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Tuesday, 15 November 2022

New I&B Ministry guidelines-TV channels obliged to promote ‘national interest’

 


 

The Union Government’s revised guidelines for uplinking and downlinking of satellite TV channels, aimed at making India a ‘teleport hub for other countries’, include one new section ,the clause that states TV channels must devote at least 30 minutes every day to content designed to promote ‘public service and national interest’. The Cabinet has given its approval to guidelines that have made it obligatory for TV channels to telecast such content on eight themes — education and spread of literacy; agriculture and rural development; health and family welfare; science and technology; welfare of women; welfare of the weaker sections of society; protection of environment and of cultural heritage; and national integration. The rationale for the move, according to the policy document, lies in the fact that ‘airwaves/frequencies are public property and need to be used in the best interest of the society’.

 

Though the guidelines came into effect on November 9, the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting has said that TV channels would be given time to conceptualise and create content on the eight themes. The guidelines are binding on all channels except foreign ones and those devoted to wildlife and live telecast of sports. According to the ministry, in case any channel is found to be non-compliant, an explanation will be sought from it.

 

The newspapers and TV channels today are full of negative news in the country, while the fact is lot of positive things are also taking place in the country and they must be brought to the notice of common people. The media should not create an atmosphere of despondency that this country has no future. Bad news is good news for media for increasing their TRP, however in the interest of the country positive news also should be given due importance. Most of the  bad news in the International Media is written by Indians who are who are have a very negative opinion about their own country. This must stop.

On the face of it, there seems little to fault in the choice of the eight themes or even the advisory — after all, the idea of promoting ‘national interest’ is good. However, the real problem lies in the interpretation of the term ‘national interest’.On the flip side, more pliable channels could turn this 30-minute programming into advertorials. The ministry, thus, must display flexibility and let it be just an advisory with no punitive action attached.

 

COP27 summit in Egypt -  world needs to implement a ‘now or never’ plan

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has hit the nail on the head: ‘We are on a highway to climate hell with our foot on the accelerator.’ During his speech at the COP27 summit in Egypt, he has warned that the uncontrolled rise in greenhouse gas emissions and global temperatures will make climate chaos irreversible. Cooperate or perish – that’s his simple message to humanity.

A key reason for the sorry state of affairs is the rich countries’ reluctance to expedite the transition from fossil fuels and give adequate funds to poorer nations to tackle climate change. Underprivileged countries, mostly from the African continent where the summit is being held, have repeatedly sought compensation from rich nations for losses caused by climate-induced disasters such as floods, storms, heat waves and wildfires.

 

Amid the persistent gloom, the newly unveiled Executive Action Plan for the Early Warnings for All offers a ray of hope. The plan, prepared by the World Meteorological Organisation and its partners, calls for new targeted investments of $3.1 billion between 2023 and 2027. Its purpose is to facilitate climate adaptation and resilience by offering services related to disaster risk knowledge, forecasting and communication of early warnings anywhere on the planet. Timely alerts are expected to help underprepared nations get their act together and minimise the damage likely to be caused by extreme weather events.

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