I&B Ministry
UR Rao quits as Prasar Bharati chairman
NEW DELHI: UR Rao, chairman of the Prasar Bharati Corporation, has put in his papers, citing personal reasons.
Sources in Prasar Bharati admitted today that Prof Rao, a former head of the country’s premier space research institute, ISRO, has sent in his resignation to the information and broadcasting ministry.
However, there was no official communication from the Prasar Bharati in this regard. Nor from the ministry.
Prof. Rao was chosen as the chairman of the Prasar Bharati board by a selection committee, comprising the vice-president of India, Press Council chairman and a government nominee, after a lot of deliberation.
Prasar Bharati got its second chairman more than a year after its first chairman died a couple of years back.
If the resignation is accepted, then the selection committee, likely to have new members with the new vice-president too having taken over, will have to meet to zero down on another candidate for the chairman’s post of Prasar Bharati. BG Verghese, a veteran journalist and seniormost member of the board, may be made acting chairman once Rao’s resignation is accepted by the government, the Indian Express has reported.
I&B Ministry
Press Sewa Portal digitises 1.5 lakh records, streamlines periodical registrations: MIB
Online system spans 780 districts; Rs 5.6 crore penalties, 88,315 titles cancelled
NEW DELHI: India’s print media registry has quietly moved from dusty files to digital dashboards. The government has digitised more than 1.5 lakh historical records of newspapers and periodicals and shifted registrations fully online through the Press Sewa Portal.
Introduced under the Press and Registration of Periodicals (PRP) Act, 2023, the portal now handles all applications for registering periodicals, replacing the earlier paper-heavy system created under the Press and Registration of Books Act, 1867, which has since been repealed.
The digital shift brings a wide range of services onto a single platform. Publishers can now register new periodicals, revise registrations, transfer ownership, file annual statements, pay penalties online and apply for circulation verification without navigating government offices.
As part of the rollout, specified authorities in 780 districts across India have been onboarded onto the platform. Since 1 March 2024, the portal has processed 11,081 applications and issued certificates across different categories.
The transition has also brought stronger compliance. According to government data, Rs 5.63 crore in penalties has been collected through the portal so far. States such as Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh account for some of the largest penalty collections.
At the same time, the authorities have carried out a major clean-up of inactive or non-compliant publications. A total of 88,315 periodicals have been cancelled nationwide, with Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi among the states reporting the highest number of cancellations.
The government says the system will continue to evolve based on feedback from users. The Press Registrar General of India (PRGI) regularly reviews suggestions to improve services and make compliance easier for publishers.
The full list of registered newspapers and periodicals is available on the PRGI website under the Registered Titles section.
The information was shared in a written reply in the Lok Sabha by minister of state for information and broadcasting and parliamentary affairs L Murugan, responding to a question from Damodar Agrawal.
