I&B Ministry
Home Ministry asks for updated directors list of downlinked TV channels to enable 10 year renewal
NEW DELHI: The Home Ministry has asked all television channels and those managing teleports, whose downlinking permissions have expired after five years or is in the process of expiring by December this year, to furnish details afresh about their Board of Directors and key executives.
As per a notice on the website of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry, the required information has to be filed by 10 May for the channels and teleports to apply for extension of their permissions.
The website lists 60 TV channels whose downlinking permission is over and six channels whose permission is expiring this year.
Channels whose permissions have expired include Sony Entertainment Television and its related channels, Zee Trends, B4U movies, BBC World, Bloomberg, DW TV, TV 5 Monde, various channels of the Discovery group, channels of Star Sports, channels of Nat Geo, AXN, NHK World, Ten Sports, Disney, CNN, Pogo, HBO, WB, Zee Café and Zee Studio.
The six whose downlinking permissions are expiring include Al Jazeera, France 24, ESP News and Grenada TV.
Asked why the period mentioned was five years and not ten as already stipulated, I&B secretary Bimal Julka told Indiantelevision.com that the period of licence was five years until 2011 but has since been increased to ten years. Thus, all these applicants will get renewals for ten years.
He also said that the period had been ten years for those who uplinked and downlinked, and the aim of the 2011 change was to make the downlinking permission co-terminus with the licence period. Thus, all renewals will be for ten years.
Julka also said that the Home Ministry had assured him that cases held up for security clearances as far as multi-system operators (MSOs) were concerned would be speeded up as the officials were until now tied up with the Nepal rescue work.
I&B Ministry
Government sets up AI governance group to steer policy
AIGEG to align ministries, assess jobs impact, guide AI deployment.
MUMBAI: If artificial intelligence is the engine, the government is now building the dashboard and making sure everyone reads from the same screen. The Centre has constituted a new inter-ministerial body to coordinate India’s approach to AI, formalising a key recommendation from its governance framework and the Economic Survey. The AI Governance and Economic Group (AIGEG), set up by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, will act as the central platform to align AI-related policy across ministries, regulators and departments, an attempt to bring coherence to what has so far been a fragmented and fast-evolving landscape.
The group will be chaired by union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, with minister of state Jitin Prasada as vice chairperson. Its composition reflects both technological and economic priorities, bringing together the principal scientific adviser, the chief economic adviser, and the CEO of NITI Aayog, alongside key secretaries from telecommunications, economic affairs and science and technology. A representative from the National Security Council Secretariat is also part of the group, while the MeitY secretary will serve as member convenor.
At its core, AIGEG is designed to do two things: coordinate and anticipate. On the policy front, it will review existing regulatory mechanisms, issue guidance across sectors and ensure companies remain compliant with evolving legal frameworks. Beyond that, it will oversee national initiatives on AI governance, with a focus on enabling responsible innovation rather than merely regulating it.
The economic dimension is equally central. The group has been tasked with assessing how AI-driven automation could reshape jobs identifying which roles are most at risk, where those impacts may be geographically concentrated, and whether technology will augment or replace human labour. Based on these assessments, it will develop mitigation strategies and transition plans, signalling a more proactive stance on workforce disruption.
In parallel, AIGEG will work with industry stakeholders to chart a long-term roadmap for AI adoption, categorising use cases into “deploy”, “pilot” or “defer” buckets depending on readiness factors such as data availability, skill levels and regulatory clarity. The aim is to move from broad ambition to structured execution deciding not just what can be built, but what should be built now.
The group will function as the apex layer in India’s AI governance architecture, supported by a Technology and Policy Expert Committee that will track global developments, emerging risks and regulatory priorities. Together, the two bodies are expected to shape both the pace and direction of AI adoption in the country.
In a landscape where technology often outruns policy, the creation of AIGEG signals an attempt to close that gap ensuring that India’s AI journey is not just rapid, but also coordinated, accountable and economically grounded.
