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Tag: MIB

  • Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav: Anurag Thakur to kick-off ‘Iconic Week’ celebrations

    Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav: Anurag Thakur to kick-off ‘Iconic Week’ celebrations

    Mumbai: Union minister for information and broadcasting Anurag Thakur will kick off a gamut of activities to celebrate the ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’ from 23-29 August. Thakur will kick off the ‘Iconic Week’ which will attract participation from across the country under the overall spirit of ‘Jan Bhagidari and Jan Andolan’, the I&B ministry said.

    According to the press statement released by the ministry, the objective is to showcase the journey of New India and celebrate the contribution of freedom fighters including the ‘unsung heroes’ of the freedom struggle through massive outreach activities. “The celebrations will be a 360-degree outreach via traditional means such as cultural programmes, nukkad natak and TV programmes along with innovative means of digital and social media,” it added.

    The AIR will launch a series of special programmes called ‘Dharohar’ which are speeches of freedom fighters; ‘Nishaan’ which will showcase 75 landmark sites and ‘Aparajita’, a show on women leaders. 

    The Doordarshan network will telecast programmes covering themes such as diplomacy, Digital India and legislative reforms through sectoral programmes like ‘Naye Bharat Ka Naya Safar’ and ‘Journey of New India’. Daily news capsules on ‘Unsung heroes and Freedom Struggle’ will also be shown, the ministry said.

    The National Film Development Corporation of India (NFDC) is also organising a film festival on its OTT platform www.cinemasofindia.com screening a specially curated bouquet of films such as “Island City”, “Crossing Bridges” and many others, it added.

    DD Network will showcase a series of documentaries such as “Netaji”, “Merger of Princely States”, etc. Popular films like “Raazi” will also be broadcasted. 

    The Bureau of Outreach and Communication (BOC) will also reach out to the people through nukkad nataks, skits, magic shows, puppetry, folk recitals through more than 50 integrated communication and outreach programmes by ROBs and over 1,000 PRTs by Song and Drama Division across the country. BOC will also launch an eBook on ‘Making of the Constitution’ on its website.

  • MIB officially recognises self-regulatory body under NBF

    MIB officially recognises self-regulatory body under NBF

    Mumbai: The ministry of information and broadcasting (MIB) has officially recognised the News Broadcasters Federation’s (NBF) self-regulatory body Professional News Broadcasters Standards Authority (PNBSA). NBF claims it is the first and only news broadcasters’ self-regulatory body to get the status.

    The PNBSA has been formally registered as a self-regulatory body under the new amendments in the Cable Television Network Act.

    “The NBF’s self-regulatory body’s emergence as the sole body to meet all criteria to be granted validation by the Union of India and be the only recognised body regulating the news media sector as on-date once again reiterates the commitment of the largest news broadcasters’ body to the fundamentals of transparency, accountability and strong self-regulation,” said a press statement.

    “The PNBSA is set to build a robust system with the highest standards of transparency and accountability,” it added.

    “I want to thank all the members of the governing body of the NBF who have worked with me towards making this happen,” said NBF, president, Arnab Goswami. “The media has a pivotal role in strengthening our democracy and taking it to even greater heights. Strengthening the framework of the self-regulation of the media is a big step in that direction. And that’s exactly what the NBF has been working round the clock towards.”

    “The NBF prides itself on its democratic structure and roots across the country. Different languages, dynamic formats and varied audiences, but what binds the NBF is our commitment in coming together to strengthen the media pillar of Indian democracy. We look forward to working with the ministry of information and broadcasting to further strengthen self-regulation in our media,” Goswami added.

    “We are privileged to be the first officially recognised self-regulatory body to be registered for TV news broadcasters,” said NBF, secretary-general, R. Jai Krishna. “We are grateful to the ministry of information and broadcasting and our members for reposing trust and faith. We ensure that we will take the news broadcasting of the country to great milestones with our democratic structure, excellence in self-regulation, and bringing the truth and reflections to the doorsteps across the country in maximum languages.”

    The NBF channels presently include 24News, Alamai Sahara, CVR English, CVR Health, CVR NEWS, DA News Plus, DY365, Gulistan News, IBC24, IND 24, India News Gujarat, India News Haryana, India News Hindi, India News MPCG, India News Punjabi, India News Rajasthan, India News UP, Khabar Fast, MHOne, NEWS9, News First Kannada, News Live, News Nation, NewsX, North East Live, North East News, OTV, Prag News, Puthiyathalaimurai, Republic Bangla, Republic Bharat, Republic TV, Sahara Samay, Samay Bihar, Samay Maharashtra, Samay MPCG, Samay Rajasthan, Samay UP, TV5 Kannada, TV5 Telugu, TV9 Bharatvarsh, TV9 Gujarati, TV9 Kannada, TV9 Marathi, TV9 Telugu, and V6.

  • Apurva Chandra appointed as Secretary, I&B ministry

    Apurva Chandra appointed as Secretary, I&B ministry

    New Delhi : The Union Cabinet on Thursday appointed Apurva Chandra as secretary, ministry of information and broadcasting (I&B).

    Chandra was previously holding the charge of secretary, ministry of labour & employment. The appointment was cleared by the appointment committee of the Cabinet.

    Chandra belongs to the 1988 batch of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) of the Maharashtra cadre. He has spent more than seven years in the ministry of petroleum and natural gas and four years as principal secretary ( industries) in the Maharashtra government. In 2017, he joined as the special director general (acquisition) in the ministry of defence with the mandate of strengthening the Indian Armed Forces by expediting the acquisition process.

    Last year in October, he took over the charge of secretary, ministry of labour and employment. He was also elected as the chairperson of the Governing Body of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) for the period October 2020- June 2021, a position of international repute.

  • Parliament’s Monsoon Session to begin from today

    Parliament’s Monsoon Session to begin from today

    New Delhi: The monsoon session of the Parliament is all set to begin on Monday. The session will conclude on August 13. It will also be the first session for some of the newly inducted Cabinet ministers, including Anurag Thakur who was recently sworn in as the information and broadcasting minister.

    This will also be the first session of parliament since the results of assembly polls in Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Puducherry. Last year, the monsoon session began in September and the winter session was not held due to the Covid-19 situation. According to the ministry of parliamentary affairs, during the 19 sittings of the session, 31 Government business items including 29 Bills and 2 financial items will be taken up. Six bills will be brought to replace the ordinances.

    Lok Sabha will meet from 11 am to 1 pm and from 2 pm to 6 pm unless directed otherwise by Speaker Om Birla. Four days have been allotted for the transaction of private members’ business, which is taken up in the post-lunch session.

    Parliamentary Affairs minister Shri Pralhad Joshi said that the Government is ready for discussion on any topic under the rules. Seeking full cooperation of all the parties in the smooth running of the houses, he said that there should be structured debate on the issues. An all-party meeting was held on Sunday to discuss the same.

  • Cabinet Reshuffle: Javadekar resigns, Anurag Thakur takes charges as I&B minister

    Cabinet Reshuffle: Javadekar resigns, Anurag Thakur takes charges as I&B minister

    New Delhi: Lok Sabha MP from Himachal Pradesh was appointed as the new minister of information and broadcasting (I&B), in one of the biggest cabinet reshuffles during the second term of the Modi government.

    Thakur, who took oath of office and secrecy as one of the new Cabinet ministers on Wednesday evening, along with 15 new cabinet ministers, succeeds Prakash Javadekar who stepped down ahead of the reshuffle. Javadekar is among the 12 senior ministers, who submitted their resignations. The list of outgoing ministers also includes minister of electronics and Information Technology (Meity), Ravi Shankar Prasad.

    The Hamirpur MP has also been given charge of the sports and youth affairs ministry, which was earlier under Kiren Rijiju. “I am thankful to prime minister Narendra Modi, home minister Amit Shah for giving me this chance. All possible efforts will be made to fulfil the duties,” he said.

    Thakur has been minister of state for finance and corporate affairs under finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman since 2019, when prime minister Narendra Modi-led NDA government began its second term. Since then, he has been a close aide of the finance minister and has witnessed the economic turmoil caused by the pandemic. The 46 years old MP has also been the president of the Board of Cricket Control in India (BCCI), and held the post from 2016 to 2017.

    As I&B Minister, he will have to steer the proposed Cinematograph (Amendment) Bill, 2021 which is currently in the stage of public consultation. Centre had sought public comments on the draft bill starting 18 June. However, the draft bill has invited criticism from the film fraternity, which has expressed concerns over its execution.

    Thakur’s appointment as the sports and youth affairs Minister comes close on the heels of Tokyo Olympics 2020, which begins on 23 July. Apart from taking care of athletes’ preparation on a ministerial level, he will also have to ensure that they conform to the strict stipulations regarding vaccination and other arrangements.

  • Centre moves SC seeking transfer of pleas challenging IT rules

    Centre moves SC seeking transfer of pleas challenging IT rules

    New Delhi: The Centre on Tuesday approached Supreme Court seeking transfer of all pending pleas challenging its new IT rules to the apex court.

    Numerous petitions challenging the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, are currently pending in various high courts across the country. The new rules notified on 25 February, came into effect on 26 May recommend a three-tier mechanism for the regulation of all online media.

    While the government has maintained that the new rules were introduced to make social media platforms like Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter and Instagram more accountable and responsible for the content hosted on their platform, many have challenged the new rules over issues of privacy. Several petitions are pending in several courts, including the Delhi high court.

    In June, Digital News Publishers Association (DNPA) , composed of digital arms of 13 leading media companies of the country had moved high court against the rules, which it said ” violate the fundamental right of equality (Article 14) and freedom of speech and expression (Article 19(1)(a)”.

    The Foundation of Independent Journalism (the non-profit company that publishes The Wire) and legal website, LiveLaw has also filed petitions against the new rules

    Meanwhile, Delhi high court has directed Twitter to inform it by 8 July as to when it will appoint a resident grievance officer in compliance with the new IT Rules after the microblogging platform informed court that it was in the process of doing so.

    The government had earlier announced that if significant social media intermediaries, those with more than 50 lakh registered users failed to comply with the new requirements by 25 May, they will lose their intermediary status. On Monday, the Centre, had filed an affidavit in the high court, stating that any non-compliance amounts to breach of provisions of IT Rules, leading to Twitter losing its immunity conferred under the IT Act.

    Under the new rules, the digital publishers are required to take urgent steps for appointing a grievance officer, if not done, and place all relevant details in the public domain. “They also need to constitute self-regulatory bodies through mutual consultation so that the grievances are addressed at the level of publishers or the self-regulating bodies themselves,” according to the ministry.

  • Parliamentary panel asks Google, Facebook to comply with new IT rules

    New Delhi: The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology (IT) has directed US tech giants Facebook and Google to comply with the new IT rules, which came into effect on 26 May.

    Both Facebook and Google officials had appeared before the Parliamentary panel on Tuesday regarding the issue of safeguarding citizens’ rights and preventing the misuse of social/online news media platforms. The panel chaired by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor had asked the officials of the social media sites to appear in person on the issue.

    According to media reports, the representatives were made aware of certain loopholes in their existing data protection and privacy policy mechanism and were asked to have stringent safeguards in place to protect the data privacy and data security of their users. The meeting was attended by Facebook India associate general counsel Namrata Singh and the company’s director of public policy Shivnath Thukral.

    Google officials also informed the committee that between January and March 2021, YouTube removed over 9.5 million videos for violating its community guidelines. “95 percent of these videos were first flagged by machines rather than humans. Of those detected by machines, 27.8 percent never received a single view & 39 percent received one and ten views,” officials told the committee, “During this same quarter, YouTube terminated over 2.2 million channels for violating its Community Guidelines. In this same period. YouTube removed more than one billion comments, the majority of which were spam and were detected automatically.”

    While officials from Facebook, Google, and Twitter have also appeared before the panel, representatives of YouTube and other Social Media Intermediaries will also be summoned in the coming weeks over the issue.

    The new IT (Guidelines for Intermediaries and Digital Media Ethics Code) rules, 2021 were notified on 25 February and came into effect on 26 May. The rules recommend a three-tier mechanism for the regulation of all online media. As per the rules, each significant social media intermediary is required to appoint a chief compliance officer, a nodal contact person for 24×7 coordination with law enforcement agencies, and a resident grievance officer. All three should be resident Indians.

  • MIB seeks public comments on the draft Cinematograph (Amendment) Bill 2021

    New Delhi: The government has sought public comments on the draft Cinematograph (Amendment) Bill 2021 which proposes to penalise film piracy with a jail term and empower the Centre to order re-certification of an already certified film in case of complaints.

    The general public can send their comments on the draft bill by 2 July.

    “The ministry of information and broadcasting proposes to introduce the Cinematograph (Amendment) Bill, 2021 which will make the process of sanctioning of films for exhibition more effective, in tune with the changed times and curb the menace of piracy,” it said in a statement.

    Age-based film certification

    Among the proposed changes, there are provisions relating to certification of films under ‘unrestricted public exhibition’ category which are proposed to be amended so as to further sub-divide the existing UA category into age-based categories – U/A 7+, U/A 13+ and U/A 16+.

    The draft also adds a provision to grant revisionary powers to the government on account of violation of Section 5B (1) (principles for guidance in certifying films) of the Act. “Since the provisions of Section 5B(1) are derived from Article 19(2) of the Constitution and are non-negotiable, it is also proposed in the Draft Bill to add a proviso to sub-section (1) of section 6 to the effect that on receipt of any references by the Central Government in respect of a film certified for public exhibition, on account of violation of Section 5B(1) of the Act, the Central Government may, if it considers it necessary so to do, direct the chairman of the Board to re-examine the film,” said the ministry.

    Prohibition of unauthorized recording

    The release of pirated versions of films on the internet, causes huge losses to the film industry and government exchequer. “In most cases, illegal duplication in cinema halls is the originating point of piracy. At present, there are no enabling provisions to check film piracy in the Cinematograph Act, 1952 making it necessary to have a provision in the Act to check film piracy,” said the ministry in a press statement.

    The draft bill proposes to insert section 6AA which prohibits unauthorised recording, according to which, no person shall, without the written authorization of the author, be permitted to use any audio-visual recording device in a place to knowingly make or transmit or attempt to make or transmit or abet the making or transmission of a copy of a film or a part thereof.

    “If any person contravenes the provisions of section 6AA, he shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than three months but which may extend to three years and with a fine which shall not be less than Rs three lakh but which may extend to five percent of the audited gross production cost or with both,” it added.

    The Cinematograph (Amendment) Bill, 2019

    The government had introduced the Cinematograph (Amendment) Bill, 2019 in the Rajya Sabha in February, 2019 to impose strict penalties against unauthorised duplication of films in cinema halls. The draft Bill prohibited a person from using a recording device to make a copy of a film, without authorisation and made it a punishable crime with an imprisonment of up to three years and a fine of up to Rs 10 lakh, or both.

    Later, the standing committee on information technology (2019-20) presented its report on the Cinematograph (Amendment) Bill, 2019 in the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha on 16 March 2020.

    “The observations and recommendations made by the committee in the report have been examined and it is proposed to suitably revise the clauses in the Cinematograph (Amendment) Bill, 2019 based on the recommendations,” said the ministry.

    The comments may be submitted at the following email address: dhanpreet.kaur@ips.gov.in

  • MIB amends Cable TV Rules for redressal of broadcast-related complaints

    New Delhi: The Centre has amended the Cable Television Network Rules to provide for a three-layer statutory mechanism for the redressal of consumer’s complaints relating to the content broadcast by TV channels.

    The Cable TV Networks (Amendment) Rules, 2021 was notified in an official gazette on Thursday.

    “The @MIB_India has by amending the Cable Television Network Rules, 1994, developed a statutory mechanism to redress citizens’ grievances & complaints against programmes of TV channels. The @MIB_India has also decided to recognize Statutory Bodies of TV channels under CTN Rules,” tweeted information and broadcasting minister Prakash Javadekar. 

     

     

    At present, there is an institutional mechanism by way of an inter-ministerial committee to address grievances of citizens relating to violation of the Programme/Advertising Codes under the Rules. Similarly, various broadcasters have also developed their internal self-regulatory mechanism for addressing grievances. “However, a need was felt to lay down a statutory mechanism for strengthening the grievance redressal structure. Some broadcasters had also requested for giving legal recognition to their associations/bodies,” said the ministry of information and broadcasting (I&B) on Thursday.

    The amended rules stipulate a three-layer grievance redressal mechanism — self-regulation by broadcasters, self-regulation by the self-regulating bodies of broadcasters and an oversight mechanism by the central government. The rules require each broadcaster to establish a grievance or complaint redressal mechanism, appoint an officer to deal with the complaints, display the contact details of their grievance officer on their website or interface and be a member of a self-regulating body.

    As per the rules, any person aggrieved by the content of a programme of a channel may file his/her complaint in writing to the broadcaster first. “The broadcaster shall, within 24 hours of a complaint being filed, generate and issue an acknowledgement to the complainant for his information and record. The broadcaster shall dispose of the complaint and inform the complainant of its decision within 15 days of receipt of such complaint,” the rules state.

    The complainants can file an appeal with the self-regulatory body of broadcasters if they are not satisfied with the decision of the broadcaster’s grievance redressal officer or the decision of the broadcaster is not communicated to them within 15 days. The complainant may prefer an appeal to the self-regulating body, of which the broadcaster is a member, within 15 days therefrom.

    The self-regulating body will be required to dispose of the appeal within 60 days of the receipt of the appeal, convey its decision in the form of guidance or advisory to the broadcaster, and inform the complainant of such a decision within 15 days. “Where the complainant is not satisfied with the decision of the self-regulating body, he may, within 15 days of such decision, prefer an appeal to the central government for its consideration under the oversight mechanism,” said the rules.

    The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) will hear complaints regarding the violation of the advertising code, take a decision within 60 days of the receipt of a complaint and communicate the same to the broadcaster and the complainant.

    According to the amended rules, there may be one or more self-regulatory body of broadcasters, provided that every such body shall be constituted by a minimum of 40 broadcasters. The self-regulating body shall, after its constitution, register itself with the central government “within a period of 30 days from the date of publication of these rules, or within 30 days from the date of its constitution, whichever is earlier,” the rules stipulate.

    The government will set up an Inter-Departmental Committee (IDC) to take up the hearing of matters “arising out of the appeals against the decisions taken at Level I or Level II of the grievance redressal mechanism”. It will also hear complaints referred by the central government.

    According to the ministry, the notification is significant as it paves the way for a “strong institutional system for redressing grievances” while placing accountability and responsibility on the broadcasters and their self-regulating bodies.

    At present there are over 900 television channels that have been granted permission by MIB all of which are required to comply with the Programme and Advertising Code laid down under the Cable Television Network Rules.

  • OTT industry working on compliance with new IT rules

    Kolkata: For the last few months, the new regulations introduced for over-the-top platforms at the beginning of this year, has been the talk of the town. As the new rules introduced by the government came into effect on 26 May, the industry is working towards complying with all the rules. However, both the self-regulatory bodies, the newly formed digital segment under Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF), Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI ) have asked for additional time, as per industry sources.

    On 27 May, the digital media division of the ministry of information and broadcasting (MIB) wrote to the OTT and digital media publishers to furnish all their details and compliance status under Rule 18 of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Codes) Rules, 2021 within 15 days.

    Soon thereafter, IDBF announced the appointment of Justice (retd.) Vikramjit Sen as chairman, along with six other media and entertainment industry members for its newly formed Digital Media Content Regulatory Council (DMCRC). IAMAI followed suit and announced its self-regulatory body for streaming content companies like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. The Digital Publisher Content Grievances Council’s (DPCGC) Grievance Redressal Board (GRB) will be chaired by former Supreme Court judge Arjan Kumar Sikri, it announced.

    The withdrawal of broadcaster-led OTTs such as Disney+Hotstar, Zee5, SonyLIV from IAMAI has created two lobbies in the industry. International tech and media giants like Netflix, Amazon have stayed with IAMAI, along with tech giant Apple who also joined the body recently. Several independent bodies have also decided to remain under IAMAI.

    According to a senior official with a leading OTT, both are in touch with MIB and have asked for additional time. While the ministry may grant some extension, it seems it is not very happy with the fact that “people have been toying around deadlines”, the official added.

    “IBF has to work on the registration, including a new name, trademark for its new body, and IAMAI has to work on the formation of its second-tier mechanism. IBF has assured that it would come up with rigid guidelines exactly based on the code of ethics”, he added.

    Indiantelevision.com surfed through websites of leading platforms like MX Player, Zee5, SonyLIV, Disney+Hotstar, and found details of the grievance redressal officers identified by the respective platforms. Moreover, most of the leading platforms have already classified age-rating on their shows, some of the platforms have even rated the overall show, still others have rated each episode wise.

    According to a Hindustan Times report over 800 OTT platforms including video streaming services such as Netflix and Hotstar, and digital news media outfits, have shared details under the new IT rules. Most of the top OTT players have shared the details including Netflix, Amazon, Jio, the report said, quoting an unnamed MIB official.

    The new rules apply to digital news publishers as well. While traditional media companies with digital footprints asked for an exemption. But MIB clarified that it would not grant any relief because making an exception of the nature proposed “will be discriminatory to the digital news publishers who do not have a traditional TV/print platform.”

    The News Broadcasters Federation has stated on Friday that all its current members have duly complied with the requirements of the new rules by providing required information of their entities. However, the new rules have been challenged in court by a few digital news media outfits including LiveLaw and The Wire.