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Tag: NK Sinha

  • Amit Khare appointed as new MIB secretary

    Amit Khare appointed as new MIB secretary

    MUMBAI: Jharkhand state development commissioner and a whistle-blower civil servant Amit Khare has been named as the new secretary of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB). He will take over from NK Sinha who is due to superannuate on 31 May 2018 after a comparatively quiet stint of approximately nine months at a high profile ministry that has constantly remained in the news after finance minister Arun Jaitley gave up the MIB portfolio in 2016 to concentrate on India’s economy.

    The announcement regarding MIB and Khare came on Friday as part of a big bureaucratic reshuffle initiated by the government that is now gearing up for general elections either late this year or first half next year as its five-year term in New Delhi officially comes to an end in May 2019.

    Khare is a 1985 batch Indian Administrative Service officer and is presently serving in Jharkhand. Considered an upright civil servant, he is credited for unearthing the multi-million dollar fodder scam two decades ago in Bihar for which some powerful politicians, including former Bihar chief minister Lalu Yadav, and senior officials have been handed jail sentences of varied time periods.

    Meanwhile, media industry observers hoped that with Khare’s arrival next month and junior minister Rajyavardhan Rathore entrusted with independent charge of MIB last week, some freshness and action would also arrive at the ministry, which has been under fire in recent months for not only taking controversial policy decisions (one of them relating to regulation of fake news being rolled back after PM’s Office intervened), but also angering its own foot soldiers or the Indian Information Service officials by arbitrary transfer postings and allegedly bungling on a film award event where the president of the country was to be present.

    A senior TV executive on condition of anonymity said both Rathore and Khare would hopefully end power games within MIB and actually work to live up to PM Modi’s claims of easing norms for doing business in India; especially as the media industry has been straining to get some helping hand from the government in difficult economic times when the sector is still in the process of recovering from after-effects of demonetisation of high value currency notes in 2016 and a new tax regime of goods and services tax of 2017.   

    Rathore’s senior Smriti Irani, a former TV actress who was handed the dual charge of MIB along with textiles ministry almost a year back, has somehow been in the news for wrong reasons and was divested of the portfolio last week when the Prime Minister initiated a reshuffle of his cabinet colleagues.

    Broadcast industry has been complaining of arbitrary policy decisions being taken by MIB under Irani, including attempts at creating artificial entry-level barriers by insisting on TV channels shift to Indian satellites from foreign ones and hiking administrative processing fees many folds. Industry organisation Indian Broadcasting Foundation recently petitioned the PM’s Office drawing attention to the likely ill-effects on the industry if certain norms regarding uplinking and downlinking, being debated at MIB and regulatory body TRAI, came into force.

    Media reports have also indicated that in the last nine months inaction had come to such a head at MIB that inter-departmental power games had stalled a decision on over 100 applications for new TV channels, apart from other sundry issues. So, media industry stakeholders expect a breath of fresh air to blow in the corridors of New Delhi’s Shastri Bhawan, which houses the MIB along with some other ministries, with Rathore-Khare duo taking charge.

    Earlier this week, Vikram Sahay was appointed as a joint secretary in the MIB.

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  • MIB secy Sinha, Viacom18 CEO Vats to speak at CASBAA convention in Nov

    MIB secy Sinha, Viacom18 CEO Vats to speak at CASBAA convention in Nov

    MUMBAI: Regional multichannel TV and digital video trade body CASBAA has announced the key themes (and workshop programme) for the CASBAA Convention 2017 to be held in Macau, from 6-8 November.

    The line-up for the convention has been designed “to capture the urgent issues facing our industry at a time of the most dynamic market changes seen in more than 20 years,” said CASBAA CEO Christopher Slaughter.

    CASBAA represents 100 corporations across 20 markets in the Asia-Pacific, from China to Australasia, Japan to Pakistan and encompassing over 623 million Pay-TV subscribers and 2.5 billion broadband connections (source: MPA).

    The full implications of the digital video revolution are at the top of the convention’s agenda, including solutions to the potentially devastating impact of digital piracy, the on-going opportunities presented by local, regional and global OTT platforms and the challenges arising from the mountains of detailed digital data now being assessed by broadcasters, carriers, technology vendors and advertisers alike.

    “The blue-chip list of Pay-TV operators, content creators, broadband carriers, investors, sponsors and regulators attending the convention guarantee unrivalled access to the Asia Pacific Pay-TV and Digital Video decision makers,” said Slaughter.

    In the meantime, through a series of ‘Masterclass’ panels and presentations, the convention programme will deliver:

    – Real-time case studies focused on the crucial battle against on-line piracy, including a few “Wins!”
    – A fresh look at the best performing business models for Pay-TV
    – Deep-dive presentations on the vital security technologies and regulatory “fixes” under debate across Asia Pacific and around the world
    – Close examinations of the new ecosystems and revenue streams now available for the monetisation of emerging digital video markets
    – New insights on the impact of soon to be launched broadband satellite services across Asia

    Plus Understanding the Viewer: a series of closely moderated conference sessions shedding fresh light on the complex worlds of digital media and programmatic advertising.

    The key speakers at the convention include:
    – Samuel Scott, Columnist, The Promotion Fix @ The Drum
    – Hosi Simon, Global General Manager, VICE Media
    – NK Sinha, Secretary, MIB, Government of India
    – Dr Ros Lynch, Director, Copyright & IP Enforcement, UK Intellectual Property Office
    – Sudhanshu Vats, Group CEO, Viacom18
    – Birathon Kasemsri Na Ayudhaya, Chief Content and Media Officer, True Corporation
    – Jeremy Butteriss, Managing Director for Global Partnerships, APAC, Google

  • NK Sinha takes charge as MIB secy from Ajay Mittal

    NEW DELHI: Senior Indian Administrative Service officer Narendra Kumar Sinha (NK Sinha) (Bihar:1980) has assumed charge as the secretary in the ministry of information & broadcasting after the transfer of Ajay Mittal, IAS. Prior to his appointment, Sinha was the secretary in the culture ministry.

    During a career span of more than 35 years, Sinha has held various field postings and has worked from grassroots to the higher levels of governance in both State and Central Governments. Prior to being Secretary, Culture, Sinha served as Principal Secretary, Information Technology Department, Bihar. He has served as Additional Secretary in the Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Human Resource Development.

    He has conducted a number of lectures and participated in innumerable workshops, symposiums and public functions to connect with experts, stakeholders and general public to explain them government schemes, elicit their response on various government policies and social issues. He has travelled widely within the country as well as abroad and has been part of many government delegations during national and international meetings, negotiations and events as a senior member.

    Sinha is an M.E (Electrical) from IISc, Bengaluru. He also has an MBA from Southern Cross University, Australia and is a Fellow of Institution of Engineers (India).

  • NK Sinha moves to I&B, Garg & Sundarajan are economic affairs & telecom secys

    MUMBAI: The Indian government, in a crucial move, has announced that the senior Bihar cadre IAS officer and culture secretary N K Sinha will take over as the secretary in the ministry of information and broadcasting. Sinha will take over in the ministry headed by union minister M Venkaiah Naidu while the incumbent Ajay Mittal will be shifted as secretary DoPT, PTI reported.

    Fifteen new secretaries have been appointed to various central departments as part of a major bureaucratic reshuffle. Subhash Chandra Garg, who is the executive director of the World Bank, will take over as the secretary of the department of economic affairs from Shaktikanta Das — who has retired.

    The other major appointments, approved by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, include Aruna Sundarajan, a Kerala cadre IAS officer, as the telecom secretary, and Ajay Kumar Bhalla, an Assam-Meghalaya cadre IAS officer, as Power Secretary. While Sundarajan was Secretary, Electronics and Information Technology, Bhalla is currently Director-General, Foreign Trade.

    The committee also gave its nod for the appointment of Rajiv Gauba, a Jharkhand cadre IAS officer, as the next Home Secretary. He will take over from Rajiv Mehrishi on August 30. Until then Gauba will serve as Officer on Special Duty in the Home Ministry.

    Meanwhile, Ajay Prakash Sawhney, an Andhra Pradesh cadre IAS officer, will be the new Electronics & IT Secretary. He was earlier Additional Secretary in the Petroleum Ministry. Yudhvir Singh Malik, a 1983 Haryana batch IAS officer, will be the new Road Transport and Highways Secretary. He was earlier NHAI’s Chairman.