NEW DELHI: Not only is the Cable TV (Networks) Regulation Bill, 2002, which is supposed to be discussed in Rajya Sabha during this session of Indian Parliament, at variance with the Task Force on CAS recommendations, but it also gives powers to the Indian government which are unparalleled in the whole of Asia, according to a recent survey.
The survey was conducted by seeking responses from lawyers from a number of Asian countries.

Take, for example, the pricing of the basic tier of free to air (FTA) channels. This is to be determined by the Indian government. The survey, a copy of which is available with indiantelevision.com, points out that nowhere does the government control prices anywhere in Asia, except in China and Taiwan.

In China too, price control is done at the local level of governance unlike what is being proposed in India where the price control will be effected through a Central legislation which will make amendments to the proposed law in this fast changing industry very difficult and time consuming.

The findings of the survey are being circulated amongst Rajya Sabha (Upper House of the Indian Parliament) members to highlight the shortcomings in the proposed laws relating to conditional access system (CAS).

Though the business advisory committee of Parliament had listed the CAS Bill on the agenda of the Rajya Sabha (RS), it could not be taken up as both Houses of Parliament were adjourned on Monday due to the Presidential elections. The CATV Amendment Bill is now supposed to be put up in RS for discussion next Monday. Lok Sabha (Lower House) has already okayed the amendments to the Act which seeks to facilitate implementation of CAS.

The survey also points out that in no Asian country are set-top boxes (STBs) mandated through a central legislation. In Singapore, for instance, where the use of STBs is wide-ranging and the maximum percentagewise amongst Asian countries, only newer and digital channels come through STBs, while people having older TV sets continue to access satellite channels without a STB.

Though the I&B ministry-constituted Task Force recommended that DD channels must be carried as part of a "must carry" clause, what the government has gone ahead and done is to take the power to decide what will be the composition of the basic tier of FTA channels. This amounts to a form of censorship, the survey concludes.

The survey compares clause by clause what had been recommended by the Task Force and what finally went into the Bill, which is awaiting Parliament‘s nod to be enacted into a Central law. It also compares the proposed changes being sought to be brought about in India with similar laws existing elsewhere in Asia.

NEW DELHI: The Cable TV Networks (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2002, which was listed for re-introduction in the Rajya Sabha (Upper House of Parliament) today, will have to wait another week before its likely enaction into law.

The Rajya Sabha was adjourned today because of the presidential elections. This is the second time that information and broadcasting minister Sushma Swaraj‘s bid to get the bill through the Upper House has come a cropper due to extraneous circumstances. The bill failed to clear the Rajya Sabha in the last session of Parliament (17 May) due to lack of time and was listed as part of today‘s business.

As per the schedule put out by the Rajya Sabha, Swaraj was to introduce the bill as the fourth item of today‘s listed business and was also to move that the bill be passed. According to I&B ministry officials that indiantelevision.com spoke to, Swaraj was now looking to move the bill next Monday.

The amendments to the Act were passed in the Lok Sabha (Lower House) on 15 May through a voice vote.

For action channel AXN, generating local interest in its programming is not about creating Indian programming or even Indian language feeds. It‘s all about bringing events linked to their popular shows to India.

Saturday morning in Mumbai was witness to just that with the channel conducting the AXN World Record Holder contest in association with HP Deskjet. Cheered on lustily by an enthusiastic crowd witnessing the first of its kind event in India, five youngsters attempted to do the country proud by setting records in different categories - some strange, others not so strange but that‘s Guinness records for you.

Seven officials timed the event and made sure that the feats complied with the strict requirements of the Guinness records. They also had to make sure that press photographers did not obstruct the television camera at any point while the feats were performed otherwise the participant runs the risk of being disqualified on a technicality.

The first category was maximum pull-ups in one minute. Prior to today the category did not exist in the Guinness Book of World Records and so the benchmark was set. Prasanna Pednekar set the record with 48 pull-ups in 47.56 seconds.

Bibhuti Nayak a journalist stole the thunder however. He broke two records. First he performed 133 palm pushups in one minute erasing the previous record of 116. Interestingly he also holds the record of doing 819 backhand push-ups in one hour. Next three cement blocks placed on his groin were successfully broken by another person with a sledgehammer. The previous record had two cement blocks.

Now all that remains to be seen is whether or not the Guinness World Records Committee in America ratifies the records.