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Tag: Prakash Javadekar

  • M&E industry to meet I&B Minister next week

    M&E industry to meet I&B Minister next week

    MUMBAI: After the mammoth election, the new BJP-led NDA government took charge on 26 May and since then, the new Information & Broadcasting Minister, Prakash Javadekar, has been a busy man. From attending press conferences and ceremonies to meeting the various stakeholders, he has been on the move since he took the oath.

     

    The Minister has been vocal about his thoughts on what he expects from the industry and what needs to be done. On day one itself, he had announced his commitment towards freedom of press and there is no intention of regulating the media. This has given new hopes to the media industry which is currently caught-up in policy hurdles, implementation delays and controversies.

     

    As per industry sources, the Minister will be meeting the various associations of the Media & Entertainment industry together early next week.

     

    Though the dates aren’t clear yet and so is the agenda, but the various sources have hinted upon the following topics which will be discussed over the table.

     

    Digitisation – With the phase I & II over and III & IV in the pipeline, it will be one of the hot topic. The Minister, couple of days back had said that in a step to boost employment and small-scale industry, efforts will be made to encourage indigenisation of set-top boxes. The stakeholders could also discuss carriage fees, opportunities in the DTH and how digitisation can help broadcasters.

     

    Licences – More the merrier has been the slogan for large media houses. With more and more channels being launched by networks, many pending licence files have been gathering dust in the numerous Ministry offices.

      

    FDI – The Ministry is already looking for inputs from various stakeholders on whether to allow 100 per cent FDI in News media. Currently, the FDI allowed is up to 26 per cent in news and current affairs media, while 100 per cent is allowed in non-news media like trade publications and entertainment channels.

     

    Way forward – The industry has been in a limbo for a long say highly placed industry sources who are betting that the new Minister will be able to hurry up things and set a positive tone for the coming years.

     

    “The meeting is all about the big picture. Everyone has been wanting to meet the new Minister and discuss the grievances and hurdles they face,” says a source who believes a little pep talk and a push is needed to take things in a positive trend.

     

    Agreeing, another industry source adds, “Everyone will come with their own wish list in a hope to get things to work in their benefit and economically do better than what it has been doing so far.”

     

    One thing is clear that in the meeting set to be held early next week, the new I&B Minister will have his platter full, with M&E industry handing him a checklist.

  • Javadekar condemns misuse of social media to create tensions

    Javadekar condemns misuse of social media to create tensions

    NEW DELHI: A day after airing his views on abolition of his own Ministry, Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar has said the government should not exercise control over media which should have its own mechanisms for this.

    Addressing members of Indian Women Press Corps (IWPC), he also said: the biggest challenge for Prasar Bharti was how Doordarshan becomes the first choice for the viewer.

     

    “In whichever model it works, we’ll choose that. We have given autonomy but result should also come,” he said. 

    Noting that freedom of press was the result of a long struggle, the Minister also stressed upon responsibility of the media.

     

    The government is in favour of infrastructure augmentation in border areas where people get to hear the propaganda of other countries but the voice of Indian government at times does not reach. 

     

    Javadekar said while answering a question that social media fell under the Information Technology Act which was not administered by his Ministry, but added that the freedom afforded by social media should be used responsibly. He said misuse of social media to create tensions in society is condemnable and should not happen.

    At one stage, Javadekar mentioned that his father had worked in a publication and that he had been a member of the Press Council which is often called a “toothless wonder”. 

     

    Javadekar said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had encouraged his ministers to be innovative. He said one innovative practice that the I&B and Environment ministries, which are both under him, will start is regarding advertisements they issue.

     

    He said it had been decided that people would be asked to provide ideas and designs for advertisements and the Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity will only release them. “We will recognise and award the good designs that are selected,” he concluded. 

  • Javadekar files nomination papers to Rajya Sabha from Madhya Pradesh

    Javadekar files nomination papers to Rajya Sabha from Madhya Pradesh

    NEW DELHI: Information and Broadcasting, Forest and Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar has filed his nomination papers for the Rajya Sabha elections from Bhopal.

     

    The Minister’s term as a Rajya Sabha member came to an end on 2 April this year. He had been a member of the Upper House since 3 April 2008.

     

    Accompanied by his ministerial colleague and state Bharatiya Janata Party president Narendra Singh Tomar and his wife Prachi Javadekar, the Minister filed two sets of nomination papers before the returning officer Bhagwandev Ishrani at the Madhya Pradesh assembly premises in the presence of party leaders over the weekend.

     

  • Ideologically I&B Ministry should be abolished: Javadekar

    Ideologically I&B Ministry should be abolished: Javadekar

    NEW DELHI: Virtually echoing the views of former Minister Manish Tewari, Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar said that he ‘philosophically’ and ‘ideologically’ favoured abolishing his Ministry.

     

    However, he justified this by noting that it was in keeping with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s emphasis of ‘less government, more governance’. 

           
    “Philosphically or ideologically, I’ll be willing to do that,” he said, when asked if India needed an I&B Ministry when many major democracies do not have such a profile.

     

    Asked whether Modi was also “philosophically and ideologically” in agreement with his line of thinking, Javadekar said: “Absolutely”, during an interview by Karan Thapar on Headline Today’s programme “Nothing but the Truth.”

     

    The Minister agreed with the suggestion for hiring professional editors for Doordarshan and All India Radio.

     

    He was also open to discussion with stakeholders on more FDI in media.

     

    “I think you are giving a good line for us. But ultimately, when our Prime Minister Narendra Modi says that more governance and less government, so you are actually contributing to the idea of less government and more governance. That’s our focus, but to achieve that end we have to follow a process,” he said.

     

    The Minister said that as far as the public broadcaster is concerned, there are various models like the BBC and others available which would be studied. Javadekar said he was not in favour of a model where the public broadcaster is accountable to the minister “only”.

     

    Javadekar said in the years ahead, words like “government-run”, “government-controlled” or “government intervention” will be less heard of.

     

    “But I would like that government becomes less and less and freedom and market forces and at the same time social justice is achieved,” Javadekar concluded. 

  • Government to look at law for preventing attacks on press

    Government to look at law for preventing attacks on press

    MUMBAI:Prakash Javadekar has been making a lot of appearances since he took over as the new Information and Broadcasting Minister. For a man who is aiming to be a media-friendly rather than a media-shy I&B Minister,  Javadekar took the centrestage at the Red Ink Awards held in Mumbai on 7 June, to send across a message from the government to the media fraternity.

     

    He started off by stating that the essence of democracy is the freedom of press and the Modi government is fully committed to the full freedom of media and it is their cardinal principle. While he questioned whether press meant owners, editors, the journalists or the readers and viewers, he also reminded the media that “society expects accuracy, balance and fairness from the media.”

     

    According to Javadekar, self-regulation is better than censorship. “I don’t like the word regulation. It should be self-restraint. Media needs to think whether it will play only what the public is interested in viewing or if it will also play what is in the public’s interest,” he said.

     

    Attacks on the press are not unknown of and Javadekar in his speech did not fail to acknowledge it. “This needs to be prevented. We will surely see if there is a possibility of a central law for prevention of attacks on press,” he stated.

     

    Expectations from the new Minister are high and he is in no hurry to come up with a game plan on the various issues. “There are many issues pending such as foreign direct investment in media, FM news, social media, digital media, digitisation etc. These are issues we will talk to all the stakeholders and then come to a consensus. We don’t want to thrust some decision on the whole sector but evolve it by consensus.”

     

    He also stated that both the  print and the electronic media will flourish in the upcoming years. 

  • Need to strengthen TV, radio connectivity with North-East India: Javadekar

    Need to strengthen TV, radio connectivity with North-East India: Javadekar

    NEW DELHI: Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar said the North-East should be India’s gateway to South-East Asia and therefore connectivity of television and radio should be strengthened in that region.

     

    He observed that these channels of communication should promote harmony in the states and take the country’s rich culture beyond the borders of India. Javadekar was addressing a delegation led by MP Bezbaruah with whom he had wide-ranging discussion on issues related to the North-Eastern region.

     

    The discussions included recommendations for promoting north-east as a filming destination and featuring North-East films in the various film festivals.

     

    Appreciating the talent among the people of this region, the minister observed that there should be better participation of the North-Eastern people in the various genres of information and entertainment. A constant dialogue and an inclusive approach were realized as the need of the hour in order to integrate the north-eastern brethren into the mainstream.

     

    Recalling former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s initiative of better air-connectivity with the North-east, he called for a need to explore plans for integrating the north-east with the rest of India through telecom, digital, radio and TV connectivity. 

  • MIB marks World Environment Day on social media

    MIB marks World Environment Day on social media

    MUMBAI: It was during his open session at last week’s GoaFest that Union Minister for Environment and Information & Broadcasting Prakash Javadekar spoke of the need for a paradigm shift in Indian political advertising.

     

    Javadekar went on to explain that he was disappointed to see creatives of half-page print ads scheduled for release on World Environment Day without any message. That’s when he thought of taking a different route to political advertising.

     

    Indeed, Javadekar has kept his word on World Environment Day today. Apart from gifting a plant to each and every minister, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the new Environment and I&B Ministry at the centre has refrained from run-of-the-mill print ads across newspapers. Rather, it has made a splash on social media through creatives on the official Facebook and Twitter pages of the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (MIB), live updates from Javadekar’s own Twitter handle, tweets released from Modi’s official account and Javadekar’s conference via YouTube.

     

    There’s also a video doing the rounds of social media.

     

    Click here to watch the video 

  • Arasu should be given DAS licence, Jayalalithaa tells Modi

    Arasu should be given DAS licence, Jayalalithaa tells Modi

    NEW DELHI: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa has once again raised the issue of granting a digital addressable system licence to Arasu Cable TV Corporation, which is owned by the state government.

     

    While the demand was raised before Prime Minister Narendra Modi when she called on him yesterday, it is expected that this matter would be referred to Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar for consideration.

     

    However, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has in two different consultation papers in 2008 and December 2012 given its opinion against state-owned multi-system operators or broadcasters getting licences.

     

    Ministry sources told indiantelevision.com that licences have not been issued to any state-owned organisation for running cable TV networks as TRAI had recommended that neither state-owned, local bodies nor religious organisations should be permitted to own TV channels.

     

    Earlier this year, then I&B Minister Manish Tewari had told Parliament that Arasu Cable TV Corporation had applied on 26 November 2007 for grant of MSO registration in CAS notified area of Chennai and had been granted provisional permission on 2 April 2008, subject to the report of TRAI on the issue of whether to allow state governments/PSUs and other entities to enter into broadcasting activities.

     

    Thus, Arasu had been given permission on the ground that it would automatically lapse if the Ministry decides against allowing state governments/PSUs and other entities into broadcasting activities, including MSO/Cable operations.

     

    In April last year, the Madras High Court had been informed by TRAI that Central and  State government ministries, departments, companies and undertakings should not be allowed to enter into the business of broadcasting or distribution of television channels. 

     

    Justice S. Rajeswaran was hearing writ petitions filed by the Tamil Nadu Arasu Cable TV Corporation seeking Digital Addressable System (DAS) licence to it for Chennai Metro and for the other parts of the State.

  • Centre not in hurry for 100 per cent FDI in news: Javadekar

    Centre not in hurry for 100 per cent FDI in news: Javadekar

    MUMBAI: While general entertainment channels enjoy the liberty of having 100 per cent Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), News channels are restricted to having just 26 per cent. With a new government at the center, all eyes are on the new Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Minister Prakash Javadekar to bring in some changes.

     

    A pertinent question asked by journalists to Javadekar was regarding the same. According to a PTI report, he is said to have assured journalists that his Ministry is busy collecting views of the stakeholders related to the issue of allowing 100 per cent FDI in News media.

     

    “We want to take the views of all the stakeholders before we take a final decision if we should give a go-ahead for the 100 per cent FDI in News media. We are not in a hurry to go for the same,” he said to PTI.

     

    On the sidelines, he also addressed the issue of paid news stating that a meeting of the council of ministers will be held soon to discuss the matter. Highlighting two types of paid news, Javadekar said, “The first one is related to the elections, the other one was directly connected to the privately-owned business newspapers.” He added that a final meeting of the committee on paid news will be held today of which he is also a member.

  • Review of Prasar Bharati functioning next week: Javadekar

    Review of Prasar Bharati functioning next week: Javadekar

    NEW DELHI: New Information and Broadcasting minister Prakash Javadekar today, replied to several questions regarding the media.

     

    He said that there will be a review next week of the functioning of Prasar Bharati. Complains about the government’s interference in the autonomy of the pubcaster would also be examined, he said.

     

    Referring to the media, he said the government had no intention of curbing the freedom of the press in any way.

     

    In an interview to Doordarshan, Javadekar emphasised that there was no need for the government to impose regulation if the self-regulatory bodies set up by the media themselves work well. However, he said that a study was being made of how radio can be regulated.

     

    Asked about the non-implementation of the Wage Board for Journalists and non-journalists in the print media, he said that he would talk to all the stakeholders including the organizations of mediapersons and the owners of media houses.

     

    He added that the government did not have the power to set up Wage Boards for anyone except its own employees, but had always set up Wage Boards for the media to uphold freedom of the press.