New Delhi Mar 21 PTI A parliamentary panel on Monday expressed displeasure over delay in the upgradation of Indian Institute of Mass Communication to international standards saying targets need to be achieved on time considering IIMCs significant role in conducting specialized courses to meet diverse requirements of the dynamic media industry The Standing Committee on Communication and Information Technology in its 34th Demand for Grants report asked the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to expeditiously complete the project while noting that a previous report of 2019-20 had found that the upgradation project had not taken off and till date there was a status quo on it The committee is surprised to note that there is status quo in the project and till date construction activities on the New Delhi campus have not started it said The panel observed that when asked for reasons for slow progress of the work in IIMC the Ministry informed that construction of guest house hostel building and academic block on the New Delhi campus could not be started for want of approval from Ridge Management Board and other civic bodies of the Delhi government It was presumed that the approval could be received during the financial year 2018-19 Accordingly a provision of Rs 3 crore had been made at BE budget expenditure stage which was further reduced to Rs 20 lakh at RE revised expenditure stage and at the Final Grant stage all the funds were surrendered the panel noted It is very disheartening that such an important project has been languishing for such a long period and the Ministry is unable to settle the impediments as of yet Considering the significance of IIMCs role in conducting a number of specialized courses to meet the diverse requirements of the ever expanding and changing media industry and in training and research timely meeting of the targets under IIMC is very much desirable the panel report said The committee while disapproving such inordinate delay in execution of projects under IIMC has recommended the Ministry to take necessary steps for the expeditious completion of the project so as to avoid cost and time overrun The committee has asked the ministry to apprise it of the new timeline fixed for completion of the new building at IIMC Delhi and take up the issue regarding clearances at the highest level PTI AG CK

New Delhi Mar 21 PTI A parliamentary panel on Monday urged the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to encourage the animation visual effects gaming and comics AVGC sector considering its growth during the Covid-induced lockdown The Standing Committee on Communications and Information Technology said it was concerned to note that even after eight years since the government announced the setting up of a National Centre of Excellence for Animation Visual Effects Gaming and Comics NCoE-AVGC it has not seen the light of day The Committee noted that the project for setting up an NCoE-AVGC was actually a part of the budget announcement made in 2014-15 with the administrative approval of Rs 1677 crore and was to be implemented in a four-year period from 2016-17 to 2019-20 The Committee has expressed concern that even after almost 8 years the NCoE-AVGC Centre has not seen the light of day Keeping in view that AVGC sector is very prominent sector and is growing very fast particularly during COVID period because of lockdown people have really got into the gaming industry and it is growing at 20 per cent per annum the Ministry need to encourage this sector the panel said in its 34th report on Demand for Grants 2022-23 It said during 2022-23 two of the thrust areas under film sector include setting up of an NCoE-AVGC at Mumbai and setting up of an AVGC promotion task force with all stakeholders to recommend ways to realise AVGC potential and build domestic capacity for serving market demand The Committee said the setting up of a National Centre of Excellence is long overdue and this step should have been taken at the inception itself when the plan for setting up of NCoE- AVGC had been conceived way back in 2016-17 It noted that for supporting this sector and to boost employment in this sector the government had proposed to form an AVGC promotion task force Now that the Ministry is working towards incentivising the sector the Committee has recommended the Ministry to firm up the plan of action and timeline for setting up of the task force and inform the Committee of the outcome The Inter-Ministerial task force will include the Ministry of Education Minister of Skill Development Department of Commerce and DPIIT etc and this task force will be an interface between the industry as well as the educational institutions and the skill institutions the panel report said PTI AG AG AQS AQS

Thiruvananthapuram Jan 31 PTI The Union Government on Monday barred the telecast of Malayalam news channel MediaOne citing security reasons but the Kerala High Court stayed the implementation of the order for two days The Centres move drew the ire of many including the ruling Left party and the Opposition Congress both condemning the decision and terming the move as undemocratic The telecast of MediaOne channel has once again been disallowed by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Government of India citing security reasons The Government has not been forthcoming with the details Pramod Raman the Editor of MediaOne said in a statement here Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the ban was a serious matter and it was the responsibility of those who believe in democracy to protect Article 19 of the Indian Constitution which grants the freedom of speech and expression Freedom of expression is an integral part of the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution It should not be violated There should be room for diverse opinions otherwise democracy itself will be in danger Society needs to be vigilant to ensure that Article 19 is not violated Vijayan said The chief minister in his statement said the reason behind the ban on telecast was not clear and a Constitutional solution should be reached The order of the Information and Broadcasting ministry as shared by the MediaOne channel shows that the Ministry of Home Affairs had denied security clearance to the channel under Madhyamam Broadcasting Limited for renewal of permission The order says that a show cause notice was issued to MediaOne to which the channel replied that they were unaware of the grounds of denial of security clearance and requested not to initiate further proceedings Since the Ministry of Home Affairs has denied the security clearance The channel cannot be allowed to operate sic the order read The media house later in the day challenged the order before the Kerala High Court which put on hold its implementation for two days While putting on hold the order Justice N Nagaresh also sought the Centres stand on the plea moved by Madhyamam Broadcasting Ltd which operates MediaOne channel Senior advocate S Sreekumar and advocate K Rakesh who represented the media group told the high court that the channel was not involved in any anti-national activity and urged it to direct the ministry to withdraw the order Speaking to PTI Rakesh said the ministrys order was received around 1 PM on Monday and by 145 PM the plea was filed and by 3 PM permission was granted for urgent hearing of the matter He confirmed that the court put on hold the order till Wednesday the next date of hearing Assistant Solicitor General S Manu who appeared for the ministry said he opposed the plea and sought time from the court to get appropriate instructions from the Centre Therefore the court listed the matter on Wednesday and till then put on hold the implementation of the order he added The ruling CPIM condemned the ban and said it was part of the union governments agenda to control the media The Union government is trying to control media houses one by one The ban on telecast of MediaOne was part of the union governments agenda to control the media The decision is condemnable it said in a statement Meanwhile Leader of Opposition in Kerala Assembly V D Satheesan slammed the IB move The banning of telecast of MediaOne channel without citing any reason was undemocratic This is against natural justice The Union government has a responsibility to cite the reason behind the ban The government is trying to implement the agenda of Sangh Parivar which has been intolerant against unpleasant truths he said He said the ban amounts to attack on media freedom MediaOne along with another Malayalam News channel Asianet was briefly suspended for 48 hours over their coverage of communal violence in Delhi in 2020 with the official orders then saying they covered the violence in a manner that highlighted the attack on places of worship and siding towards a particular community Channels reporting on Delhi violence seems to be biased as it is deliberately focusing on the vandalism of CAA supporters the ministry order on Media One had said adding it also questions RSS and alleges Delhi Police inaction Channel seems to be critical towards Delhi Police and RSS PTI RRT HMP SA SA

Kochi Jan 31 PTI The Union Government on Monday barred the telecast of Malayalam news channel MediaOne citing security reasons an action which invited the ire of many with the Opposition Congress party terming the move as undemocratic Pramod Raman the Editor of MediaOne said the channel was taking legal steps for the restoration of the channel The telecast of MediaOne channel has once again been disallowed by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Government of India citing security reasons The Government has not been forthcoming with the details Raman said in a statement When contacted Information and Broadcasting ministry officials confirmed that the channel has been banned but didnt share any further details Leader of Opposition in Kerala Assembly V D Satheesan said the IB ministry banned the telecast without citing reasons The banning of telecast of MediaOne channel without citing any reason was undemocratic This is against natural justice The Union government has a responsibility to cite the reason behind the ban The government is trying to implement the agenda of Sangh Parivar which has been intolerant against unpleasant truths he said He said the ban amounts to attack on media freedom MediaOne along with another Malayalam News channel Asianet was briefly suspended for 48 hours over their coverage of communal violence in Delhi in 2020 with the official orders then saying they covered the Delhi violence in a manner that highlighted the attack on places of worship and siding towards a particular community Channels reporting on Delhi violence seems to be biased as it is deliberately focusing on the vandalism of CAA supporters the ministry order on Media One had said adding it also questions RSS and alleges Delhi Police inaction Channel seems to be critical towards Delhi Police and RSS PTI RRT AG SA BN BN

Kochi Jan 31 PTI The Union Government on Monday barred the telecast of Malayalam news channel MediaOne citing security reasons but the Kerala High Court stayed the implementation of the order for two days The Centres move drew the ire of many with the Opposition Congress party terming the move as undemocratic The telecast of MediaOne channel has once again been disallowed by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Government of India citing security reasons The Government has not been forthcoming with the details Pramod Raman the Editor of MediaOne said in a statement here When contacted Information and Broadcasting ministry officials confirmed that the channel has been banned but did not share any further details The media house challenged the order before the Kerala High Court which put on hold its implementation for two days While putting on hold the order Justice N Nagaresh also sought the Centres stand on the plea moved by Madhyamam Broadcasting Ltd which operates MediaOne channel Senior advocate S Sreekumar and advocate K Rakesh who represented the media group told the high court that the channel was not involved in any anti-national activity and urged it to direct the ministry to withdraw the order Speaking to PTI Rakesh said the ministrys order was received around 1 PM on Monday and by 145 PM the plea was filed and by 3 PM permission was granted for urgent hearing of the matter He confirmed that the court put on hold the order till Wednesday the next date of hearing Assistant Solicitor General S Manu who appeared for the ministry said he opposed the plea and sought time from the court to get appropriate instructions from the Centre Therefore the court listed the matter on Wednesday and till then put on hold the implementation of the order he added Meanwhile Leader of Opposition in Kerala Assembly V D Satheesan slammed the IB move The banning of telecast of MediaOne channel without citing any reason was undemocratic This is against natural justice The Union government has a responsibility to cite the reason behind the ban The government is trying to implement the agenda of Sangh Parivar which has been intolerant against unpleasant truths he said He said the ban amounts to attack on media freedom MediaOne along with another Malayalam News channel Asianet was briefly suspended for 48 hours over their coverage of communal violence in Delhi in 2020 with the official orders then saying they covered the violence in a manner that highlighted the attack on places of worship and siding towards a particular community Channels reporting on Delhi violence seems to be biased as it is deliberately focusing on the vandalism of CAA supporters the ministry order on Media One had said adding it also questions RSS and alleges Delhi Police inaction Channel seems to be critical towards Delhi Police and RSS PTI RRT AG HMP SA BN BN

Mumbai Jan 19 PTI The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting on Wednesday shared a cheeky meme modelled on superstar Allu Arjuns blockbuster Pushpa The Rise to reiterate COVID-19 appropriate behaviourThe picture posted by the ministrys Twitter page IndiaFightsCorona COVIDNewsByMIB which shares updates on COVID-19 featured Arjuns titular character wearing a photoshopped mask in a still from the Telugu movieTo fit the context of the meme the popular dialogue of the film Pushpa Pushpa Raj Main jhukega nahi I am Pushpa Pushpa Raj I wont back down was changed to Delta ho ya Omicron main mask utaarega nahi Whether it is the Delta variant or Omicron I wont remove the maskThe tweet further stated that the countrys fight against COVID-19 was ongoing and people should continue wearing their masks sanitise their hands maintain social distance and get fully vaccinatedThe action thriller opened theatrically in December to a thunderous response and was also released in dubbed versions including Hindi Malayalam Tamil and KannadaWritten and directed by Sukumar Pushpa The Rise also features Rashmika Mandanna and Malayalam cinema star Fahadh Faasil in his Telugu debutAccording to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Wednesday the country reported 282970 new coronavirus infections in a day taking Indias total tally of COVID-19 cases to 37901241 which includes 8961 cases of the Omicron variant PTI JUR RDS RDS