I&B Ministry
Ex-Infosys exec Shashi Shekhar joins as part-time member of Prasar Bharati
NEW DELHI: Shashi Shekhar Vempathi, former Principal Architect of Infosys Technologies and now heading an online media company Niti Digital, was today formally welcomed into the Board of the pubcaster Prasar Bharati as a part-time member.
Actress Kajol, whose name has also been shortlisted, could not be inducted as she is said to be overseas.
“We welcome Kajol to Prasar Bharati family. Kajol is appointed as part-time member of Prasar Bharati board,” Prasar Bharati said in a statement earlier.
”Shri @shashidigital appointed as part-time members of the Prasar Bharati board. Welcome the Prasar Bharati family!’” the statement added.
Earlier, around eight names had been prepared and forwarded to the selection committee headed by vice president M Hamid Ansari. The committee also comprises Press Council of India chairman Justice (retd) C K Prasad and I&B secretary Sunil Arora.
Ministry sources said several of the names were among those forwarded last time when four part-time members were chosen in October last year.
In that meeting, the three-member committee had chosen former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s media advisor Ashok Tandon and noted Bhajan singer Anup Jalota, businessmen Sunil Alagh and Shashi Shekhar Vempati as members of the board of the public broadcaster.
Under the Prasar Bharati Act, the pubcaster should have six-part time members on its Board, which is headed by its 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.
