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Tag: Narendra Modi

  • TV channels unleash slew of special programming for Independence Day

    TV channels unleash slew of special programming for Independence Day

    The entire nation will be waiting to hear Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Independence Day speech from the historic Red Fort. The country paralysed by deadlock in the Parliament due to constant protest from opposition, will be desperately listening to the PM’s verses via different news channels, radio and other mediums.

     

    While ‘One Rank One Pension’ is already trending on social media, various gallantry awards are also scheduled to be distributed, this Independence Day.

     

    The Independence Day celebrations will not just be restricted to the political class as numerous channels are set to roll out special programming for their viewers. The programming mix on the occasion of India’s 69th Independence Day across television channels of various genres is as follows: 

     

    English News Channels

     

    ET Now

     

    The ET Now special coverage will have half an hour interview with Godrej Industries chairman Adi Godrej. Sandeep Gurumurthi will interview Godrej at 5.30 pm on 15 August. The channel will also relay Prime Minister’s speech in the morning. Live panel discussion on Modi’s ideas with panelists and big voices from the corporate world will also be in the list of special programming of Independence Day from 12 – 12.30 pm and 9 – 10 pm.

     

    India Today Television

     

    Women are going to be at the forefront of India Today Television’s Independence day programming, with topics like ‘Are women as independent as men?’ ‘Chak De Girls – On the Indian Women’s Hockey Team’ and Rajdeep Sardesai with the ‘Unsung Heroes’.

     

    In addition, the channel will also be airing ‘The Greatest Story Ever Told – 40 Years Of Sholay’, ‘I Am Sania’ – Sania Special Context – Getting The Khel Ratna as well as Sumitra Mahajan’s interview with Karan Thapar.

     

    Times Now

     

    Times Nows’ Independence Day coverage will begin with the live coverage of Modi’s speech followed by a special one hour independence day show of TotaI Recall. Stories and vignettes from across India on how Independence day was celebrated will be aired through the day.

     

    English Entertainment & Movies

     

    AXN India

     

    This Independence Day, Jack Bauer will battle and abolish crime with the iconic television series 24 Live Another Day on 15 – 16 August from 12 – 5 pm on AXN India.

     

    Disney

     

    Disney will be bringing in two beloved characters, Captain Tiao and Nikki (from Best of Luck Nikki) to share the meaning of Independence Day and showcase how will they be spending the day this year.

     

    HBO Defined

     

    HBO Defined gears up to celebrate the I-Day weekend with a line-up of movies, which will be 100 per cent ad-free. Beginning 15 August, 10 am onwards, the channel will showcaseThe Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Ender’s Game, Noah, I, Frankenstein, Gravity andNow You See Me.

     

    “We invite our audience to celebrate the spirit of freedom with their favorite movies on HBO Premium channel, HBO Defined, this Independence Day by not just offering exceptional titles but also presenting them with a completely memorable uninterrupted viewing experience,” said HBO marketing and business development director Shonali Bedi.

     

    Movies Now

     

    The channel will air a day long salute to the bravery with stories of ordinary people who display extraordinary courage to break free from constraints imposed them. The lineup features tittles like Avatar, Life of Pi, Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows Part 2 and The Dark Knight Rises.

     

    MN+

     

    MN+ will give viewers an in-depth look into the story that shook the world. The line-up features two back to back movies on whistleblower Julian Assange.

     

    Underground: The Julian Assange Story and Steal Secrets: The story of Wikileaks will feature on MN+ as special programming for Independence Day.

     

    Speaking on the programming, Times Network English Entertainment cluster SVP and head Vivek Srivastava said, “For this Independence Day, our theme is saluting and celebrating bravery and the indomitable human spirit. We have stories of ordinary people who display extraordinary courage to break free from constraints imposed on them. On Movies Now, we are screening ‘Fight for Freedom’ from 9 am onwards.”

     

    “Under classifiled section, we will air the popular film – Underground: The Julian Assange Story followed by We Steal Secrets, the story of Wikileaks on MN+. The story emerges the details how a hacker transformed himself to a world saving whistleblower against the worldwide socio-economic and socio-political injustice. It is about freedom of press, speech and rights. By screening these films, we at MN+ and Movies Now want to celebrate the spirit of humanism and the eternal will of our race to stand upright,” he added.

     

    Sony Pix

     

    Exciting series of Indiana Jones based on adventures and mystery of Dr. Henry ‘Indiana’ Jones, a fictional archaeologist by none other than the legendary George Lucas will be Sony Pix’s offering for Indians on Independence Day.

     

    The programming will start with the search for the Ark of the Covenant in the movie The Raiders of the Lost Ark, which will be aired at 11 am. Indiana Jones will take viewers on his classic trilogy ride with The Last Crusade at 1.30 pm, followed by The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull at 4.30 pm.

     

    Star Movies Select HD

     

    Star Movies Select HD – the channel, which has committed to showcasing fresh stories every day of the year, will premier Wes Anderson’s cinematic masterpiece, The Grand Budapest Hotel on the occasion of India’s 69th Independence day. The channel will premier the movie at 9 pm on 15 August.

     

    VH1

     

    This 15 August at 9 am and 10 pm, Vh1 will liberate viewers from the shackles of doubt with Vh1 Artist Select: Independence Day Special. Indian artists will reveal what’s playing on their playlist. From knowing that the B.L.O.T boys love hip hop and to knowing what Dualist Inquiry listens to on their playlist, the channel will give viewers complete dope on Indian artists’ favorite tunes.

     

    Hindi Entertainment & Movies

     

    &TV

     

    For Independence Day, &TV will air four special promos through the day. In addition to that, a special end page carrying Independence Day wishes has been created across all promos on air on 15 August. The logo will also carry Independence Day wishes through the day.

     

    Colors

     

    On 15 August at 8:30 pm, actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui will be seen promoting his upcoming film Manjhi on Colors’ show Udaan. He will be seen partaking in the flag-hoisting ceremony and deliver a speech on inspiration and hope leading to freedom.

     

    Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa Reloaded at 9 pm will have a special Independence Day show with the contestants showcasing performances themed around independence and freedom. Most contestants have designed their performances around Indian dance forms.

     

    Epic

     

    The Epic Channel is all set to celebrate the spirit of patriotism this Independence Day by airing back-to-back episodes from the recently launched show Stories by Rabindranath Tagore directed by Anurag Basu. The Independence Day special on 15 August will be aired from 12 – 9 pm.

     

    Sony

    Sony Entertainment Television will premiere the blockbuster Piku starring Amitabh Bachchan, Deepika Padukone and Irrfan Khan at 8 pm. The movie will be followed by a special episode of the show Crime Patrol.

     

    Sony Max & Max 2

     

    The combination of Sony Max and Max 2 brings to its viewers a formidable line-up of patriotic movies on the occasion of Independence Day. With movies such as Indian, Chak! De India, Purab Aur Paschim and Kranti, viewers will be privy to an entire day of enjoyable movie watching experience.

     

    Max and Max 2 senior executive vice president and business head Neeraj Vyas said, “To commemorate the nation’s independence, we thought of showcasing films on both channels that are evocative of the struggle and triumph of victory in different realms of life and through different eras. With our endeavour to constantly provide our viewers with the best films, we hope to arouse a feeling of patriotism with an engrossing bouquet of films on both channels.”

     

    Note: The channels are listed in Alphabetical order.

  • I&B asks TV channels to carry DD’s sign language interpretation of I-Day celebrations

    I&B asks TV channels to carry DD’s sign language interpretation of I-Day celebrations

    NEW DELHI: President Pranab Mukherjee will address the nation tomorrow (14 August) at 7 pm on the eve of Independence Day.

     

    The broadcast will be carried live on all major channels of Doordarshan including DD National, DD News; and regional channels; and all major channels of All India Radio in the national hook-up including Indraprastha and its FM channels.

     

    This will be followed both on DD and AIR by Hindi translations and later the regional language translations from respective regional channels.

     

    The broadcast of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address to the nation from the ramparts of Red Fort on 15 August will commence at 7.05 am both on DD channels and All India Radio.

     

    Later, DD will also telecast the report of celebrations in other parts of the country. DD News will carry an analysis of the announcements made by Modi.

     

    Meanwhile, Information and Broadcasting Ministry has asked all television channels carrying reports of the Independence Day celebrations to access free of cost the simultaneous commentary through sign language for the hearing impaired being carried by Doordarshan.

     

    The Ministry said it had been getting requests from members of the civil society to facilitate access to people with hearing impairment to the telecast of the Independence Day Ceremony and commentary accompanied with sign language interpretation on TV channels so that such people can be part of the ceremony.

     

    The advisory said all TV channels interested in carrying the live telecast of the Independence Day ceremony and commentary may carry the signals of DD News with sign language interpretation so that people with hearing impairment can also enjoy the telecast of Indian Independence Day celebrations.

  • UP Transport Department asks ASCI to enforce responsible advertising in auto sector

    UP Transport Department asks ASCI to enforce responsible advertising in auto sector

    MUMBAI: The Uttar Pradesh Department of Transport has approached The Advertising Standard Council of India (ASCI) for taking action against automotive advertisements that depict violation of traffic rules.

     

    Through a letter, Transport & Road Safety commissioner K. Ravindra Naik has strongly backed ASCI for its efforts in promoting responsible advertising and has requested the industry body to instruct advertising agencies to adhere to the self-regulatory code.

      

    Early in July, highlighting the recent incident of a road accident in Delhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the 10th edition of ‘Mann Ki Baat’ programme also focused on the importance of road safety in the country. He said, “It is the duty of every family to inform youngsters about the importance of road safety rules.”

     

    “According to the statistics of road accidents in the country, every four minutes a person dies in a road accident and around one – third of those dying in road accidents are between 15 and 25 years of age. It is the need of hour on creating awareness of road safety across the country as also through the manner in which advertisements depict responsible driving,” he added.

     

    ASCI chairman Narendra Ambwani said, “ASCI has been very proactive on the subject of advertisements for Automotive Vehicles and came up with a specific guideline in April 2008. Chapter III.3 of the ASCI’s Self-Regulatory code prescribes that ‘Advertisements shall not, without justifiable reason, show or refer to dangerous practices or manifest a disregard for safety or encourage negligence.’ We welcome this move by the Department of Transport, Uttar Pradesh for discouraging depiction of rash and unsafe driving. We hope each state in the country will also take effective measure to encourage responsible advertising and promote road safety.”

     

    The Department of Transport, Uttar Pradesh has also requested ASCI to ask advertising agencies to take effective measures to follow the said guidelines and to blacklist the agencies that do not comply with ASCI’s recommendations. The State Transport Authorities of UP has also written to all District Magistrates in the state to take action in this matter.

     

    According to self–regulation guidelines on advertisements for automotive vehicles, advertisers are encouraged to depict advertisements in a manner, which promotes safe practices, e.g. wearing helmets and fastening of seatbelts, not using mobile phones when driving etc. The advertisements should not portray violations of any traffic rules, should not show speeding or manoeuvrability in a manner which encourages unsafe or reckless driving, which could harm the driver, passengers and / or the general public, or show stunts or actions which require professional driving skills, in normal traffic conditions which, in any case, should carry a readable cautionary message drawing viewers’ attention to the depiction of stunts.

  • “Govt. should come up with clear, transparent security clearance guidelines:” Dr Subhash Chandra

    “Govt. should come up with clear, transparent security clearance guidelines:” Dr Subhash Chandra

    MUMBAI: The growing number of television channels and the recent debate over the security clearance of Kalanithi Maran owned Sun TV Network has led the ‘Big Daddy’ of Indian television to come out and speak about ownership and security guidelines of the mushrooming channels.

     

    Essel Group chairman Dr Subhash Chandra said, “From the beginning, I have been of the view, which I mentioned during the UPA 1 regime to Priyaranjan Das Munshi and Dr. Manmohan Singh that licences should not be issued without proper checks.”

     

    According to Chandra, news channel licences should be scrutinized in the manner that the Reserve Bank of India scrutinizes applications before issuing any licence in financial service. “They go to the extent of finding out the ultimate source of funding as well as cleanliness of people involved and check them out before issuing licence,” he informed. 

     

    Chandra has been actively speaking about having a strict and clear guideline before issuing licences from 2001-2006. “But because no one was listening to my point of view, I decided to then remain dormant and listen to the government’s point of view,” he laughed off. 

     

    Ten days ago, Chandra had tweeted rather sensationally saying, “I will not be surprised if for some TV stations, the final money is coming from Dawood Ibrahim.” He feels that the system prevalent currently doesn’t go even one layer beyond what the person has submitted. 

     

    The minimum amount required for starting a news channel today is Rs 5 crore. “As per the guidelines today, the check is done on the person submitting the money. No one tries finding out where the money is coming from. This is eroding our credibility as media,” he said.  

     

    Chandra is of the opinion that the time has come to have strict, clear and transparent guidelines, which will expose the corporate veil and go to the real source of funding. “The government is not doing anything on the issue of media ownership and then says that all media is wrong,” he added. 

     

    Pointing out that no one so far has debated on the issue, he said, “I want the debate to be triggered and then the decision can be taken collectively.”

     

    Calling out to the government to check entities through clear guidelines, he said, “Those who are clean will come out clean, but the government hasn’t checked anyone. We are open to such scrutiny ourselves.”

     

    Stressing on the fact that not having clear security guidelines compromises with the national and economic security, Chandra said, “I want to see clean money coming into the sector.”

  • ABS Seven Star launches hybrid STBs; targets 2 lakh consumers in Mumbai by Dec 2015

    ABS Seven Star launches hybrid STBs; targets 2 lakh consumers in Mumbai by Dec 2015

    MUMBAI: Innovation is the key to a successful business and realizing this is Mumbai based multi system operator (MSO) ABS Seven Star. 

     

    As reported earlier by Indiantelevision.com, ABS Seven Star, which so far had been operating MPEG 2 headend, has now launched its MPEG 4 headend with as many as 500 national and international channels. Additionally, the MSO has started rolling out MPEG 4 set top boxes (STBs) as well. 

     

    In keeping with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Make in India’ initiative, these indigenous STBs manufactured by ABS Productions are hybrid boxes with both Ethernet and cable. The STBs have been loaded with facilities like YouTube, web TV, video on demand (VOD), internet browsing, TV Everywhere and cloud computing among others.

     

    “Our offering will convert your television set to a smart TV. The box will have 75 HD and 3D channels. We are also creating content, apart from the ones we have taken the rights for. The box will have 75 of our own channels, which includes education channel among others,” informs ABS Seven Star CMD Atul Saraf.

     

    Priced at Rs 3500, the hybrid box also comes with 5GB online space. “This allows consumers to use their TV set as a computer and save data as well,” he adds. The company has also come up with a HD only box loaded with VOD and internet, which is priced at Rs 2500. 

     

    While 10,000 hybrid boxes have so far been manufactured, ABS Productions has rolled out 30,000 HD boxes and is looking at manufacturing 30,000 boxes every month. 

     

    In order to give a fillip to VAS, ABS Seven Star will provide the services to consumers at a fixed fee of Rs 30 per month. “Consumers will then have to pay for the content they choose to watch,” he says. 

     

    ABS Seven Star has also tied up with content distribution network (CDN) to have a multi screen presence. 

       

    The MSO through these services is looking at an average revenue per user (ARPU) of Rs 1200. “Today, consumers are anyways paying separately for cable and internet. With our new offering, we will be giving them both the services with just one equipment,” informs Saraf. 

     

    ABS Seven Star is connecting through national long distance (NLD) players to have a presence in Rajasthan, UP, Haryana, Bihar and Orissa. “We are looking at acquiring 200,000 consumers in Mumbai by December 2015,” points out Saraf.

  • Make In India: DataWind completes first month of production; ships 80,000 tablets

    Make In India: DataWind completes first month of production; ships 80,000 tablets

    NEW DELHI: India-based low cost Internet connectivity and wireless web access products manufacturer DataWind Inc. has shipped the first 80,000 Internet-enabled tablets and smartphones from its new production facility that opened last month in Amritsar.

     

    After establishing India’s first and only manufacturing facility for touch panels in 2013 and now by producing the majority of its products in India, DataWind has taken a major step in the direction of realizing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Make in India’ vision.

     

    “By producing state-of-the-art and most affordable devices in India, we not only wish to supply products that would make Indians proud, but boost skills in India by generating highly skilled employment locally,” said DataWind president & CEO Suneet Singh Tuli. 

     

    The company expects to continue expanding its position in the Tablet PC market by increasing the range of products manufactured at the Amritsar facility.

     

    “The economics of this move to India are also supported by the growing demand for our products – all of which come bundled with one year of pre-paid Internet access in India on the Reliance network. By providing the most affordable Internet access solution in the country, we expect to take the Digital India initiative to the next stage by insuring every citizen has access to education, commerce and government services,” said Tuli.

     

    DataWind’s patented technology allows for the wireless delivery of a basic Internet experience across existing network infrastructure at a fraction of the typical cost and bandwidth.

     

    The company’s Internet-enabled smartphones and tablets are affordably priced by the millions of people in emerging markets who do not have Internet access.

  • Narendra Modi invites inputs for ‘Mann Ki Baat’ on 26 July

    Narendra Modi invites inputs for ‘Mann Ki Baat’ on 26 July

    NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has invited inputs from the people for his next ‘Mann ki Baat’ radio broadcast on 26 July.

     

    The inputs can be sent on MyGov.in.

     

    In a message, Modi said, “Looking forward to share ‘Mann Ki Baat’ this Sunday. Share your inputs and ideas for the programme.”

     

    Unlike earlier this year, Modi has declined for the second month in a row to spell out the subject for his broadcasts on All India Radio.

     

    Earlier, he had in his broadcasts dealt with students going to examinations, or farmers’ issues.

     

    Observers felt that this was because Modi wants to avoid taking up subjects that might turn controversial.

     

    The broadcast at 11 am will be carried by all stations of AIR and also by Doordarshan and several private television channels.   

  • Sun TV to move HC on denial of permission to bid for FM Phase III auctions

    Sun TV to move HC on denial of permission to bid for FM Phase III auctions

    NEW DELHI: The Sun TV Group is planning to move the High Court in Delhi or Chennai on Monday (20 July) to challenge the denial of permission to Red FM to bid in Phase III of FM auctions.

     

    Sun Group chief financial officer SL Narayanan told Indiantelevision.com that the Group had received a formal communication from the Information and Broadcasting Ministry on night of 16 July that it would not be allowed to bid in view of pending cases against the Maran brothers.

     

    Narayanan said that the Group had so far refrained from commenting as “we do not want to fight in the media,” but was not reacting as the Ministry had given it a cause of action for a writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution.

     

    The list of 21 bidders, which had got the go-ahead on 15 July did not contain the name of Red FM, which is a strong contender.

     

    Narayanan also said that the cases against the Marans were not linked to security issues and had in any case not been concluded. Further, he said that a company could not be asked to close down merely because it had some cases pending against it.

     

    Expressing his gratitude to the manner in which the Indian media had taken up the cause of freedom of the press on behalf of Sun, he said that no plans had been drawn up for moving the Courts on Sun TV since there was no cause for action as the government had so far failed to send any communication relating to the security clearance issue pending with the Home Ministry.

     

    He was particularly grateful to Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) president Uday Shankar and Association of Radio Operators in India’s (AROI) Uday Chawla for writing to Prime Minister Narendra Modi as well as Home Minister Rajnath Singh and I&B Minister Arun Jaitley.

     

    In addition, political parties Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and PMK had also issued statements condemning the delay by the Government in taking a decision.

  • “We will enhance internet penetration from 300 mil to 500 mil within 2.5 years:” Ravi Shankar Prasad

    “We will enhance internet penetration from 300 mil to 500 mil within 2.5 years:” Ravi Shankar Prasad

    MUMBAI: India today launched four world class broadband products by Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT). With this, the country has come at par with all other developed countries in the world in respect of quality telecommunication services and effective penetration of advanced broadband based services.

     

    Union Minister for communication and IT, Ravi Shankar Prasad while launching the new products indigenously developed by C-DOT stated that the NDA Government is committed to bring all 2.5 lakh villages under broadband services and enhance internet penetration from 300 million to 500 million within two and half years. 

     

    Prasad launched the products in the presence of his Kenyan counterpart, cabinet secretary, ICT in a function organised at C-DOT campus, New Delhi. Prasad further stated that the new products have been launched with an aim to provide an advanced digital infrastructure for ‘Digital India’ Initiative launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

     

    He further stated that ‘Digital India’ initiative is bound to bring governance available in the palm of every Indian. It is more for the poor, underprivileged and the marginal people like masons and carpenters etc.

     

    Prasad stressed on the fact that, ‘Digital India’ is a transformational programme and a dream to bring a positive change. The initiative would also go a long way in digital empowerment of the people of India. The initiative launched by Modi would make India developed, globally credible, affluent and would further sync with Make in India and Skill India programme.

     

    Prasad elaborated the importance of skill development and said that there are ample opportunities of earning in mobile maintenance profession as the number of mobile sets are surging day by day. 

    He also appreciated the role of C-DOT in transforming the telecommunication scenario in the country, especially in the rural India. C-DOT has rendered significant contribution in providing broadband coverage across the nation. He also appreciated the products developed by C-DOT and stated that the long distance Wi-Fi is going to solve the problem of distance, whereas Solar powered Wi-Fi would do away the dependence on the power availability.

     

    He stated that the Next Generation Network technology is quite important for the service providers for converging landline/ mobile/ data network. MTNL and BSNL users are going to be benefitted as they would be able to transform their landline network into the most advanced network. He called upon C-DOT to come out with more advanced innovative products in order to ensure foolproof telecom services, apart from lending a hand in ensuring digital literacy across the country in respective local languages.

     

    The Union Minister further stated that digital connectivity leads to good governance and the C-DOT products are great, innovative and dependable, but he would be happier if the products are savvy and are used by more people.

     

    He exhorted the private sector to go for C-DOT products on large scale as these have been developed after a sustained research and analysis for which the Government invested a substantial amount keeping in view the need to match with the fast changing world. 

     

    The next generation land line network would not only revolutionise the basic telephony but would upgrade the entire landline services. He added that presently all gram panchayats are connected with broadband, the government is committed to connect all gram panchayats in the country with broadband. 

    C-DOT executive director Vipin Tyagi said that its efforts are in the way of taking dream of Digital India further as he delivered his welcome address.

     

    He also stated that the C-DOT has been innovating with an aim to empower the weaker strata of the society and developing indigenous products to facilitate continuous telecom up-gradation. He said that technology is big enabler and broadband is big leveler. Roti, Kapda, Makan and Broadband are the basic needs of the human being.