Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Govt.has announced launching of a new 24x7 channel for North East

The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting has undertaken key initiatives in the different sectors aimed at enhancing the outreach of policies and programmes across platforms. Some of the initiatives undertaken have been innovative involving people’s participation, enhancing government’s presence on the social media platforms and strengthening communication at the grassroots. Some of the key initiatives are as under:

Launch of new Kisan Channel: Government has allocated an amount of Rs 100 crore to Kisan Channel, which will disseminate real time information to the farmers regarding new farming techniques, water conservation, organic farming etc.

Establishment of Social Media Presence of Government of India: In order to facilitate Ministries/Departments in registering their presence on Social media the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting has organized a half day training workshop on 11th July, 2014 at the National Media Centre.

Launch of new Arun Prabha Channel for North East: In order to provide a strong platform for expression of cultural identities and for creating greater awareness regarding North Eastern Region, the government has announced launching of a new 24x7 Channel for North East called Arun Prabha.

3rd and 4th phase of Digitization: A Task Force has been constituted to steer the remaining two phases i.e., Phase III and Phase IV of digitization in India, which will pave the way for implementation of digitization initiative in India, which will see digitization of about 8 crores Cable TV homes in India. It is also a step towards the Prime Minister’s dream of a Digital India as digitization will enable quick penetration of broadband connectivity in India.

3rd phase of FM radio auction: On the request of this Ministry, TRAI has furnished its recommendations on migration of FM Radio Broadcasters from Phase-II to Phase-III.  The issue is being examined.

Goa declared the Permanent Destination for International Films Festival of India: In order to develop the “Brand IFFI" on the lines of other International Film Festivals, the Goa has been declared as the permanent destination for International Films Festival of India.

North East Film Festival: For the first time, a three-day North East Film Festival was held in Delhi (Siri Fort Complex) on a grand scale.  It will henceforth be an annual feature, a prominent event in the film festival calendar of the Directorate of Film Festivals.

FTII, SRFTII to be institutes of National Importance: In Order to provide statutory backing through an act of Parliament to declare both the institutes as Institutes of National Importance the government has proposed a Bill. The proposed Bill would enable both the Institutes to award its own degrees and diplomas and start new activities on the lines of IITs and IIMs.

Meeting with stakeholders related to Set-Top-Boxes to promote Indigenization of Digitization: Efforts were taken to fulfill the long pending demand of domestic manufacturers of Set Top Boxes to get tax concession (C Form benefit) in order to compete with imported STBs.

e-initiatives: The office of Registrar of Newspapers for India (RNI) under M/o I&B has streamlined its Single Window Public dealing mechanism at its office. RNI has achieved 100 % success in online e-filing of annual statements by publishers for 2013- 14.

Boost to Community Radio movement in the Country: The government has allotted an amount of Rs 100 crores for “Supporting Community Radio Movement in India”. This would enable setting up of 600 community radio stations across the country in the 12th Five Year Plan. This major initiative of the new government will strengthen the connect with the population living in rural and marginalized areas.

Simplification of Procedures for granting Television licences for starting additional television channels: Ministry of Home Affairs has agreed to the proposal of I&B Ministry for not seeking security clearance for such channels whose security clearance have already been sought earlier along with the Board of Directors. This decision has paved the way for speedy clearance of additional television channel permissions, which will benefit the broadcast industry in a big way.  After the decision was taken 23 TV channels have already been permitted by the Ministry.

Proposal cleared for Rs.600 crore National Film Heritage Mission (NFHM) to preserve India’s film legacy: The revised EFC proposal for a Rs. 600 crore National Film Heritage Mission project to preserve India’s filmic legacy was cleared by the Expenditure Finance Committee in the Ministry of Finance on 3rd July, 2014. The draft Cabinet Note has been circulated to the concerned Ministries and the Note will shortly be submitted for approval of the Cabinet.

Peoples' participation in Government Advertising through Crowd- Sourcing of Advertisements: The advertisement for the important events being designed on the crowd sourcing model. Independence Day advertisement designed on these lines and DAVP has invited suggestions for the proposed advertisement to be brought out on 5th September to observe “Teachers Day”.

Adopting 360 degree approach to information dissemination: For Independence Day, the advertisements were crowd sourced for the first time and Independence Day coverage was extended to all Media platforms. Similarly, a series of Press Conferences being organized to highlight the initiatives of the Government and the same approach is being adopted to ensure information dissemination across all platforms.