I&B Ministry
Prasar Bharati exempt from service tax
In what should come as a relief to pubcaster Prasar Bharati, the Solicitor General of India has clarified that Prasar Bharati need not pay service tax.
It may be recalled that when finance minister Yashwant Sinha presented his budget he had proposed that the pubcaster should be made to pay “since it is a commercial organisation, Prasar Bharati does not need the exemption from the five per cent service tax.”
Following this, Prasar Bharati referred the matter to the information & broadcasting ministry, which in turn sought the solicitor general’s directive on the matter through the law ministry.
Meanwhile, in an unrelated development, the Standing Committee on Information Technology has reportedly criticised the I&B Ministry over its slow completion of projects. The committee slammed the ministry’s tendency to “wake up” to the need to use budgetary allocations towards the end of the financial year. Timely completion of projects will ensure that the public derives the full benefits of broadcasting/telecasting services, the committee said.
The committee noted that out of an outlay of Rs 3,250 million (revised to Rs 2,900 million) provided to the ministry for schemes pertaining to national broadcaster Doordarshan, the ministry utilised only Rs 1,578.6 million till February 2002.
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.
