NEW DELHI: The Government has reiterated that it has no proposal to control the number of television channels in the country, pointing out that the number of private television channels at present is 833.

Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari reminded Parliament that the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) had also opined against any cap on the number of channels to be uplinked or downlinked in the country.

However, the government is taking some steps to ease the problems relating to increasing demand on satellite bandwidth. These include leasing transponder capacity from foreign operators to meet the demand, and building and launching additional INSAT/GSAT satellites to augment the transponders capacity in the country.

Earlier this year, it had been revealed that 14 of the 58 space missions to be launched by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) as a part of 12th Five Year Plan, 2012-17 are linked to communication.

GSAT 10, GSAT 15, GSAT 16, GSAT 17, and GSAT 18 will specifically be communication satellites to augment the INSAT system with C and Ku band Transponders.

GSAT 9 will be a communication satellite to augment the INSAT system with C band transponders.

GSAT 14 and GSAT 11S will be experimental communication satellites, while GSAT 6 and GSAT 6A will be multi-media mobile communication satellites for strategic applications.

The five launch vehicle missions are GSLV ? D5 (Development flight with indigenous cryogenic stage for launching GSAT 14 satellite); GSLV D6 (for launching of GSAT 6 into Geosynchronous transfer orbit); GSLV F09 (for launching of GSAT 9 communication satellite); GSLV ? F11 (for launching of GSAT-6A satellite); and GSLV Mk III D1 (first developmental flight of GSLV Mk III for launching GSAT-19E satellite).

GSAT 7 is a communication satellite for special users, and both GSAT 11 and GSAT Ka are advanced Ka band satellite for VSAT communications. GSAT 19E is a new generation experimental communication satellite.

NEW DELHI: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has extended to 8 April its deadline for comments on its consultation paper on cross media ownership, which among other issues had sought comments on devising ownership rules for vertical integration between broadcasting and distribution entities.

The paper had been issued on 15 February, and the month-long extension is at the request of some stakeholders. Counter-comments, if any, can be filed by 15 April.

The paper will also devise rules/restrictions in case of mergers and acquisitions in the media sector, and media ownership rules within and across media segments.

Methodology to measure ownership or control of an entity over a media outlet, identification of genres to be considered while framing media ownership rules, and prescribing norms for mandatory disclosures by media entities are some other issues.

Trai has also discussed in its Paper issues relating to identification of media segments wherein media ownership rules are to be prescribed, and identification of relevant markets for evaluating various parameters to be used for devising ownership rules and the methodology for measuring these parameters.

At the outset, Trai said the paper had been issued at the request of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry earlier last year following a report of the Administrative Staff College of India, in Hyderabad.
Trai said that it was felt that reasonable restrictions may need to be put in place on ownership in the media sector, to ensure media pluralism and to counter the ills of monopolies.

It pointed out that such restrictions do exist in many international markets.

NEW DELHI: In a bid to check the rising menace of paid news, the government is considering amending the Press and Registration of Books and Publications Act.

The recommendation was made by the Parliamentary Standing Committee which examined the amendment bill of 2011 in this regard.

A few instances related to electronic media have been brought to the notice of the government, Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari said.

Whenever such allegations/grievances/petitions regarding unethical practices and incessant misreporting are received, the government takes appropriate action under the Programme and Advertising Code prescribed under Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995 and the Rules framed thereunder.

The issue of paid news has also been examined by the Press Council of India. It had submitted a report on paid news to the government for necessary action after a sub-committee studied the issue. Although the Government had initially released only a short summary of the report, it had later placed the report on the Council?s website following an RTI application.

PCI had recommended amendment to the Representation of the People?s Act 1951 to make incidence of paid news a punishable electoral malpractice and suggested that the PCI must be fully empowered to adjudicate the complaints of ?paid news? to give final judgment in the matter among others.

The report had also suggested measures to curb the menace of paid news like setting up of a special cell in the Election Commission for action on such complaints and self-regulation by media and awareness generation.

PCI had cautioned the media to refrain from publishing news masquerading as advertisement and vice-versa.

The Election Commission has also taken cognizance of this malaise and initiated steps to check incidence of election time paid news, which includes transparency in the money spent by candidates on advertising, a ban on exit and opinion polls until the last round is over, and similar other measures.

Meanwhile, the Ministry is in the process of making a reference to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India to examine alleged monopolistic practices in the distribution segment of the broadcasting sector.

The Government made a reference to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) on 16 May last year to examine the entire gamut of media ownership issues.

The Ministry has requested Trai to provide recommendations on specific issues of vertical integration within the various segments in the broadcasting sector as in the present scenario more and more broadcasting companies owning television channels are venturing into various distribution platforms, cable TV distribution, DTH, and IPTV etc. and similarly many companies owning distribution platforms are also entering into television broadcasting.

Trai has also been asked to look into the issue of horizontal integration wherein companies have controls/ownerships across print, TV and radio. The broadcast sector?s recommendations are awaited.