May 2011

2/5/11 -- The Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF), has announced that it had approved a “Self Regulatory Guidelines and Complaints Redressal Mechanism” for all non news channels, including general entertainment, children and special interest channels. Justice A P Shah, retired Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court, will head the Broadcasting Content Complaints Council (BCCC).

31/5/11	I&B ministry has issued a showcause notice to UTV Bindass for "vulgar, obscene and indecent" content in its serial 'Meri Toh Lag Gayi... Naukari'. The ministry has asked the channel to reply within 15 days failing which further action for violation of the programme code would be taken.
30/5/11	Public broadcaster Prasar Bharati is gearing up to auction slots on its free-to-air DTH service. At a base price of Rs1-1.5 crore per channel and with over 250 channels in queue to join DD Direct Plus, it could generate Rs360-400 crore in the first year itself.
28/5/11	Kalaignar TV has obtained license to launch a new channel the moment Kalaignar TV goes off the air.
27/5/11	A new notification issued provides for strong pictorial warnings for smoking (cigarettes, bidis, cigars etc.) and smokeless or chewing forms of tobacco products. Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad has cleared four pictures each of lung and oral cancer that will be used from 1st Dec2011.
26/5/11	Star Den Media Services and Zee Turner have floated a new distribution company, Media Pro Enterprise India. Both will have 50:50 stake in the new entity.
25/5/11	India is to help Afghanistan in the field of production and broadcasting activities. The MoU was signed between I & B Minister Ambika Soni and Dr. Sayed Makhdoom Raheen, Afghan Minister of Information & Culture in New Delhi.
23/5/11	The I&B ministry endorsed the recommendation by the TRAI to enhance foreign direct investment (FDI) ceiling for DTH, IPTV and teleport from 49% to 74%. However, it rejected recommendation to reduce the FDI ceiling for local cable operators from 49% to 26%, arguing that the limit had been 49% since 1995.
21/5/11	Broadcom Corporation has launched its 40nm high definition (HD) satellite set-top box (STB) system-on-a-chip (SoC) solution.
21/5/11	The indigenously built 3.1-tonne (3,100 kg) satellite GSAT 8 which has 24 Ku-band transponders for communication and broadcasting services launched from Kourou in French Guinea.
20/5/11	The Information and Broadcasting ministry has cleared 75 new channels including a few from Star India, Zee Entertainment, Discovery and UTV Entertainment. Some of the channels cleared are in High Definition.
18/5/11	The I & B Ministry has taken strong exception to applicants for new television channels using mediators to negotiate with the Ministry on their behalf and said it was strongly opposed to interference by third parties in this regard.
16/5/11	The first annual general meeting of the Association of Regional Television Broadcasters of India (ARTBI) held in New Delhi to finalise the constitution of the Association.
14/5/11	TDSAT organized a meeting on Dispute Redressal Mechanism in Telecom sector in Guwahati.
13/5/11	Motorola Mobility acquired SunUp Digital Systems, a software provider based in Santa Clara, California.
11/5/11	NDS has been selected by TrueVisions, Thailand's largest pay-TV operator, to provide hybrid services for its subscribers.
11/5/11	The gaming portal Zapak has for the first time launched an AdverGame on Reliance Digital TV and Dish TV to provide fun and engaging games on the DTH platform.
10/5/11	The Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) has clarified that there is no move to have a censor board for television.
10/5/11	Discovery Channel has launched its Bengali feed.
9/5/11	Shemaroo has set up an exclusive online Bollywood movie channel, Shemaroo Movies, on YouTube for free viewing.
7/5/11	The Supreme Court has issued a contempt notice to Sahara group managing director Subrata Roy and two others. Justices GS Singhvi and AK Ganguly charged Roy with allegedly interfering with the investigation into the 2G spectrum case and in the administration of justice.
6/5/11	The censor board has decided to monitor all programmes, mainly the reality shows that resort to vulgarity grab eyeballs.
5/5/11	US-based Christian evangelistic group, Word of God Fellowship Inc, has got the approval from Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) to launch a non-news channel in India. The group owns the Daystar Television Network.
5/5/11	US broadcaster HBO has released the HBO Go app for Apple’s iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch.
3/5/11	An 18-member Task Force headed by the Additional Secretary in the Information and Broadcasting Ministry, Rajiv Takru, has been constituted to oversee and facilitate the implementation of digital addressable cable TV systems in the country.
2/5/11	The Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF), has announced that it had approved a “Self Regulatory Guidelines and Complaints Redressal Mechanism” for all non news channels, including general entertainment, children and special interest channels. Justice A P Shah, retired Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court, will head the Broadcasting Content Complaints Council (BCCC). Source: http://cablequest.org/important-information/important-events/item/2304-may-2011.html

Source: http://cablequest.org/important-information/important-events/item/2304-may-2011.html