I&B Ministry
National Cine Museum only if it attracts aficionados: House panel
NEW DELHI: Noting that the National Museum of Indian Cinema in Mumbai is expected to be completed by July this year, a Parliament Committee wants the Information and Broadcasting Ministry to get a response and feedback of the industry as to how far it is successful in attracting film fraternity and also those interested in films, through exhibitions, workshops, seminars and interactive sessions.
The Museum has been built in the premises of the Films Division complex on C D Deshmukh (Peddar) Road.
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology which also examines issues relating to MIB noted that an amount of Rs 286.9 million had been allocated under the Scheme of the Museum which was increased to Rs 343.9 million at revised estimate stage but the Ministry incurred an expenditure of Rs 286.9 million.
The Committee was informed that the project is near completion and the Ministry was hopeful of utilizing the balance funds during the current financial year 2016-17.
The budget for the year 2017-18 under the Scheme has been reduced as the construction work has already been completed and curation is underway.
A historical building Gulshan Mahal has been renovated in the first phase as part of the National Museum project and the second phase of the Museum consisting of two Cinema Halls, Museum office, Exhibition spaces and Food Court are coming up in the new building block.
When operational, the NMIC will provide a store house of information and help film makers, film students, enthusiasts and critics to know and evaluate the development of cinema as the medium of artistic expression.
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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.
