I&B Ministry
Sonowal wants implementation of Sports Code, Jaitley pushes for emphasis on core sports
NEW DELHI: Youth Affairs Minister Sarbananda Sonowal has urged the states to help the centre in bringing transparency and accountability in sports by implementing the Sports Code.
Speaking at the concluding session of the Conference of Ministers of States/ UTs in-charge of Youth Affairs and Sports here on 21 March, he said his Ministry has taken several initiatives to keep sports free from controversies and corruption and it is his sincere request to State/ Union Territories to implement these initiatives particularly in reference to various NSFs.
Sonowal said his Ministry is working on Prevention of Sports Fraud Bill in its continuing efforts for cleansing of sports in the country.
On the other hand, Information and Broadcasting Minister Arun Jaitley suggested that concentration on sports of core competence such as hockey, wrestling, archery, badminton, boxing and shooting can produce better results for the country in international sports events like Olympics.
In his address, he said past experience has shown that all countries cannot excel in all sports and a focused approach on sports of core competence has yielded better results for the countries world over.
Jaitley said that an adequate infrastructure is needed and a system has to be created where Government and sports federations need to contribute to create infrastructure at least up to the district level for creating talent in Sports. Giving the example of cricket, the Minister said, “Cricket Stadiums are owned by Federations / associations and this practice has to be extended to other sports to meet the shortage of the sports infrastructure. State resources, efforts of the federations and CSR funding can do a lot for betterment of sports and sportspersons in the country.”
Referring to the issue of Management in sports, Jaitley said that while sports is a state subject, the Centre gives representation to the country in international sports. However, the actual management of sports is with Sports Federations. He urged the Federations to professionalize their structure for better management of sports in the country.
The Minister said that Delhi had adequate sports infrastructure due to various international events held in the past. “However, this infrastructure is underutilized. With a liberal approach people in Delhi and NCR should be encouraged to utilize these facilities properly for sporting purposes after making a reasonable payment,” he said.
Sonowal added that the Union budget has provided funds for innovative schemes. Funds have been allocated for setting up National Sports University at Manipur. He said, “Manipur is the nursery of sports talent and has given many internationals and Olympians. This will go on a long way in promoting sports in the North Eastern region.”
Similarly, Finance Minister has given a special package for promotion of sports in Jammu & Kashmir, which had suffered a lot. Sonowal said his Ministry will do its best to channelize the youth of Jammu & Kashmir to join the main stream and bring laurels for the country.
He also said that the aim was to tap young talent at school level and the Budget provided funds for launching of National Sports Talent Search Scheme to tap this talent with sports potential from schools and provide them support to achieve their peak of excellence in sports.
Another pioneering effort that is being launched is to identify medal prospects for the Olympic Games 2016 and 2020 and has given us the scheme called ‘Target Olympic Podium’(TOP) Scheme. The Finance Minister has further extended his support to TOP scheme by arranging a contribution of Rs 10 crore per annum for the next three years through a PSU under him, the Minister added.
The two-day meeting of State/Union Territory Ministers and Secretaries, which began from 20 March, discussed among other things schemes of Department of Youth Affairs and Department of Sports. During the course of the meeting deliberations have taken place on Rajiv Gandhi Khel Abhiyan, National Sports Talent Search Scheme, Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan, National Young Leaders Programme and National Programme for Youth and Adolescent Development etc.
I&B Ministry
India turns up the heat on piracy, orders Telegram to axe 3,142 channels and blocks 800 websites
New legal teeth, nodal officers and notices to intermediaries signal that the government is done playing nice with copyright thieves
NEW DELHI: India’s war on film piracy just got significantly more aggressive. The government has ordered Telegram to remove 3,142 channels distributing pirated content, blocked access to around 800 websites through internet service providers, and put the full weight of freshly sharpened legislation behind the crackdown. The message from New Delhi is unambiguous: the free ride for copyright thieves is over.
Minister of state for information and broadcasting L. Murugan spelled out the legal architecture to the Lok Sabha on Wednesday. The Cinematograph (Amendment) Act, 2023, he said, now contains specific provisions designed to make piracy a genuinely painful proposition. Sections 6AA and 6AB prohibit unauthorised recording and transmission of films, with violations attracting a minimum of three months’ imprisonment and a fine of Rs 3 lakh. At the upper end, offenders face three years behind bars and fines of up to 5 per cent of a film’s audited gross production cost — a figure that, for a big-budget production, could run into crores.
The legislation also gives the government powers to act against intermediaries hosting infringing content, by notifying them under Section 79(3) of the Information Technology Act, 2000, and compelling takedowns and blocking actions. Under Section 79(3)(b), intermediaries are legally required to remove or disable access to unlawful content upon receiving government notice or court orders. The Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, add a further layer of obligation, requiring platforms to ensure their services are not used to host or distribute content that violates copyright or proprietary rights.
To put enforcement into practice, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has established a dedicated institutional mechanism, complete with nodal officers to receive complaints. Copyright holders, authorised representatives or individuals can report piracy through a prescribed format, after which the government issues notices to intermediaries to disable access to infringing links.
The most headline-grabbing action came on 11 March 2026, when Telegram was formally notified under Section 79(3)(b) of the IT Act and directed to remove and disable 3,142 channels found to be distributing unauthorised content belonging to OTT platforms, content owners and producers. The complaints that triggered the action came from OTT platforms including JioCinema and Amazon Prime Video, which alleged that copyrighted films, web series and other material were being shared on the platform on a massive scale. Telegram’s architecture, with its large file-sharing limits and capacity for user anonymity, has made it a favoured vehicle for exactly this kind of large-scale piracy.
The Telegram action sits within a broader pattern of escalating enforcement. Just days before the Lok Sabha statement, the ministry banned five OTT platforms for streaming obscene content: MoodXVIP, Koyal Playpro, Digi Movieplex, Feel and Jugnu. In July 2025, the Centre ordered the blocking of 25 OTT platforms accused of streaming obscene, vulgar or pornographic material, a list that included ALTT, ULLU, Big Shots App, Desiflix, Boomex, Navarasa Lite, Gulab App, Kangan App, Bull App, Jalva App, ShowHit, Wow Entertainment, Look Entertainment, Hitprime, Feneo, ShowX, Sol Talkies, Adda TV, HotX VIP, Hulchul App, MoodX, NeonX VIP, Fugi, Mojflix and Triflicks.
Rule 3(1)(b) of the IT (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, provides the regulatory hook for those actions, prohibiting platforms from hosting content that is obscene, pornographic, invasive of privacy, gender-harassing, racially or ethnically objectionable, or that promotes hatred and violence.
For an industry that loses billions of rupees annually to piracy, the direction of travel is welcome. The question, as always, is not whether the laws exist, but whether the enforcement machinery can keep pace with the ingenuity of those determined to circumvent it. Three thousand channels down, and the pirates are already busy opening three thousand more.
