| At the moment, uplink permission is granted
by the Indian government to foreign news channels on a case to case
basis for a very limited period of time on occasions like general
elections.
In a note for a group of ministers (GoM), studying the uplink and
downlink policies before cabinet takes a decision on them, it has
been said that "foreign news channels/agencies may be granted
permission up to one year at a time for temporary uplinking through
a pre-designated teleport."
The proposal states that such news channels should be accredited
with the Press Information Bureau and the news footages uplinked
shall be primarily for use abroad and shall not be broadcast in
India "without downlinking permission and registration"
of the channels.
Diluting an earlier proposal, the government has proposed a fee
of Rs. 10,000 for processing an uplink application from a foreign
news channel, while stipulating Rs. 50,000 as an annual fee.
What is disturbing, however, is the control that has been sought
by the government over all TV channels uplinked from India or outside.
And, also the hurry that is being shown.
The GoM has been told in a note prepared by the I&B ministry
that uplink and downlink guidelines would be implemented "immediately"
after clearance from the Cabinet through an executive order.
"The option of having a regulatory body that would monitor
TV content and draw up detailed codes and standards, take action
on complaints, etc is being examined separately. This will require
legislative sanction for which the process will take considerable
time," the note for the GoM states.
Pointing out that "there are compelling reasons for regulating
channels being downlinked," the note says through the process
of registration, the government would be able to get detailed information,
including shareholding patterns and business objectives of companies/channels
as also their profit and loss accounts.
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