 a month on cable TV from operators.

    The cabinet has approved the move. Once the governor gives the nod, the charges will begin from the date of notification.

    The state government aims to make Rs 9.6 crore via the DTH tax from 16 lakh connections and Rs 36.96 crore through 44 lah cable connections.

    Interestingly, no entertainment tax will be levied on other sources of entertainment such as cinemas, multiplexes, and amusement parks.

    The government is cracking down on cable mafias by getting them to clearly account their subscriber base. In the limelight is Fastway Transmission which is the mega player in the state and had the support of the previous Punjab government.

    When GST was introduced on 1 July, the power to collect entertainment tax was withdrawn from the state governments. This has now been given to the panchayats and municipalities by amending the seventh schedule of the constitution. Instead of requiring the centre to approve, The Punjab Entertainment and Amusements Taxes (Levy and collection by local bodies) Act 2017 was amended to get approval at the state level itself.

    Also read: 

    Supreme Court stays order on entertainment tax by LCOs

    M&E items get GST relief from 15 November 2017

    Entertainment tax: MSOs & LCOs must collect & pay, HC halts Delhi ‘action’

  • TRAI open house to discuss ease of doing broadcast biz

    TRAI open house to discuss ease of doing broadcast biz

    NEW DELHI: An Open House Discussion is to be held on 1 November in New Delhi next month on ways to find out easier ways of doing broadcast business and cause least harassment to entrepreneurs.

    With the fast changing regulatory framework for the media and entertainment sector, which in India is one of the fastest growing, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) had issued a pre-consultation paper in April this year later followed up with a consultation paper in July.

    The Government has launched an ambitious programme of regulatory reforms aimed at making it easier to do business in India. The programme aims to pinpoint the bottlenecks and ease them to create a more business-friendly environment. The efforts have yielded some results with India ranked at 130 according to the World Banks’ Ease of Doing Business report. However, there is still huge scope for further improvement.

    TRAI notes that the International Monetary Fund has branded India as the brightest spot in the Global Economy. Several Global Institutions have projected India as the leading destination for FDI in the World and a number of recent global reports and assessments, show that India has considerably improved its policies, practices and economic profile.

    The aim is also to remove entry barriers by laying down well defined and transparent procedures and processes. This will create a level playing field for competition in the sector and facilitate innovation and technology adoption for providing better quality of services. The sector can then attract investment through investor friendly policies

    Subjects to be covered are related to processes and procedures for obtaining permission/license/registration for the following broadcasting services and subsequent compliances connected with these permissions.

    The fields include:
    Uplinking of TV channels
    (b) Downlinking of TV channels
    (c) Teleport services
    (d) Direct-to-home services
    (e) Private FM services
    (f) Headend-in-the sky services
    (g) Local Cable Operators
    (h) Multi System Operators
    (i) Community Radio Stations

    The questions raised are:

    1. Is there a need for simplification of policy framework to boost growth of satellite TV industry? If yes, what changes do you suggest in present policy framework relating to satellite TV channels and why?
    2. Is there a need in present policy framework relating to seeking permission for making changes in the name, logo, language, format, etc. related to an operational satellite TV channel? If so, what changes do you suggest and why? Is there a need for simplification of policy framework to boost growth of satellite TV industry? If yes, what changes do you suggest in present policy framework relating to satellite TV channels and why?
    3. Do you agree witb some of the stakeholders comments at the pre-consultation stage that Annual Renewal Process of TV channels needs simplification?
    4. Do you agree with stakeholders’ comments that coordination with multiple agencies/ Government departments related to starting and operating of a TV channel can be simplified? If so, what should be the mechanism and framework for such single window system?
    5. Is present framework of seeking permission for temporary uplinking of live coverage of events of national importance including sports events is complicated and restrictive? If yes, what changes do you suggest and why?
    6. Do you feel the need to simplify policy framework for seeking permission/license for starting and running of following services:
    (iii) Teleport services
    (iv) DTH service
    7. As per your understanding, why open sky policy for Ku band has not been adopted when it is permitted for ‘C’ band? What changes do you suggest to simplify hiring of Ku band transponders for provision of DTH/HITS services?
    8. What are the operational issues and bottlenecks in the current policy framework related to:
    (iii) Teleport services
    (iv) DTH service
    How these issues can be simplified and expedited?
    9. What are the specific issues affecting ease of doing business in cable TV sector? What modifications are required to be made in the extant framework to address these issues?
    10. Is there a need to increase validity of LCO registration from one year? In your view, what should be the validity of LCO registration?
    11. What are the issues in the extant policy guidelines that are affecting the ease of doing business in FM sector? What changes and modifications are required to address these issues?
    12. Is there a need to streamline the process of assignment of frequency by WPC and clearances from NOCC to enhance ease of doing business? What changes do you suggest and why?
    13. What are the reasons for delay for allocation of frequencies by WPC? What changes do you suggest to streamline the process?
    14. What are the key issues affecting the indigenous manufacturing of various broadcasting equipments and systems. How these issues can be addressed?
    15. Is there any other issue which will be relevant to ease of doing business in broadcasting sector? .
    16. Are there any issues in conducting trial projects to assess suitability of a new technology in broadcasting sector?
    17. What should the policy framework and process for consideration and approval of such trial projects?

  • No plan for one-stop broadcast authority at present, says Rathore

    NEW DELHI: The Government has said there was no plan to set up a one-stop regulatory authority to receive complaints against broadcasting of programmes on private radio and television channels in violations of the code, thus ending the practice of self regulation.

    Minister of state for information and broadcasting Rajyavardhan Rathore was answering a question in the Parliament where a member had wanted to know if a single body would be set up to end the practice of self-regulation.

    Meanwhile, ruling out pre-censorship of private TV channels, the minister had last week listed the various steps being taken to prevent violation.

    Rathore had said that under the existing regulatory framework, all programmes and advertisements telecast on private satellite TV channels and transmitted/re-transmitted through the Cable TV network are required to adhere to the Programme and Advertising Codes prescribed under the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995 and Cable Television Network Rules, 1994 framed thereunder.

    The Act prescribes that all programmes and advertisements telecast on such TV channels including regional language channels should be in conformity with the prescribed Programme Code and Advertising Code enshrined in the said Act and the rules framed thereunder, which contain a whole range of parameters to regulate programmes and advertisements including the content aimed at instigating communal violence and fear in the minds of common people on TV channels.

    The Ministry has set up Electronic Media Monitoring Centre (EMMC) to monitor the content telecast on private TV channels with reference to the violation of Programme and Advertising Codes.

    An Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) has also been set up in the Ministry to look into the specific complaints or suo-motu take cognizance against the violation of Programme and Advertising Codes. The IMC has representatives from the Ministries of Home Affairs, Defence, External Affairs, Law, Women and Child Development, Health & Family Welfare, Consumer Affairs, Information & Broadcasting and a representative from the industry in Advertising Standards Authority of India (ASCI). The IMC meets periodically and recommends action in respect of violation of Programme and Advertising Codes by private TV channels.

    Apart from this, the Ministry has also issued directions to States to set up District level and State level Monitoring Committees to regulate content telecast on cable TV channels. 

    Also Read:

    Punjab govt. studying Arasu & other regulatory models on distribution 

    TRAI can only regulate transmission, not broadcast material: Star tells Mds HC

  • Fortinet deploys over 500 WiFi locations across Mumbai

    MUMBAI: Fortinet, a leader in high-performance cybersecurity solutions, has announced that the Maharashtra Information Technology Corporation (MITC) has selected Fortinet to provide wireless Internet access to the citizens of Mumbai, India.

    Fortinet’s access points provide WiFi Internet access for the public in Mumbai and are deployed in more than 500 locations across the city for the Mumbai WiFi project. The WiFi network is also planned to be used for smart transportation in the near future. This deployment is part of the state government’s digital empowerment program, and Fortinet beat several other enterprise wireless providers to win the deal. Fortinet is uniquely able to support the technical implementation of this project with its wireless R&D center in Bangalore.

    In the first phase of the Mumbai WiFi project, the Maharashtra Government has deployed a combination of Fortinet indoor and outdoor access points with omnidirectional antennas, wireless controllers, and a wireless manager to provide simplified deployment and scaling, voice mobility, and the high performance needs required.

    Digital Empowerment of Mumbai

    Mumbai is home to 20.5 million people and is the commercial capital and the largest city in India. The Government of Maharashtra launched the Mumbai WiFi project to cover all major areas in the city with public WiFi hotspots to ensure that government services are available online to its citizens. Later this year, the WiFi network will also be used for smart parking and smart transportation, by providing real-time updates on the routes and available capacity of various modes of public transport in the city. The introduction of WiFi hotspots in Mumbai expands on the government’s vision of making Maharashtra the country’s first digital state.

    Fortinet Secure Access Solution

    Securing public communications over WiFi, such as personal information, financial transactions, and mobile device data sharing, involves much more than simply managing network access control. As organizations change the way they deploy access networks, connect devices, and the number and types of network-connected wireless devices and mobile applications grows exponentially, IT leaders must deal with the difficult task of balancing the requirements of network security with the flexibility to onboard a growing number and diversity of clients.

    Users want fast WiFi and a smooth experience across wired or wireless networks and IT leaders need reduced complexity of network management, application management, and device management. Typical WiFi solutions cannot satisfactorily address these requirements. Fortinet’s Secure Access solution delivers three WLAN deployment options to meet the different WLAN requirements of today’s enterprises. In addition to WLAN services, our complete secure access portfolio also provides the most flexible security with end-to-end enforcement enabled by the Fortinet Security Fabric.

    Maharashtra’s principal secretary – information technology Vijay Kumar Gautam says: “With the Mumbai WiFi project, our goal was to cover all major areas in the city with public WiFi in order to make important government services available online. Because of the hyper-connected nature of our public infrastructure today, an ambitious project like this requires technology that can scale and be flexible to enable more users, devices, and applications over time.”

    Fortinet SVP – products and solutions John Maddison says: “BYOD and the Internet of Things (IoT) are creating new attack vectors that put critical assets within public or private networks at risk. As more users, devices, and applications are added to WiFi networks, organizations need secure, enterprise-class WiFi that can deliver a superior experience for all users. Secure access needs to extend consistent security policies to the very edge of the network where most vulnerabilities target. Security cannot happen at the expense of high-availability, speed and density of coverage which are all must-haves in a public WiFi network.”

  • Inter-Ministerial group examining TSPs’ system issues

    NEW DELHI: Communications minister Manoj Sinha has said that an inter-ministerial group (IMG) has been formed to examine systematic issues impacting viability and repayment capacity in telecom sector.

    He said the IMG would furnish recommendations for resolution of stressed assets at the earliest and recommend policy reforms and strategic interventions for telecom sector.

    The IMG has held wide consultations with Banks and telecom service providers and is likely to submit its report shortly.

    The Minister assured that the necessary corrective steps will be taken by the Government for ensuring orderly growth in this sector in terms of services to the common-man including in rural areas.

    The Minister said this in a meeting with promoters of telecom service providers where representatives of Department of Financial Services and State Bank of India were also present.

    The industry put forward the problems of telecom sector causing financial stress on the companies and roadmap for addressing the situation.

  • Faced with deadline, MIB says all provisional MSOs will be deemed regular

    NEW DELHI: Faced with just less than one month to go before total switch-off of analogue signals, the Government today decided that all provisional multi-system operators will be deemed as having regular licence for ten years.

    Stressing that the period of ten years commences from the date they got registered as provisisional MSOs, the Government said that this will not apply to MSOs which stand cancelled or cancelled.

    However, if the continuation of registration of any MSO is at any time found to be or considered detrimental to the security of the State then the registration so granted is liable to be cancelled/suspended, the order placed on the Ministry website mib.nic.in specified.

    All other terms and conditions depicted in the provisional registration letter(s) Wlll continue to apply.

    Earlier on 27 January.2017, it had been decided that all registered MSOs are free to operate in any part of the country, irrespective of registration for specified DAS notified areas granted by this Ministry.

    However, they have to submit the details of Headend, SMS, subscribers list and a self-certificate that they are carrying all the mandatory TV Channels, within six months from date of issuance of MSO registration, to the Ministry, failing which the MSO registration is liable to cancelled/suspended.

    Hence, all deemed regular registered MSOs also are required to submit the details to the M/o within six months.

    The Government had itself extended the last date of the last phase of digital addressable system for cable television covering rural India on 31 March 2017.

    According to the Ministry, it had given registration to 1182 MSOs by the end of February 2017, which included 230 which had valid ten-year licences.

  • Diktat on coverage of anti-terrorism efforts & sharing sports feed with DD reiterated

    NEW DELHI: In an effort to remind television news channels about avoiding incorrect or provoking news, the Government repeated notifications issued by it earlier in regard to coverage of anti-terrorist activities, depiction of cruelty to animals, and coverage of sports events.

    The most recent notification of 17 January this year is a change under the Mandatory Sharing of Sporting signals by private channels with Doordarshan relating to sports of national importance.

    It seeks to cover other sports like Summer Olympics, Commonwealth Games, Asian Games, Special Olympics, Paralympics and events relating to tennis, Davis Cup-All matches featuring India; Grand Slam Tournaments (Finals of Men’s Singles, Women’s Singles and all matches featuring Indian player from quarter-finals onwards); and Grand Slam Tournaments (All such matches featuring Indian Player in men’s doubles, Women’s doubles or Mixed doubles from quarter-finals onwards), Hockey, World Cup (All matches featuring India and semi-finals and finals), Champions Trophy (All matches featuring India and finals); and Indira Gandhi Gold Cup for Women-Semi-finals and finals; Football; World Cup – Opening match, semi-finals and finals; Asia Cup – All matches featuring India and semi-finals and finals; and Santosh Trophy – Semi-finals and finals.

    http://mib.nic.in/writereaddata/documents/Notification_dated_27.1.2017.pdf

    The notification about depiction of cruelty to animals is dated 19 August last year: http://mib.nic.in/writereaddata/documents/Notification_dated_19.8.2016.pdf

    The recent events in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka relating to traditional folk sports relating to animals has made this repetition necessary, a Ministry source told indiantelevision.com.

    The third is about coverage of anti-terrorist activities and is dated 21 March 2015: http://mib.nic.in/writereaddata/documents/Notification_dated_21.03.2015.pdf

    After the Mumbai terrorist attacks of 25 November 2008, both the government and self-regulatory bodies had issued guidelines about coverage of anti-terrorist activities in the wake of public outcry.

    The recent events in Kashmir with stoning of police forces have led to further outcry in other parts of the country.

  • Lodha inspires clean-up across Indian sports

    Lodha inspires clean-up across Indian sports

    MUMBAI: To oversee the functioning of BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India), the apex court of India will today pronounce the names of officials to be appointed as administrators on the board.

    Among other steps, the Lodha committee had sought disqualification of BCCI office-bearers who were not Indian citizens, and those who hold office in a sports or athletic association or federation apart from cricket, and those declared insolvent and administrators charged with a crime.

    Meantime, in a separate development, the Supreme Court postponed hearing on BCCI’s review plea against Lodha reforms.

    Also, in a petition filed by 28 sportspersons from different games, the top court, headed by the chief justice of India Jagdish Singh Khehar, wrote to the central government seeking its views about forming a Justice Lodha-like panel so as to look into alleged irregularities in other sports across India. The bench also issued notices to the various sports federations.

    Sportspersons had sought Lodha-like reforms, from ejecting 70-year-old officials from heading sports federations to disqualifying bureaucrats and ministers on sports bodies.

    To ensure that the national sports federations operated transparently, the government should be directed to incorporate within the national sports code recommendations made by the Lodha panel, the plea sought.