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Tag: Prasar Bharati

  • Sircar to address ‘World Global Forum’ in Germany

    Sircar to address ‘World Global Forum’ in Germany

    NEW DELHI: Prasar Bharati chief executive officer Jawhar Sircar is attending the first-ever ‘Global Media Forum 2014’ being organised by Deutsche Welle, Germany’s international broadcaster.

     

    The three-day international media congress in Bonn from 30 June to 2 July will among other things discuss how media is participating in the global trend towards greater active participation. The theme for this year is: From Information to Participation: Challenges for the Media.

     

    Prasar Bharati is among the two broadcasters from developing countries to have been invited to attend the meet, the other being Al Jazeera.

     

    Sircar will be taking part in a session on ‘The Future of Journalism and the Role of International Broadcasters.’ The discussion will be moderated by former BBC newscaster Tim Sebastian.

     

    The Summit will debate whether conventional media will be able to retain its position in this converged digital world where the lines between commentary and traditional journalistic reporting have been blurred., how international broadcasters can contribute to global diversity, how information services are likely to look like in the future, etc.

     

    Prominent guest speakers, including Google critic Jeff Jarvis and German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier will discuss how media is participating in the global trend towards community involvement and interest in political processes and decision-making.

     

    The discussions at GMF 2014 are bound to have far-reaching points of relevance for macro-visioning and formulation of media policy across the globe.

  • Major reshuffle of IIS officers by I&B Ministry

    Major reshuffle of IIS officers by I&B Ministry

    NEW DELHI: The Information and Broadcasting Ministry is all set for a major reshuffle of Indian Information Service (IIS) officers posted all over the country.

      

    Senior IIS officer S. R. Kar has been posted as director (Media and Communications) in the Press Information Bureau following his promotion to the selection grade. Kar will continue to look after the work of DPR (Defence) as well.

     

    K Muthukumar, who was until now posted in the Prime Minister’s Office, has been transferred to Doordarshan News as additional director general.

     

    Jane Namchu who was special correspondent for Prasar Bharati in Kathmandu has been posted in the Directorate of Field Publicity in Siliguri. He succeeds Akash Luxman who has been posted as director (lEC) in the Rural Development Ministry.

     

    D M Kakadia has been moved from the Rural Development Ministry as director (News) in DD News.

     

    R K Jain has on repatriation from Directorate of Film Festivals been posted as director (News) in the News Services Division in All India Radio.

     

    Manisha Verma who was until now director (M&C) in PIB, New Delhi has been moved as chief media in the Health and Family Welfare Ministry and will also look after the publicity work of the Ministry, which has currently been under the charge of PIB officers.

     

    Raj Kumar moves from the Central Board of Film Certification’s Delhi office to become Director (M&C), PIB.

     

    K Satish Nambudiripad will become a director (M&C), PIB on repatriation from the Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Ministry.

     

    A K Mishra moves from CBFC Cuttack to become director in the Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity. He replaces R K Jain who has been moved to Bhopal as director in DFP with additional charge of RNU, DD Kendra in Bhopal.

     

    Prabhavati Akashi who was director (M&C) in PIB, New Delhi is being moved as director of DFP in Pune. She is replaced as Director (M&C), PIB, New Delhi by Maushami Chakravarty on repatriation from Heavy Industries Ministry.

     

    S K Mohapatra who was Deputy Director (M&C), PIB, New Delhi is now being moved as deputy director (M&C), PIB in Kolkata.

     

    J Kamraj, deputy director (News), DD News, New Delhi is to be the new deputy director (News), DD Kendra in Chennai.

     

    Neetu Sona M., until now assistant director (News), in NSD: AIR, New Delhi is moving as assistant director to the Publications Division in Thiruvananthapuram.

     

    Sukhendu Das, until now assistant director (News), DD Kendra in Imphal is to join as assistant director (News), DD Kendra in Kolkata. He replaces R L Borathakur who is being moved as assistant director (News), DD Kendra in Guwahati.

  • Prasar Bharati Board crippled as political appointees bid good-bye

    Prasar Bharati Board crippled as political appointees bid good-bye

    NEW DELHI: With the advertisement for filling the posts of member (Finance) and member (Personnel) in the Prasar Bharati Board being given out, the government has commenced the groundwork for shortlisting the names of Prasar Bharati Board members, as four more part-time members have resigned on moral grounds.

     

    Sources in Prasar Bharati have informed that Prema Cariappa is the latest to put down her papers, while earlier Suman Dubey, Deepa Dixit and R Kesavan who is great-grandson of Rajaji had resigned from their positions.

     

    There are currently seven vacancies in the Board, since Prasar Bharati is without a chairperson as Mrinal Pande’s term has come to an end, and the posts of both the executive members in-charge of personnel and finance are vacant.

     

    While no official comment was available, pubcaster sources say that these resignations could be due to the fact that they were political appointees.

     

    Under the Prasar Bharati Act 1990, the part-time members have a term of six years and therefore cannot be removed before that term is over even if there is a change in government or the governance of Prasar Bharati.

     

    However, one source said that the members are believed to have resigned as a moral obligation since they were appointees of the previous government.

     

    It is also learnt that the members were apprehensive of greater interference in the working of the autonomous pubcaster, and the resignations could be termed as a ‘boycott’ or ‘protest’.

     

    Another source said that the members were also unhappy with the fact that there were crucial delays in not only filling vacancies in the Board, but also the vacancies that had been cleared by the Group of Ministers as crucial to the function of the pubcaster.

     

    The Prasar Bharati Board comprises its chairman, an executive member (chief executive officer), member (Finance), member (Personnel) and six part-time members.

    That apart, a representative of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and the Director General of All India Radio and Doordarshan are its ex-officio members.

     

    Earlier in April this year, the then Union Cabinet had decided to maintain status quo in Prasar Bharati with regard to recruitment of people up to the age of 62 to allow the public broadcaster to fill key positions that have been lying vacant or are likely.

     

    Interestingly, a Group of Ministers (GoM) had earlier recommended that the age for these positions be lowered to 55 years and that recommendation has been under the consideration of the government. 

     

    However, the decision was taken on a proposal by I&B Ministry as the tenure of this government was ending and the implementation of GoM recommendations for lowering the age required an amendment to the Prasar Bharati Act.

     

    Prasar Bharati CEO Jawhar Sircar had earlier told indiantelevision.com that he was unhappy that no steps had been taken to fill important posts, which he felt should have been filled before they become vacant.

  • MIB gives ‘in principle’ clearance to recruitment boards for Prasar Bharati

    MIB gives ‘in principle’ clearance to recruitment boards for Prasar Bharati

    NEW DELHI: Even as Information and Broadcasting Minister (I&B) Prakash Javadekar has given his clearance ‘in principle’ to setting up recruitment boards for Prasar Bharati, it is learnt that a total of 1154 technical posts have been cleared by the relevant selection committees.

     

    These include programme executives, transmission executives, technicians, engineering assistants and duty officers, sources in Prasar Bharati told indiantelevision.com.

     

    These sources said that Javadekar had already held some meetings with senior officials of the pubcaster including CEO Jawhar Sircar and work was on to ensure a smoother relationship between the autonomous public service broadcaster and the government.

     

    Prasar Bharati had received clearance early last year for immediately filling up 1150 posts out of the 3452 posts which had been identified as critical and approved by Group of Ministers in June 2009.  

     

    The pubcaster has not had any senior-level recruitment since it came into being in September 1997, and the sources said that those posts which could not be filled out of these were held up because there is no Prasar Bharati Recruitment Board.

     

    The source said steps are being taken to set up the Board at the earliest so that the pubcaster does not face such difficulties in future.

      

    Earlier in March last year, the pubcaster had in a notice in Employment News notified Combined Recruitment for the Post of Programme Executive and Transmission Executive Examination for 1166 posts to be filled after interviews by the Staff Selection Committee.

     

    As of early 2013, there were 1362 vacancies in Group A, 1,584 in Group B, 4863 in Group C and 2272 in group D in All India Radio. In Doordarshan, 724 posts are vacant in Group A, 1140 in Group B, 2871 in Group C, and 1451 in Group D.

     

    All India Radio and Doordarshan had total staff strength of 33,800 against a total sanctioned strength of 48,022, leaving a gap of 14222 posts.

     

    The most critically affected areas were the Programme Wing and the News Services Division (AIR)/DD News.

     

    The Committee for Information Technology in 2012 regretted that Prasar Bharati had failed to live up to the assurance given by then Prasar Bharati chief executive officer that the recruitment boards for Prasar Bharati would be set up by 31 March 2011.

     

    It is understood that the Union Public Service Commission and SSC had both refused to select for a non-Governmental organisation, thus creating a new problem for the Ministry/Prasar Bharati.

     

    The proposal for setting up a Prasar Bharati recruitment board was approved by Prasar Bharati Board on 21 July 2010 and discussed in the Ministry and a final proposal was referred to the Department of Personnel and Training on 15 February 2011. DOP&T concurred with the proposal in June 2011 and the comments of the Department of Expenditure (DOE) were also received on 28 September 2011.

     

    The DoE had requested that a separate proposal be formulated for creation of posts for the secretariat of Prasar Bharati recruitment board and also requested for drafting of agreement containing terms and conditions of the members of the board. This had been done and the proposal sent to DoE in February 2012 and then to Law Ministry.  

  • Sunita Sahay joins Prasar Bharati as media interlocutor

    Sunita Sahay joins Prasar Bharati as media interlocutor

    NEW DELHI: Sunita Sahay, a public relations expert, has joined Prasar Bharati as media interlocutor to help the pubcaster focus more on its social media wing.

     

    Sahay hails from a Mass Communication background and specialises in PR, advertising and journalism. She did her internship with SAIL and Mutual Communication, a Delhi-based PR firm.

     

    She has spent a decade dealing with various aspects of the media industry. She was a PR consultant with Fourth Estate and has also worked as a sub-editor and a reporter with ITech Services, a niche magazine covering IT services.

     

    She then took a sabbatical for a short tenure, after which she has been freelancing, initially as an analyst for Delhi-based NGO CFAR and later as a content writer for top e-commerce portals.

     

    She said: “I am convinced about social media being the best way to reach out to mass audience and get immediate response. It has already seen the by lanes of many villages and hopefully it will have an impact on the other parts of India very soon, just through the click of a few buttons on your phone, tablet or laptop!”

  • DD’s FIFA offering

    DD’s FIFA offering

    NEW DELHI/MUMBAI: Reaching out to a wider audience so that the FIFA fever isn’t missed by all, India’s public broadcaster Prasar Bharati has got into an agreement with official FIFA World Cup broadcaster Sony Six.

     

    The deal is mandatory under the Sports Broadcasting Signals (Mandatory sharing with Prasar Bharti) Act 2007 for telecasting a few games of the mammoth event.

     

    These games include the opening ceremony (which was telecasted yesterday), the maiden match (played out between Brazil and Croatia), two semi finals and the final match.

     

    However, DD will be showcasing different advertisements during the simulcast of select matches.

     

    Officials from Sony Six confirmed saying that since FIFA World Cup is a mandatory listed event under the mentioned Act, therefore it had to share its feed with the pubcaster.

     

    Surprising, the marketing department of DD quoted higher ad rates than those quoted by Sony Six for a 10 second slot. Therefore following the modalities that come under the Act, DD will retain 25 per cent of the ad revenues while 75 per cent will be handed over to Sony Six.

     

    Meanwhile, keeping at bay all apprehensions,  the World Cup opening ceremony finally got off to a colorful start with American singer Jennifer Lopez along with rapper Pitbull and Brazillian singer Claudia Leitteto belting out the  official World Cup song  “We are One” together on stage.

     

    Kids who were draped as football referees created formations around a giant LED flower in the center of the stadium that displayed Brazillian colours and many languages. The famous Brazilian dance, Samba, was showcased as men and women in fancy colours put their best foot forward. The opening match between the host country Brazil and Croatia ended with a 3-1 victory with Brazil winning it. The lone goal for Croatia was only because Brazilian defender Marcelo scored Brazils own goal in the 11th minute.

  • Applications invited for posts of member finance and personnel in Prasar Bharati

    Applications invited for posts of member finance and personnel in Prasar Bharati

    NEW DELHI: In keeping with the Ministry’s promise of the expediting pending matters, applications were invited for the posts of Member (Finance) and Member (Personnel) for Prasar Bharati several months after these posts became vacant.

     

    Both posts became vacant several months earlier.

     

    In advertisements placed on the Ministry’s website and in Employment News, the Ministry said if the applicants are from PSUs, autonomous bodies, statutory corporations and Government servants, the application should be forwarded through proper channel and should be accompanied by Vigilance clearance, Cadre clearance, Integrity Certificate and ACRs for last five years.

     

    The post carries scale of pay equivalent to the Additional Secretary to the Govt. of India.

     

    The separate notices said the Member (Finance) should have special knowledge or practical experience in respect of financial matters while the Member (Personnel) should have special knowledge or practical experience in respect of personnel management and administration.

     

    The members will be appointed on recommendation of a committee headed by the Vice President of India.

     

    “The person so appointed being the whole time member of the Prasar Bharati Board shall be an employee of the Prasar Bharati and shall hold office for a term of six years from the date on which he/she enters upon his/her office, or until he/she attains the age of 62 years, whichever is earlier,” the notice said.

     

    The Members will be whole time Members of the Prasar Bharati Board and in pursuance of the Prasar Bharati Act 1990 will be responsible for all the financial matters, and personnel and administrative matters, respectively concerning Prasar Bharati.

     

    The Prasar Bharati Board is vested with powers for overall superintendence, direction and control of the affairs of the Corporation.

     

    The service conditions of the Members will be governed by the provisions of the Act and the rules notified by the Central Government in 2000 and the amendments issued therein from time to time.

     

    For applicants from private sector/autonomous bodies/statutory corporations, the applicants should be graduates from recognised university/institutions with good academic record. Persons possessing MBA qualification in Finance Management and Personnel Management respectively would be preferable. They should possess adequate post-qualification experience at a senior level of management in a large organisation of repute.

     

    For applicants from public sector enterprises, they should be senior executive /Board level executive working in reputed public sector enterprises, willing to get absorbed in the Prasar Bharati.

     

    For applicants from the Government, additional secretary/senior joint secretary level officers who are willing to get absorbed in Prasar Bharati on selection.

  • 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. 

  • DD, AIR to fast-track work on building archives and putting them in public domain

    DD, AIR to fast-track work on building archives and putting them in public domain

    NEW DELHI: Doordarshan and All India Radio have embarked upon a project to immortalise over 60 maestros such as Hindustani classical vocalist Pandit Jasraj and veteran playback singer Lata Mangeshkar along with their “signature performances.”

     

    The list of legendary artistes earmarked for the archival series project includes Hindustani vocalist Kishori Amonkar, Carnatic vocalists M Balamuralikrishna and Nedunuri Krishnamurthy, composer M S Viswanathan, Carnatic flautist N Ramani, Sarangi player Ustad Sabri Khan, and Mridangam maestro T K Murthy among others.

     

    While both AIR and Doordarshan already have extensive archives and work for archiving other works is in progress, Prasar Bharati CEO Jawhar Sircar said the main purpose of fast tracking the archival material of AIR and DD is to disseminate digital wealth to the public at large.

     

    Prasar Bharati has constituted a National Archival Committee of experts which includes Prema Cariappa, Shubha Chaudhuri, Uma Shankar, Suresh Chand Vankar and other senior officers from Doordarshan and AIR for the purpose of developing a roadmap.

    Doordarshan and AIR have already started compiling the data to ensure that the high-quality video and audio content is brought in the public domain.

     

    Prasar Bharati has instructed both Doordarshan and AIR to create a world class archival wing to digitize and fast track the development of its archival material.

     

    The task of indexation/categorisation/creation of metadata of the archived programmes so as to make them accessible at a later stage have already been initiated. The archival material would thus be repurposed and repackaged before it is being brought into the public domain.

     

    Noting that the reach of All India Radio and Doordarshan was the largest among all radio and TV channels and yet its advertising revenue was the lowest, a Parliamentary Committee had some years earlier said the public service broadcasters needs to project itself to the public.

     

    The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology said that according to the Information and Broadcasting Ministry both AIR and DD Archives can be a rich source of revenue generation.

     

    It said there is ‘urgent need’ to explore the ways to earn revenue nationally and internationally from these treasures on the part of the Ministry as well as All India Radio and Doordarshan.

     

    The Committee recommended that the details of the archives which can be made commercially available should be put on the website of Doordarshan/All India Radio/Ministry and publicised through various mechanisms which would definitely help in generating more revenue from this precious resource.

     

    The extent of revenue that can be generated through these archives is evident from the fact that the footage for one minute is provided by Doordarshan at the rate of Rs 6000 per minute to people making documentaries for telecast on any channel. The Committee was informed that 100 DVD titles have been handpicked from the Archive of Doordarshan and are available for viewing to the public at large.

  • Political appointees prefer to bid good-bye to Prasar Bharati following change of government

    Political appointees prefer to bid good-bye to Prasar Bharati following change of government

    NEW DELHI: Even as speculation continues to grow on the spate of resignations from the Board of the Prasar Bharati, it is learnt that one or two more members are expected to put in their papers.

     

    While no official comment was available with even Prasar Bharati CEO Jawhar Sircar declining to say anything, pubcaster sources said that these resignations could be due to the fact that they were political appointees.

     

    It is learnt that part-time members Dipa Dixit, Suman Dubey and CR Kesavan have put in their papers.

     

    Under the Prasar Bharati Act 1990, the part-time members have a term of six years and therefore cannot be removed before that term is over even if there is a change in government or the governance of Prasar Bharati.

     

    However, one source said that the members are believed to have resigned as a moral obligation since they were appointees of the previous government.

     

    It is also learnt that the members were apprehensive of greater interference in the working of the autonomous pubcaster, and the resignations could be termed as a ‘boycott’ or ‘protest’.

     

    Another source said that the members were also unhappy with the fact that there were crucial delays in not only filling vacancies in the Board, but also the vacancies that had been cleared by the Group of Ministers, as crucial to the function of the pubcaster.

     

    At present, the Prasar Bharati is without a chairperson as Mrinal Pande’s term has come to an end, and the posts of both the Executive Members in-charge of Personnel and Finance.

     

    Over 1100 persons are believed to have been selected by the selection committees for filling crucial posts, but these are not being cleared by the Government.

     

    The Prasar Bharati Board comprises its chairman, an executive member (chief executive officer), member (Finance), member (Personnel) and six part-time members.

    That apart, a representative of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and the Directors General of All India Radio and Doordarshan are its ex-officio members.