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I&B
Ministry asks for new Prasar Bharati CEO
In an effort to give the Prasar Bharati
Board a shape, the Information & Broadcasting ministry
has asked the selection committee headed by the Vice-president,
to select a new Chief Executive Officer and members, personnel
and finance, alongwith a Chairman and three part-time members.
The I&B minister Sushma Swaraj admitted that she had written
to the vice-president in this regard on December 13 in order
to end the ad-hocism prevailing in the Prasar Bharati Board
at present.The board has been without a CEO for the last couple
of years. The Additional Secretary in the I& B Ministry,
Rajiv Ratan Shah had been officiating as the CEO. Describing
the present board as "truncated", the Minister said
it comprised only the CEO and three part-time members at present.
While the ministry had earlier written to the selection committee
to choose the chairman and three part-time members, it had
made another request on December 13 for the selection of the
CEO and members-financed and personnel.
Mrs Swaraj said the service conditions of the CEO and members
were expected to be finalised by the time the committee meets
to select the new appointees.
On the convergence bill, Mrs Swaraj said the next meeting
of the group of ministers would be held on December 21 to
discuss the draft bill. The government’s recommendations
were expected to be finalised at the next meeting and the
bill, tentatively titled as ‘communications convergence
bill’ would be tabled in the budget session of parliament,
she added.
On direct-to-home (dth) telecast, Mrs Swaraj said the guidelines
on this would be formulated within a month. In answer to a
question, she affirmed that a proposal on digital terrestrial
transmission (dtt) was before the ministry. However, given
the far-reaching implications of this technology, the ministry
would give it thought after the winter session of parliament
was over.
Refuting that DTT and DTH would be at cross-purposes, she
said in India there was a niche audience for different media
and technologies.
On conditional access for cable operators, Mrs Swaraj said
her ministry was awaiting the opinion of the law ministry
on this matter.
Expressing concern at the recent development in the Mumbai
film industry with the arrest of producer Nazim Hassan Rizvi
for alleged connections with don Chhota Shakeel, Mrs Swaraj
said the granting of industry status to Bollywood was helping
to reduce the influence of bad money. "I have always
held that good money equates with good cinema."
The
federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI)
had set up a media cell and was also imparting expertise to
filmmakers to make their projects bankable.
The
Minister said a 24-hour satellite North-eastern channel would
be launched on December 23 from Guwahati. The channel would
carry programmes in the languages of all seven North-eastern
states and help to counter the telecasts from across the border
in Bangladesh and Myanmar.
The I and B ministry had consulted both the home and defence
ministries, specially on the locations for the installation
of transmitters. A cabinet note was also under preparation,
asking for a Rs.500 crore package for the hardware infrastructure
for the new channel. It was the ministry’s endeavour
to cover 96.5 per cent of the population in the North-eastern
states by the new channel at the earliest, she added.
UNI
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