I&B Ministry
MIB gives permission to four new channels
MUMBAI: For nearly a year, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) has been stingy in handing out licences to channels. But in July, four new channels got permissions and none were cancelled.
Sony Marathi, the non-news channel, got the permission on 16 July for downlinking. Times Network’s news channels, Times Now and ET Now, got permission for both uplink and downlink on 18 July under English/Hindi and all remaining Indian scheduled languages.
Vision Corporations has got permission for launching a new channel Indian Fashion TV on 12 July, which will have content on fashion films, reality shows related to fashion and lifestyle and TV serials. Sources told Indiantelevision.com that the channel will launch in a month’s time.
The 14 licenses which were cancelled earlier by MIB due to security denial by Ministry of Home Affairs are still now under stay order from the court.
After cancelling permission to 239 channels, the number of private satellite TV channels having valid permission in India stands at 868 as on 31 July 2018. While 484 channels are non-news channels, the rest i.e., 384 are news channels.
Of the 868 permitted private satellite channels, TV channels permitted for uplink from India and also to downlink into India remains the same at 766 among which 364 are news channels and 402 are non-news channels. 11 non-news channels and five news channels are permitted for uplink from India but not downlink into the country. 86 TV channels are uplinked from abroad which only have downlinking permission in India. This category includes 15 news and 71 non-news 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.
