I&B Ministry
Govt reiterates no plans to cap number of TV channels in country
NEW DELHI: Even as the Government has no plans to put a cap on the number of satellite television broadcasting channels in the country, the Parliament was informed today that permission had been withdrawn to 27 news and current affairs channels in the past three years.
Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Rathore today told Parliament that the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) in response to a reference by the Ministry had said on 23 July, 2010 that “no cap should be placed on the number of satellite broadcasting channels to be permitted to be downlinked from viewing in India or to be uplinked from India.”
The Minister also said that there was no proposal to amend the uplinking and downlinking guidelines to check the increase in the number of news channels in the country.
In reply to another question, Rathore said that the Ministry had withdrawn permission of 27 news and current affairs TV channels for reasons of non-operationalization of TV channels or surrender of permission, etc.
He said issues related to employment of media personnel, working in the TV channels (including news channels), are governed by the prevalent Labour Laws.
The number of permitted satellite television channels by the end of December last was 826, which include 405 news and current affairs channels and 421 general entertainment channels.
The statistics show that 697 channels (including 382 news channels) were permitted to uplink and downlink from within the country, and 36 (including seven news channels) were uplinked from India for beaming overseas and not in the country. The number of channels uplinked from overseas and downlinked into India was 93 (including 16 news channels).
The year 2014 has thus saw the clearance to more than 30 channels.
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.
