New print media policy and TV channel's renewal process among MIB's top initiatives in 2016

Completion of first and second batch of FM Phase 3 auctions and thrust on cable TV digitisation remain other achievements of the year by the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting

BestMediaInfo Bureau | Delhi | December 26, 2016

As the year 2016 comes to an end, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting has listed its major initiatives and achievements during the year. The initiatives of Ministry in different sectors are mentioned below:

Broadcast Sector

Simplification of Annual Renewal process for existing TV channels as part of 'Ease of Doing Business': Under this initiative, broadcasters who have been given the permission for Uplinking or Downlinking can continue their operations by simply paying the annual permission fee upto 60 days before the due date, which by itself will be treated as permission for continuation of the channel for a further period of one year.

A total of 170 channels have been given licences from Jun 2014 till Dec 2016. Of these, 25 licences are given to News channels and 145 licences have been to non-news channels.

Increased reach of FM Radio all over India- FM Phase 3 auctions first and second batch completed. The auctions for the second batch were held recently for 266 channels in 92 cities.

Digitisation of Cable TV to bring the entire country under Digital Addressable System: The deadline for implementation of Phase III of digitization was December 31, 2015 while for Phase IV it is by December 31, 2016. Recently Ministry has extended the cutoff date for Phase IV to March 31, 2017.

Akashvani Maitree:  An exclusive service for Bangladesh and Bengali diaspora launched by All India Radio. Baluchi Multimedia website and Mobile App for greater people to people contact  also launched

Boost to Community Radio movement in the Country: In a major push to Community Radio movement in the country, Ministry has increased the subsidy for setting up of Community Radio Stations from 50 % to 90% in the North Eastern States and 75% in other States, subject to a maximum limit of Rs 7.5 lakhs.

Swachhta Samachar: Special 5 minutes Bulletin on Swachhta has been started on all weekdays. The Bulletin includes important news stories, people's initiative and feature stories related to Swachh Bharat Abhiyan along with a Swachhta Tip.

Information Sector

New Print Media Advertisement Policy for DAVP

• Objective is to promote transparency and accountability in issuing of Government advertisements in print media and weeding out ghost/irregular newspapers.
• Policy introduces a New Marking System and Circulation Verification Procedure for empanelment of Newspapers/Journals with DAVP

Three member committee to address the issues related to Content Regulation in Government Advertising constituted as per the directions of Supreme Court. The committee is chaired by B.B. Tandon, Former Chief Election Commissioner of India.

New Business Policy for Publication Division: The objective to streamline business practices in line with the contemporary trends prevailing in publications industry. The policy promotes online readership by pricing the digital version of the publication at 75% the price of printed version. It acknowledges the growing prospects of e-commerce and promotes sale of e- books of the division through online platforms.

360 degree Multimedia Campaigns to give wide publicity to the schemes launched by the Government. The activities range from holding of Press conferences, telecast/broadcast of special programmes on DD and AIR with experts, Multimedia Exhibitions, social media campaigns using Infographics, animations, graphic plates, short videos, live streaming of events /conferences. Some of these initiatives include:

• International Yoga Day, Swachh Bharat , Make in India, Skill India, Digital India, Rashtriya Ekta Diwas

Peoples' participation in Government Advertising through Crowd- Sourcing: The advertisement for important events being designed on the crowd sourcing model. An online contest was also organized by Social Media Cell of the Ministry as a part of 67th Republic Day celebrations.

Publications Division has released the E-version of the India/ Bharat-2016. Online payment and subscription services for popular journals and Employment News of Publications Division through Bharat Kosh Portal of Ministry of Finance.

Release of books on Rashtrapati Bhavan published by the Publications Division. Some of the books are “Around India's First Table: Dining and Entertaining at Rashtrapati Bhavan”, “The Arts and Interiors of Rashtrapati Bhavan: Lutyens and Beyond”, “Discover the Magnificent World of Rashtrapati Bhavan”, “A Work of Beauty: The Architecture and Landscape of Rashtrapati Bhavan”, “First Garden of the Republic: Nature in the President's Estate” among others.

A book on Courts of India- Past to Present published by the Publications Division under the guidance of the Supreme Court was also released.

Indian Institute of Mass Communication

• The Diploma course in Urdu Journalism upgraded to the level of PG Diploma in Urdu Journalism of nine months duration from the current academic session i.e. 2016-17.

Vartalap / Regional Editors Conference

• As a new initiative, PIB Regional Units are organizing “Vartalap” in various regions across the country with regional media to interact &create awareness about the new developmental initiatives/schemes of the government. Regional Editors Conferences were organized in Jaipur, Chennai & Chandigarh.

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