MAM
Trai issues format for submission of ad duration details on channels
NEW DELHI: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) Wednesday issued the format in which broadcasters will have to provide information about ad duration on a quarterly basis.
As per the format, every television channel will be required to provide details of commercial ads, self promotional ads, and public service ads, where no revenue accrues to the broadcaster, broadcast on a clock hour basis for all 24 hours of the day.
According to Trai, the said information will have to be reported on first Saturday and Sunday and the last Wednesday and Thursday of each month of the quarter. For all other days of the quarter, the broadcasters will have to specify maximum duration of the advertisements in any clock hour for each day of the quarter reported upon.
Under Standards of Quality of Service (Duration of Advertisements in Television Channels) Regulations 2012, every broadcaster has to submit information about ad duration on their respective channels in a set format within fifteen days from the end of a quarter.
The Trai had on 22 March notified the Standards of Quality of Service (Duration of Advertisement in Television Channels) after watering down the amended version of the ad regulation. The main regulation was issued on 14 May last year but had to be amended after it was challenged by broadcasters in Tdsat.
The amended ad regulation has done away with contentious clauses by keeping standardised ad duration at 12 minutes on clock hour basis for all channels as stated under the advertising code of the Cable Television Networks Rules (CTNR) 1994.
As per the advertising code, no programme shall carry advertisements exceeding 12 minutes per hour, which may include up to 10 minutes per hour of commercial advertisements, and up to 2 minutes per hour of a channel‘s self-promotional programmes.
Brands
Trump announces $300bn Texas oil refinery with Reliance, calls it the biggest in US history
First new US refinery in 50 years planned at Brownsville port with Reliance
WASHINGTON: The United States may soon see the first brand-new oil refinery built on its soil in half a century.
Donald Trump announced a proposed $300 billion refinery project in Texas, calling it a landmark moment for American energy production and jobs.
Posting on Truth Social on 10 March, Trump said the facility would be built at the Port of Brownsville and developed by a company called America First Refining, with major investment from India’s Reliance Industries.
The announcement frames the project as a centrepiece of the administration’s push for “energy dominance”, with Trump claiming it would deliver thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in economic activity to South Texas.
If realised, the plant would mark the first all-new major refinery constructed in the United States since the 1970s. In recent decades, oil companies have largely chosen to expand existing facilities rather than build new ones, citing high costs, regulatory hurdles and environmental scrutiny.
Trump described the proposed investment as the “biggest in US history”, positioning it as proof that policy changes such as streamlined permits and lower taxes are drawing large-scale energy investments back into the country.
The refinery is planned for the Port of Brownsville, a strategic Gulf Coast location that provides easy access to shipping routes and export markets.
A key partner in the project is Reliance Industries, controlled by billionaire industrialist Mukesh Ambani. The company already runs the world’s largest refining complex in Jamnagar, India, making it one of the most experienced operators in large-scale petroleum processing.
The Texas venture would mark a significant step for the group into America’s domestic refining sector, potentially strengthening industrial ties between the US and India.
The proposed refinery is being promoted as a next-generation facility capable of processing American shale oil while maintaining high environmental standards. Trump said it would be “the cleanest refinery in the world”, although the specific technologies behind that claim have not yet been detailed.
Industry observers also note that the $300 billion figure is unusually large for a refinery project, and analysts are waiting for more clarity on whether the number reflects total construction costs, long-term infrastructure investment, or broader economic impact estimates.
As of 11 March, Reliance Industries had not publicly confirmed the investment size or the structure of its involvement.
For now, the announcement has sparked equal parts excitement and curiosity in energy markets. If the plan moves from promise to pouring concrete, the refinery could reshape the Gulf Coast energy landscape, and reopen a chapter in American refining that has been quiet for nearly fifty years.
