Tag: GST

Govt to help revitalise DD under ‘autonomous Prasar’, dubs censors as ‘facilitators’ within law

MUMBAI: Union information and broadcasting minister Smriti Irani on Friday said the government saw agencies including the Censor Board “as facilitators” within the ambit of the law. Irani was speaking at a World Economic Forum-India Economic Summit session moderated by film maker Karan Johar in New Dlhi.

She added that the government would consider a suggestion to help bring out a television series on freedom fighters to be telecast on the pubcaster Doordarshan.

Defending the central government on demonetisation and the way Good and Services Tax (GST) regime was implemented, she said that the NDA was voted to power to change the status quo by taking difficult decisions. She said that those decisions were taken with a view to simplify the tax regime, increasing tax compliance, widening the tax base and increasing productivity.

Revitalising Doordarshan: At an earlier event — CyFy 2017, by Observer Research Foundation, Irani had said that the government was planning to revitalise Doordarshan. She spoke of the government’s problems in improving the functioning of the Doordarshan as it was under the jurisdiction of an autonomous body — the c
However, Irani made it clear that she would also like the Doordarshan to be a world-class channel which Indians and the diaspora would be proud of.

The government, the minister said, was also planning to promote positive storytelling, and added that it would promote the film “Lunchbox” at the upcoming Goa International Film Festival. India, she said, had several good writers, actors, and other creative artistes capable of making world-class films, but the problem arose when the producer looked at the balance sheet.

The minister opined that the social media by and large had brought balance with the main media, since it could criticise biased articles and commentaries in newspapers which was not possible a few years ago. She agreed with the Swedish prime minister Carl Bildt who had said: “The norms and values of the internet should be the values and the norms of society.”

October 7, 2017
Brands bullish this festive season but not for Navratri

MUMBAI: Marketing mavens are aware that a majority of brand spending in India takes place between August and December every year because of a range of festivals that dot this period. It begins with Raksha Bandhan and chugs ahead with Ganesh Chaturthi and gathers steam in September with Navratri, Durga Pooja and Dussehra, only to move at a superfast speed during Diwali, until the calendar year ends. Indian consumers are in a celebratory mood, flush with cash, courtesy employment bonuses.

The past 10 months have, however, been different. The reason: the double whammy of demonetisation and the rollout of goods and services tax (GST) put the brakes on optimism. Both forced brand custodians to zip up their ad purses and postpone any spends until customers had money to splurge and the entire GST process – which commenced on 1 July 2017 – panned out.

Net result: even the months of August 2017 and early September 2017 have seen sedate brand activity. Questions are being asked whether marketers are ready to let their hair down during Navratri 2017 to get consumers back to spending on goodies ostentatiously?

Indiantelevision.com got in touch with a clutch of marketers and agency heads and the consensus was that a majority of national brands are going to go easy on both, Navratri and Dussehra, but they are going to go hell for leather during Durga Pooja and Diwali, allocating a large chunk of their ad and promotional budgets during these two periods.

Even in Gujarat, which normally goes into marketing overdrive during Navratri, there will be some amount of softness this year between 21-29 September.

“Navratri is clearly the biggest festival in Gujarat which is bigger than Diwali in terms of activations and promotions. It is a big period for Gujarati channels (national and local) as all major FMCG brands, automobile brands and local retailers want to make the most of this season but the spends will be soft this year because of GST and demonetisation,” says a media expert.

Navratri event organisers in Mumbai and Gujarat had to struggle this year to find sponsors mainly due to the fact that real estate and telecom categories, which otherwise are heavy advertisers during the nine-day festival, shied away, unlike previous years. The real estate sector was relatively cold as a majority of the developers are busy getting their houses in order to comply with the stringent requirements that new real estate regulations that have been thrust on them by RERA. Adding to developers’ relative lack of enthusiasm is the GST rollout.

Says a media buyer from a leading agency: “Navratri this year will see a lot of local and retail advertising rather than multinational players. This is a great opportunity for local and small brands to promote themselves on the venue or via various BTL activations at a reasonable cost which otherwise would be priced very high.”

Indeed, some savvy companies are stepping in to take advantage of the opportunity and spend on the various garba events that have been organised across Mumbai and Gujarat. Thousands gather on various grounds in these two states to dance to the rhythms of dandiya stars — Falguni Pathak, Parthiv Gohil, Preeti Pinky, among other. These events are normally aired on the local cable TV channels as well as on some of the handful Gujarati language channels.

Consider:

* ONE Broadband, Hinduja Group’s Flagship Company for Telecom Data Services for Consumer & Enterprise Segments will be offering unlimited 10mbs free Wi-Fi service to the devotees during Navratri season across Maharashtra and Gujarat.

* Residential, commercial and real estate company Ruparel Realty is the title sponsor for Mumbai’s Navratri Mahotsav 2017 while Colors Gujarati is the television partner for the event. Gujarati queen Falguni Pathak will be seen performing at the event for nine days.

* Ride hailing app Uber will provide lucky customers with a free gift hamper which consists of free passes for Radio Mirchi Rock n Dhol garba event in Gujarat along with two dandiya sticks.

* Online e-commerce platforms Flipkart, Amazon and Ebay have also announced their big sales to commence the festive season encouraging people to buy more products online. The sale on these platforms began yesterday and will go on for a week.

Dentsu Aegis Network chairman and CEO – South Asia Ashish Bhasin told Indiantelevision.com that there’s no reason to worry, however, as overall he sees the festive season spends this year growing 20 per cent over the last year even as the advertising budgets for the whole year will expand 10-12 per cent. What this means is that the last quarters of this year should contribute heavily, and help make up for the losses during the previous quarters.

Bhasin notes that consumer goods, automobiles and FMCG sector are going to go all-out with campaigns to seduce India’s fast-burgeoning middle class.

A media planner adds that brands are actually drawing up massive plans and there’s actually going to be a shower of spending (mainly by categories like automobiles, real estate, jewelry, electronics along with e-commerce) this festive season as most of them have got over the demonetisation and GST issues.

That should be music to most media and TV ad sales professionals who have been toiling away, struggling to meet their ad sales targets.

September 22, 2017
Arasu ‘monopolistic practices’ decried by LCOs, TN body seeks GST exemption

MUMBAI: A Tamil Nadu federation of unions to which hundreds of cable operators owe allegiance has alleged that the Arasu MSO has been following ‘monopolistic practices’ and acting against the welfare of its members.

It also made a series of demands from the state and central governments including forming a welfare board for cable TV operators, strict monitoring of Arasu operations by the union ministry and exemption of cable TV operations from Goods and Services Tax (GST).

The Tamil Nadu Arasu Cable TV Corporation Limited (TACTV) had set the subscription fee as Rs 70, which was below the fee recommended by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). Of this, cable operators were expected to pay 50 per cent to Arasu, the federation alleged.

Hundreds of cable TV operators from across Tamil Nadu on Monday observed a fast condemning TACTV for acting against the welfare of cable TV operators.

The Federation of Cable TV Associations of Tamil Nadu (FCTATN) has alleged that Arasu had claimed that it owned the complete cable the infrastructure and subscribers although TACTV was formed with almost zero investment since the necessary infrastructure and last mile connectivity were provided by the LCOs (local cable TV operators). “This is unfair,” FCTATN chief coordinator D.G.V.P. Sekar said.

Alleging that TACTV was formed with almost zero investment since all the necessary infrastructure and last mile connectivity were provided by the local cable TV operators, the participants said that it was unfair on the part of TACTV to claim that all the infrastructure and subscribers as its own.

The operators also accused TACTV of taking away from them the responsibility of collecting subscription fee, and asking the subscribers to directly pay it online. “Now, operators will have to wait for TACTV to credit the share to us,” Sekar said.

FCTATN members also alleged that TACTV’s taluka-level and district-level control room operators were often appointed on the recommendation of ruling political party functionaries, and acted in an ‘high-handed behaviour’ towards the cable TV operators.

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Punjab govt. studying Arasu & other regulatory models on distribution

Kal Cables can continue analogue transmission, says Madras High Court

August 29, 2017
Asianet News to air special programmes for Onam

MUMBAI: Asianet news, the top of the line news channel in the state, is ready to celebrate Onam with a varied range of special programmes. Sticking on to its multifaceted approach, the channel is coming up with ten Onam special programmes, ranging from the history of the festival to how demonitisation and GST has affected the celebration. The programmes would be telecast on every day from Atham to Thiruvonam at 7.30pm.

On 28 August, Churamirangum Onam (Onam depending Neighbors )traces the root of flowers and vegetables coming from Gudallur and finds it market in Kozhikkode. Bhoomiyude velicham(The new culture of agriculture), a program by the state award winning C. Anoop, would give us an insight on pesticide free onam and also would introduce some of the best organic farmers in the state. The program is to be telecast on 29 August.

Majority of the keralites would never think of a non vegetarian sadya for Onam. But for the people in the North Malabar region, the sadya would be incomplete without a non vegetarian dish. The program Onnalla,Randonam(Two Onams) will take you through the food culture of the malabar region during Onam and also through their Onam celebration,which is less familiar to the rest of the Keralites. The programme will be telecast on 30 08 17.

Business Onam, would have in detail how demonatisation and GST have affected the common man and thereby their celebrations. (31 08 17)

Teen age national celebrities Vaishnav and Yumna will be featured in a rare appearance of both. These singers will perform and engage in a chat show named Pattupookkalam (Flowers of songs) 0n (01 09 17).

Karyastanillatha Onam , a film based programme looks into the state of film in after the industry after Dileep’s arrest and also new releases sans popular hero.

Chat shows, one with the young politicians and another with the young officers in the administrative service are also in the line. A travelouge through the woods by a group of women photographers would also be a special onam treat to the viewers.Pen Camera, (Women with camera) 02 09 17,9.30 pm

Malayalathinte Youvanam, (Evergreen Malayalam) to be telecast on Thiruvonam, will have the veteran writer M.T.Vasudevan Nair sharing his thoughts and memories of Onam with M G Radhakrishnan, Editor of Asianet News.

With a wide variety of programs getting ready down the lane, the viewers could sit back and enjoy this Onam season with their all time favourite news channel, Asianet news.

August 28, 2017
Dish TV India reports muted numbers for first quarter

BENGALURU: The Essel Group’s television direct to home (DTH) Dish TV India Limited (Dish TV) reported 5 percent and 5.1 percent declines in subscription and operation revenue for the quarter ended 30 June 2017 (Q1-18, current quarter) as compared to the corresponding year ago quarter (Q1-17). Dish TV says that it is making a smart recovery from the lows of the demonetization impacted previous quarters. The company reported subscription revenue of Rs 6,917 million in the current quarter as compared to Rs 7,282 million in Q1-17. Operating revenue in Q1-18 was Rs 7,389 million as compared to Rs 7,786 million in Q1-17.

Dish TV reported a net loss of Rs 139 million in the current quarter as compared to profit after tax of Rs 361 million in Q1-17. EBIDTA in Q1-18 was 22.9 percent down at Rs 2,016 million as compared to Rs 2,610 million in Q1-17. Total comprehensive loss in the current quarter was a Rs 134 million as compared to total comprehensive income of Rs 364 million in the corresponding year ago quarter.

Dish TV reported net addition of 0.186 million subscribers in the current quarter which takes it subscriber base to 15.7 million. The company had closed the previous quarter (last quarter of fiscal 2017 or Q4-17) with 15.5 million subscribers.

Dish TV CMD Jawahar Goel, said, “With digitization spreading to rural India, our primary objective is to address the needs of pay-TV viewers in small towns and villages. For the first time in the history of DTH industry in India, indirect tax rates have been separately communicated to the consumers. In an attempt to make TV viewing affordable for viewers, Dish TV introduced the Rs. 160 per month (plus taxes) pack this month. In addition, by partly adopting TRAI’s new Tariff Order, Dish TV also started offering all channels, except Sports and select south channels, at affordable ala-carte prices of Rs. 8.50 and Rs.17.00 (plus taxes) per channel per month for SD and HD respectively. It would be worthwhile to mention here that none of these new offerings would be margin dilutive for our business.

Dish TV’s total expenditure in Q1-18 increased 6 percent to Rs 7,788.5 million (105.4 percent of operating revenue) from Rs 7,350.6 million (94.4 percent of operating revenue) in the corresponding quarter of the previous year. Employee Benefit Expense in Q1-18 increased 1.5 percent to Rs 388.4 million (5.3 percent of operating revenue) from Rs 382.6 million (4.9 percent of operating revenue) in Q1-17. Operating Expenses increased 5.2 percent y-o-y in Q1-18 to Rs 3,731.5 million (50.5 percent of operating revenue) from Rs 3,547.5 million (45.6 percent of operating revenue) in the corresponding quarter of the previous year. Other expenses were flat at Rs 1,223.8 million (16.6 percent of operating revenue) as compared to Rs 1,223.6 million (15.7 percent of operating revenue) in Q1-17. Finance costs increased 12.1 percent y-o-y in Q1-18 to Rs 589.6 million (8 percent of operating revenue) from Rs 526.1 million (6.8 percent of operating revenue) in Q1-17.

In its earnings release, Dish TV says that it is excited about the mega size, strength and reach that it is going to achieve post the formation of Dish TV Videocon Limited. The new company would be riding on the strength of a resurgent economy and a growing market that should help enhance the efficiencies from this mega merger. It says that the combination of DishTV and Videocon D2h would create one of the World’s largest DTH platform.

Goel, said, “The proposed amalgamation will further help create scale in the highly fragmented TV distribution landscape in India while creating significant synergies through the combination. Drawing inference from our initial estimates and integration meetings held so far, we expect approximate net synergies from the amalgamation to the tune of Rs. 1,800 million in FY-18 and Rs. 5,100 million in FY-19. Significant amongst these would be synergies arising from unified content contracts as each major contract becomes due for re-setting.”

Speaking about GST, Goel informed, ““Dish TV has successfully transitioned to the GST regime. The DTH industry has seen a reduction in the overall indirect tax rates under GST. Though benefits due to the unified tax may take some time to reflect in numbers, the sheer check on tax avoidance in the informal cable sector should be immediately helpful in reducing irrational competition from cable. The Harmonized System Nomenclature (HSN) codes, unit and rate which need to be separately declared in the invoice in value chain right from the broadcasters to the local cable operator, under GST will give a logical and systematic classification to goods and services thus reducing the possibility of misdeclaration by businesses. The total amount of GST to be collected and payable by Dish TV during the current quarter would be to the tune of Rs. 1,350 million.”

Addressing concerns being raised on whether data prices could hit rock bottom levels such that some entertainment viewers would prefer streaming content, as perceived to have been done in the West, instead of sticking to the traditional cable/DTH distribution methods, Goel, said, “New technology would generally replace the traditional means only if it provides something better than what the incumbent is providing and at much more efficient price levels. The fact of the matter is that even at the current, all time low data prices, the cost of watching Standard Definition TV for a month through streaming devices would turn out to be at least 3-5 times higher than the popular average monthly DTH subscription.”

Speaking on The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (TRAI) Tariff Order, Goel, said, “The broadcasting community wanted forbearance on pricing which has been granted under the order. Distribution platforms have been allowed to charge for the network. The proposed Tariff Order, on seeing the light of the day, will ensure minimization of discriminatory pricing amongst distribution platforms thus ensuring a level playing field for all players.”

August 17, 2017
Publicise ‘Mission Indradhanush’ & GST, broadcasters told

NEW DELHI: All satellite television and private FM channels have been asked by the government to give adequate publicity to ‘Mission Indradhanush’ launched to expand immunisation coverage to all children across India.

The broadcasters have been asked by the ministry of information and broadcasting to give publicity in a befitting manner pro bono as part of their corporate social responsibility activities, keeping in view the significance and meaningfulness of this cause.

All private satellite TV channels have also been asked to give adequate publicity to the Goods and Services Tax which became effective on 1 July 2017. The ministry has put on its website some scrolls that can be run by the TV channels.

The Indradhanush Mission is aimed at children who are either unvaccinated, or are partially vaccinated against seven vaccine preventable diseases which include diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, polio, tuberculosis, measles and hepatitis B.

The Ministry notes that the electronic media has always been in the forefront to carry such message as “it is a powerful tool to reach out to the people across the country.”

“ln order to make this mission a success, it has been felt that support, assistance and contribution of private TV channels and FM radio channels will be of immense use,” the Ministry has said.

The notes by Amit Katoch who is director (broadcasting) in the Information and Broadcasting Ministry has said the GST Cell is organising a GST Awareness campaign named ‘Manthan’ and has suggested some scrolls that should be run.

Also Read:

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Maharashtra CM supports film industry’s demand for 18% GST

July 27, 2017
ZEEL reports steady Q1 FY2018 results

MUMBAI: It’s been a hectic first quarter of FY 2018 for homegrown media power house — the Essel Group promoted Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (Zeel). The company has gone ahead for some corporate restructuring and has also declared its Q1FY2018 financials which, if not impressive, at least deserve a pat on the back, at a time when industry is coping with the GST transformation that the government has imposed on the industry.

First, on to the financials. Q1 2018.

On a consolidated basis, Zeel has notched up total revenues of Rs 1540.3 crore (Rs 15.4 billion), an EBITDA of Rs 484.4 crore (31.4 per cent margin) and profit after tax (PAT) of Rs 251.6 crore (16.3 per cent margin).

Advertising revenues for Q1 FY2018 are at Rs 966.5 crore (Rs 9.67 billion), which after adjustment for the acquisition of Reliance Broadcast Network Ltd (RBNL) and the sale of its sports business to Sony Pictures Networks India, was at Rs 868.8 crore.

Its international advertising revenue was at Rs 57.8 crore for the quarter.

Subscription revenues for Q1 2018 were at a healthy Rs 479.1 crore. Domestic revenue from subscription grew a healthy 14.5 per cent to Rs 378.88 crore – showing that the network is starting to bear the fruits of the government-backed Indian television industry’s digitization drive. International subscription revenues were at Rs 100 crore (Rs 1 billion). Overall, its international revenues (excluding sports business) were at Rs 194.7 crore, including other sales and services of Rs 36.9 crore. The adverse impact of currency appreciation and region-specific issues have contributed to the decline in revenues, says a Zeel press release.

Qualifying Zeel’s performance managing director & CEO Punit Goenka said: “It was yet another satisfying quarter with a strong financial and operating performance. During the quarter, we recovered from the impact of demonetization and the growth in the first two months was strong. However, the momentum was disrupted in June in the run-up to GST implementation. The advertisers reduced ad spends on existing brands and launched fewer products as distribution chain was not fully prepared for seamless transition to the new regime. Despite the challenge, our domestic ad revenue grew by 7%. Notwithstanding the short-term impact, we believe that GST will aid the advertising spends in the long-run.”

Zeel completed the acquisition of the remainder 49 per cent equity stake in Indiaweb Portal which runs a clutch of online sites, apart from Fly By Wire International Pvt Ltd post 30 June 2017. Both have become wholly owned subsidiaries.

Goenka says the acquisition of India Webportal “which is the third ranked online content publisher in the country, gives us an opportunity to reach and understand digital consumers through its various offerings. The acquisition is part of our strategy to strengthen the digital presence. It operates a suite of websites focusing on different genres including news, sports and entertainment.”

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July 25, 2017
GST ad deferrals hit Network 18 revenue in Q1-18

BENGALURU: The GST implementation resulted in deferral of advertising spends in late Q1-18 (quarter ended 30 June 2017, current quarter) says Network 18 Limited.: While April-May witnessed robust revenue growth, June was substantially impacted by postponement in advertising spends. Nevertheless, The company believe that this is a transitory impact and GST shall drive the informal economy towards the formal channel in the long-run, which will push up advertising spends.

Overall revenue including proportionate share of JVs’ increased 3 percent year-over-year (y-o-y) in Q1-18 to Rs 8,360 million from Rs 8,140 million in the corresponding year ago quarter Q1-17.Segment operating loss (EBIDTA) declined to Rs 510 millon in Q1-18 as compared to Rs 580 million in Q1-17. Revenue as IND-AS in Q1-18 was lower at Rs 3,210 million as compared to Rs 3,520 million in Q1-17. Operating loss as per IND-AS declined to Rs 460 million as compared to Rs 740 million in Q1-17.

Network18 chairman Adil Zainulbhai said,“The digital space in India is witnessing an insatiable appetite for quality content, and Network18 continues to be at the forefront of providing the same in a frictionless manner across genres. We aim to marry vernacular and digital opportunities in India with our strength in linear media to fulfil the rising demand for content that is both targeted and available on-demand.”

Zainulbhai continued, “The industry is navigating through a period of flux in both the advertising environment and the subscription business model; but underlying growth tailwinds are intact and bode well for committed players. We believe that TV18 is well-positioned to capitalize on its strengths in content curation and creation of scalable platforms for seamless delivery. Our commitment to creating value for all our stakeholders is reflected in our continued investments into incubating segmented offerings, and consistently building on our areas of leadership.”

TV 18, the listed subsidiary of Network 18 reported 1.8 percent y-o-y decline in consolidated revenue in Q1-18 to Rs 2,170 million from Rs 2,210 million. TV18’s. TV18 owns and operates the largest network of channels – 49 in India spanning news and entertainment. It also caters to the Indian diaspora globally through 13 international channels. The company says that revenue growth from business news boosted TV18 standalone operating EBITDA. However, regional news witnessed softness in revenues and low profitability due to gestation losses. Entertainment revenues were aided by strong performance in niche genres and strength of the bouquet, it adds.

TV18 posted consolidated revenues of Rs. 6,280 million (including proportionate share of JVs) in Q1FY18, a 4 percent y-o-y growth. Profitability improved mildly, driven by business news performance and helped by steady ramp-up of the multiple new initiatives undertaken in Q1-17.

Tv18’s Total Expenditure in Q1-18 increased 2.9 percent y-o-y to Rs 2,520 million from Rs 2,450 million.TV 18’sEmployee Benefits Expense in the current quarter increased 23.4 percent y-o-y to Rs 950 million from Rs 770 million. TV 18’2 Finance costs declined 20 percent y-o-y in Q1-18 to Rs 40 million from Rs 50 million.

TV18’s Other expenses in Q1-18 declined 13 percent to Rs 870 million from Rs 1,000 million.TV 18’s Distribution, advertising and business promotion expense reduced 3.8 percent y-o-y in Q1-18 to Rs 510 million from Rs 530 million.

Also Read:

Network18 transfers Burrp in internal restructure

Network18 FY17 consolidated revenue up by 5% from last year

Network 18 board approves amalgamation of subsidiaries; adjusted operating profit down in Q3-17

July 18, 2017
IIS overhaul & DD RNUs to focus on regional infra & local content

NEW DELHI: Information and broadcasting minister M Venkaiah Naidu has urged the regional news framework to focus on local content, development and bottoms-up approach.

He said the emerging information flow should aim at transformative and emerging New India with effective communication outreach. The GST and Swachh Bharat campaign were classic examples of communicating reforms and seamlessly reaching out to the common man about the benefits of such flagship initiatives of the Government.

Inaugurating the Doordarshan Regional News Unit (RNU) workshop here, he said the strategy of Doordarshan should be founded on three pillars of authenticity, objectivity and timely dissemination of information. Objectivity in news and information dissemination was critical for people to understand and pursue issues.

The Regional News Units (RNUs) played a critical role in a linguistic and culturally diverse country like India, catering to local aspirations and addressing communication needs thereby bringing out a synergy in Government communication.

The Minister emphasised that the communication outposts to reform mindsets, enhance administrative performance and transform nation through the broadcast of success stories which had significant impact on the lives of the local people fell on the RNUs.

RNUs telecast a total of about 146 daily news bulletin in 23 languages for a cumulative duration of more than 30 hours daily.

He added that the RNUs need to work in collaboration with the state governments to bring about transformation in the emerging New India and perform proactively the responsibilities of a public broadcaster. He also called upon the participants to focus on innovative thinking, out of box ideas, new methods involving technological tools and a foresight to understand the changing media landscape.

Speaking on the media and entertainment Industry, Naidu said the industry is on the cusp of a strong phase of growth, backed by rising consumer demand and improving advertising revenues.

He also highlighted the Government’s push towards Cable digitisation as well as the role of free to air (FTH) DTH platforms like Doordarshan FreeDish in plugging the gap between premium DTH and low quality Cable market.

Naidu said the Ministry was in the process of bringing out a bringing about a complete overhaul in the Indian Information Service Cadre in line with the changing information and communication paradigm. The focus would be shifting towards strengthening of the regional infrastructure and personnel to fulfill the communication and information needs of each and every section of the society across the country.

Naidu also complimented the officials for their efforts while launching the new website of DD News on the occasion.

A presentation on the functioning of the RNUs was earlier made by DG News Veena Jain highlighting the mandates and achievements of the RNUs. The presentation also provided an insight into the future roadmap for the RNUs.

MoS Rajyavardhan Rathore, Prasar Bharati Chairman A Surya Prakash, Ministry Secretary N K.Sinha, and Prasar Bharati CEO Shashi S Vempatii were also present on the occasion.

Also Read :

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DD committed to truthful information & wholesome entertainment: Naidu

July 7, 2017
One million GST-related Tweets between 30 Jun & 2 Jul as India sought news & updates

MUMBAI: Twitter is the best place to know what’s happening around in India and to talk about it. Over the weekend, Twitter saw over one million GST-related Tweets (between 30 Jun – 2 Jul 2017) as the whole country flocked to the platform for live breaking news and updates on the launch of GST in India. From #GSTIndia to #GSTForCommonMan, conversations on Twitter echoed the nation’s mood and its temperament towards an event of national significance.

As the launch of GST took place at midnight, people took to Twitter to express their opinions and conversations on the platform peaked at 12:30 AM on July 1st with 1.1K Tweets per minute. Top hashtags around the conversation show all sides to the story, including: #GSTCouncil, #GSTIndia, #GST@GoI, #GSTRate, GST, #GST, #GSTsimplified, #IndiaforGST, askGST, #GSTForCommonMan, #HalfCookedGST, #HalfBakedGST.

Mahima Kaul (@misskaul), Head of Public Policy and Government, Twitter India said, “Conversations around the launch of the GST exemplify Twitter as the best place for people to connect with what’s happening in India and around the world and express their opinions. The platform witnessed a myriad of perspectives from Indian audience supporting as well as raising their concerns about the same. With more than a million Tweets on GST, we hope the public feedback will help to facilitate greater citizen engagement on the topic.”

Top Tweets around the conversations for GST include:

July 4, 2017