I&B Ministry
IPR Think Tank invites suggestions from stakeholders
NEW DELHI: The Think Tank constituted by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion to draft the National Intellectual Property Rights Policy has sought views from stakeholders for the first draft.
The group set up on 19 December headed by Justice (Retd) Prabha Sridevan to head and advice the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion on IPR issues wants to receive comments on ipr@nic.in on or before 30 January.
Other members of the IPR Think Tank are: Senior Advocate Pratibha M Singh; advocate Punita Bhargava; Unnat Pandit of Cadila Pharmaceuticals; and Rajeev Srinivasan who is Director of Asian School of Business in Thiruvananthapuram. WIPO retired DDG Narendra K. Sabarwal will serve as Convener.
The IPR Think Tank will draft a National Intellectual Property Rights Policy; identify areas in the IPRs where study needs to be conducted and to furnish recommendations in this regard to the Ministry; provide views on the possible implications of demands placed by the negotiating partners; keep the Government regularly informed about the developments taking place in IPR cases which have an impact upon India`s IPR Policy; advise the Government on best practices to be followed in Trademark Offices, Patent Offices and other Government Offices dealing with IPR in order to create an efficient and transparent system of functioning in the said offices; prepare periodic reports on best practice followed in foreign countries; highlight anomalies in the present IPR legislations and to advice possible solutions to the Ministry; give suggestions on the steps that may be taken for improving infrastructure in IP offices and Tribunals; and examine the current issues raised by industry associations and those that may have appeared in media and to give suggestions to the Ministry on such issues.
I&B Ministry
Prasar Bharati sets EPG standards for DD Free Dish platform
New specs define 7-day guide, LCN mapping, and device compatibility.
MUMBAI: Your TV guide just got a backstage pass structured, scheduled, and far more in sync. Prasar Bharati has released detailed technical specifications for Electronic Programme Guide (EPG) services on DD Free Dish, laying down a standardised framework for how channels and programme information are organised and delivered. At the core of the update is a defined EPG data structure, covering genre-based categorisation, scheduling formats, and Logical Channel Numbering (LCN). The aim is simple: make navigation less guesswork and more guided experience across the platform’s over 40 million households.
The specifications also introduce a seven-day programme guide window for each channel, alongside clear rules for channel grouping and LCN mapping effectively deciding not just what you watch, but how easily you find it.
On the technical front, the document outlines requirements for Program Specific Information (PSI) and Service Information (SI), including descriptor usage across tables such as PAT, BAT and NIT. It further details service lists and network linkage parameters, giving OEMs and developers a clearer blueprint for integration.
Importantly, the framework is designed to work seamlessly with television sets equipped with in-built satellite tuners, enabling users to access DD Free Dish directly without additional hardware, an incremental but meaningful step towards simplifying access.
The platform will continue to operate on GSAT-15 transponders, using MPEG-4 compression and DVB-S2 transmission standards, ensuring continuity even as the interface evolves.
While largely technical, the move signals a broader push towards standardisation and user-friendly discovery in India’s free-to-air ecosystem because sometimes, the real upgrade isn’t what’s on screen, but how easily you get there.
