I&B Ministry
Ambani, Jain and Purie to meet Reddy
NEW DELHI: Is it action time in the media? If the meetings that have been lined up for information and broadcasting minister Jaipal Reddy today are any indication, then it seems things are warming up in the media cup.
From an hour from now, Reddy is meeting a delegation of media barons, including Bennett, Coleman & Co. MD Vineet Jain and The India Today Group’s chief editor and promoter Aroon Purie.
Later in the evening, around 5.30 pm, Reddy is scheduled to meet Reliance group chairman Mukesh Ambani.
Though ministry officials are tight-lipped about these two particular meetings, terming them as “courtesy calls”, it is expected that Jain, Purie and others would be discussing the issue of licence fee for private radio FM players with Reddy.
The I&B ministry has demanded payment of the annual licence fee from the private FM radio operators, which became payable on 30 April. The deadline has been now extended.
With a Reliance company, Reliance Infocomm, becoming aggressive on the broadband sector, which would also involve the I&B ministry, apart from the department of telecommunications, it would be interesting what the Ambani scion has to discuss with Reddy.
I&B Ministry
Press Sewa Portal digitises 1.5 lakh records, streamlines periodical registrations: MIB
Online system spans 780 districts; Rs 5.6 crore penalties, 88,315 titles cancelled
NEW DELHI: India’s print media registry has quietly moved from dusty files to digital dashboards. The government has digitised more than 1.5 lakh historical records of newspapers and periodicals and shifted registrations fully online through the Press Sewa Portal.
Introduced under the Press and Registration of Periodicals (PRP) Act, 2023, the portal now handles all applications for registering periodicals, replacing the earlier paper-heavy system created under the Press and Registration of Books Act, 1867, which has since been repealed.
The digital shift brings a wide range of services onto a single platform. Publishers can now register new periodicals, revise registrations, transfer ownership, file annual statements, pay penalties online and apply for circulation verification without navigating government offices.
As part of the rollout, specified authorities in 780 districts across India have been onboarded onto the platform. Since 1 March 2024, the portal has processed 11,081 applications and issued certificates across different categories.
The transition has also brought stronger compliance. According to government data, Rs 5.63 crore in penalties has been collected through the portal so far. States such as Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh account for some of the largest penalty collections.
At the same time, the authorities have carried out a major clean-up of inactive or non-compliant publications. A total of 88,315 periodicals have been cancelled nationwide, with Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi among the states reporting the highest number of cancellations.
The government says the system will continue to evolve based on feedback from users. The Press Registrar General of India (PRGI) regularly reviews suggestions to improve services and make compliance easier for publishers.
The full list of registered newspapers and periodicals is available on the PRGI website under the Registered Titles section.
The information was shared in a written reply in the Lok Sabha by minister of state for information and broadcasting and parliamentary affairs L Murugan, responding to a question from Damodar Agrawal.
