I&B Ministry
EC to confer awards to media for creating electoral awareness
NEW DELHI: National Media Awards will be presented to media houses for conducting campaigns to educate and make voters aware of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
Announcing this, the Election Commission of India asked for entries by 15 November and said the awards will be presented on 25 January, the National Voters Day.
Awards will be given separately to print and electronic media. The Commission has directed Chief Electoral Officers of all states to send nominations of two media houses, which worked to create awareness during elections.
The Commission has directed its award related circular to be uploaded to the Chief Electoral Officer’s website. Media houses may also send their nominations directly to the Election Commission, it said.
A jury constituted by the Election Commission will consider nominations, which should reach it along with the states CEOs’ recommendation by 30 October.
The Election Commission will also award civil society organisations for outstanding campaigning to create voter awareness. Civil societies extending maximum co-operation to the Chief Electoral Officer’s office may be nominated for this award.
Written recommendation of Chief Electoral Officer or District Election Officer should accompany every nomination, it said. Self-nomination would not be considered.
I&B Ministry
Prasar Bharati sets EPG standards for DD Free Dish platform
New specs define 7-day guide, LCN mapping, and device compatibility.
MUMBAI: Your TV guide just got a backstage pass structured, scheduled, and far more in sync. Prasar Bharati has released detailed technical specifications for Electronic Programme Guide (EPG) services on DD Free Dish, laying down a standardised framework for how channels and programme information are organised and delivered. At the core of the update is a defined EPG data structure, covering genre-based categorisation, scheduling formats, and Logical Channel Numbering (LCN). The aim is simple: make navigation less guesswork and more guided experience across the platform’s over 40 million households.
The specifications also introduce a seven-day programme guide window for each channel, alongside clear rules for channel grouping and LCN mapping effectively deciding not just what you watch, but how easily you find it.
On the technical front, the document outlines requirements for Program Specific Information (PSI) and Service Information (SI), including descriptor usage across tables such as PAT, BAT and NIT. It further details service lists and network linkage parameters, giving OEMs and developers a clearer blueprint for integration.
Importantly, the framework is designed to work seamlessly with television sets equipped with in-built satellite tuners, enabling users to access DD Free Dish directly without additional hardware, an incremental but meaningful step towards simplifying access.
The platform will continue to operate on GSAT-15 transponders, using MPEG-4 compression and DVB-S2 transmission standards, ensuring continuity even as the interface evolves.
While largely technical, the move signals a broader push towards standardisation and user-friendly discovery in India’s free-to-air ecosystem because sometimes, the real upgrade isn’t what’s on screen, but how easily you get there.
