Constantly keep refurbishing formats as well as shows. That is the philosophy Narendra Morar, commissioning editor, BBC World, believes works today. And fitting well into this strategy is the latest India-specific programme launching on the channel - Dateline India.Dateline India launches Friday, 5 April and will be hosted by columnist Tavleen Singh. The weekly show fits into the same slot earlier occupied by Question Time India and will air every Friday at 10 pm.

The programme is weighted towards political issues and the format is that every week three journalists will be invited to debate and discuss the issues that have dominated the week. "Dateline India presents the viewer with topical, perceptive and sometimes controversial opinions and analysis on national issues," says Morar. "This new India-specific programme affirms BBC World‘s faith in the power, depth and understanding of Indian journalistic talent and makes the most of this to give viewers a better appreciation of current affairs and how it affects their lives."

Narendra Morar

While Dateline India will invite the top journalists in the country to participate, it will also serve as a platform to showcase journalistic talent that is normally outside the pale of most such shows, says Morar. It appears that he is hoping that Dateline India will offer more by way of opinionated debate than "the same old faces".

The success of the indigenously built Insat-3C launch is behind it. The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) is now working full steam for the launch of its next multi-purpose third generation satellite Insat-3A from Kourou in French Guiana sometime in September or October.

The satellite is in advanced stages of integration at the Isro satellite centre in Bangalore, reports United News of India. Over the next few months the satellite will undergo a series of tests before being transported to the Arianespace spaceport in the South America.

Unlike Insat-3C which was purely a communications satellite, Insat-3A will also have a meteorological payload in addition to a dedicated transponder for search and rescue operations.

I&B Minister Sushma Swaraj yesterday gave further indication in Parliament that the government was close to mandating on conditional access systems (CAS) as a way to resolve the ongoing dispute between the cable industry and broadcasters. Swaraj‘s comment was made as an adjunct to a question on whether the government had received a request to set up a television regulatory body.

The government has received no request for the setting up of a television regulatory body on the lines of the Telecom Authority to regulate the subscription charged by cable operators, Swaraj told the Rajya Sabha (Upper House of Parliament), in a written reply.

Swaraj disclosed that there was no legal provision at present to regulate subscriptions by TV cable operators. She, however said the government was examining the feasibility of mandating CAS for pay channel viewing through cable.

Replying to another question, Swaraj said a group of six officials had been constituted by the Prasar Bharati to examine the feasibility of privatisation and joint ventures in national broadcaster Doordarshan‘s Metro Channel.