I&B Ministry
Govt. backs Gajendra Chauhan’s appointment as FTII chairman
NEW DELHI: The Government has backed the appointment of Mahabharat star Gajendra Chauhan as chairman of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), saying that the appointment was in accordance with the prescribed guidelines.
“The appointment in the FTII is made as per the prescribed guidelines incorporated in FTII rules,” Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Rathore said in the Lok Sabha.
Rathore said he is in touch with the representatives of the students and the alumni, who are on an agitation to protest the appointment of Chauhan.
“The Government had held talks on 3 July with representatives of FTII students and alumni wherein they were told that the appointment of Chauhan was made in accordance with the prescribed rules.” He also said that they were asked to resume their academic activities.
Rathore said the appointment of FTII is governed by the set of provisions of FTII rules. “As per section 3 (1) of the FTII rules, president of the institute is nominated by the Central government. Further, under section 22 of the Rules, president of the institute acts as chairman of the Governing Council,” he added.
FTII students have been agitating for over six weeks to protest the appointment of Chauhan as FTII chairman.
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.
