ITV

Tag: I&B

  • TRAI may invite ideas to boost b’cast & tele-products manufacturing

    MUMBAI: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) will consider studying the issue of testing and quality of mobile phones and set-top boxes as part of a wider consultation to boost manufacturing of telecom and broadcasting products. The issue is important because telecom operators had flayed mobile handset quality for call drops and approached the Government saying the role of devices in issue of service quality had not been adequately considered.

    TRAI’s discussion paper pertaining to incentivising manufacturers of broadcasting and telecom equipment is in the works, sources told PTI. It may be released in the next month. Amongst other aspects, the paper may explore possible sops for operators who use indigenous products in their networks.

    Meanwhile, on the occasion of World Telecommunication and Information Society Day, COAI conducted a high-level roundtable to highlight and discuss the role of technology in the advancement of 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The event focused on the success story of the Indian telecom revolution.

    Experts called for a closer collaboration between five ministries and Government departments of DoT, MeitY, MoC, MHRD, I&B and Skill Development. COAI emphasised the need for digital literacy and capacity building and creation of local language content for actualising the real potential of Digital India.

    Over Rs 9.2 lakh crore has been invested by Telecom Service Providers in building world class telecom Infrastructure. About 3.51 lakh BTSs were added, and subscribers have crossed the mark of one billion. Total internet subscribers in India are 261.31 million as per TRAI data.

    ACT Fibernet, a leading non-ISP broadband operator in India, issued a statement: ACT Fibernet actively employs analytics across its operations to build a better understanding of customer and business processes..

  • Sunil Arora to step in Sircar’s place as Prasar Bharati CEO?

    Sunil Arora to step in Sircar’s place as Prasar Bharati CEO?

    MUMBAI: With the resignation of Prasar Bharati CEO Jawhar Sircar, the punters are betting on who is going to come in as his replacement. Among the names being talked about is the former I&B secretary Sunil Arora. He currently serves as an advisor to Prasar Bharati, a post he was given in August after retiring from the MIB.

    Arora is a 1980-batch IAS officer of the Rajasthan cadre. Sources indicate that Arora’s candidature as Prasar Bharati CEO has been recommended by the former information and broadcasting minister Arun Jaitely.

    However, observers don’t expect Arora’s candidature to be a shoo-in. Reason: it is not clear who the current I&B minister Venkaiah Naidu will back. “For all you know, he might want somebody from his state of Andhra Pradesh,” says a Prasar Bharati source. “Finally, the PM will decide.”

    Sircar submitted his resignation on 4 October, and has sought to be relieved by 4 November 2016 after which he will return to Kolkata.

  • Sunil Arora to step in Sircar’s place as Prasar Bharati CEO?

    Sunil Arora to step in Sircar’s place as Prasar Bharati CEO?

    MUMBAI: With the resignation of Prasar Bharati CEO Jawhar Sircar, the punters are betting on who is going to come in as his replacement. Among the names being talked about is the former I&B secretary Sunil Arora. He currently serves as an advisor to Prasar Bharati, a post he was given in August after retiring from the MIB.

    Arora is a 1980-batch IAS officer of the Rajasthan cadre. Sources indicate that Arora’s candidature as Prasar Bharati CEO has been recommended by the former information and broadcasting minister Arun Jaitely.

    However, observers don’t expect Arora’s candidature to be a shoo-in. Reason: it is not clear who the current I&B minister Venkaiah Naidu will back. “For all you know, he might want somebody from his state of Andhra Pradesh,” says a Prasar Bharati source. “Finally, the PM will decide.”

    Sircar submitted his resignation on 4 October, and has sought to be relieved by 4 November 2016 after which he will return to Kolkata.

  • Parliamentary Committee: I&B allocations and Plan Execution Strategy

    Parliamentary Committee: I&B allocations and Plan Execution Strategy

    NEW DELHI: A Parliamentary Committee has said it is ‘constrained’ that the quantum allocation for the Information and Broadcasting ministry under the Plan segment so far in the 12th Plan period is insufficient to fulfil the envisaged objectives and has recommended a high level review for requisite enhancement of Plan fund allocation in the ensuing Plan period.

    This was particularly so considering the wide mandate of this ministry to reach out to the billion plus population of the country, the Standing Committee for Information Technology which examines issues relating to I&B said.

    A scrutiny of trend of utilization of Plan funds during the four years of the 12th Plan Period (2012-13 to 2015-16) indicates that a sum of Rs 2,802.72 crore was spent against the Budget Estimate (BE) allocation of Rs 3,729.53 crore in the corresponding period.

    When compared to the Revised Estimate (RE) allocation which was of the order of Rs 2,918 crore for these years, it depicts 96 percent utilization.

    The Gross Budgetary Support (GBS) approved for the ministry in the 12th Five Year Plan was Rs 7,583 crore, accounting for 39 percent increase over the 11th Plan allocation.

    For the year 2016-17, the Committee said the ministry should take up the matter with the Finance ministry for enhancement of Plan funding at the RE stage. Most importantly, the ministry should also take steps to strengthen its Plan execution strategy so that the fund allocated at the BE stage in the current fiscal is optimally utilized.

    The Committee which comprises members of both Houses of Parliament wanted to be apprised of the steps taken by the ministry for overall increase in the allocation of funds and measures taken to scale up financial performance in the year 2016-17.

    A close look at the financial performance of the ministry for the year 2015-16 indicated that they were able to spend Rs 734.39 crore on Plan schemes against an outlay of Rs 914.53 crore at the BE Stage.

    The reasons for shortfall in utilization of funds during 2015-16 had been broadly attributed to reduction of outlay at the RE stage by the Finance ministry, long processes for procurement of goods and services for Prasar Bharati, and delay in approval of the new schemes for the 12th Five Year Plan period under the sectors particularly in Film and Broadcasting.

    The Committee noted that the ministry stated that the low expenditure of Prasar Bharati had poorly reflected on the ministry’s overall expenditure for the year 2015-16. An outlay of Rs 800 crore has been made for financing the Plan schemes of the ministry for the year 2016-17, which is Rs 114.53 crore lesser than the BE allocation made in the year 2015-16. According to the ministry, the overall reduction in allocation of funds would impact financing of the planned schemes.

    The Committee which comprises members of both houses of parliament observed that the annual Plan expenditure of the ministry so far during the 12th Plan period, on an average, has been a little over Rs 700 crore.

    In its statement, the ministry told the Committee that the GRB for the 11th Plan stood at Rs 5,439 crore for financing the Plan schemes of the ministry. The GBS for the 12th Five Year Plan period was increased by over 39 percent amounting to Rs 7,583 crore during the 12th Plan period. Besides, a provision of Rs 1,000 crore had been kept for Internal and Extra Budgetary Resources (IEBR) by Prasar Bharati for financing the new content development schemes of Prasar Bharati during the 12th Five Year Plan.

    The ministry said the increased GBS helped it in achieving various goals and objectives including completion of the New Media Centre and Soochna Bhavan, successfully commemorating 100 years of Indian cinema, launching of Social Media Platform to enable government’s presence and to have direct interface with target audience, increased monitoring capacity of TV channels by the Electronic Media Monitoring Centre, visible increase in community Radio stations, successful completion of Phases I, II, III (substantially) of Cable TV Digitization and launching and operationalization of the Kisan Channel.

    The utilization trend of funds during the four years of the 12th Plan (Rs in crores) is:

    YEAR

    2012-13

    2013-14

    2014-15

    2015-16

    Total

    BE

    905.00

    905.00

    1005.00

    914.53

    3729.53

    RE

    676.00

    740.00

    752.00

    750.00

    2918

    Expenditure

    612.10

    715.22

    740.78

    734.39

    2802.74

    percent Exp w.r.t RE

    91

    97

    99

    98

    96 (2012-13 to 2015-16)
  • Parliamentary Committee: I&B allocations and Plan Execution Strategy

    Parliamentary Committee: I&B allocations and Plan Execution Strategy

    NEW DELHI: A Parliamentary Committee has said it is ‘constrained’ that the quantum allocation for the Information and Broadcasting ministry under the Plan segment so far in the 12th Plan period is insufficient to fulfil the envisaged objectives and has recommended a high level review for requisite enhancement of Plan fund allocation in the ensuing Plan period.

    This was particularly so considering the wide mandate of this ministry to reach out to the billion plus population of the country, the Standing Committee for Information Technology which examines issues relating to I&B said.

    A scrutiny of trend of utilization of Plan funds during the four years of the 12th Plan Period (2012-13 to 2015-16) indicates that a sum of Rs 2,802.72 crore was spent against the Budget Estimate (BE) allocation of Rs 3,729.53 crore in the corresponding period.

    When compared to the Revised Estimate (RE) allocation which was of the order of Rs 2,918 crore for these years, it depicts 96 percent utilization.

    The Gross Budgetary Support (GBS) approved for the ministry in the 12th Five Year Plan was Rs 7,583 crore, accounting for 39 percent increase over the 11th Plan allocation.

    For the year 2016-17, the Committee said the ministry should take up the matter with the Finance ministry for enhancement of Plan funding at the RE stage. Most importantly, the ministry should also take steps to strengthen its Plan execution strategy so that the fund allocated at the BE stage in the current fiscal is optimally utilized.

    The Committee which comprises members of both Houses of Parliament wanted to be apprised of the steps taken by the ministry for overall increase in the allocation of funds and measures taken to scale up financial performance in the year 2016-17.

    A close look at the financial performance of the ministry for the year 2015-16 indicated that they were able to spend Rs 734.39 crore on Plan schemes against an outlay of Rs 914.53 crore at the BE Stage.

    The reasons for shortfall in utilization of funds during 2015-16 had been broadly attributed to reduction of outlay at the RE stage by the Finance ministry, long processes for procurement of goods and services for Prasar Bharati, and delay in approval of the new schemes for the 12th Five Year Plan period under the sectors particularly in Film and Broadcasting.

    The Committee noted that the ministry stated that the low expenditure of Prasar Bharati had poorly reflected on the ministry’s overall expenditure for the year 2015-16. An outlay of Rs 800 crore has been made for financing the Plan schemes of the ministry for the year 2016-17, which is Rs 114.53 crore lesser than the BE allocation made in the year 2015-16. According to the ministry, the overall reduction in allocation of funds would impact financing of the planned schemes.

    The Committee which comprises members of both houses of parliament observed that the annual Plan expenditure of the ministry so far during the 12th Plan period, on an average, has been a little over Rs 700 crore.

    In its statement, the ministry told the Committee that the GRB for the 11th Plan stood at Rs 5,439 crore for financing the Plan schemes of the ministry. The GBS for the 12th Five Year Plan period was increased by over 39 percent amounting to Rs 7,583 crore during the 12th Plan period. Besides, a provision of Rs 1,000 crore had been kept for Internal and Extra Budgetary Resources (IEBR) by Prasar Bharati for financing the new content development schemes of Prasar Bharati during the 12th Five Year Plan.

    The ministry said the increased GBS helped it in achieving various goals and objectives including completion of the New Media Centre and Soochna Bhavan, successfully commemorating 100 years of Indian cinema, launching of Social Media Platform to enable government’s presence and to have direct interface with target audience, increased monitoring capacity of TV channels by the Electronic Media Monitoring Centre, visible increase in community Radio stations, successful completion of Phases I, II, III (substantially) of Cable TV Digitization and launching and operationalization of the Kisan Channel.

    The utilization trend of funds during the four years of the 12th Plan (Rs in crores) is:

    YEAR

    2012-13

    2013-14

    2014-15

    2015-16

    Total

    BE

    905.00

    905.00

    1005.00

    914.53

    3729.53

    RE

    676.00

    740.00

    752.00

    750.00

    2918

    Expenditure

    612.10

    715.22

    740.78

    734.39

    2802.74

    percent Exp w.r.t RE

    91

    97

    99

    98

    96 (2012-13 to 2015-16)
  • Public interface and exhibition wings of MIB integrated for greater synergy

    Public interface and exhibition wings of MIB integrated for greater synergy

    NEW DELHI: The activities of the Song and Drama Division, the Exhibition Wing of the Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity, and the Public Interface Campaign (PIC) work of the Press Information Bureau are to be integrated with the Directorate of Field Publicity.
     
    The move is aimed at bringing in greater functional integration and better outreach in the activities of the various field media units of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry.
     
    Under the new directive that takes effect immediately, the director of the Song and Drama Division and the additional director general of the exhibition wing of DAVP will directly report to the principal director general of the DFP at the headquarters.
     
    As the budget of all the concerned media units – DFP, S&DD and DAVP – has already been allocated under the ministry budget, the directive issued today said this will be united for the activities to be undertaken by the respective organisations within their budget lines. Thus each unit will only utilize the budget allocated to it for the purpose of public awareness and exhibitions.
     
    The PIB does not have any staff for public awareness campaigns and the concerned information officers are asked to pitch in whenever needed, the order says these activities will be performed by the DFP and the funds earmarked for the DCID Scheme for PIC activities shall be utilizd by DFP.
     
    Interestingly, various committees had  recommended similar integration of activities of different media units of I and B doing similar work in the 1980s. Those committees had said the exhibition wings to be under one head, the film wings to be under one head, and the public information wings to be under a third head.  
     

  • Public interface and exhibition wings of MIB integrated for greater synergy

    Public interface and exhibition wings of MIB integrated for greater synergy

    NEW DELHI: The activities of the Song and Drama Division, the Exhibition Wing of the Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity, and the Public Interface Campaign (PIC) work of the Press Information Bureau are to be integrated with the Directorate of Field Publicity.
     
    The move is aimed at bringing in greater functional integration and better outreach in the activities of the various field media units of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry.
     
    Under the new directive that takes effect immediately, the director of the Song and Drama Division and the additional director general of the exhibition wing of DAVP will directly report to the principal director general of the DFP at the headquarters.
     
    As the budget of all the concerned media units – DFP, S&DD and DAVP – has already been allocated under the ministry budget, the directive issued today said this will be united for the activities to be undertaken by the respective organisations within their budget lines. Thus each unit will only utilize the budget allocated to it for the purpose of public awareness and exhibitions.
     
    The PIB does not have any staff for public awareness campaigns and the concerned information officers are asked to pitch in whenever needed, the order says these activities will be performed by the DFP and the funds earmarked for the DCID Scheme for PIC activities shall be utilizd by DFP.
     
    Interestingly, various committees had  recommended similar integration of activities of different media units of I and B doing similar work in the 1980s. Those committees had said the exhibition wings to be under one head, the film wings to be under one head, and the public information wings to be under a third head.  
     

  • DD’s five primary channels consistently spend less than allocations

    DD’s five primary channels consistently spend less than allocations

    New Delhi: Doordarshan National spent Rs 132.77 crore out of the budget of Rs 140.38 crore allocated for 2014-15. (Note : 100,00,000 = 10 million = 1 crore. All numbers in this report have been rounded off to the nearest second decimal place). According to Information and Broadcasting Ministry sources, DD National has ben spending less than the allocated amounts since 2012-13 when it was allocated Rs  149.11 crore and spent Rs 142.99 crore; while in 2013-14 when it was allocated Rs 159.75 crore out of which it spent Rs 136.07 crore.

    Of the Rs 12.38 crore allocated to DD Sports in 2012-13, it spent 12.15 crore. In 2013-14, it spent just Rs 9.92 crore of the Rs 13.83 crore allocated, and in 2014-15 DD Sports spent Rs 36.53 crore of the Rs 38.31 crore allocated.

    DD Urdu was allocated Rs 25.02 crore and spent Rs 23.87 crore in 2012-13. It was allocated Rs 29.38 crore and spent Rs 26.02 crore in 2013-14, and was allocated Rs 17.11 crore in 2014-15 of which DD Urdu spent Rs 11.23 crore.

    DD Bharati spent Rs 0.90 crore of the Rs 1.29 crore allocated in 2012-13. It spent Rs 1.22 crore of the Rs 1.45 crore allocated in 2013-14, and spent Rs 0.75 crore out of the allocation of Rs 0.83 crore in 2014-15.

    Of the allocation of Rs 0.93 crore to DD India in 2014-15, it spent Rs 0.46 lakh. In 2013-14, it was allocated Rs 1.53 crore and spent Rs 1.01 crore, while in 2012-13 DD India was allocated Rs 4.35 crore and spent Rs 2.21 crore. 

    Under the head of ‘Payment to Professionals and Special Services’ (PSS), Doordarshan in 2012-13 sanctioned Rs 1.5 crore of which Rs 1.35 crore was spent, the amount sanctioned was Rs. 2 crore in 2013-14 of which Rs 1.84 was spent . The amount sanctioned for PSS was Rs. 2.5 crore in 2014-15 of which Rs 2.46 was spent by Doordarshan. 

  • DD’s five primary channels consistently spend less than allocations

    DD’s five primary channels consistently spend less than allocations

    New Delhi: Doordarshan National spent Rs 132.77 crore out of the budget of Rs 140.38 crore allocated for 2014-15. (Note : 100,00,000 = 10 million = 1 crore. All numbers in this report have been rounded off to the nearest second decimal place). According to Information and Broadcasting Ministry sources, DD National has ben spending less than the allocated amounts since 2012-13 when it was allocated Rs  149.11 crore and spent Rs 142.99 crore; while in 2013-14 when it was allocated Rs 159.75 crore out of which it spent Rs 136.07 crore.

    Of the Rs 12.38 crore allocated to DD Sports in 2012-13, it spent 12.15 crore. In 2013-14, it spent just Rs 9.92 crore of the Rs 13.83 crore allocated, and in 2014-15 DD Sports spent Rs 36.53 crore of the Rs 38.31 crore allocated.

    DD Urdu was allocated Rs 25.02 crore and spent Rs 23.87 crore in 2012-13. It was allocated Rs 29.38 crore and spent Rs 26.02 crore in 2013-14, and was allocated Rs 17.11 crore in 2014-15 of which DD Urdu spent Rs 11.23 crore.

    DD Bharati spent Rs 0.90 crore of the Rs 1.29 crore allocated in 2012-13. It spent Rs 1.22 crore of the Rs 1.45 crore allocated in 2013-14, and spent Rs 0.75 crore out of the allocation of Rs 0.83 crore in 2014-15.

    Of the allocation of Rs 0.93 crore to DD India in 2014-15, it spent Rs 0.46 lakh. In 2013-14, it was allocated Rs 1.53 crore and spent Rs 1.01 crore, while in 2012-13 DD India was allocated Rs 4.35 crore and spent Rs 2.21 crore. 

    Under the head of ‘Payment to Professionals and Special Services’ (PSS), Doordarshan in 2012-13 sanctioned Rs 1.5 crore of which Rs 1.35 crore was spent, the amount sanctioned was Rs. 2 crore in 2013-14 of which Rs 1.84 was spent . The amount sanctioned for PSS was Rs. 2.5 crore in 2014-15 of which Rs 2.46 was spent by Doordarshan. 

  • Services sector in I&B shows significant growth in FDI inflows: Economic Survey

    Services sector in I&B shows significant growth in FDI inflows: Economic Survey

    NEW DELHI: The services sector in the field of Information and Broadcasting earned $515.1 million as inflow of foreign direct investment between April and October of 2015-16.
     
    According to the Economic Survey for 2015-16 presented to Parliament, this was in comparison to $255 million in 2014-15.
     
    The figures also showed that the total FDI inflow between April 2000 and October 2015 was $4484.5 million in this sector. 
     
    The largest growth was in computer software and hardware, going up from $2296 million in 2014-15 to $4122.5 in 2015-16 up to October 2015. Thus the total growth from April 2000 to October 2015 was $19139.8 million. 
     
    The Survey said the government had made significant changes in the FDI policy regime in recent times to ensure that India remains an increasingly attractive investment destination.
     
    In order to provide simplicity to the FDI policy and bring clarity on application of conditionalities and approval requirements across various sectors, different kinds of foreign investments have been made fungible under one composite cap. 
     
    Significant FDI-related liberalisation has taken place in a number of sectors/areas of the economy including some services and service-related sectors like construction development, broadcasting, civil aviation, cash and carry wholesale trading, wholesale trading (including sourcing from micro and small enterprises [MSE]), single brand retail trading and duty free shops, private sector banking, and credit information companies.