NEW DELHI: An inter-ministerial committee (IMC) headed by Information and Broadcasting Ministry Additional Secretary Rajiv Takroo has been set up to finalise the details of the e-auction for the third phase of FM Radio in the country.

The committee with nine members, of whom I&B Joint Secretary (Broadcasting) Supriya Sahu will be the member secretary, will "guide and supervise the process of e-auction and grant of license to private parties" for Phase III.

It will finalise and seek approval of the request for proposal document for selection of agency for conducting the e-auction for award of license of FM channels; review the auction framework, finalise the auction documentation, conduct and oversee open house sessions for stakeholders, and guide the agency selected for the e-auction.

The IMC will report to I&B Secretary Uday Kumar Varma. Other members are the representatives of the Telecommunications, Information Technology, Legal Affairs, and Economic Affairs departments apart from the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, all of whom will not be below the rank of joint secretary.

In addition, there will be representation of the director-finance from the Internal Finance Wing of the I&B Ministry, and the Director General of All India Radio.

A separate Appellate Review Committee to scrutinise the short-listing of prospective bidders has also been set up in the Ministry, headed by the Additional Secretary and Financial Advisor in the Ministry. It has six other members including the Joint Secretary (Broadcasting) who will be member secretary. They include representatives from Corporate Affairs, Revenue (Central Board of Direct Taxes), Telecom, Legal Affairs, and the internal Finance Wing of the I&B Ministry.

This committee will scrutinise various details including the networth of prospective bidders and put them up on the Ministry website, scrutinise bank guarantees and oversee the other work in that connection.

NEW DELHI: Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni has said that all issues relating to problems being faced by the print industry, including the issue of advertisements from the Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity, are being sorted so that the country can become a hub for the printing sector.

Soni said the magazine segment was expected to grow at a CAGR of 4.8 per cent by 2015 and the country already had over 77,000 registered publications including magazines in various languages.

Addressing the 38th World Magazine Congress here, Soni said the niche magazine segment is presently seeing an influx of international titles in the country and "this trend can only continue". 

"The liberalisation of our print media policy has not only attracted FDI, it has also given a growth perspective to the magazine industry in India. Currently permission for 260 Indian editions of foreign specialty magazines has been given."

She said review of the print media policy of 1955 when a bar was put on foreign-owned publications and in 2002 and 2005 by the government had paved the way for the "spurt" in the magazine sector.

Concerns of Indian magazines on issues like circulation figures, paper pricing and enhanced advertisement support from DAVP would be resolved soon.

The Ministry is trying to streamline the mechanism to address concerns related to police verification for titles even as it has resolved some earlier issues.

The Minister said that the present situation in the magazine sector was "somewhat more optimistic" than two years earlier when the World Congress had met in London. The way forward for the sector was to "innovate, adapt and expand".

NEW DELHI: Cricketing fans who do not have access to television are sorely missing out on the ongoing India-England series as it is not being broadcast live on All India Radio.

Industry sources told Indiantelevision.com that although the Sports Broadcasting Signals (Mandatory Sharing with Prasar Bharati) Act 2007 makes it mandatory for both Doordarshan and All India Radio to get signals of sporting events that are declared nationally important, the law is clear about only sharing live signals.

Channel 2, the exclusive rights holder of the radio commentary of the match, has refused to share signals with AIR since it claims that it is not broadcasting live signals, the sources said.

However, Prasar Bharati sources confirmed that Channel 2 had offered Rs 13 million to AIR on the condition that they would produce their own commentary and sell advertising rights. But AIR said after conducting an internal assessment that it could itself generate Rs 20 million in revenue from advertising.

Prasar Bharati CEO Rajiv Takru has said that the pubcaster will examine the situation to make sure that this kind of thing does not happen in future.

The tussle has deprived large parts of rural India without access to satellite TV - apart from those on the go in urban areas - from following the much-anticipated series.

However, former India captain Kapil Dev, who is now a director with Channel 2, is understood to have said that AIR‘s "allegations" were motivated and their attitude unprofessional. Dev added that since AIR had a virtual monopoly, Channel 2 could not sell the rights to anyone else. He also complained that AIR had not been able to take a decision despite being informed more than three months in advance.

A decision for the broadcasts may come in the event of intervention by Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni, Prasar Bharati sources said.