I&B Ministry
Information and Broadcasting goes to Arun Jaitley
NEW DELHI: Arun Jaitley, who has been divested of the Defence portfolio, has once again taken up the mantle of Information and Broadcasting Minister – a post he had held when A B Vajpayee was the Prime Minister – in addition to Finance and Corporate Affairs.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has, thus, upgraded the post of I&B Minister which has been held by Ministers of State with Independent Charge under Vajpayee, Dr Manmohan Singh and Modi.
Jaitley will also have a Minister of State to assist him in Information and Broadcasting – Col. Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore.
While Defence has gone to former Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, former I& B Minister will continue to retain the Environment and Forests portfolio. Ravi Shankar Prasad also continues to retain the Communications portfolio and former actress Smriti Irani continues to hold the Human Resource Development portfolio, both in cabinet rank.
Currently a Rajya Sabha member from Gujarat, Jaitley is a senior advocate of the Supreme Court. He had commenced his political career with the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, the student wing of the Bhartiya Janta Party. He has been a member of the national executive of Bharatiya Janata Party since 1991. After the BJP led National Democratic Alliance came to power under Atal Behari Vajoayee, Jaitley was appointed Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting (Independent Charge) on 13 October 1999.
Colonel Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore is an Indian shooter and politician, who rose to fame after winning the Silver medal in Men’s Double Trap at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. On 10 September 2013, Rathore joined the BJP after taking voluntary retirement from the Indian Army. He was elected as a Member of Parliament in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections from Jaipur Rural.
A film personality, singer Babul Supriyo, finds a berth in the cabinet as Minister of State for Urban Development, Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation.
I&B Ministry
MIB halts news TRPs for four weeks over sensational US-Iran conflict coverage
Government flags panic-mongering in television war coverage
NEW DELHI: India’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting directed the Broadcast Audience Research Council India (BARC) to suspend television ratings for news channels for four weeks amid concerns over sensational coverage of the ongoing conflict involving the United States and Iran.
According to media reports, the move intends to curb excessive dramatisation in television reporting that could trigger unnecessary public anxiety.
Officials have observed that several news broadcasters are amplifying developments in the conflict in ways that may fuel panic among viewers. By temporarily halting the publication of viewership data, the ministry hopes to ease the competitive pressure on channels to chase ratings through sensational content.
The suspension will remain in effect for one month for now. During this period, television news channels will continue to broadcast as usual, but their audience measurement figures will neither be counted nor released.
Authorities will monitor both the evolving geopolitical situation and the tone of television coverage during the pause. The four-week suspension could be extended if the government believes the risk of panic-mongering or sensational reporting persists.
