Contents of the Chapter:

• Intoduction
• Press and Print Media
• Prashar Bharti
• News Agencies
• All India Radio
• Film Division
• News Services Division

• Community Radio
• Doordarshan

• New Initiatives

• Digitalization

• MCQs for Final Practice

Introduction

• The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting is divided into 4 wings i.e. the Information Wing, the Broadcasting Wing, the Films Wings and the Integrated Finance Wing. The Ministry functions through its 13 media units/ attached and subordinate offices, six autonomous bodies and two PSUs.

Prasar Bharati

• Prasar Bharati is the public service broadcaster in the country, with All India Radio and Doordarshan as its two constituents. It came into existence on 23 November 1997, with a mandate to organise and conduct public broadcasting services to inform, educate and entertain people and to ensure balanced development of broadcasting on radio and television.

• Headquartered in Delhi, the Corporation is governed by the Prasar Bharati Board, which comprises a Chairman, an Executive Member (also known as Chief Executive Officer), a Member Finance, a representative of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and Directors General of All India Radio and Doordarshan as ex-officio Members.

All India Radio

• Broadcasting started in India in 1927 with two privately owned transmitters at Mumbai and Kolkata, which were taken over by the Government in 1930. These were operating under the name “India Broadcasting Service” until 1936 when it was given the present name “All India Radio (AIR)”. It also came to be known as “Akashwani” in 1957.

• At the time of independence there were six radio stations and 18 transmitters, which covered 11 per cent population and 2.5 per cent area of the country. As in March 2012 the network comprises 277 stations and 431 transmitters, which provide radio coverage to 99.13 per cent of the population and reaches 91.42 per cent area of the country.

Community Radio

• Community Radio, as distinct from public service broadcasting, serves to bring small communities together, focuses on the common man’s day-to-day concerns and helps in realizing local aspirations. In a number of countries community radio has played as important role in informing and empowering people, especially the poor and vulnerable groups. Keeping this objective in view, the Government had announced a policy in December 2002 for the grant of Community Radio licences to the educational institutions. Subsequently, NGOs/Civil Societies also demanded for participation in it.

FM Radio

• The Indian Radio industry is dominated by the State-owned AIR which covers 91 per cent of the country’s area and reaches 99 per cent of the population. The turning point for the industry came with the phase-II privatization reforms when the Government rationalized the licensing fee by fixing it at 4 per cent of the gross revenue.

Doordarshan

• Doordarshan, a public service broadcaster, is one of the largest television networks in the world. It started a service on 15 September 1959 at Delhi with the transmission of educational and development programmes on an experimental basis. The second television centre was started in Bombay in 1972 and later Doordarshan’s television service was expanded to other places. The rapid expansion of DD started in 1984 with almost everyday a transmitter being installed in the country. Doordarshan is presently operating 35 TV channels besides free-to-air DTH service and has a terrestrial network of 66 studios and 1415 transmitters installed throughout the length and breadth of the country. In terrestrial mode, Doordarshan coverage is available to about 92 per cent population of the country.

DD National: The Flagship Channel

• DD National channel is the largest terrestrial network in the world covering about 91.2 per cent population and 79 per cent land area of the country. Being a public service broadcaster the channel continues to make significant contribution to accelerate socio-economic changes, promote national integration, inculcate a sense of unity and fraternity and stimulate scientific temperament among the people. DD National is the No. 1 channel in the country in terms of absolute viewership.

NEW INITIATIVES

Digitalization

• Satellite transmission of all 35 DD channels is in digital mode. DTH transmission is also in digital mode. Out of total 66 studio centres in DD network, all the 17 major studio centres and 4 smaller studio centres are fully digital and 31 smaller studio centres are partially digital. Remaining 14 studio centres are analog, at present. Out of these 14 analog studios centres, projects of digital are under implementation at 2 locations and with the completion of these projects these 2 studios would become fully digital. 8 analog Studies and 31 smaller studio centres (partially digital) are planned to be fully digital, 8 analog Studios and 31 smaller studio centres (partially digital) are planned to be fully digitalized under 11th Plan.

High Definition Television (HDTV)

• High Definition Television (HDTV) is a broadcast system that transmits pictures with more lines providing significantly higher resolution than traditional formats allow.

DTH Service of Doordarshan

• “DD Direct Plus” Doordarshan launched free-to-air DTH Service “DD Direct Plus” in December 2004 with a bouquet of 33 TV channels (Doordarshan as well as private TV channels) primarily for providing TV coverage to the areas hitherto uncovered by terrestrial transmitters.

Mobile TV (DVB-H Transmission)

• Doordarshan started Mobile TV service (DVB-H transmission) in Delhi in May 2007, as a pilot project, with a bouquet of 8 TV channels. The transmitter deployed is of 5 KW power operating on ch#26 in UHF band, which is installed in Akashwani Bhawan, Parliament Street, New Delhi.

PRESS AND PRINT MEDIA

Registrar of Newspapers for India

• The Office of the Registrar of Newspapers for India (RNI) came into being on 1 July 1956, on the recommendation of the first Press Commission in 1953 and by amending the Press and Registration of Books Act, 1867.

Press Information Bureau

• The Press Information Bureau (PIB) is the nodal agency of the Government of India to disseminate information to the print and electronic media on government policies, programme initiatives and achievements. It functions as an interface between the Government and media and also serves to provide feedback to the Government on people’s reaction as reflected in the media. PIB has its Headquarters in New Delhi.

NEWS AGENCIES

Press Trust of India

• India’s largest news agency, Press Trust of India (PTI) is a non-profit sharing cooperative owned by the country’s newspapers with a mandate to provide efficient and unbiased news to all subscribers. Founded on 27 August 1947, PTI began functioning from 1 February 1949.

United News of India

• United News of India (UNI) was incorporated under the Companies Act, 1956 on 19 December 1959 and started functioning effective 21 March 1961. In the past four decades, UNI has grown into a major news organisation in India and, with its vibrant presence, provided the much-needed spirit of competition in the vital areas of news gathering and dissemination.

Nam News Network

• NAM News Network (NNN) is the new Internet-based news and photo exchange arrangement of the news agencies belonging to member countries of the non-aligned movement. Operational from April 2006, NNN was formally launched by the Malaysian Information Minister Mr Zainuddin Maidin in Kuala Lumpur on 27 June 2006.

Press Council of India

• Press Council is a statutory quasi-judicial authority mandated by the Parliament to preserve the freedom of the press and maintain and improve the standards of newspapers and the news agencies in India. It is an autonomous body with equal quasi-judicial authority over the authorities and the press persons. For the discharge of the above objects, the Council comprises a Chairman and 28 members. While the Chairman has by convention been a sitting or retired judge of the Supreme Court.

Press and Registration Appellate Board

• Section 8C of the Press and Registration of Books Act, 1867 entrusts to the Press Council of India, the Appellate Jurisdiction over the Magisteral Orders of Nonauthentication of a Declaration under Section 6 or its subsequent cancellation under Section 8B of the said Act. The Board consists of a Chairman and another member to be nominated by the Press Council of India from among its members. During the year,

• Shri Ramesh Gupta functioned as a Member of the Board. At the beginning of the period under review, 12 appeals were pending before the Board and nine more appeals were preferred.

Photo Division

• Photo Division, an independent media unit meant for visual support for the varied activities of the Government of India, is a subordinate office of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and the biggest production unit of its kind of the country in the field of photography.

Publications Division

• The Publications Division is a repository of books and journals highlighting subjects of national importance and India’s rich cultural heritage. It is publishing books in English and Hindi as well as in all major Indian languages at affordable prices. The subjects range from art, history, culture, biographies of eminent persons, land and people, flora and fauna, children’s literature, science and technology and Gandhian literature to works of references like India - A Reference Annual. Set up in 1941, the Division has published nearly 8000 titles so far in English, Hindi and regional languages. In the year 2011-12, it published 99 titles on various subjects.

Bharatendu Harischandra Awards

• In order to promote original writing in Hindi, Publications Division instituted the Bharatendu Harischandra Awards 25 years back. These prestigious awards are given annually in four categories namely Journalism and Mass Communication, Women’s Issues, Children’s Literature and National Integration.

FILMS DIVISION

• The Films Division was constituted in January 1948 by rechristening the erstwhile Information Films of India and the Indian New Parade set up in 1943, primarily for war coverage. The Cinematograph Act of 1918 was Indianised in 1952 which made the screening of documentary films compulsory throughout the country.

National Film Development Corporation Limited

• The National Film Development Corporation Limited (NFDC), incorporated in 1975, (100 per cent owned GOI body) was formed by the Government of India with the primary objective of planning and promoting an organized, efficient, and integrated development of the Indian film industry. NFDC was reincorporated in the year 1980, by merging the Film Finance Corporation (FFC) and Indian Motion Picture Export Corporation (IMPEC) with NFDC. The erstwhile Film Finance Corporation (FFC) was set up in the year 1964, with the primary objective of extending finance to young talented film makers for film production, whereas, the Indian Motion Picture Export Corporation, an autonomous body, was set up to regulate the import and export of films and canalization of raw stock into the country. The Corporation has its Corporate Office at Worli, Mumbai along with three Regional Offices situated at Chennai, Kolkata, and Delhi and a Branch Office at Thiruvananthapuram.

Children’s Film Society, India

• Children’s Film Society, India (CFSI) was established in 1955 to provide value-based entertainment to children through the medium of films. CFSI is engaged in production, acquisition, distribution/exhibition and promotion of children’s films. The Head Office of the CFSI is located in Mumbai with branch offices at New Delhi and Chennai.

TRAINING

Film and Television Institute of India, Pune

• The Film Institute of India was set up by the Government of India in 1960 under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. Following the addition of Television wing in 1974, the Institute was re-designated as Film and Television Institute of India. The Institute became a Society in October 1974 under the Registration of Societies Act. 1860.

Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute

• Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute (SRFTI), Kolkata, was established by the Goverment of India as an autonomous academic institution under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, and was registered under the West Bengal Societies Registration Act, 1961. Located at Kolkata and named after the legendary film maestro Satyajit Ray, SRFTI is the second national level film training institute to be established by the Government of India.

Indian Institute of Mass Communi-cation

• The Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC) registered as a society under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 (XXI of 1860) came into existence on 17 August 1965. The Institute, inaugurated by the former Prime Minister of India and the then Minister of Information and Broadcasting, Smt. Indira Gandhi, was established with the basis objective of undertaking teaching, training and research in the area of mass communication.

Broadcast Engineering Consultants India Limited

• Broadcast Engineering Consultants India Ltd. (BECIL) a profit making PSE was constituted on 24 March 1995 to provide the national broadcasters’ expertise to the private broadcasters in India. At present, BECIL is an established consultancy agency, system integrator and turnkey solution provider in all spheres of Broadcast Engineering-BECIL also undertakes operation and maintenance of various types of broadcast systems. BECIL has been offering services in India and Overseas.

Sample MCQ:

1. Consider the following statements about Prasar Bharti:

1. Doordarshan & Radio as its two constituents.
2. It came into existence on 1999.
3. Only retired Chief Justice of High Courts can be the chairman of Prasar Bharti.

Which of the above statements is / are correct?

1.  All of the above
2. 1 only
3. 1 & 3 only
4. 2 & 3 only

2. Consider the following statements:

1. Doordarshan is the largest television networks in the world.
2. DD national channel is the largest terrestrial network in the world.

Which of the above statements is / are correct?

1. Both 1 & 2
2. 1 only
3. 2 only
4. Neither 1 nor 2