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DTH industry seeks tax sops

Published

14 years ago

March 10, 2012

NEW DELHI: The direct-to-home (DTH) platforms have made a strong plea for doing away with the entertainment tax levied by the states and the 10.3 per cent service tax levied by the Centre.

The DTH Operators Association of India has said that the entertainment tax is unethical as only the broadcasters or those who generate programmes should be taxed.

Harit Nagpal, President of the Association, told indiantelevision.com that the entertainment tax varies from state to state and the average percentage was around 10 per cent.

Nagpal, who is MD and CEO of Tata Sky, said all the DTH players have to pay customs duty on set-top boxes (STBs) imported into the country, which was as high as 20 per cent. This was unethical when the country was resorting to digitisation.

All the DTH operators also had to a pay huge amount as licence fee.

Nagpal regretted that the industry had for long been hearing about Goods and Services tax (GST), but this had still not come into effect. He hoped that the Negative List to be prepared by the Finance Ministry will help the industry.

Meanwhile, Dish TV called for the basic customs duty on digital head-end and STBs to be reduced to zero for three years to give a boost to digital conversion.

In its demands from the Finance Ministry for the new budget, Dish TV also wants the double charge of service tax and entertainment tax to be subsumed in the GST. It said there should some relief in licence fee from the existing 10 per cent to 6 per cent as agreed by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India and the Information and Broadcasting Ministry.

Noting that Dish TV expects positive move from Government on taxation, it said there is heavy taxation on the DTH industry which is already paying multiple taxes such as service tax, entertainment tax, licence fee and VAT.

It added that the double charge of service tax and entertainment tax should be subsumed in GST.

Bharti Airtel CEO (DTH/Media) Shashi Arora said the high tax of 35 per cent in toto does not give the DTH sector impetus to grow at the high rate and help digitisation. Levying of service tax, licence fees, and entertainment tax in addition to customs duty makes the package expensive for the common user and also discriminates against analogue cable which is free from paying these taxes.

He told indiantelevision.com that the government should have a relook at Entertainment Tax which is as high as 25 per cent in some states.

Since a DTH setup is far more transparent as against a local analogue cable, Arora said this tax appears unfair and anti-DTH consumer. “We recommend the government brings in the Goods and Services tax (GST) and covers DTH under it,” he added.

He said there was currently a dearth of quality indigenous manufacturers of the STBs in India capable of the scale required for DTH. The number of manufacturers of chip sets in the world was also very small, of which only a handful are based out of India. Thus, 95 per cent of the demand for STBs is met via imports. In order to drive digitisation, the custom duty on digital STBs needs to be brought down.

Arora added: “We would also request an urgent rationalisation of the 10 per cent licence fee levied on the DTH platform. The bulk of the costs of the DTH operator is content, that is the money paid for carrying paid channels on the platform. It is our recommendation that either the calculation is changed to adjusted gross revenue subtracting the content cost from gross revenue or the amount brought down to 6 per cent of gross revenue. This will go a long way in enabling the industry to overcome its losses.”

He added: “Today, every DTH operator from the largest to the smallest is bleeding and the appetite for fresh investment will decline unless this is corrected quickly.”

Arora said the industry expected that allowing the use of infrastructure of DTH companies for catering to neighbouring countries (with the same infrastructure) should be deemed as exports of services.

He was confident that with the government’s support and reform-led approach, the DTH sector would be in position to usher in the second telecom revolution. “We hope for a progressive budget that is growth oriented in spirit,” he added.

Applications

Moltbook, the AI-only social network, sparks hype, doubt and fear

Published

2 weeks ago

February 3, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

CALIFORNIA: Moltbook, a Reddit-style social platform built exclusively for artificial intelligence agents, has emerged as the latest obsession in Silicon Valley, drawing intense attention for its explosive growth and surreal bot-driven interactions.

The platform hosts more than 100 communities where AI agents post, argue and joke about topics ranging from governance theory to esoteric “crayfish debugging” concepts. Within days of launch, Moltbook recorded tens of thousands of posts, nearly 200,000 comments and more than 1 million human visitors observing the activity.

Yet the numbers and the autonomy are under scrutiny, as per media reports. A security researcher has suggested as many as 500,000 accounts may trace back to a single address, raising doubts about Moltbook’s membership claims. Many posts could also be the result of humans instructing their AI tools to publish content, rather than bots acting independently.

The platform runs on agentic AI, powered by an open-source tool called OpenClaw, formerly known as Moltbot. Unlike chatbots such as ChatGPT or Gemini, these agents are designed to perform tasks on users’ devices, from sending messages to managing calendars, with minimal human input. Once authorised, they can interact freely on Moltbook.

Some tech figures have hailed the platform as a glimpse of a post-human internet. Head of crypto custody firm BitGo Bill Lees, called it evidence that “we’re in the singularity”.

Academics are less convinced. Petar Radanliev, an AI and cybersecurity expert at the University of Oxford, said the idea of agents acting independently was “misleading”, describing Moltbook instead as automated coordination within human-set constraints. Columbia Business School assistant professor David Holtz, dismissed the spectacle as “thousands of bots yelling into the void and repeating themselves”.

Beyond hype, security worries loom large. ESET global cybersecurity advisor Jake Moore, warned that granting AI agents access to emails, private messages and files risks prioritising efficiency over privacy. Andrew Rogoyski of the University of Surrey said high-level system access could lead to serious damage, from erased data to compromised company accounts.

Even OpenClaw’s founder Peter Steinberger, has felt the darker side of attention, with scammers hijacking his old social media handles after the platform’s rebrand.

For now, Moltbook remains a strange digital zoo: part experiment, part spectacle, where AI agents banter about philosophy, productivity and, occasionally, their fondness for their human operators.

Applications

Apple appoints Avtar Ram Singh as head of international marketing

Published

2 weeks ago

February 2, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

CALIFORNIA: Apple has handed a bigger global brief to a long-time insider. Avtar Ram Singh has taken over as head of international marketing for the App Store, Apple Arcade and the Apple Games app, deepening his remit across one of the company’s fastest-growing businesses.

“I’m happy to share that I’m starting a new position as head of international marketing, App Store, Apple Arcade and Games App at Apple,” Singh said while announcing the move.

The promotion crowns nearly seven years at Apple, where Singh has led services marketing across Southeast Asia and India and previously served as head of marketing for Southeast Asia content and services, business lead for Apple Podcasts in the region and interim marketing lead for the App Store internationally.

His new portfolio spans three pillars of Apple’s services push. The App Store, which Apple positions as a safe and trusted discovery platform, now attracts more than 850 million average weekly users globally. Since 2008, developers have earned over $550 billion on the platform.

Apple Arcade, the company’s gaming subscription service, offers unlimited access to a catalogue ranging from brain teasers to big-name franchises. The recent addition of Sid Meier’s Civilization VII Arcade Edition brings a AAA PC title to iPhone, iPad and Mac from 5 February.

Then there is the Apple Games app, unveiled at WWDC as a unified destination for games from the App Store and Arcade. It aggregates titles in one place, surfaces personalised recommendations, tracks events and achievements, and lets users compete with friends or connect controllers for a console-like experience.

Singh arrives with a hybrid background in strategy, data and creativity. His career spans digital and social media marketing, business intelligence, content, editorial and analytics across culturally diverse markets. He has worked on brands including P&G, Accor, Audi, UBS, Nikon, Samsung, Sony, Pizza Hut, HBO and Singapore Airlines-linked businesses such as Scoot.

Before Apple, Singh led strategy at Falcon Agency, focusing on performance marketing and ROI-driven digital frameworks. He earlier ran the social practice at Publicis Singapore, where he oversaw operations, business development and regional social strategy for multinational clients. His career also includes roles at Ogilvy-linked Circus Social, Rocket Internet ventures Lazada and Zalora, and research firm IDC in Bangkok, where he analysed technology markets and won early awards for collaboration and client retention.

At Apple, he has been close to several service launches and expansions, including Apple Fitness+ in Singapore, Apple Creator Studio, global podcast subscriptions and new App Store marketing tools.

The timing is notable. Apple’s services business has posted record years, and gaming is becoming a sharper battleground as platforms chase engagement and recurring revenue. Singh’s brief sits at the intersection of content, community and commerce.

In a market where attention is scarce and loyalty scarcer, Apple is betting that sharper storytelling and smarter marketing can keep users inside its ecosystem. Singh now holds the megaphone. The real test will be how loudly the world listens.

Applications

Cloud nine in the capital Bharathcloud plugs Delhi into its AI plans

Published

2 weeks ago

January 30, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

MUMBAI: Bharathcloud is bringing its cloud closer to power. The Hyderabad-based sovereign AI cloud services provider has opened its Delhi office, marking its formal entry into North India and setting the stage for its next phase of growth.

The expansion comes as India’s digital transformation fuels rising demand for AI-ready cloud infrastructure, driven by wider adoption of artificial intelligence, machine learning, the Internet of Things and data-heavy applications. With the new office, Bharathcloud plans to onboard more than 100 employees in 2026, strengthening its workforce to support customers across government, enterprises, MSMEs and social sectors.

The Delhi presence is expected to sharpen the company’s engagement with organisations seeking secure, scalable and cost-efficient cloud platforms that comply with India’s data sovereignty requirements. It also positions Bharathcloud closer to policy, public sector and enterprise decision-makers in the region.

Founded in Hyderabad, Bharathcloud offers AI-ready cloud infrastructure including Kubernetes-as-a-Service, zero-trust security architecture and multi-level data protection frameworks. Its platform supports AI and ML workloads, blockchain application migration from hyperscalers and distributed data management, with an emphasis on reliability, low latency and operational continuity.

“With the Delhi expansion, we are positioning Bharathcloud to engage more closely with AI-driven enterprises and technology hubs in North India,” said Bharathcloud co-founder Rahul Takallapally. He added that the move would help nurture local cloud and AI talent while accelerating the adoption of secure and resilient AI infrastructure across sectors.

The company currently operates in Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Kolkata, Lucknow and Chennai, employing over 200 people and serving more than 1,500 clients across manufacturing, healthcare, financial services, IT and media. Aligned with national initiatives such as Digital India and Make in India, Bharathcloud continues to focus on building indigenous AI-cloud infrastructure to support data localisation and the country’s growing appetite for next-generation digital solutions.

With its Delhi office now live, the company is signalling a clear intent: to make sovereign, AI-ready cloud infrastructure not just an alternative, but a mainstream choice for India’s north as well as its tech capitals.