Page 4 - Information And Broadcasting Ministry

E-auction of 808 FM radio stations soon, says IB minister Anurag Thakur

The government will soon conduct an e-auction of 808 FM radio stations across 284 cities to further increase the footprint of radio communication, Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur said on Sunday. Addressing the Regional Community Radio Sammelan (North) here, Thakur said the government has also eased the processes for getting a license to operate radio stations, particularly community radio, by reducing the number of compliances. He said India currently has 388 FM radio stations in 113 cities across 26 states and five Union Territories. "Government is now planning a third batch of e-auction of 808 channels across 284 cities soon to further expand radio services," Thakur said.

Best web series award added to Int'l Film Festival of India: Anurag Thakur

Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur has announced the addition of a new award category to the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) that will be presented to a show for its "artistic merit, storytelling excellence, technical prowess and overall impact". The Best Web Series Award will be given to an original web series on an OTT platform, originally shot and available in an Indian language, Thakur said on Twitter on Tuesday evening. "Delighted to announce the BEST WEB SERIES AWARD @IFFIGoa to be presented to an exceptional web series for its artistic merit, storytelling excellence, technical prowess and overall impact. "India is filled with exceptional talent; I encourage you to tell the story of a rising and aspirational New India - ready to lead the world, with a billion dreams and a billion untold stories," the Union minister tweeted. Thakur also said the award aims to "incentivise and create investment opportunities in India's OTT sector, encourage content

I&B Secretary Apurva mulls hosting an animation film festival in India

Information and Broadcasting Secretary Apurva Chandra on Thursday met Annecy Festival Director Michael Marin to explore the possibility of hosting an animation film festival in India. Chandra led the Indian delegation at the Annecy International Animation Festival in France to showcase India's prowess in creating animation and VFX (visual effects) content for global audiences. "The Animation, Gaming, Visual Effects and Comics (AVGC) Sector in India is making progress with the adoption of world-class techniques and innovative technologies, coupled with a pool of immensely talented professionals," Chandra said. He said India was among the few countries that provided cash incentives to foreign companies for making AVGC content in the country. "The incentives are the same as for shooting films in India. This is a huge opportunity for companies to benefit from this. As a country, we are committed to providing incentives to the industry, as well as supporting pre and post-production ...

Prasar Bharti issues directive to rename All India Radio as Akashvani

CEO of Prasar Bharati, Gaurav Dwivedi said that this decision was made long ago but was not operationalised

Trai recommends IB ministry to grant infra status to telcos, broadcasters

To ensure compliance, Trai suggested that the ministry may consider mandating a standard undertaking which would be required to be submitted by each service provider on an annual basis

Union Cabinet clears bill to change film certification, curb piracy

The bill is likely to primarily target film piracy and limit the release of pirated versions of movies, which cause financial damage to the film industry

Experts caution overlap in DIB legislation, fear regulatory overreach

In order to remove any confusion, industry experts want the government to step in and create a sync between various legislations

I&B ministry, Amazon sign pact to promote India's creative economy

Amazon India and the Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry on Wednesday announced they signed a pact to boost India's creative economy. As part of the letter of engagement (LoE), Amazon and the ministry will help build pathways to promote creative talent in India, create capacity across eminent film and TV institutes, and globally showcase Made in India creative content. The LoE was signed at The National Media Centre here in presence of I&B Minister Anurag Thakur; Chetan Krishnaswamy, Vice President, Public Policy at Amazon India; and Gaurav Gandhi, Vice President, Asia Pacific, Prime Video. According to a press release issued by the company, Prime Video and miniTV will both work towards providing internships, and scholarships to students at Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) and Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute (SRFTII). To further the 'Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav' initiative, content from National Film Development Corporation of India (NFDC), national

Will take action to stop vulgarity on OTT in the name of creativity: Thakur

Taking a tough stand on complaints against content on OTT platforms, Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur on Sunday said vulgarity and abusive language was not acceptable in the name of creativity. Addressing a press conference here, Thakur said the government had taken a serious view on complaints of vulgarity and abusive language in content on OTT platforms and will not hesitate to take tough action to stop this trend. "These platforms were given freedom for creativity and not for obscenity and when one crosses the limit, then hurling abuses in the name of creativity cannot be accepted at all," Thakur said. "If there is a need to change the rules, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting will not hesitate. It will take tough action to stop vulgarity and abusive language," the minister said. In January, Thakur had batted for creative autonomy and said adequate safeguards were in place to monitor content on OTT platforms. "Creativity should not be reined in, it

New Telecom Bill: National security, consumer safety to be priority

The Department of Telecom (DoT) has resolved issues regarding the possible dilution of the powers of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai)

Efforts afoot to have built-in satellite tuners in TV sets: Anurag Thakur

Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur on Monday said efforts are afoot to have a built-in satellite tuner in television sets to offer access to over 200 channels, a move that could make set-top boxes redundant. He said there has been a humongous expansion of general entertainment channels on Free Dish, which has helped attract crores of viewers. "I have made a new beginning in my department. If your television has a built-in satellite tuner, then there will be no need to have a separate set-top box. One can have access to more than 200 channels at the click of the remote," he told reporters. The minister, however, made it clear that the decision in this matter is yet to be taken. In December last year, Thakur had written to Electronics and Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw to issue directions to television manufacturers to adopt the standards issued by the Bureau of Industrial Standards for built-in satellite tuners. Television sets with built-in satel

Budget allocates Rs 4,692 cr for Ministry of Information and Broadcasting

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday announced a Rs 4,692-crore outlay for the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting for 2023-24 as against Rs 4,182 crore in the revised estimates for the last fiscal. The allocation to the government's autonomous body, Prasar Bharati, has been increased to Rs 2,808.36 crore from Rs 2,764.51 crore allotted to it in the last fiscal. Sitharaman has allocated Rs 600 crore to the Broadcasting and Infrastructure Network Development scheme, which seeks to augment the broadcasting infrastructure, particularly in remote areas. The Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) in Pune, an autonomous body under the ministry, has received Rs 64.75 crore in the budget as against Rs 68.53 crore in the revised estimates last fiscal. The Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute (SRFTI) in Kolkata has received Rs 95.13 crore in the budget as against Rs 60.1 crore in the previous fiscal. The National Film Development Corporation (NFDC) has ..

Creative autonomy necessary, but with safeguards: Anurag Thakur

Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur on Sunday made a strong pitch for creative autonomy and said there were adequate safeguards in place for monitoring content on OTT platforms. Creativity should not be reined in, it should have autonomy. But it should not be too much that anything can be shown. We have kept adequate provisions and till date they are working fine, Thakur said, participating in the 75th anniversary celebrations of 'Panchajanya' weekly, the RSS mouthpiece. Thakur said creative autonomy was necessary with adequate safeguards to ensure that it was not misused. He said the ministry does receive complaints about content on over-the-top (OTT) platforms, but almost 95 per cent grievances are settled at the level of producers, while others get resolved at the second stage of the association of publishers of the content. The minister said only one per cent complaints reach the inter-departmental committee and it is ensured that strict action is taken in such

Govt calls out TV channels on 'distasteful' reporting on accidents, deaths

The I&B ministry says such reporting by TV channels is an issue of invasion of privacy and could be maligning and defamatory

Public service content on pvt TV channels to be voluntary: I&B ministry

I&B ministry set to issue a clarification in the matter soon

Entering the final stretch

The NDTV takeover battle is reaching its climax and there are many likely scenarios at play

The uplink-downlink puzzle

The new policy for satellite television channels is a move in the right direction. But for a sector facing existential questions, it doesn't mean much

Direct-to-mobile broadcasting pilot study in NCR soon: I&B Secretary

A pilot study on direct-to-mobile broadcasting, that has the potential to enhance the reach of television manifold, will be carried out in the national capital region soon, Information and Broadcasting Secretary Apurva Chandra said on Thursday. Addressing the Big Picture Summit organised by Confederation of Indian Industry here, Chandra said direct to mobile broadcasting was the next big thing for television media as it has the potential to increase viewership manifold. Currently, there are about 20 crore television households in the country. India has over 60 crore smartphone users and 80 crore broadband users. Reach of television media is set to be much higher, he said. He said IIT-Kanpur and Sankhya Labs have carried out a pilot study on direct to mobile broadcasting in Bengaluru and were now launching another study in either Noida or some place near Delhi. Chandra said the government was also working on the issue of TRP ratings. The pilot project on reverse path data (RPD) has

New media poses challenge of credibility: I&B Secretary Apurva Chandra

The shift towards new media for consuming information from traditional sources such as newspapers has presented a challenge of credibility to the government, Information and Broadcasting Secretary Apurva Chandra said on Wednesday. Addressing the first World Media Congress in Abu Dhabi, Chandra said India has over 1.2 billion mobile phone users and 600 million smartphone users who are consuming a high amount of information and entertainment via mobile devices. He said the traditional media sources in India comprised 897 television channels and over 80,000 newspapers in various languages. However, he added, that recently there has been a shift from the traditional media as youngsters were consuming information from new media sources. This has presented a challenge of credibility and that presented a challenge to the government, Chandra said. He said social media has caused faster and deeper percolation of information in India, to the effect that it has even reduced the loss of lives

Centre directs multi-system operators to get registered by Nov 25

Government on Tuesday asked multi-system operators (MSO) to get themselves registered with the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting within the next 10 days, failing which its permissions could be revoked. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) had asked MSOs in May to furnish information regarding head-end locations, Conditional Access System, Transport Stream/Frequency detail, RF Feed details, Platform Service details, CTAV Signal distribution areas. STB Seeding details etc. to state-owned Broadcast Engineering Consultants India Ltd (BECIL) officials or teams for monitoring system. The MSOs were asked to furnish the details on the website - digitalindiamib.com -created for this purpose. "It has come to the notice of the Ministry that some of the MSOs are yet to get registered and furnish the information on the portal," the MIB said in the order. Invoking powers under Rule 10A of the Cable Television Network Rules 1994, the ministry asked all MSOs to get themselves