I&B Ministry
169 MSOs get 10-year licenses under DAS
NEW DELHI: With the addition of eleven more multi-system operators (MSOs) after 25 March, the number of MSOs who have been granted permanent registration for ten years to operate the digital addressable system (DAS) has gone up to 169, even as the Home Ministry has been forwarded the names of 82 MSOs who have been awaiting security clearance for a long time.
Most of these MSOs had been given provisional permission earlier. The new list is as on 10 April.
The MSOs who have received permission after 25 March are: M C Transmission of Bhatinda for Punjab; Skyvision Master Channel for In Yanam and East Godavari District; Arohon Cable TV Network of West Bengal for 24 paraganas (south) which includes Amtala, Bishnupur, Daulatabad, Gabberia, Julpia, baruipur, Mruogranut, Srichanda, Bhasa, Bibirhut, Pailan, Roypur, Fatehpur, Sirakol, Sibanipur, Falta etc. and District of Howrah in the state of west Bengal under Phase III and IV; Machillipatnam Communication for entire Andhra Pradesh under Phase III & IV; Uday Infosys of Dhansura for Aravalli, Kheda and Sabarkantha districts; United Cable Communications of New Delhi for pan India; Radiant Digitek Network of Kota for Phase II, III, IV of entire Rajasthan; N T Broadcasting of Perambdur for Perambalur, Cuddalore, Salem, Villupuram, Trichy and Ariyalur districts in Tamil Nadu; SR Digital of Madhya Pradesh in the State including cities/towns/villages under Phase ll, lll and lV; Mahathi Warangal Communications & Cable TV Network for Warangal and Karimnagar Districts; and Yelamanchil Cable Network Pvt. Ltd of Vishakapatnam for Phase III in the State of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
With the rejection of an application by Digi Navi Mumbai Network of Andheri (East), the list of MSOs who have been refused permission as on 10 April has gone up to 28. Some of those in the cancelled list applied as early as March 2013.
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.
