Aavishkar Magazine July 2021 by Aavishkar Media

Guest Column: Cable Act outdated; new Electronic Media Regulatory Act needed

TRAI names PD Vaghela as new Chairman as RS Sharma’s tenure ends

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August, 2021

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C O N T E N T

2021. July. Vol 29. Issue 07

04 News 16-91

Article Guest Column: Cable Act outdated; new Electronic Media

Regulatory Act needed 05 Guest Column: Dolby’s Tryst with India-Unlocking immersive AV experiences 12 Media Update - NTO 2.0 remains an overhang for Broadcasters 15

lEikndh; Editor-in-Chief Dr. A. K. Rastogi Sub Editors Prof. S. S. Gupta Vijay Bala Udey Bhan Sanjib Agas Special Correspondent Dheeraj Bharadwaj Mahipal Singh Head Marke ng Anurag (9811120650) Subscrip on & Distribu on Aman (Director)-9990010410 Produc on Head Tilak Raj Graphic & Layout Megha Rastogi Administra on Varsha Marke ng Advisor Vikas Arora Subhash Grover Legal Consultants Maj.(Retd.) Surendra Singh S. D. Sudhi Editorial & Postal Oﬃce B-263, Indra Nagar, Delhi- 110 033 Ph.: +91-11-2767 2736, 2767 0410, Fax : +91-11-2768 2112 E-mail : anurag@aavishkargroup.in aavishkargroup@gmail.com info@aavishkargroup.in Visit us at: www.aavishkarmedia.com www.indianbroadcas ngworld.com

On the behalf of Aavishkar Publica on Printed, Published & Owned By Ragini Rastogi & Printed at Bhawna Art Press, 7, Indra Nagar, Delhi - 110033 and Published from B-263, St.10, Indra Nagar, Delhi - 110033 Editor: Anil Kumar Rastogi E-Mail: dr.akrastogi@gmail.com Please note: Contents published in the advertisements are the sole views of the corresponding advertisers and publisher has no responsibility for any oﬀending or competitive text or data. 04 July 2021

oSDlhuksRlo

/rkvksa ls Hkjk Hkkjr ;w ns[kk tk, rks iwjh nqfu;k ls gh vyx gS] ;gak izÑfr us ftruk ns j[kk gS mlds lkeus nqfu;k ds reke ns'k cksus utj vkrs gSA ;g Hkh izÑfr dk ,d dfj'ek gh gS fd dksjksuk ok;jl ds :i esa vkbZ egkekjh dk oSlk rkaMo Hkkjr esa ugha fn[kk ftldh mEehn dh tk jgh Fkh] D;ksafd fo'o ds le`¼ fodflr ns'kksa ds eqdkcys esa vHkh Hkkjr cgqr ihNs gS] ;gak xjhch nwj ugha dh tk ldh gS o uk gh ns'k ds leLr ukxfjdksa rd LokLF; lsok,a gh igqap ikrh gS vkSj uk gh f'k{kk dks ns'k ds izR;sd ukxfjd rd igqapk;k tk ldk gSA csjkstxkjksa dh la[;k fujarj c<+rh tk jgh gS fiQj Hkh tula[;k dk lSykc uacj ou dh vkSj rsth ls c<+ jgk gSA ,sls esa ,d ok;jl ds :i esa vkbZ egkekjh ls Hkkjr esa vis{kkÑr dkiQh de l[a;k esa ekSrs gqbZ gS] blds fy, fd, x, ljdkjh mik;ksa dks Hkys gh fdruk Hkh Js; D;ksa uk fn;k tk, ysfdu deky ;g izÑfr dk gh gS] D;ksfd izkÑfrd okrkoj.k ds dkj.k gh ns'k ds og ukxfjd tks fd vko';d lalk/uksa o iks"k.k ls vHkh Hkh oafpr gS vFkok ftudh nSfud fnup;kZ dwM+k churs gh chrrh gS muds 'kjhj dks izkÑfr us cgqr etcwrh ns j[kh gS Hkys gh fBBqjrh BaM esa mUgsa xeZ diM+ksa ds fcuk ;k fiQj isV dh Hkw[k ds fy, nj&nj HkVduk iM+rk gks ijarq dksjksuk ok;jl mUgsa Nw rd ugha ik;k tcfd dksjksuk ds [kkSiQ dk eatj iwjh nqfu;k us ns[kk gSA [kkSiQ vHkh Hkh cjdjkj gS] 2020 dh igpku ds :i esa gj fdlh ds psgjs ij ,d ekLd pLik gks x;k gSA ;g ekLd dc gVsxk dksbZ ugha tkurk ysfdu gj dksbZ dksjksuk ok;jl ls izHkkfor vo'; gqvk gSA iwjk lky dksjksuk ok;jl ls lqjf{kr cp fudyus esa gh xqtj x;k dke&/a/s lc pkSiV gks x, vkWfiQl&nÝrjksa dk dke ?kj ls gh gksus yxkA blh rjg ls f'k{kk ds {ks=k esa gqvk fd Ldwy&dkWyst can dj lkjh i<+kbZ dks Hkh vkWuykbu ys vk;k x;kA nqdkuksa cktkjksa esa fiQj ls jkSud vkbZ rks gS ysfdu dksjksuk dk [kkSiQ [kRe ugha gqvk gSA ;wa rks reke lkIrkfgd cktkjksa esa Hkh HkhM+ iwoZor meMus yxh gS ysfdu dksjksuk dk [kkSiQukd lk;k vHkh Hkh cuk gqvk gSA nqfu;k ds dbZ le`¼ ns'kksa esa vHkh Hkh dksjksuk ds dkj.k ekre iljk gqvk gS] yxkrkj gks jgha ekSrks dks dkcw esa ugha yk;k tk ldk gS ftlij fczVsu esa dksjksuk dk ,d u;k vfrizHko'kkyh ok;jl lkeus vk;k gS tks reke izfrca/ksa lko/kfu;ksa ds ckotwn Hkh dbZ vU; ns'kksa esa igqap pqdk gS] mlus Hkkjr esa Hkh viuh iSB cuk yh gSaA ns'k ds vusd jkT;ksa esa dksjksuk dk fodjky :i ns[kus dks fey jgk gSA ,d vkSj oso ns'k dks viuh pisV esa ysus ds fy, mUeknh lh fn[kkbZ ns jgh gS] ysfdu yksx gS fd ekurs ugha] HkhM Hkh c<+rh tk jgh gS vkSj ekLd yxkus esa Hkh mUgsa fnDdr gks jgh gSA ,sls esa nqfu;kHkj ds oSKkfud bl ij fu;a=k.k ikus ds fy, oSDlhu cukus ij tqVs gq, gS ysfdu izÑfr dk deky gks x;k Hkkjr us lcls igys oSDlhu ykap dj nh vkSj iwjs ns'k esa oSDlhus'ku izfØ;k 'kq: Hkh dj nh xbZA fo'o ds le`¼ fodflr ns'kksa dks ;g lp fuxy ikuk cgqr dfBu gks x;k ysfdu lp&lp gh gksrk gS vkSj lp ;gh gS fd dksjksuk ok;jl ls eqdkcyk djus esa gekjk ns'k vkxs jgk] gekjs ;gak tula[;k ds eqdkcys esa cgqr gh de ekSras gqbZ gS ,oa gkykrksa dks fu;a=k.k esa j[kus ds fy, fd, x, iz;klksa ds ifj.kke liQy jgs] blh rjg ls oSDlhu esa geus lcls igys vkSj lcls lLrh o izHkkoh oSDlhu ds fy, nqfu;k dks yksgk euok fn;kA vius ns'k esa eqÝr o eqÝr ds Hkko esa oSDlhus'ku dh 'kq:vkr dj lewps fo'o ds fy, vk'p;Z dh felky cus gSaA nqfu;k ds vusd ns'kksa dks Hkkjr oSDlhu ns jgk gS o vusd ns'k ykbu esa yxs gq, gS vkSj Hkkjr esa rks ,d oSDlhuksRlo gh py jgk gSA nqfu;k dk lcls cM+k yksdra=k ns'k vkt oSDlhus'ku izfØ;k esa Hkh fo'o esa uEcj ou ij vk x;k gS] ns'k dh turk us bl volj dks oSDlhuksRlo cuk fn;k gSA udyh ds xys esa iaQns iM+ x, gS D;ksafd tc vlyh gh eqÝr o eqÝr ds Hkko esa vkids fcYdqy utnhd esa miyC/ djok nh xbZ gS rc dksbZ D;ksa fdlh uDdkyksa dh pisV esa vk,xkA ,sls esa fcuk le; xok, izR;sd ns'koklh dks bl oSDlhuksRlo esa Hkkx ysuk pkfg,A ftlls fd dksjksuk dh lEHkkoukvksa dks fuey fd;k tk lds] blesa Hkh Hkkjr iwjs fo'o esa tc uEcj ou cusxk rc gj Hkkjrh; dk lhuk 56 bap dk &MkW-,-d-sjLrkxsh gks tk,xkA Aavishkar Dish Antenna Programme Guide

Guest Column: Cable Act outdated; new Electronic Media Regulatory Act needed

ecently the Indian Government no fied amendments in the Cable TV (Networks) Regula on Act, 1995 with the stated goal of upda ng it for a digital age and, in a way, levelling the field for all segments of the media, especially where self-regulatory regime is concerned. Though the amendments focussed more on self-regula on by broadcas ng community ge ng statutory recogni on --as such bodies in advertsing or print medium have --- there's more to the amendments. Let's examine the fine prints.

Introduc on 1.

05 July 2021

The Supreme Court in the Ministry of Informa on & 3. The Indian Broadcaster Founda on (IBF) in Broadcas ng judgment reported in (1995) 2 SCC 161 2008stated Cricket Associa on of Bengal judgment had ruled In the absence of an independent and autonomous those airwaves or frequencies are public property. regulatory body, the Broadcast Media stakeholders agree Their use has to be controlled and regulated by a that it is the urgent need of the hour to expedite the public authority in the interests of the public and to implementa on of a Self-Regulatory body-Broadcast prevent the invasion of their rights. …. The Central Content Complaints Council(BCCC) to be set up and Government shall take immediate steps to set up an implemented by the IBF so that it func ons as an independent, autonomous public authority independent, autonomous organisa on, free from representa ve of all sec ons and interests in society government interven on and free from the influence of to control & regulate the use of airwaves. Para 124. any one or more organisa ons, private or otherwise, to In the past 26 years, efforts to bring a Broadcast Bill provide an enabling environment to facilitate crea vity, failed twice in 1997 and 2006, and the Convergence promote viewpoint diversity and the plurality of ideas. Bill of 2001 never got passed. As a result, These Guidelines have been dra ed to introduce greater broadcasters and news broadcasters finally set up specificity and detail to facilitate self-regula on by the their own self-regulatory bodies, which did not have broadcas ng industry and minimise scope for subjec ve statutory recogni on under the Cable Television decision by regulatory authori es or the broadcas ng Network Actor the Cable Television Network Rules. service providers. However, the basic underlying Aavishkar Dish Antenna Programme Guide

Guest Column principle of these Guidelines is the responsibility of complying with the provisions of the Cer ﬁca on Rules vests with the Broadcast Service Provider. ·The principles in these Guidelines are sought to be implemented at the ﬁrst instance through a selfregulatory mechanism of the Broadcast Service Provider. Regula on by 'forbearance,' as present in the telecommunica ons industry, shall guide the Broadcas ng Content Complaints Council (BCCC) whilst enforcing adherence by the BSP with the guidelines. Such self-regulatory mechanism shall be subject to a credible and me-bound default/grievance redressal mechanism, which shall func on under the guidance of the BCCC. 4. The News Broadcasters Associa on set up a News Broadcasters Standards Authority in2008with the following objec ves: The objects of the Authority shall be to lay down and foster high standards, ethics, and prac ces in news broadcas ng, including entertaining and deciding complaints against or in respect of broadcasters as far as these relate to the content of any broadcast. In discharging its func ons as aforesaid, the Authority shall act consistently with the following precepts: Maintaining and improving the standards of broadcast and maintaining the independence of broadcasters, television journalists and/or news agencies. Ensuring compliance by broadcasters, television journalists, and news agencies with the said persons' Code of Conduct and adherence to high professional standards. Ensuring the maintenance of high standards of public taste and fostering a due sense of both the rights and responsibili es of ci zens. Fostering and encouraging the growth of a sense of responsibility and public service among all those engaged in and associated with the profession of television journalism and business of broadcas ng. Keeping under review & scru ny any developments likely to or having the tendency to restrict the gathering, supply, and dissemina on of news of public interest and importance. Such other aspects as may be incidental, consequen al, related and/or otherwise materially concerned with the above precepts. The Authority shall perform its func ons and exercise the powers vested in it under these Regula ons in rela on to, and upon, the Members and Associate Members of NBA or in rela on to such other complaints or broadcasters & channels as may be referred to the Authority by the Ministry of Informa on & Broadcas ng or other Ministry or other governmental body

06 July 2021

Another trade body, News Broadcasters Federa on, was set up in 2020 & created a Professional News Broadcas ng Standards Organisa on (PNBSO). Its objects are: The organisa on will ensure that all the member channels follow the news broadcas ng code of conduct aimed at improving and maintaining news broadcas ng standards in India and curbing the menace of fake news. The PNBSO will entertain and decide on complaints against member channels when accused of unethical journalis c prac ces in broadcas ng content. On June 18,2021, NBF announced a merger with the Associa on of Regional Television Broadcasters (ARTBI). It claimed that they are now the largest broadcaster body. The press release stated: It would help regional news channels and their digital pla orms to understand and comply with regulatory requirements. Furthermore, the move aims to strengthen the industry by building the Federa on more democra c, diverse, and united in spirit, in the best interest of the news broadcas ng industry and the public at large. 'With this signiﬁcant scale, the NBF will set new news standards and highest self-regula on & editorial standards,' NBF's president Arnab Goswami said. ARTBI founder Kar keya Sharma expressed happiness over the move. 6. The issue of non -statutory status of these selfregulatory bodies has been coming up recently in various court cases and judgments. 7. a)In the judgment in WP(C) 387 of 2000 in the ma er of “Common Cause Vs Union of India & Others dated 12.01.2017 reported in 2018, 13 SCC 440, the Supreme Court acknowledged that there is an exis ng mechanism for complaint redressal for viewers and stated in Para 10: ·Having given our though ul considera on to the submissions advanced at the hands of the learned counsel for the rival par es, we are sa sﬁed in concluding that there is indeed an exis ng mechanism, as has been referred to by the learned counsel represen ng the Union of India. However, the above mechanism is not known to the general public. We are, therefore, of the view that the same needs adequate publica on. We, therefore, hereby direct the Union of India to publish the mechanism, which has been brought to our no ce & is partly extracted here in above. This would enable complainants to air their grievances before the appropriate forum and obtain a determina on thereof at the concerned Competent Authority's hands in the Ministry of Informa on and Broadcas ng. 1. b)In the pending case of Reepak Kansal vs UOI in Civil Writ Pe on762/2020, the pe oner has

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Guest Column sought direc on from the Supreme Court to ·Cons tute an Independent Authority known as India's Broadcast Regulatory Authority to regulate and facilitate India's broadcas ng services and prevent the misuse of the airwaves by these electronic broadcas ng channels in the name of media. The Supreme Court has issued a no ce on 07.08.2020. 20. c)In the ongoing Supreme Court rela ng to Sudarshan TV - Firoz Iqbal Khan vs Union of India in Writ Pe on Civil no 956/2020, the NBA ﬁled an aﬃdavit on 20.09.2020 reques ng that its Code of Ethics be included under Rule 6of the

21.

07 July 2021

Cable Television Network Rules by the Ministry of Informa on and Broadcas ng to make the Ethics Code binding on all news broadcasters irrespec ve of whether they were members of the NBA or not. This affidavit was filed on a specific query from the Supreme Court on how the self-regulatory mechanism of the News Broadcas ng Standards Authority could be made effec ve. The affidavit requested that the Court grant recogni on to NBSA to become binding on all news broadcasters. The court recogni on would also strengthen the body, and the penal es could be made more stringent. d)In the judgment of the Bombay High Court in the Nilesh Navalakha case in PILST 92252 /2020 dated 01.2021 on a batch of public interest

li ga on pe ons filed by various par es charging the media with conduc ng (unwarranted) media trials, the Court heard all par es and focussed on whether self-regula on by exis ng industry bodies especially NBA was sufficient. In its judgment, the High Court strongly directed the UOI in Para 334as under: ·Hence, there is much substance in the conten ons as urged on behalf of the Pe oners. We do not approve such abdica on of substan ve power conferred by the CTVN Act and the CTVN Rules by such authori es in favour of a voluntary organisa on (private body), which is formed by the channels themselves, namely, the NBA and which has cons tuted the 'NBSA.' In view of our conclusion that ma ers which are pending inves ga on on a criminal complaint clearly fall within the restric on as contained in the ProgrammeCode, contemplated under Sec on 5of the CTVN Act and Rule 6 of the CTVN Rules, it would be a mandatory obliga on of such authori es to immediately act upon the complaints received against the TV channels which are alleged to be viola ng the Programme Code or any other provisions of the CTVN Act and the CTVN Rules and take the necessary ac on as provided for thereunder. Such a regime is also recognised by the Uplinking and Down-linking guidelines. A clear statutory regime so prescribed cannot be permi ed to be rendered nugatory and/or ineffec ve by an approach to refer the complaint to the self-regulatory Authority. Most significantly, the CTVN Act and the CTVN Rules do not recognise such a mechanism as adopted by the UOI and placed on record by Shri. Prem Chand, Under Secretary, MI&B. It would be in the teeth of the provisions of the CTVN Act and the CTVN Rules. It would amount to total non-implementa on of the powers as otherwise conferred by such statutory provisions. The substan ve statutory provisions, thus, cannot be rendered o ose by evolving a mechanism alien to the CTVN Act and the CTVN Rules. We, accordingly, direct that every complaint which would be made on the contents of any programme on any television channel, either to the authorised officer or the Central Government in regard to viola on of the Programme Code, shall be dealt with in a manner as provided under the CTVN Act and immediate ac on be taken thereon, without the involvement of any private bodies like NBSA or NBF. This would be dehors any complaint made to these bodies or other such bodies, which would be dealt with by these bodies as per their self-regulatory mechanism. There is no informa on yet available on whether the UOI (Union of India) or news broadcasters in the

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Guest Column

Self-Regulatory Status Granted to Broadcasters Bodies 7.

The Minister for Informa on and Broadcas ng tweeted on 17.06.2021to state that the Government had amended the Cable Television Network Rules 1994to provide a three-layer statutory mechanism for the redressal of consumer complaints rela ng to the content broadcast TV channels. He stated in his tweet that “by amending the Cable Television Network Rules 1994, (has) developed a statutory mechanism to redress ci zens grievances & complaints against programmes of TV channels. The @MIB India has also decided to recognise the statutory bodies of TV channels under CTN Rules.” 8. The Press Informa on Bureau release explained the amendments to the Cable Rules on 17.06.2021 as under: ·The Central Government today issued a no ﬁca on amending the Cable Television Network Rules, 1994thereby providing a statutory mechanism for redressal of grievances/complaints of ci zens rela ng to content broadcast by television channels in accordance with the provisions of the Cable Television Network Act, 1995. ·At present, there is an ins tu onal mechanism by way of an Inter-Ministerial Commi ee to address grievances of ci zens rela ng to viola on of the Programme/ Adver sing Codes under the Rules. Similarly, various Broadcasters have also developed their internal selfregulatory mechanism for addressing grievances. However, a need was felt to lay down a statutory mechanism for strengthening the grievance redressal structure. Some Broadcasters had also requested for giving legal recogni on to their associa ons/bodies.

The Hon'ble Supreme Court, in its order in WP(C)No. 387 of 2000 in the ma er of “Common Cause Vs Union of India & Others” while expressing sa sfac on over the exis ng mechanism of grievance redressal set up by the Central Government, had advised to frame appropriate rules to for malise the complaint redressal mechanism. ·In the aforemen oned background, the Cable Television Network Rules have been amended to provide for this statutory mechanism, which would be transparent and beneﬁt the ci zens. At the same me,

self-regula ng bodies of Broadcasters would be registered with the Central Government. ·At present, there are over 900 television channels that have been granted permission by the Ministry of Informa on and Broadcas ng, all of which are required to comply with the Programme & Adver sing Codelaid down under the Cable Television Network Rules. The above no ﬁca on is signiﬁcant as it paves the way for a strong ins tu onal system for redressing grievances while placing accountability & responsibility on the Broadcasters & their self-regula ng bodies.

Key Features of Cable TV (Amendment) Rules, 2021 The main amendments in the Cable Television Network Rules 2021are tabulated below: 1. Prohibi on of Programs Rule 6 (7) Where the Central Government is sa sﬁed that the programme of any channel is not in conformity with the Programme Code, it may, a er giving an opportunity of hearing to the cable operator, and by an order in wri ng, prohibit the transmission or re-transmission of any such channel or programme in accordance with the provisions of Sec on 20of the Act. Rule 7 (12)Where the Central Government is sa sﬁed that the adver sement of any channel is not in conformity with the Adver sing Code, it may, a er giving an opportunity of hearing to the cable operator & by an order in wri ng, prohibit the transmission or re-transmission of any such channel or programme in accordance with the provisions of Sec on 20of the Act.

08 July 2021

Comments: Though the PIB press note makes it clear that the object of the amendments of the Cable Rules is to pave the way for a strong ins tu onal system for redressing grievances of viewers & placing accountability & responsibility in the broadcasters & their self-regula ng bodies, there appears to be a dra ing error as the no ce of opportunity of hearing is stated to be the cable operator (not to a broadcaster which supplies the content & also sources the adver sements which form part of television programmes. Notwithstanding this minor dra ing error, this is the ﬁrst signiﬁcant step in making broadcasters & their selfregula ng bodies to be responsive for ensuring complete conformity with the le er & spirit of the Programme code & the Adver sement code. 2. Complaint Redressal Structure Rule 15 In the said Rules, a er Rule 14, the following Rules shall be inserted, namely.

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Guest Column 15.Complaint redressal structure– (1) To ensure observance & adherence to the Programme Code and the Adver sing Code by the Broadcaster and to address the grievance or complaint, if any, rela ng thereto, there shall be a three-level structure as under: (I) Level I- A self-regula on by Broadcasters. (ii) Level II - Self-regula on by the self-regula ng bodies of the Broadcasters; and (iii) Level III - Oversight mechanism by the Central Government. Comments: This three- er structure brings the statutory nature of self-regula on for broadcasters to adhere to the Programme code and the Adver sement code on the same lines as has been made applicable to Digital Media in the amended Informa on Technology Rules of 2021dated February 25, 2021. The Government has kept in mind that the Indian Broadcasters Federa on and the two News Bodies, the News Broadcasters Associa on, and the News Broadcasters Federa on, are not fully representa ve of the 900 exis ng broadcast channels. Therefore, it will allow as many self-regulatory bodies as may be formed with a basic minimum number of at least 40 broadcasters. Clarity will be required whether each broadcast channel will be treated as a single broadcaster, considering that there are already many broadcasts aggregator groups in India like Disney Hotstar/ Zee/Sony/Sun/ Times Group. This procedural issue will no doubt be speedily resolved soon. Filing and processing of complaints (Rule 16) (1) Any person aggrieved by the content of a programme of a channel as being not in conformity with the Programme Code or the Adver sing Code may file his complaint in wri ng to the Broadcaster: Provided that where such complaint relates to Adver sing Code laid down by the Adver sing Standards Council of India, such complaint may be addressed to the said Council & that Council shall deal with such complaint in accordance with the procedure laid down by it: Provided further that Adver sing Standards Council of India shall take a decision on the complaint within sixty days of its receipt and communicate the same to the Broadcaster and the complainant. (2) The Broadcaster shall, within twenty-four hours of a complaint being filed, generate & issue an acknowledgement to the complainant for his informa on and record. (3) Every complaint shall be dealt with in the following manner, namely: (a) the Broadcaster shall dispose of the complaint and inform the complainant of its decision within fi een days of receipt of such complaint. (b) if the decision of the Broadcaster is not communicated 09 July 2021

to the complainant within the s pulated period of fi een days, or if the complainant is not sa sfied with the decision of the Broadcaster, he may prefer an appeal to the self-regula ng body of which such Broadcaster is a member, within fi een days there from. (c) the self-regula ng body shall dispose of the appeal within sixty days of receipt of an appeal and convey its decision in the form of guidance or advisory to the Broadcaster and inform the complainant of such decision within a period of fi een days. (d) where the complainant is not sa sfied with the decision of the self-regula ng body, he may, within fi een days of such decision, prefer an appeal to the Central Government for its considera on under the Oversight Mechanism referred to in Rule 19. Comments: This procedure is based on clear melines and gives sufficient me to the first two ers: the Broadcaster and the self-regulatory body. No meline is given to the third and most powerful er, the Oversight Mechanism, set up by the Government. Complaint Redressal Officer Rule 17 Self-Regula on by Broadcasters– (1) A Broadcaster shall(i) Establish a grievance or complaint redressal mechanism and appoint an officer to deal with the complaints received by it. (ii) Display the contact details related to its grievance redressal mechanism, the name and contact details of its Grievance officer at an appropriate place on its website or interface, as the case may be. (iii) Ensure that such an officer takes a decision on every grievance or complaint received by it within fi een days and communicate the same to the complainant within the s pulated me. (iv) Be a member of a self-regula ng body and abide by its terms and condi ons. (2) The Officer referred to in sub-rule (1)shall – (i) Be the contact point for receiving any grievance or complaint rela ng to Programme Code and Adver sing Code. (ii) Act as the nodal point for interac on with the complainant, the self-regula ng body, and the Central Government. (3) The Broadcaster shall comply with every advisory, guidance, order, or direc on issued under this rule by the self-regula ng body or by the Central Government, as the case may be. Comments: In the Common Cause judgement of 2017WP(C)No. 387 of 2000 in “Common Cause Vs Union of India & Others dated 12.01.2017, the Supreme Court desired that selfregulatory mechanism was generally unknown to the

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Guest Column viewer the Government should ensure sufficient publicity. The new system will go into effect in a couple of weeks. Therefore, in terms of Supreme Court direc ons, it would be necessary to do regular and sustained publicity in all forms of tradi onal and social media to enable millions of viewers to be made aware of the new statutorily recognised self-regulatory regime. Cons tu on of Self- Regula ng Body Rule 18 5. 5. (1) There may be one or more self-regulatory body of Broadcasters, being an independent body cons tuted by the Broadcasters or its Associa on: Provided that every such self-regula ng body shall be cons tuted by a minimum of forty Broadcasters. (2) Every self-regula ng body referred to in sub-rule (1)shall be headed by a re red judge of the Supreme Court or of a High Court or an independent eminent person from the field of media, broadcas ng, entertainment, child rights, human rights or such other relevant fields, and shall have other members, preferably not exceeding six, being independent experts in the field of media, broadcas ng, entertainment, child rights, human rights and such other relevant fields. (3)The self-regula ng body shall, a er its cons tu on in accordance with sub-Rule (2),register itself with the Central Government within a period of thirty days from the date of publica on of these rules or within thirty days from the date of its cons tu on, whichever is earlier: Provided that before gran ng registra on to the selfregula ng body, the Central Government shall sa sfy itself that the self-regula ng body has been cons tuted in accordance with sub-rule (2)and has agreed to perform the func ons specified in sub-rules (4) and (5). (4) The self-regula ng body shall perform the following func ons, namely: · i) oversee and ensure the alignment and adherence by the Broadcaster to the Programme Code and the Adver sing Code. · ii) provide guidance to the Broadcaster on various aspects of the Programme Code and the Adver sing Code. · iii) dispose of grievances which have not been disposed of by the Broadcaster within the specified period of fi een days. · iv) hear appeals filed by the complainant against the decision of the Broadcaster. · v) issue such guidance or advisories to a Broadcaster, including those specified in sub-rule (5),for ensuring compliance to the Programme Code and the Adver sing Code. (5) A self-regula ng body while disposing complaint or an appeal referred to in sub-rule (4)may issue the following guidance or advisories to the Broadcaster, namely: -

10 July 2021

i) advisory, warning, censure, admonish or reprimand; or · ii) an apology to be telecast by the Broadcaster; or · iii) include awarning card or a disclaimer; or · iv) in case of any content where it is sa sfied that there is a need for taking ac on to delete or modify content, refer it to the Central Government for the considera on of the Oversight Mechanism referred to in Rule 19for appropriate ac on. (6) Where the self-regula ng body is of the opinion that there is no viola on of the Programme Code or the Adver sing Code, it shall convey such decision to the complainant and the Broadcaster. (7) Where the Broadcaster fails to comply with the guidance or advisory of the self-regula ng body within the me specified in such guidance or advisory, the selfregula ng body shall refer the ma er to the Oversight Mechanism referred to in Rule 19within fi een days of the expiry of the s pulated period. Comments: The allowance of mul ple self-regulatory bodies of broadcasters (with a minimum of 40 broadcasters) is a welcome step considering that even news broadcasters have two separate bodies. Regional broadcasters are not part of IBF and will form their own body. The only s pula on that takes away from fully independent selfregula on is that Government reserves the right to sa sfy itself that the registering body is cons tuted in terms of the specific subsec on of Rules. Perhaps an affidavit would have sufficed, at least for exis ng self-regulatory bodies. A er 13 years, it appears incongruent that IBF and NBA would have to register themselves with the Ministry of Informa on and Broadcas ng. 6.Oversight Mechanism by Central Government (Rule 19) Oversight Mechanism. – (1) The Central Government shall coordinate and facilitate the adherence to the Programme Code and the Adver sing Code by the Broadcaster, develop an Oversight Mechanism, and perform the following func ons, namely: · i) Publish a Charter for self-regula ng bodies, including Codes of Prac ces for such bodies. · (ii) Establish an Inter-Departmental Commi ee for hearing grievances or complaints. · (iii) Refer to the Inter-Departmental Commi eegrievances or complaints arising out of the decision of the self-regula ng body under Rule 17,or if no decision has been taken by the self-regula ng body within the s pulated me, or on receipt of such other complaints or references rela ng to viola on of Programme Code or Adver sing Code as it may consider necessary.

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Guest Column · (iv) issue appropriate guidance and advisories to Broadcasters. · (v) issue appropriate orders and direc ons to Broadcasters for maintenance and adherence to the Programme Code and the Adver sing Code. · (vi) act for non-compliance of its orders or direc ons and that of the self-regula ng body. Comments: There is a welcome reference to the role of the Oversight Mechanism to func on as a coordinator and facilitator. How this will work out in future remains to be seen. With the most vibrant Television network in the World, facilita on is the key. Nothing else will meet the test of freedom of expression under Ar cle 19 (1) (a). 7. 7. Forma on of Inter-Departmental Commi ee Rule 20 Inter-Departmental Commi ee. – (1)The Central Government shall cons tute an InterDepartmental Commi ee, chaired by the Addi onal Secretary in the Ministry of Informa on and Broadcas ng, and consis ng of representa ves from the Ministry of Women and Child Development, Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Electronics and Informa on Technology, Ministry of External Affairs, Ministry of Defence, and representa ves of such other Ministries and Organisa ons, including experts, as the Central Government may decide. (2)The Inter-Departmental Commi ee shall devise its own procedure for hearing grievances or complaints. (3)The Commi ee shall meet periodically and hear complaints regarding viola on or contraven on of the Programme Code and the Adver sing Code that may – 1. Arise out of appeal against the decisions taken at Level I or Level II, as the case may be, or where no such decision is taken within the specified me. 1. Be referred to it by the Central Government. (4) The Inter-Departmental Commi ee shall examine complaints or grievances received by it and make any of the following recommenda ons to the Central Government, namely: Advising, warning, censuring, admonishing, or reprimanding such Broadcaster; or · requiring an apology of such Broadcaster; or · requiring such Broadcaster to include a warning card or a disclaimer; or · requiring such Broadcaster to delete or modify the content or take the channel or a programme off-air for a specified me period where it is sa sfied that such ac on is warranted, for reasons to be recorded in wri ng. (5)The Central Government may, a er taking into considera on the recommenda ons of the Commi ee, issue appropriate orders and direc ons under sub11 July 2021

Sec on(3)of Sec on 20of the Act for compliance by the Broadcaster. Comments: The cons tu on of the Oversight Mechanism allows for a wide range of members, including 'experts' (le vague). S ll, it does not amplify who these experts could be. There is a preponderance of government representa ves, which dilutes the true spirit of self-regula on. S ll, one can only hope that interven ons by the Oversight Mechanism will be in the rarest of rare instances. 8. 8. Full disclosure of complaint handling by Broadcaster or self-regula ng body (Rule 21). Disclosure of Informa on. – (1) A self-regula ng body and a Broadcaster shall make true and full disclosure of all grievances or complaints received by it, the manner in which the complaints are disposed of the ac on taken on such complaints, the reply sent to the complainant, the orders or direc ons received by it and ac on taken on such orders or direc ons. (2) The informa on referred to in sub-Sec on (1) shall be placed in the public domain and updated quarterly. (3) Subject to any law for the me being in force, the Broadcaster shall preserve the record of the content telecast by it for a minimum period of ninety days and make it available to the self-regula ng body or the Central Government, or any other Central Government agency as may be requisi oned by it. Comments: The first two ers have been directed to put up quarterly updates. However, there is no such s pula on for the third and most important er-the Oversight Mechanism. Hopefully, this will be remedied in future. Conclusion The amendments to the Cable Rules2021are a significant step forward in codifying the process to record viewers grievances and gran ng statutory recogni on to selfregulatory bodies. S ll, it is mys fying that the amendments to the Cable Act amendments circulated in January 2020 (28 in number) are s ll pending to be placed for passage before Parliament. The Cable Act 1995is outdated and needs to have been replaced by a comprehensive Electronic Media Regulatory Act. This is the need of the hour, but if there is hesita on, 26 years a er a defini ve Supreme Court verdict, then at least one hopes the salutary amendments proposed in January 2020Cable Act do get adopted during this year. Meanwhile, it will be worthwhile to monitor the new selfregulatory regime introduced this week a er a couple of months.

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Guest Column: Dolby’s Tryst with IndiaUnlocking immersive AV experiences

ontent consump on and crea on are an inescapable part of modern culture. Over the years, the content consump on behavior of consumers has witnessed an exponen al change as the homebound work and leisure economy has led to a signiﬁcant rise in consump on by the populace. Users today have the op on to set up state of the art home-entertainment systems that oﬀer cinema like experience in their living rooms. In 2010, Dolby started to work with the Indian television industry with the aim to revolu onize the auditory and visual experience of the consumers. Its ini al partnership with Star TV with the breakthrough ‘Asli HD Campaign’ in 2011 resulted in increased brand visibility on air, in print and retail and made Dolby a household name. Since then, Dolby has been commi ed to create breakthrough experiences for billions of people through a collabora ve ecosystem spanning content creators, businesses, and consumers. In the Indian context, we have a large presence both on the cinema side and on the consumer entertainment side in HD broadcast, live sports and now with streaming services and content. Dolby’s technology is very widely adopted across devices, including televisions, set-top-boxes, DMAs, A/V Receivers, Home Theatres, Soundbars, Mobile Phones, Tablets, PCs etc. At Dolby we consciously and con nuously work on

13 July 2021

making the experience seamless across all screens. Right from the introduc on of HD in India, we have been deeply engaged in and working with the television and broadcast ecosystem. Our work over the last several years has resulted in Dolby Audio being used in over 70+ HD channels in the market. Furthermore, in a mobile-first market like India, the mobile device is increasingly becoming an entertainment hub. Content consump on today is no longer limited to tradi onal formats. People are consuming content across screen sizes – whether it is their smartphones, tablets, laptops, or televisions. Understanding this landscape, we are also very ac vely working with several OTT streaming service providers and have a number of services which are now streaming content with Dolby audio as well as video experiences. Our goal is to offer experiences that bring entertainment to life be it at the cinemas, at home in the living room or on the go on mobile. The audiences of today are seeking memorable and spectacular experiences. So, the need of the hour is to offer an immersive experience, which stays with them long a er they have turned the screen off. We have a strong presence in the cinema business and on the consumer entertainment side, through our audio technology – Dolby Atmos and Dolby Audio and more recently with our video technology – Dolby Vision.

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Guest Column With the pandemic as social distancing became the norm, it is only natural that our interac on with content—with movies, music, and games — skyrocketed. The work it takes to bring those stories to life, to help millions of people experience them just the way their creators intended has never felt more important and increased manifold in volume. At Dolby, that’s what our work comes down to. Beyond the codecs and compression, our job is to bring fans closer to the content that moves them, to deepen the connec on between creators and their audiences. We have people working across Dolby Laboratories who are helping to revolu onize the science of sight and sound

to make that kind of connec on happen - in the living rooms, on our PCs and mobile devices, through sports and movies, music and gaming. Our focus has always been to provide that sense of trust to our partners and help them in whatever way we can to solve the challenges they face in providing an immersive entertainment experience to the 14 July 2021

consumers. Over the course of me, the entertainment industry has adapted to keep up with this homebound economy by bringing in content and technologies to address the growing dependency on online audio video content consump on, the evolu on of virtual music concerts, podcasts, audio rooms, conferencing, etc. Today, consumers are willing to invest in premium quality content and in devices and are being able to have an enhanced audio and visual experience. Dolby partnered with Earshot – a podcast streaming service applica on to enable content in Dolby Atmos for their consumers. This allows listeners to receive an immersive audio experience in mul ple Indian languages including Hindi, Bengali, Assamese, and Bhojpuri in addi on to English on mobile phones. Furthermore, we have worked with Disney + Hotstar, Amazon Prime and Ne lix to ensure Dolby enabled content reaches the consumer for an enhanced experience. With a singular purpose of transforming next-gen audiovisual experiences, Dolby delivers an end-toend solu on. We work with content creators by providing them with the tools to create content using Dolby technology. On the delivery side, we partner with services and provide them with the tools that enable a spectacular experience, be it at the cinemas, at home in the living room or on the go. We also work on the playback side with OEMs powering their devices (like TVs, STBs, mobile, etc.) with our audio and video technologies, thereby providing a seamless end-user experience. Today, a consumer can find both TVs with Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos, and sound bars with Dolby Atmos at various price points that suit every pocket. Our solu ons have also expanded to more device categories --- like PCs, tablets, smartphones, and smart speakers. We want to con nue scaling Dolby enabled movies, episodic content, and live sports. This year, we have added more streaming partners and have seen crea ves use Dolby technology beyond blockbuster ac on movies and across different genres like documentaries, comedies, and cooking shows. Our focus is also towards priori zing music, gaming, and live sports wherein our technologies like Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos will deliver high value to ar sts, gamers, and audiences alike. At Dolby, we are dedicated and always scou ng for new ways to ensure seamless and effec ve delivery of quality audio solu ons, which will enable transforma ve experiences for consumers.

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Guest Column

Media Update - NTO 2.0 remains an overhang for Broadcasters -By Karan Taurani, VP, Elara Capital

· The Bombay High Court’s order on NTO 2.0 implementa on would result in higher ARPU, given that individual channels, which are not part of a bouquet, can be priced without any caps. This may raise a la carte based subscrip on revenue contribu on towards 25-30% in the medium term vs ~5% currently. · We believe the judgment favors only marquee channels within sports and select urban general entertainment channels (GEC), which will be willing to move out of bouquet due to strong customer recall and willingness to pay high prices. Listed broadcasters like Zee Entertainment (Z IN) and Sun TV Network (SUNTV IN) would take a hit, if they were to move their marquee channels outside the bouquet and charge higher prices, adversely aﬀec ng niche channels o ake and overall subscrip on revenue. · We believe subscriber revenue growth, which is es mated to be in the range of 7-8% YoY, will move lower in the range of 3-5% in the ﬁrst year of NTO 2.0 implementa on; post that, there would be a steady state growth of 6-8% in the medium term. · There is a high likelihood this version of NTO 2.0 will be contested in the Supreme Court by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) or the distributors, as the la er has taken a hit due to cap on network capacity fee (NCF) as well as carriage fee.

Media Quick View (TV)-NTO 2.0 impact analysis

asis our checks and our implica ons of various norms, we have es mate a 11-12% decline in subs revenue for industry in FY22 – break up and reason for this decline is given below_ 1) Pricing of ala carte channel will come down from 37% from a cap of Rs 19 to a cap of Rs 12, if it were to included in any bouquet – as discussed on a pan India basis, almost 7-9% of consumers have moved to only ala carte and this price decline will lead to lower ARPU’s – hence the nega ve impact of 3% due to this 2) Prices of bouquet for large broadcasters range from INR 30 to INR 49 with Star being the highest in terms of bouquet prices – as per the TRAI 2.0 order, the discount factor of bouquet vs sum of ala carte has been capped at 33% vs no capping earlier in NTO 1.0 – we believe this will lead to cut in the bouquet prices for broadcasters by 10% to 35% which will nega vely impact ARPU – hence the nega ve impact of almost 8-9% due to this lower pricing on bouquets to match up to the norm

15 July 2021

3) Shi from bouquet to ala carte – as per our channel checks, almost 6-8% of the consumers will move from bouquet based oﬀering to pure play ala carte due to prices of ala carte correc ng by 37% as men oned above – this shi will lead to a lower ARPU by almost 30-40% for 6-8% of these customers – hence the nega ve impact of 2-3% due to this To conclude, we con nue to believe that the nega ve impact of NTO 2.0 is highest for Star whose bouquet prices have a higher discount factor and lowest for SUNTV whose discoun ng of bouquet vs ala carte is already at very low levels, which will lead to con nued outperformance for SUNTV on subs revenue front despite NTO 2.0. On the other hand, this order is low to moderately nega ve for ZEE FY22 assump on - Basis above, we have a 2.5%YoY growth assump on for SUNTV subs revenue in FY22 if NTO 2.0 gets implemented; compara vely, Zee’s subs revenue will decline 5-6%YoY as they are moderately placed as men oned above

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News

On Twi er issue, new IT Minister says local laws supreme

ven as Twi er on 8th July was making submissions in Delhi High Court that it’s targe ng to be IT Rulescompliant by weekend, the new IT and Telecoms Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw reiterated what his predecessor had been saying ll recently --- those who do business in India, should follow local laws. “The law of the land should be abided by everyone,” Vaishnaw was quoted by news agency ANI as saying a er a mee ng with BJP general secretary (Organisa on) B L Santhosh at the party office in New Delhi. India’s new digital regula ons, which became effec ve end-May, are aimed at regula ng content on social media and making firms act more swi ly on legal requests to remove posts and sharing details on the originators of messages, apart from modera ng content on OTT and digital news pla orms. They also require the appointment of certain new execu ves like a nodal officer, chief compliance office and grievance officer --- all to be resident in India and employees of a digital company. The rules were introduced amid growing conflict between the government and the US social media firm Twi er, which ratcheted up during the pandemic. The spat between Twi er and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government began earlier this year when the microblogging giant was ordered to remove a controversial hash tag related to farmer protests against new agricultural reforms. That tussle, coupled with regulatory scru ny of other U.S.

Disney `Spin’ with Abhay Deol airs in Aug’21

ctor Abhay Deol on June 26 shared informa on on his first Disney film "Spin", and posted a trailer of the India-centric family comedy. "I am aware that most of my audience love me for making edgy, alterna ve narra ves, that challenge the status quo. Which is why this film is all the more special as it is a departure from my own status quo, and catering to a much younger audience. 'Spin'is a Disney film, which will go live on their pla orm for the U.S audiences on the 13th of August. It is a gem of a movie that will leave you smiling and feeling good. Blessed to be a part of it!" Abhay wrote on Instagram along with the trailer, IANS reported. "Spin"is Disney Channel's first original film to star an Indian16 July 2021

tech firms like WhatsApp and Amazon, had upset the business environment in a key growth market, some companies have opined, according to Reuters. Meanwhile, the junior minister at Ministry of Electronics a n d I n f o r m a o n Te c h n o l o g y ( M e i t y ) R a j e e v Chandrashekhar also took office Thursday. A tech entrepreneur-turned-poli cian, Chandrashekhar was quoted by ANI, while dwelling on the Twi er issue, as saying, “The Ministry doesn’t operate on a unilateral basis. An this has nothing to do with individual views and opinions. The Ministry would sit with the Union Minister and address all these issues.” Vaishnaw, who also holds the por olios of the Railways and Communica ons along with Meity, made his presence felt in all the three ministries and was welcomed by officials from the respec ve organisa ons. Vaishnaw is a Member of Rajya Sabha (Upper House of Parliament) from the State of Odisha. He served the people of Sundergarh, Balasore, Cu ack and Goa regions. A Master’s in Technology from IIT Kanpur and MBA from Wharton, he brings a combina on of skills in technology, finance and their applica on to weakest sec ons of society, a government statement said. Vaishnaw firmly believes in the philosophy of Antyodaya --- transforming the lives of the marginalized sec ons of society. According to the new Minister, “ The Railways, Communica on and Technology touch the lives of all Indians. I will work to fulfill the Prime Minister’s vision.”

American. The ﬁlm casts Avan ka Vandanapu, American actress of Indian origin, as Indian-American teen Rhea Kumar, who discovers her ar s c side through the unique world of deejaying. Abhay Deol plays Rhea's father Arvind Kumar. Manjari Makijany, daughter of late actor Mac Mohan and the cousin of actress Raveena Tandon, directs "Spin". Meera Syal, Aryan Simhadri, Agam Darshi, Anna Cathcart and Michela Luci co-star in the ﬁlm. Apart from "Spin", Abhay's upcoming projects are Ajay Devgn's produc on "Velley", besides "Jungle Cry", "Junc on"and a web series based on the book "Trial By Fire: The Tragic Tale Of The Uphaar Fire Tragedy", by authors Neelam & Shekhar Krishnamoorthy.

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News

Indian govt. insists in court Twi er failed to be IT Rules-compliant

ndia’s federal government Monday, 5th July told the Delhi High Court that social media giant Twi er Inc. had failed to comply with India's new IT Rules, which is law of the land and is mandatorily required to be complied with. The government, in an affidavit filed in the high court, said any non-compliance amounts to breach of provisions of IT Rules, also known as The Informa on Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code), Rules, 2021 no fied on February 25, 2021, leading to USbased Twi er losing its intermediary immunity conferred under the norms. The government submission was filed in response to a pe on by lawyer Amit Acharya where he claimed noncompliance of the new IT Rules by the microblogging pla orm. The ma er is scheduled to come up for hearing on Tuesday. The federal government affidavit, filed by N Samaya Balan, working as Scien st-E in the Cyber Law Group with the Ministry of Electronics and Informa on Technology (Meity), said admi edly Twi er Inc. is an intermediary within the meaning of provision of IT Act, 2000 and a Significant Social Media Intermediary (SSMI) under the IT Rules 2021. It said that in spite of the three months' me granted to all intermediaries to comply with the IT Rules 2021, which expired on May 26, Twi er failed to fully comply with the same. “I submit that the respondent No.2 (Twi er Inc.) had ini ally appointed the interim resident grievance officer (RGO) and the interim nodal contact person. Later the respondent No.2 (Twi er Inc.) informed the answering respondent (MEITY) that the said interim RGO and nodal officer have withdrawn/ resigned from their posi ons.

I submit that as per the details gleaned from the respondent No. 2 website/mobile applica on, in the interim the grievances from India are being handled by personnel of respondent No. 2 situated in the United State of America which amounts to non-compliance with the IT Rules 2021,” the government submission said. The affidavit, filed through federal government standing counsel Ripudaman Singh Bhardwaj, said that Twi er has failed to comply with the IT Rules, 2021 as on July 1 for the following reasons: chief compliance officer had not been appointed; the posi on of the RGO is vacant; the posi on of nodal contact person (even on an interim basis) is vacant, and the physical contact address, which was shown to be there on May 29, is not available again on Twi er website. The government said as Twi er qualifies as a significant intermediary, it is obligated to comply with the provisions of the IT Rules, 2021. On July 3, Twi er had also filed its affidavit sta ng that it was in the "final stages" of appoin ng an interim chief compliance officer and an interim resident grievance officer under the new IT Rules. In the mean me, grievances raised by Indian users are being looked into by a grievance officer, it had said. The microblogging site had also said it may fall within the defini on of a "significant social media intermediary" under the IT Rules, 2021. The rules seek to regulate dissemina on and publica on of content in cyber space, including social media pla orms, and were no fied in February by the Indian government. Twi er had argued that the present plea is not maintainable and that Acharya moved the court "prematurely" without wai ng for his grievance to be redressed under the rules.

ZEE5 set to release ‘14 Phere’on July 23

treaming pla orm ZEE5, which released the teaser of ‘14 Phere’ on Monday,5th July revealed the names of the lead characters Sanjay and Adi . The film also stars Vikrant Massey and Kri Kharbanda. The film is described as a ‘social comedy’ and is wri en by Manoj Kalwani and directed by Na onal Award winner Devanshu Singh. The streaming pla orm had shared the teaser on its social media account --- “2x drama combined with 2x chaos equals dhamakedaar entertainment! #14Phere coming this July, only on #Zee5” While Devanshu’s previous film, ‘Chintu Ka Birthday’, was also released on the pla orm. ‘14 Phere’will premiere on July 23. 17 July 2021

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News

SC ‘shocked’ law enforcement s ll use IT Act’s scrapped rules

ndia’s Supreme Court Monday. 5th July said it is amazing and shocking that people are s ll being booked under Sec on 66A of the Informa on Technology Act that was scrapped by a verdict of the apex court in 2015. Under the scrapped sec on, a person pos ng offensive messages could be imprisoned for up to three years as also fined. A bench of Jus ces R F Nariman, K M Joseph and B R Gavai issued no ce to the federal government on an applica on filed by an NGO, People's Union for Civil Liber es (PUCL), PTI reported from New Delhi. “Don't you think this is amazing and shocking? Shreya Singhal judgement is of 2015. It's really shocking. What is going on is terrible,” the bench told senior advocate Sanjay Parikh, appearing for PUCL. Parikh said that despite express direc ons of the court in 2019 that all state governments should sensi se police personnel about the March 24, 2015 judgement, thousands of cases have been registered under the sec on. The bench said, “Yes, we have seen those figures. Don't worry we will do something.” Parikh said there had to be some kind of method to handle the ma er as people are suffering. A orney General K K Venugopal, appearing for the federal government, said that on perusal of the IT Act it can be seen that sec on 66A features in it, but in the footnote it is wri en that the provision had been scrapped. “Now when a police officer had to register a case, he sees the sec on and registers the case without going through the footnote. Instead what can be done is that we can put a bracket just a er sec on 66A and men on that it had been scrapped. We can in the footnote put the en re extract of the verdict,” the PTI report quoted Venugopal as saying. Jus ce Nariman said, “You please file counter in two weeks. We have issued a no ce. List the ma er a er two weeks.” The top court was hearing a fresh applica on of PUCL saying, “that, shockingly, despite the order dated February 15, 2019 and steps taken towards compliance thereof, the Applicant discovered that Sec on 66A of the IT Act has con nued to be in use not only within police sta ons but also in cases before trial courts across India”. The NGO said that in spite of the order passed by the apex court on February 15, 2019, direc ng that copies of the judgment of this court in Shreya Singhal case should remain available with every high court as well as all the district courts and that the police departments in the en re country should be sensi zed about the said judgment. The facts men oned above show that not only the

18 July 2021

inves ga ons under Sec on 66A by the police are con nuing but even in the trial courts. It sought direc on to the federal government to collect all data/ informa on regarding police complaints/ inves ga ons where Sec on 66A had been invoked as well as pendency of cases in the courts throughout the country where proceedings under the provision are con nuing in viola on of the 2015 judgment. The PUCL also sought direc on to the top court registry to communicate to all the district courts throughout the country (through respec ve high courts) to take cognizance of the 2015 judgment, so that no person should suﬀer or face any adverse consequences that violate his fundamental rights under Ar cle 21 of the Cons tu on. The NGO said the federal government be directed to issue an advisory to all police sta ons not to register cases under the repealed Sec on 66A. On February 15, 2019, the top court had directed all state governments to sensi se their police personnel about its March 24, 2015 verdict which had scrapped Sec on 66A of Informa on Technology Act so that people are not

unnecessarily arrested under the struck down provision. On January 7, 2019, while hearing the applica on of PUCL, the bench had observed that it is shocking that people are s ll being prosecuted under Sec on 66A of the IT Act even a er it has been scrapped by the apex court in 2015. Terming liberty of thought and expression "cardinal", the top court had on March 24, 2015, scrapped the provision saying that "the public's right to know is directly affected by Sec on 66A of the Informa on Technology Act”. The first PIL on the issue was filed in 2012 by a law student Shreya Singhal who sought an amendment in Sec on 66A of the Act a er two girls --- Shaheen Dhada and Rinu Shrinivasan --- were arrested in Palghar in Maharashtra's Thane district. While one had posted a comment against the shutdown in Mumbai following Shiv Sena leader Bal Thackeray's death, the other had 'liked' it. PUCL was also one of the pe oners in the earlier case and has challenged the Cons tu onal validity of sec on 66A of IT Act

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News

Tech companies say they can quit HK over privacy rules

n Asian industry group that includes Google, FB & Twi er had warned that tech companies could stop offering their services in Hong Kong if the Chinese territory proceeds with plans to change privacy laws. The warning came in a le er sent by the Asia Internet Coali on (AIC), according to a Reuters report. All three companies, in addi on to Apple Inc., LinkedIn and others, are members of the Coali on. Proposed amendments to privacy laws in Hong Kong could see individuals hit with "severe sanc ons", said the June 25 le er to the territory's privacy commissioner for personal data, Ada Chung Lai-ling, without specifying what the sanc ons would be. "Introducing sanc ons aimed at individuals is not aligned with global norms and trends," added the le er, whose contents were first reported by the Wall Street Journal. "The only way to avoid these sanc ons for technology companies would be to refrain from inves ng and offering their services in Hong Kong, thereby depriving Hong Kong businesses and consumers, whilst also crea ng new barriers to trade," AIC has said. In the six-page le er, AIC managing director Jeff Paine acknowledged the proposed amendments focus on the safety and personal data privacy of individuals. "However,

we wish to stress that doxxing is a ma er of serious concern," he wrote. During an -government protests in Hong Kong in 2019, doxxing --- or publicly releasing private or iden fying informa on about an individual or organiza on --- came under scru ny when police were targeted a er their details were released online. The details of some oﬃcers' home addresses and children's schools were also exposed by an -government protesters, some of whom threatened them and their families online. "We ... believe that any an -doxxing legisla on, which can have the eﬀect of curtailing free expression, must be built upon principles of necessity and propor onality," the AIC said. Facebook did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment, while Twi er referred ques ons to the AIC. Google declined to comment. The former Bri sh colony of Hong Kong returned to Chinese rule in 1997 with the guarantee of con nued freedoms. Pro-democracy ac vists say those freedoms are being whi led away by Beijing, especially with a na onal security law introduced last year cracking down on dissent. China denies the charge.

iPhone 13 may roll out wireless charging coil

pple’s iPhone 13 launch is s ll a few months away, but as expected, there’s no shortage of specula ons and rumors. The latest social media cha er is about Apple who is planning to upgrade its MagSafe charging capabili es to make room for reverse wireless charging on its upcoming smartphone lineup. A new rumor from Max Weinbach (via EverythingApplePro) claimed that Apple’s new iPhone 13 lineup will likely feature a bigger wireless charging coil, reported by ANI. This may increase the circumference from which the iPhone can charge wirelessly and also leave a variety of advantages like increased wa age. Weinbach went on to speculate that this might be used to

introduce reverse wireless charging to the iPhone, a feature that was expected to arrive last year itself with the iPhone12. This also implies that the iPhone would be capable of juicing up the ba ery of other wireless charging capable devices, like AirPods or the Apple Watch, by simply placing them onto the back of the next iPhone. According to ANI, Apple had reportedly been toying with reverse wireless charging for a short me now. An FCC ﬁling from Apple late last year uncovered that the iPhone 12 may have already got these wireless charging features hidden in its hardware – they lonely haven’t been ac vated. However, to this date, there hasn’t been any informa on on when or if these features are going to be delivered to life within the iPhone12, so Apple may be saving it for iPhone13.

It’s a YiPPee moment for gamers of ESPL

ip smacking Sunfeast YiPPee Noddles from ITC have come onboard as snacking partner for Infinix presents Esports Premier League (ESPL) 2021, which is being organised for the first me, is a mul -city, mul -month tournament that is based on the popular online mul player ba le royale game - Fire Fire. Sunfeast YiPPee Noddles understands that gaming can turn out to be so exci ng that we forget to take a break to eat something. But what if you suddenly feel hungry right in middle of an interes ng ba le? Instant flavorful delicious noodles can be your saviors! So while ba ling an enemy, don’t ba le with your hunger. Sounds great, doesn’t it? 10 more brands have come forward to support the gamers and make a beeline for ESPL associa ons even before the registra ons close.

19 July 2021

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52nd IFFI to be held in Goa Nov 29-28

nforma on and Broadcas ng Minister Prakash Javadekar on Monday, 5th July released the regula ons and poster for the 52nd edi on of the Interna onal Film Fes val of India (IFFI). The fes val will be held in Goa from November 20 to 28 this year. Interna onal Film Fes val of India (IFFI) is known as one of Asia’s oldest & India’s biggest interna onal film fes vals. According to ANI, the 52nd edi on of IFFI would be held in a hybrid format considering the success of the 51st edi on in January 2021. The film is being organized by the Directorate of Film Fes vals (DFF), in collabora on with the Goa government and the Indian film industry. IFF is recognized by the Interna onal Federa on of Film Producers Associa ons (FIAPF). Every year, the

fes val celebrates some of the ﬁnest cinema c works and showcases a bouquet of the best ﬁlms from India and around the world. The call for entries for par cipa on in the compe ve sec on of the 53rd edi on of the Interna onal Film Fes val of India will remain open ll Aug 31, 2021. On the occasion of the birth centenary of the maestro of Indian Cinema Satyajit Ray, the Directorate of Films Fes vals will pay a tribute through a Special Retrospec ve at the IFFI. Also, in recogni on of the auteur’s legacy, the “Satyajit Ray Life me Achievement Award for Excellence in Cinema” had been ins tuted from this year to be given at the IFFI every year star ng from this year.

SonyLIV enters into Strategic Partnership with TCS

ata Consultancy Services (TCS), a leading global IT service, consul ng & business solu ons organiza on, had entered into a strategic partnership with India’s premier OTT streaming pla orm, SonyLIV, to help create an innova ve business model enabled by digital technologies, enhance customer experience & pave the path to future growth. According to the company’s press release, the partnership would leverage TCS’s next-gen digital capabili es, global exper se, domain knowledge, and innova on ecosystem to deﬁne SonyLIV’s pla orm transforma on roadmap for India and global markets. TCS will help enhance its core OTT pla orm to leverage AI & machine learning to provide personalized experiences to subscribers across devices. It would also help SonyLIV use data & insights to mone ze content & create new revenue streams. Addi onally, TCS would set up a world-class Experience Design Center leveraging its innova on labs, where it would deploy its Loca on Independent Agile Model to accelerate innova on by rapidly prototyping & helping SonyLIV launch new best-in-class features ahead of the market. The partnership would help SonyLIV reimagine the customer experience and engagement, enhance its brand, establish compe ve diﬀeren a on in the marketplace

and drive growth. Danish Khan, Business Head, SonyLIV, Sony Entertainment Television, and Studio Next, said, “We are delighted to have TCS on board as our technology partner. We will work closely with the TCS leadership team in India, the US, and the UK to enhance the user experience of SonyLIV. Further, we hope to harness the TCS global talent reach, infrastructure, and global centers of excellence to bring innova ons that will improve engagement and provide a deligh ul consumer experience.” “We are pleased to partner with SonyLIV in their growth

and transforma on journey to become one of the best OTT pla orms in the country and the world,” said Ujjwal Mathur, Country Head, TCS India. “Through this partnership, TCS will bring its deep domain knowledge in the media and OTT industry along with world-class technology capabili es to enable SonyLIV to innovate at speed and scale. TCS will leverage its global innova on ecosystem to introduce next-gen immersive and interac ve features to enrich the overall customer experience.”

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MTV India es up with SaltScout for COVID fund-raiser

s the first chapter of its latest MTV Cancel Covid ini a ve, the iconic youth brand in collabora on with SaltScout, an online e-commerce pla orm that supports fundraising for social causes, had launched MTV No Fever Sale, a celebrity closet fundraiser. Reason? As the na on con nues to reel under the Covid crisis, the need for communi es to come together towards helping each other had never been more impera ve. India’s leading youth entertainment brand, MTV, had always been at the forefront of inspiring posi ve change and channeling the power of collabora on, a statement from MTV said. The proceeds from the sale, conducted through Dolce Vee, a pla orm that conducts charity sales of pre-loved fashion, would be donated to SEEDS (Sustainable Environment and Ecological Development Society) , a leading non-profit organiza on that specializes in building community resilience against disasters and is ac vely responding to the Covid-19 emergency. MTV No Fever Sale would let fans shop from the closets of some of the renowned actors, singers and influencers from the entertainment industry such as Rannvijay Singha, Taapsee Pannu, Shilpa She y, Sunny Leone, Ra aar, Sushant Divgikar, Terence Lewis, Sanjay and Maheep Kapoor, Neha Sharma, Varun Sood, Divya Agarwal, VJ Gaelyn, Nikhita Gandhi and many more. These celebs have come forward to donate clothes, accessories and memorable items owned by them for their fans to get a chance to shop for a cause. The ini a ve is an endeavor to mobilise the youth of the country and u lize their love for shopping for the greater good – “Shop for a Cause.” Commen ng on the ini a ve, Rannvijay Singha said in a statement, “In these unprecedented mes, the country needs us to stand together, albeit virtually, more than ever. We can only sail through these difficult mes if we help one another. I’m happy to contribute a few of my special pieces from my closet for a disrup ve ini a ve like MTV No Fever Sale, in associa on with SaltScout. Shop from our closet during the sale and do your own bit to help fight the pandemic.” “The pandemic shook the na on in ways none of us would have ever imagined and it breaks my heart to see people suffering. Amidst all the chaos, it is impera ve that all of us 21 July 2021

come forward to help each other in the best possible way, and I’m happy to do my bit for a humbling ini a ve like this one which endeavors to mobilize the youth of the country to bring about a change”, added Shilpa She y. Dr. Manu Gupta, Co-Founder, SEEDS said, "The unprecedented Covid crisis has jolted the na on, taking away people’s loved ones and causing untold suffering. SEEDS’ associa on with MTV for a bold ini a ve like MTV No Fever Sale has hugely boosted our confidence of doing even more for fellow ci zens. “The unique celebrity closet fundraiser is an endeavor to mobilize youth of the country, with whom we hope to ul mately reach out to most marginalised communi es in the country who have limited means and access to mely health care and vaccina on.” SaltScout Founder Komal Hiranandani added that through this novel ini a ve, they have brought together the country's top talent with its fan base to make “giving back more engaging and to raise awareness about the many ways in which each of us can contribute”. The fans can look forward to some of the most loved items of their favourite actors. The sale will have Taapsee Pannu’s fashionable black jacket and a white shirt she wore for the promo on of her new film, Shilpa She y ’s gorgeous dress, Sunny Leone’s stunning skirt and top ou it worn on one of the seasons of MTV Splitsvilla, Sushant Divgikar’s scin lla ng gown worn at the Vogue Beauty Awards Red Carpet, Ra aar’s swanky cap and shoes, Rannvijay’s trendy sneakers, Varun Sood’s stylish jackets and shoes, Aparshak Khurana’s funky shirt and a classy hat, Darshan Raval’s cool jackets, and so much more that will give the fashion-conscious shoppers a chance to own their favourite celebrity’s belongings and extend help to those in need. The ground-breaking ini a ve also brings to light the everevolving phenomenon of pre-loved sustainable shopping, which addresses the impact of carbon footprint on the planet and the need for a cleaner environment. MTV India appealed to the people to support the cause with some “therapeu c shopping” at www.mtvnofeversale.com As part of the next chapter of MTV Cancel Covid, MTV will launch more ini a ves aimed at rallying the community and helping those in need to fight against the pandemic.

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Windows 11 improvising app store

merican tech giant Microso Corpora on is ﬁnally improvising its app store for its users. Some popular applica ons have already started to appear on Windows 11’s Microso store, making it more useful than before. According to ANI, Microso ’s app store for Windows, the Microso Store, is improving under Windows 11. While there have been changes like a UI overhaul & some speed improvements, the major change is allowing more apps into the store. Popular apps like OBS Studio, Zoom, Canva, WinZip, and Adobe Acrobat Reader have all started to appear on the Microso Store in the past week, alongside Microso Edge browser extensions. This major change had come as an early addi on to the beta version of Windows 11. Now, “any app can be part of the store”. This move

reportedly aligns with the Windows Package Manager Microso released last year. Microso ’s Windows Package Manager earlier oﬀered apps like Zoom & WinRAR that were missing from the main store, a move that made the so ware in demand overnight. The package now includes many popular apps like Discord, Google Chrome, Firefox & more. ANI further reported that “the Microso Store is essen ally now a frontend for the Windows Package Manager and the WinGet command that’s used to install apps from Microso repository”. Windows chief Panos Panay earlier stated that the company is open to having Steam or the Epic Games Store in the Microso Store soon, and it would likely work as a way to link out to apps and games available elsewhere.

ASCI, FSSAI join hands to curb misleading F&B ads

he Adver sing Standards Council of India (ASCI) had signed an agreement with the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) to safeguard consumers against misleading claims in food and beverage (F&B) adver sements. The agreement was signed in the presence of Arun Singhal, CEO, FSSAI, and Professor Bejon Misra, Adviser, Public Affairs, ASCI, recently, a press statement from ASCI stated. As per the agreement, ASCI would iden fy adver sements, which prima facie violate provisions of Food Safety And Standards (Adver sing And Claims) Regula ons, 2018, and FSSAI would further inves gate these. Under the agreement, ASCI will set up a three-member expert panel to evaluate F&B adver sing iden fied by the ASCI monitoring team . There had been a marked increase in the number of complaints against F&B ads during the COVID19 pandemic. In the last financial year (FY) ASCI has processed a total number of 284 complaints compared to 175 in FY 2019-20. So, claims by F&B brands, par cularly those related to health and nutri on, are under great scru ny. Food and health con nue to be important focus areas for ASCI. With this associa on, ASCI has further strengthened its 360-degree approach of protec ng consumers as well as guiding brands, agencies and influencers towards greater responsibility.

22 July 2021

As per a report published by media agency Zenith, India would be the fastest-growing market for FMCG brands’ F&B adver sing over the next three years with spending rising 14 percent a year. With the rise in digital consump on, it is expected that FMCG brands’ digital ad spends will increase from $12.3 billion in 2020 to $14.9 billion in 2023. This further necessitates the monitoring of F&B adver sements. Manisha Kapoor, Secretary-General, ASCI, said: “With this agreement, ASCI would intensify its scru ny of the F&B sector. We will tap our Na onal Adver sing Monitoring Service, which monitors over 900 TV channels and publica ons, and over 3,000 websites. Besides na onal brands, we will examine

regional and local ones. Our experts, with decades of experience in the F&B sector, will shortlist those adver sements that require further scru ny by FSSAI.” ASCI is a part of the Execu ve Commi ee of the Interna onal Council on Ad Self-Regula on (ICAS). Among several awards bestowed by the European Adver sing Standards Alliance (EASA), ASCI bagged a Gold Global Best Prac ce Award for the Mobile App “ASCI online '' (2016).

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India oﬃcially admits Twi er has lost liability protec on

wi er Inc. no more enjoys liability protec on against user-generated content in India as the US microblogging giant had failed to comply with new IT Rules, the Indian government said in a court filing. The statement is the first me Prime Minister Narendra Modi's administra on has officially said Twi er has lost its immunity a er repeatedly cri cising the company for non-compliance, Reuter reported from New Delhi. The dispute and the public spat have raised concern that American firms would find it difficult to do business amid a more stringent regulatory environment. India's IT Ministry told the High Court in New Delhi that Twi er's non-compliance amounted to a breach of the provisions of the IT Act, causing the US firm to lose its immunity, according to the filing dated July 5. The filing came in a case filed by a Twi er user who wanted to complain about some allegedly defamatory tweets on the pla orm, and said the company was not complying with the new law that requires appointment of certain new

execu ves residing in India. Twi er declined to comment. The company had previously said it was making all efforts to comply. India's new IT Rules, which became effec ve end-May, are aimed at regula ng content on social media firms and making them more accountable to legal requests for swi removal of posts and sharing details on the originators of messages. Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has slammed Twi er for deliberately defying the law and said all social media firms must abide by the new rules. In recent weeks, as acrimony grew between New Delhi & Twi er, Indian police have filed at least five cases against the company or its officials, including some related to child pornography and a controversial map of India on its career page. Police in two Indian states have named Twi er India chief Manish Maheshwari in complaints. Separately, the state of U ar Pradesh has challenged in the Supreme Court a bar on police ac on against Maheshwari, a er a lower court protected him against arrest over an accusa on that the pla orm was used to spread hate.

Veteran actor Dilip Kumar passes away

eteran actor Dilip Kumar, who is known as Tragedy King passed away on Wednesday, 7th July morning at Mumbai’s PD Hinduja Hospital. He was 98. The news of his demise has been confirmed by Dr. Jaleel Parkar, Pulmonologist, who was trea ng the veteran actor, told ANI. Dilip Kumar’s spokesperson Faisal Farooqi has also shared the demise news on his Twi er handle. “With a heavy heart and profound grief, I announce the passing away of our beloved Dilip Saab, a few minutes ago. We are from God and to Him, we return,” Farooqi tweeted. A few days back, Dilip Kumar was admi ed to the hospital a few days ago a er he complained of breathlessness. Dilip gives more than 65 films to the Indian Cinema and known for his iconic roles in movies like ‘Devdas’ (1955), ‘Naya Daur’ (1987), ‘Mughal-e-Azam’ (1960), ‘Ganga Jamuna’ (1961), ‘Kran ’ (1981), and ‘Karma’ (1986). His last film was ‘Qila’, which was released in 1998.““He is now survived by his wife and veteran actor Saira Banu.

Zee Media appoints Abhishek Nigam as COO for digital business

he media & entertainment powerhouse, Zee Media Corpora on Limited had appointed Abhishek Nigam as its Chief Opera ng Oﬃcer (COO) for the digital business. Abhishek shared his post on his LinkedIn account. He wo u l d l e a d t h e e n re d i g i ta l opera ons that include 20 brands across 12 languages touching more than 300 million viewers across the digital replicas of Zee Media’s 14 linear news channels. Abhishek had 15 years of rich experience in digital business and the 24 July 2021

vernacular language market. Before joining ZMCL, Abhishek has worked with Airtel, Times Internet, and Jagran Group across the product leadership roles. He had been involved in launching & scaling B2C & B2B products from the scratch and has led AI and ML-driven product ini a ves to deliver engaging value proposi ons while calcula ng the revenue. An IIT Delhi Alumnus, Abhishek holds a B. Tech and M. Tech Degree. His educa onal qualiﬁca on also includes the Senior Management Program from IIM, Calcu a, and Ar ﬁcial Intelligence Professional Program from Stanford University, USA.

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Delhi HC refuses interim relief to digital news pla orm

elhi High Court on Wednesday, 7th July refused to grant interim protec on to the digital news pla orms that challenged ‘The Informa on Technology (Guidelines for Intermediaries and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021. According to ANI, the bench of Jus ces DN Patel and Jus ce Jyo Singh heard a batch of pe ons including the pe ons filed by digital new portals like The Quint, The Wire and others. Senior Advocate Nitya Ramakrishnan represen ng the digital news portals sought the court’s direc on for the respondents not to take any coercive ac on against the pe oners and grant them interim protec on. Responding to the prayer, Jus ce DN Patel, refused to grant any interim protec on to the digital news portals as prayed by the counsels represen ng them. The respondent Central government informed the Delhi High Court on 7th July that it had moved a pe on in the Supreme Court of India to transfer all the pe ons challenging the IT Rules, 2021 in the various High Courts of the country. The Delhi High Court also directed the respondent the Central government to file the reply in the present pe on that is being heard by the Delhi High Court. As per the pe on filed by The Quint that challenged the new set of rules on the ground that special categoriza on had been created in the Rules which has put an addi onal burden on digital news media and current affairs. However, The Quint stated in the pe on that by classifying in the digital news and current affairs as separate en es and iden fying it as different from the

print views, the Centre had done an arbitrary and discriminatory classifica on which is viola ve of Ar cle 14 of the Cons tu on of India. Recently, Delhi High Court’s vaca on bench had also issued a no ce to the Centre on a fresh applica on challenging the IT Rules, 2021 filed by Pravda Media Founda on, the parent company of ALT News. Another plea was filed in March by the Founda on for Independent Journalism that publishes The Wire, a digital news website against the vires of the IT Rules, 2021. Another plea challenging IT Rules, 2021 had been filed by Sanjay Singh, a prac cing lawyer. According to him, the intermediary is brought under the tremendous pressure to remove the content that purportedly does not comply with the rules and to immediately block access to the user on its own. Otherwise, when it receives direc ons from a government agency or a competent court regarding any informa on on the purpoted ground of it being unlawful, the intermediary had to remove such content or block access to it within 36 hours or face punishment up to seven years of imprisonment, he added. According to the new IT rules, social media and streaming companies would be required to take down conten ous content quicker, appoint grievance redressal officers and assist in inves ga ons. The IT Rules were also no fied by the Central government on March 25 2021. The newly no fied rules Will regulate the func oning of online media portals and publishers, over-the-top (OT T pla orms) and Social media intermediaries.

Esha Deol makes digital debut in Ajay Devgn’s ‘Rudra’

ollywood actor Esha Deol Takhtani, who had taken a hiatus from ﬁlms a er marriage, is all set to make her digital debut with the upcoming crime-drama series ‘Rudra –The Edge of Darkness’. Earlier, Ajay Devgn had announced the project will launch later this year on Disney+Hotstar. The Hotstar Specials series will soon go into produc on and will be shot across Mumbai. It is produced by Applause Entertainment in associa on with BBC Studios India. The series is the Indian adapta on of the successful Bri sh series --‘Luther’, helmed by Idris Elba as a troubled and alcohol-addicted police detec ve . An engaging dark thriller crime drama series, ‘Rudra’would bring a unique storytelling format and powerful characters. Ajay Devgn had earlier called Rudra “the crime thriller of the year”. The ‘Singham’actor will take the role of a cop with grey shades for this series. Esha Deol was last seen in ‘Cakewalk’.

25 July 2021

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Anurag Thakur gets MIB; Ashwini Vaishnaw to helm Meity, Telecoms

ell, the Indian PM reshuffled his council of ministers on Wednesday, 7th July and the media and telecoms industries have new Ministers at relevant ministries of Informa on and Broadcas ng, Electronics & IT, and Communica ons. To be specific, there are four ministers now to contend with, including those with Cabinet rank and their juniors. Former junior Finance Minister Anurag Singh Thakur had been elevated as a full-fledged cabinet-rank Minister and would helm the ministries of Informa on and Broadcas ng, and Youth Affairs & Sports. This actually could turn out to be a good move for TV sports channels that now can take their problems of sports broadcas ng (increased fee for telecas ng live sports events, for example) and broadcas ng, in general, to a single authority for faster resolu on of issues. Thakur, who’s also ac ve in one of the richest spor ng bodies, the Indian cricket board, had a good understanding of sports, sports broadcas ng and thorny issues related to the sector. An Indian Ins tute of Technology grad Ashwini Vaishnaw takes over as Minister of Communica ons, Electronics & Informa on Technology, and the Railways. Said to be a low-profile and quiet person, Vaishnaw could be what the doctor ordered at the presently high-profile Ministry of Electronics and Informa on Technology (Meity), which seems to be at war with the big American tech companies, including Twi er, with daily run-ins. Vaishnaw would be assisted by two junior ministers --- tech entrepreneur-turned-poli cian Rajeev Chandrasekhar at Meity and Devusinh Chauhan at the Communica ons Ministry where Department of Telecoms is overseeing several important projects, including India’s transi on to 5G tech, spectrum alloca ons and public broadband project BharatNet that aims to close the digital divide between the haves and have-nots, but is way behind scheduled target achievement. PM Modi, keeping the tradi ons alive, had retained the Space Ministry por olio, which oversees Department of Space and India’s space agency ISRO. Earlier, Reuters reported from New Delhi that a er weeks of specula on over a Cabinet reshuffle, Prime Minister Narendra Modi rearranged his cabinet on July 7 as many new faces were included in the Union Cabinet where 26 July 2021

women leaders from the governing NDA as well as marginalised communi es found a seat in the cabinet. A total of 43 leaders took oath on 6th July in the Union Cabinet expansion. Among the many ministers were Pashupa Kumar Paras, Jyo raditya Scindia, Bhupender Yadav, Shobha Karandlaje, Anupriya Patel, Meenakshi Lekhi, Ajay Bha and Anurag Thakur. PM Modi also dismissed 12 cabinet members, including the health, MIB and IT ministers to try to reinvigorate his government a er ﬁerce cri cism of its handling of the coronavirus pandemic and the management of the new digital regula ons.

The PM is expected to retain his core team at the foreign, finance, home and defence departments even though the economy is in a deep recession and there are widespread concerns that a surge in COVID-19 infec ons will stall the recovery. Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, who was the face of the government's efforts to fight COVID-19, was asked to step down along with his deputy. Informa on and Technology and Telecoms Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, who was leading the government's efforts to persuade the US social media giants to comply with the laws of the country, also lost his job in the reshuffle. No reasons were provided for the dismissal, though an industry source familiar with the thinking of Facebook, WhatsApp and Twi er expected them to welcome the change at the ministry. "A reset always helps," said the source. "It so far appeared there was a lack of conversa on." Modi also dropped Informa on and Broadcas ng minister Prakash Javadekar, who was also the government's spokesperson.

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Germany, Kuwait enter NewsOnAir radio global rankings

n the latest rankings of top countries in the world (excluding India) where All India Radio live-streams on NewsOnAir app are most popular, Fiji had jumped from 5thposi on to 2nd, while Saudi Arabia had made a comeback in Top 10. Kuwait and Germany are the new entrants in the Top 10 list, while France and New Zealand are no more in the Top 10. United States con nues to be at No. 1, according to data released by India’s pubcaster Prasar Bhara , which manages All India Radio & Doordarshan. In what is an important feature, All India Radio’s Telugu and Tamil live-stream services

were popular in the United States, while AIR Punjabi service was popular in the United Kingdom. In major changes in rankings of top AIR streams globally (excluding India), AIR News 24x7 had moved one posi on up from Rank 7 to 6, while AIR Tamil had slipped from spot 6 to 10. More than 240 radio services of All India Radio are live-streamed on the NewsOnAir app, Prasar Bhara ’s oﬃcial app. These AIR streams on NewsOnAir have a large number of listeners not just in India, but in more than 85 countries and 8,000 ci es across the globe.

India’s largest news agency PTI challenges new IT Rules

he largest news agency in the country, the Press Trust of India (PTI), had challenged the cons tu onal validity of sec ons of India’s new IT Rules, though failed to get interim relief, which had been sought, from a Delhi court. According to a report in Forbes India, challenging Part III of the Informa on Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, which seek to oversee regula on of digital news media publishers, PTI had argued that the Code of Ethics is “draconian” and the

Rules “usher in an era of surveillance and fear”, which would result in “self-censorship” and viola on of fundamental rights. The PTI pe on also stated that Part II of the Rules, which govern intermediaries, are “an the cal to fundamental rights”. Arguing that they should be stayed, PTI had said the Rules are only meant to be “a weapon for the Execu ve or the State to enter and directly control the content of online digital news portal”. A Delhi High Court special bench of Jus ce DN Patel and Jus ce JR Midha refused to grant PTI interim protec on against coercive ac on by the state, but issued no ce to the Ministry of Electronics and Informa on Technology (MeitY) and Ministry of Informa on and Broadcas ng 27 July 2021

(MIB). Filed on behalf of PTI’s Chief Administra ve Officer Mohini Ranjan Mishra, the lawsuit echoes other similar lawsuits as it calls out “vague condi ons” such as “good taste”, “decency”, prohibi on of “half-truths” men oned in the Code of Ethics, Forbes India reported. AlthoughPTI’s pe on had been filed by Mishra, it makes it clear that its editor-in-chief and CEO, Vijay Joshi, is involved in the ma er. The pe on clarifies that it is challenging the Rules only as far as they apply to news publishers, and not to OTT pla orms or intermediaries. This is the ninth lawsuit by a news organisa on against the Digital Media Code of Ethics and the second by a legacy media organisa on. The Digital News Publishers Associa on (DNPA), whose members include the digital arms of legacy publishers and news channels such as the Times Group, India Today Group, NDTV and others, had earlier moved the Madras High Court against the digital regula ons. However, unlike PTI and the other seven lawsuits, DNPA’s had also argued that legacy media houses, which run newspapers and TV channels, are not digital media and should not be covered by the Rules. Meanwhile, India’s federal government had filed a pe on to transfer all such cases in various lower courts to the Supreme Court. According to a report filed by news agency ANI earlier on 7th July, Delhi High Court refused to grant interim protec on to the digital news pla orms that too had challenged the digital regula ons. According to ANI, the bench of Jus ces DN Patel and Jus ce Jyo Singh heard a batch of pe ons including the pe ons filed by digital new portals like The Quint, The Wire and others, and refused any interim relief, though.

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Challenges before new CEO of behemoth Amazon

mazon.com Inc. on Monday, 5 July got a new chief execu ve: Andy Jassy, the mastermind behind its lucra ve cloud compu ng division, who succeeds company founder Jeff Bezos. In this report filed from San Francisco, Reuters looks at the business Jassy is taking over and the challenges that await him on the job. More Than the 'Everything Store': Bezos incorporated Amazon exactly 27 years ago. The internet bookseller he founded out of a garage has morphed into a purveyor of virtually any consumer good, online and in physical stores. It has grown far beyond even that: Jassy built an enormously profitable and m a r ket- l e a d i n g b u s i n e s s , Amazon Web Services, that runs data centers serving a wide range of corporate compu ng needs. Amazon is also expanding further afield into Hollywood and healthcare. Amazon's annual profit almost doubled in 2020 to $21.3 billion. That's partly because the COVID-19 pandemic encouraged more consumers to shop online, helping the company grow revenue 38 percent to $386.1 billion. Regulatory Pushback: With size had come greater scru ny. Long chased by global regulators on issues such as taxa on and data collec on, Amazon now is fending off an trust complaints that could lead to big fines. US President Joe Biden recently appointed a prominent tech cri c, Lina Khan, to run the Federal Trade Commission, which is inves ga ng Amazon. Though the details of the probe aren't public, it is expected

to involve Amazon's conflict of interest as a retailer of its own products that compete with third-party merchants on its pla orm. Amazon had been accused of using the proprietary data of third-party vendors to make cheaper, private-label versions of their products. Amazon contests these claims. Meanwhile, the US Congress is considering new an trust laws that could alter Amazon's business. And European regulators have been inves ga ng a number of the company's prac ces. Challenges Closer Home: Amazon also faces challenges from some of the biggest U.S. companies. Walmart Inc., for instance, is chasing a er Amazon's home turf with a package delivery club of its own, while Microso Corp had signed deals in the cloud with top enterprises - Walmart included to narrow the lead of Jassy's AWS. Jassy also faces poten al disrup on from within. Amazon is grappling with unioniza on interest among warehouse employees and poten ally other workers. Although it handily beat back an organizing effort at its Bessemer, Alabama, fulfillment center, labor groups including the Teamsters vow that the fight is only beginning. The company likewise is hoping to maintain its allure among office staff, as some startups offer tech jobs with more flexible work schedules. The company ini ally said it planned an "office-centric culture", but it soon updated guidance to require in-person work three days a week, in line with industry peers.

Sports web show based on Paes – Bhupathi’s gets a tle ‘Break Point’

ndian tennis great Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi sports web show finally get a tle ‘Break Point’. The show is based on the lives of ace tennis players Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi. According to ANI, filmmakers Nitesh Tiwari and Ashwini Iyer Tiwari have come on board to direct the sports web show, revolving around the on-court glory and off-court lives of the living legends. “ ‘Break Point’ is an emo onally moving human story of India’s biggest sports legends and their incredible journey through the ups and downs in their professional and personal life,” Ashwini and Nitesh said. “Through this show, we will witness an exemplary story of hard work, conflict, belief, emo ons, and ambi ons and

28 July 2021

showcase some of the most iconic moments of Indian tennis,” they added. In 1999, Paes and Bhupathi became the ﬁrst Indian pair to win at Wimbledon. In the same year, the duo had won the French Open as well. Excited to share their story of friendship with the world, Paes said, “There’s been a lot of talk about Laender and Mahesh over the years, but the idea of inspiring the next genera on, and sharing the moments with those who have supported us through the years, by telling our story, is what persuaded me to say yes to ‘Break Point’.” “Friendships are what enrich our lives, and in ‘Break Point’, people will witness the tests a true friendship needs to go through to survive,” he added. 'Break Point' will stream on Zee5.

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Arogya World Wins Google AI for Social Good Support

rogya World, a global health nonprofit, announced that it had been selected for the coveted 2021 Google AI for Social Good Program. Google experts reviewed over 150 projects from 17 countries from Asia-Pacific and SubSaharan Africa – including India, Uganda, Nigeria, Japan, and Australia— & chose 30 projects spanning agriculture, conserva on, and public health for support. As per the Company’s Press release, the world would use the resources and exper se of Google and academic experts to find ways to make its Diabetes Preven on mHealth program, mDiabetes, more compelling through the use of Ar ficial Intelligence (AI). “We are thrilled to have been selected for this pres gious award and are pleased to be part of a select group of impact-making organiza ons. We are excited to work with experts like Dr. Thanh Nguyen to unleash the power of AI and put it to use to improve public health. We can’t wait to see the good that will come out of this collabora on,” said Dr. Nalini Saligram, Founder & CEO, Arogya World. "AI is a game-changer that can solve real-world societal problems at scale. We see a future that will have AI research seamlessly integrated into solu ons for social good & we believe this public health project is a significant step in that direc on. I am excited to work with Arogya World on this important project,” said D r. T h a n h N g u y e n , A s s i s t a n t Professor, University of Oregon. Incredible Public-Private Global Collabora on Many teams in India and the US will work hard to execute this project. 1. Arogya World (www.arogyaworld.org) has been working in public health in India for more than a decade with a focus on Noncommunicable disease (NCD) preven on. In this project, Arogya will be responsible for message content and transmission, study design and impact measurement, and overall project management. Team members include Raghuram S, MeetaWalavalkar, Dr Sandhya Ramalingam and MugdhaGangopadhyay. Dr. Susheela Venkataraman, board chair, Arogya World India Trust will provide input. 2. Dr. Thanh Nguyen's work in the field of AI is mo vated by real-world societal problems, par cularly in the areas of Public Safety and Security. She and her team at the U n i v e r s i t y o f O r e g o n (h ps://ix.cs.uoregon.edu/~thanhhng /) will design and build the AI system that will help in improving the effec veness of Arogya World's mDiabetes program. They will closely engage with Arogya teams each week during this project. 3. Arogya will collaborate with Head Held High, h ps://head-held-high.org, a poverty allevia on nonprofit, for on-the-ground implementa on of the study among 600-800 villagers in South India, by working with their frontline workers. 4. Google will contribute important resources and exper se in the AI space to this project.““Significant Impact Expected 29 July 2021

Arogya World an cipates that this project will have a signiﬁcant impact on India’s public health. It had the poten al to substan ally improve the diabetes risk behavior of millions, and lead to a signiﬁcant reduc on in the number of people who have diabetes in India. The project, if it succeeds, could also be adapted to other countries, to improve the health behavior of people around the world. Non-communicable diseases (NCDs), including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, and chronic lung diseases, responsible for 70% of the deaths worldwide, are among the top health & development challenges of the century. Fortunately, these serious diseases are largely preventable - according to WHO, 80% of heart disease, 80% of diabetes, and 40% of cancers are preventable with three lifestyle changes: eat healthy foods, increase physical ac vity and avoid tobacco. Preven on through healthy living is at the core of this project, now in COVID mes, more urgent and important than before. India is par cularly hard hit by NCDs. 77 million people in India live with diabetes, an equal number are es mated to be pre-diabe c, and yet, 1 in 2 diabe cs are unaware of their condi on. 3 out of 4 adults are diabe c or prediabe c in metros, and Indians get type 2 diabetes at least

10-20 years earlier than people in the West. Mobile phone uptake is high in India. According to Wikipedia, an es mated 1.5 billion cell phones are in use in the country. Since the phone is carried by the user throughout the day, mobile technology interven ons offer a par cularly impac ul and cost-effec ve health promo on interven on channel. That is why Arogya World built mDiabetes, a text message program to empower people around preven on through healthy living, and showed promising effec veness in a 1 million person outreach with Nokia (Pfamma er et al, JMIR, 18, no. 8 (2016): e207). The Arogya mDiabetes program however uses a predetermined iden cal and sta c sequence of text messages for all end-users. In this project, Arogya World aims at improving mDiabetes by developing a dynamic and personalized messaging interven on mechanism that can adapt the messages based on the feedback of end-users. The feedback will seek to understand user engagement, mo va on to change behavior, ea ng habits, levels of physical ac vity, and general lifestyle. Arogya World's goal is to op mize the impact of its message program on endusers lifestyle behavior. In addi on, in this project, Arogya World will also strive to find the social influencer best suited to mobilize the community around such health programs, using AI strategies.

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News

Twi er appoints interim CCO; gets me from Delhi HC to be rules-compliant

wi er Inc.’s India unit had appointed an interim chief compliance officer and would soon designate other execu ves to meet the country's new IT Rules, the social media giant said in a Delhi court on 8th July, amid tensions with the government even as a new InfoTech minister and his junior minister a ended office on their first day. Twi er will try to fill two appointments, a nodal contact person's job on an interim basis within two weeks and an interim grievance officer on or before July 11, the company said in the June 8 filing to the Delhi High Court, according to a Reuters dispatch from New Delhi. The IT Rules, which became effec ve end-May, are aimed at regula ng content on social media and making firms act more swi ly on legal requests to remove posts and sharing details on the originators of messages. They also require the appointment of certain new execu ves like a nodal officer --- all to be resident in India & employees of a SM company. The rules were introduced amid growing conflict between the government and the US social media firm, which ratcheted up during the pandemic. The spat between Twi er and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government began earlier this year when the microblogging giant was ordered to remove a controversial hash tag related to farmer protests against new agricultural reforms. That tussle, coupled with regulatory scru ny of other U.S. tech firms like WhatsApp and Amazon, had upset the business environment in a key growth market. The

government said in a court filing earlier this week that Twi er no longer had liability protec on against usergenerated content in India as it has failed to comply with the new rules. The filing came in a case against Twi er by a user who wanted to complain about some allegedly defamatory tweets on the pla orm and said the company was not complying with the rules. Twi er had posted job openings for the three new roles and would try to make an offer of employment to resident Indians, as asked by rules, within eight weeks, it said in the court filing. On July 8, the Delhi High Court gave Twi er two weeks to make those permanent appointments before the interim execu ves take full responsibility for their roles. The government is free to take ac on against the company in case of any breach of the rules, the court said. California-based Twi er is se ng up a liaison office in India, it told the court. "While Twi er is striving to comply with the 2021 Rules, Twi er reserves its right to challenge the legality, validity... of the Rules," Twi er said in the filing. Twi er did not respond to a request from Reuters for comment. India's technology ministry had previously slammed Twi er publicly for deliberately defying the law and said all social media firms must abide by the new rules. As tension escalates between the U.S. firm and authori es, Indian police have filed at least five cases in recent weeks against Twi er or its officials.

Anurag Thakur takes charge at MIB; so does junior minister

ith lots on his plate --- ranging from implemented amendments to Cable TV Rules to content modera on for OTT pla orms to an under-discussion new broadcast policy --- the new Minister of Informa on and Broadcas ng, Anurag Thakur, would have to hit the ground running. Thakur, who assumed his charge at MIB on 8th July, didn’t touch upon any issues related to the media & entertainment sector during the customary interac on with media on his first day, saying there would come later a me when many issues would be discussed in detail. However, he did tell the media that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made “strenuous efforts to take the na on forward in the last seven years” & as Minister of I&B, it would be his responsibility to take that mission forward. Thakur added that he would make all “efforts to deliver on the responsibili es” placed on him by the Prime Minister and looked forward to the coopera on of media in his efforts. The Minister was welcomed in his chamber by Amit Khare, MIB Secretary. In an interac on with senior officials his Ministry, allied media units & pubcaster Prasar Bhara , Thakur said his endeavor will be to work with all the media heads as a team. A four- me elected Member of the Indian Parliament (Lok Sabha/Lower House) from Hamirpur, Himachal Pradesh, Thakur has earlier held the charge of Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs from May 2019 ll July 2021. He had also served as Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Commi ee on IT, which also oversees media ma ers, in the past. Meanwhile, MIB junior Minister, Dr. Loganathan Murugan, also assumed charge on 8th July in the presence of Thakur.

30 July 2021

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News

Japanese Olympics sponsors look to cut budgets

apanese Olympics sponsors are cancelling or scaling back booths and promo onal events ed to the Tokyo 2020 Games, frustrated by "very last minute" decisions by organisers and a delay on whether spectators would be allowed, sources told Reuters. The moves by more than a dozen companies, including Canon, Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance and Ajinomoto, highlight the delicate situa on for sponsors, who have ed themselves to a Games now hit by the COVID-19 pandemic and public opposi on, a Reuters dispatch from Tokyo stated. Olympics organizers are set to ban all spectators from the ?#Tokyo2020 Games, the Asahi daily said, as Japan declared a coronavirus state of emergency for Tokyo that would run through its hos ng of the event to curb a new wave of infec ons. Some 60 Japanese companies paid a record of more than $3 bn for sponsorship rights & then another $200 mn to extend their contracts a er the Games were delayed last year due to the pandemic. Unlike "worldwide partners" with mul -year deals, domes c sponsors are only involved in the Tokyo Games. They have been frustrated by what one of the sources described as "impromptu" decisions by organisers, par cularly the months-long delay on whether spectators would be allowed. Organisers had banned overseas spectators and planned a cap on domes c viewers at 50 per cent of capacity, or up to 10,000 people. But now just two weeks away from the start, Japan is likely to ban all spectators, as it prepares to declare a state of emergency for Tokyo that would run through its hos ng of the event. Tokyo recently reported 920 coronavirus cases in one day,

the most since May. "We are ﬁnally making decisions on our own, without wai ng for the organisers' cue," said one source, an employee at one sponsor, who, like other people interviewed, declined to be iden ﬁed because the informa on is not public. "It's a 'damned if you do and damned if you don't' situa on for sponsors, but everyone is star ng to take ac on," said one of the sponsors. Tokyo 2020 said they could not immediately reply to a request for comment due to enormous amounts of inquiries. Organisers are set to formally reach a decision on spectators later on 8th July, the Asahidaily said. Sponsors have also downgraded entertainment plans for clients, including Japan's top chief execu ves, according to the employee at a sponsor. Companies had planned par es with private cars, lounges and celebrity guests but by June those were reduced to Olympic ckets with hotel stays or gi s, the employee said. Some 14 sponsors are now scrapping or further scaling back their plans, the employee said. Seasoning maker Ajinomoto decided last month to scrap its hospitality programme and no longer plans to give away ckets to consumers, a spokesperson said. A Panasonic spokesperson declined to comment on the details of its hospitality programme, but said it could be changed or cancelled depending on the pandemic situa on. Some companies are also worried about being associated with the Games that are unpopular with the public, mul ple sources have said. Most Japanese are against the Games going ahead, polls have shown.

Kerala HC gives interim relief to news broadcasters body

he Kerala High Court on July 9th passed an interim order in favour of the News Broadcasters Associa on (NBA), which had challenged India’s new IT Rules, according to a report posted on India Today’s website. Incidentally, NBA had not got a similar relief when they had approached the Delhi High Court about a fortnight back. Meanwhile, the single-judge bench of Jus ce PB Suresh Kumar issued no ces to the Ministry of Electronics and Informa on Technology (Meity) and Ministry of Informa on and Broadcas ng (MIB) and said no coercive ac on shall be taken against the news organisa ons that are part of the NBA for non-compliance of provisions under the new IT Rules. In the pe on, the News Broadcasters Associa on had stated that the new rules give government authori es excessive power to unreasonably restrict media rights, the India Today report stated. NBA had also opined in several forums that since NBA members’ are part of tradi onal media with digital arms, such digital extensions should not fall under the purview of IT Rules as the parent companies were already guided by other media laws like the Cable TV Act.

31 July 2021

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News

Sourav Majumdar new BT editor, Sid Zarabi to lead BT TV

er naming Udayan Mukherjee as its Global Business Editor, the India Today Group announced two more big- cket appointments as part of its plans to bolster its coverage of business news in the post-pandemic economic order. The network had named one of India’s most prominent magazine editors, Sourav Majumdar, as the new Editor of the Business Today magazine and Siddharth Zarabi, former editor of Bloomberg TV, as the Managing Editor of Business Today TV, a press statement from India Today stated. In a career spanning three decades, Majumdar had worked with some of India’s best- known media outlets with leadership experience across pla orms. He was ini ally associated with brands like The Financial Express and Business Standard in various capaci es. Later, Majumdar became the only Indian to lead Indian edi ons of three interna onal magazines. In his most recent role, he was editor of the Indian edi ons of Fortune and Forbes. Prior to that, Majumdar was editor-inchief of Entrepreneur. “It’s genuinely exci ng to join an organiza on that I believe is the Gold Standard of Journalism –the India Today Group,” Majumdar said on his new role at the ITG, adding, “I look forward to being part of India’s biggest business magazine, Business Today, as it makes a deep and drama c

transforma on into a digital-first, mul media offering with the magazine as a center-piece.” Widely acknowledged for his stellar track record in covering Indian financial markets, macro-economy, regulatory and administra ve architecture, Zarabi possesses first-hand experience of economic policy formula on in India since 1997. “I am delighted to be part of the India Today family. The Group is a flag-bearer in journalis c standards and innova on. It enjoys unmatched credibility and vast reach across millions of viewers and readers of its mul ple pla orms, including Business Today. I look forward to being part of the Group’s latest foray as it expands and enlarges its business content offerings across television, print, and digital pla orms to offer meaningful content as India navigates the post-pandemic economic era,” Zarabi said. Speaking on the appointments, Kalli Purie, ViceChairperson of the India Today Group, said, “Every once in a while, the business arena goes through an irreversible change. In the midst of this disrup ve flu er, the real journalists and real ideas reshape the world. We are happy to be on the leading edge of this transforma onal journey with the most credible journalists, an enviable legacy and a truly Omni pla orm mul media BUSINESS TODAY Experience.”

Colors Tamil to premiere‘Nayyapudai’, ‘Velvet Nagaram’

olors Tamil, the youngest GEC of Tamil Nadu, had been entertaining the film buffs with back-to-back movies every weekend. To take it to the next level, the channel is set to bring the world television premiere of two blockbuster movies this weekend. As part of its popular Sunday Cine Combo, the channel aims to get your day off to a great start with ‘Nayyapudai’, an ac on-thriller, directed by Vijaya Kiran. It also follows it up with the ‘Velvet Nagaram’, a gripping tale about an inves ga ve journalist. According to a press release from Colors, ‘Nayyapudai’s’storyline follows the fights of a re red army officer against corrup on, and his role in saving a couple from the clutches of a local don. Essayed by veteran Director S.A. Chandrasekharan, the character Vellaichamy, is a charitable man who takes care of children from impoverished families. His quaint life takes an unexpected turn as he gives refuge to a couple, played by Pa Vijay and Chandini Tamilarasan, who have eloped. ‘Velvet Nagaram’is a psychological thriller starring Varalaxmi Sarathkumar and Ramesh Thilak and directed by

32 July 2021

debutant Manoj Kumar Natrajan. The film is based on real-life incidents and revolves around a journalist who traces the mystery behind the murder of an actress, but finds herself in a dangerous situa on a er ge ng cornered by a bunch of goons. The film had realis c performances and many tense moments. It also boasts mind-blowing cinematography by Bagath Kumar. With music composed by Achu Rajamani, (known for his album Goli Soda), it promises to be an edgeof-the-seat ride for the audience.

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Big Boss will now premier on Voot

ndia’s youngest media & entertainment conglomerate, Viacom18 had constantly challenged itself through delivering innova ve and category pioneering content experiences. With a vision to create a future-ready digital business, the network had been at the forefront of digital convergence with its products and content offerings. According to the company's press release, Viacom18 would now launch its marquee entertainment property, Bigg Boss, first on VOOT for 6 weeks. Christened Bigg Boss OT T, which will premiere in August 2021 with unprecedented access, engagement, and interac vity empowering viewers to immerse themselves in the journey of contestants in the Big Boss House. In addi on to the 1-hour episode on VOOT, viewers would get a chance to watch the exclusive cuts, round-the-clock content drops, and a fully interac ve 24*7 LIVE feed from the house. A er the comple on of the digital exc l u s i ve , t h e s h o w wo u l d m o ve seamlessly into COLORS with the launch of Season15 of Bigg Boss. Recognized as the biggest entertainment property of Indian television, Bigg Boss had stamped its pull even in the hypercompe ve digital entertainment space. With over 8.5 Billion views, the show had dominated the digital space with a whopping 92 percent share-of-voice. Unleashing its fandom and immense consump on power on digital, Bigg Boss had garnered significant patronage of brands and adver sers who con nue to engage with the iconic property, season a er season, making it India’s leading entertainment property- both on television & digital. Speaking about the launch of Bigg Boss first on VOOT, Gourav Rakshit, Chief Opera ng Officer, Viacom18 Digital Ventures, said, “VOOT has grown to become home to entertainment in India through industry-leading engagement and shareworthy content across originals, interna onal, catchup, and content-around-content

segments. The launch of Bigg Boss OTT exclusively a VOOT before TV is poised to be yet another game-changer in digital entertainment and a step forward in further cemen ng our posi on as the most loved consumer entertainment brand. This season is set to empower our audiences through unparalleled category-defining innova on through interac vity which we are sure will provide significant to our users, adver sers, and brands alike.” While explaining the content strategy behind Bigg Boss OTT, Manisha Sharma, Chief Content Officer, Hindi Mass Entertainment, Viacom18, said, “Bigg Boss, over the years, has grown to become a phenomenon that drives the conversa ons across the country. With the launch of Bigg Boss OTT, our digital audiences are in for a treat. The new digital exclusive format will take the show’s fandom to its next level through ac ve engagement with viewers being able to play a part in the show’s progress. The beauty of this show lies in the versa lity of format and the massive popularity it commands- both aspects helping us in customizing the show as two different content offerings for the two different pla orms while maintaining its core ethos.” To build an increasingly symbio c content ecosystem for the network, for the first me in the history of Indian entertainment, the country’s biggest broadcast GEC show which will launch first on digital. Star ng August 2021, Bigg Boss will go live first on VOOT and a er 6 weeks of exclusive streaming on digital, the show will launch in a fresh avatar in its 15th Season on COLORS. Promising to be packed with ul mate over-the-top excitement and thrill, Bigg Boss OTT will set a milestone on digital through its disrup ve content strategy. Tune in to watch Bigg Boss OTT as a digital exclusive only on VOOT star ng from August 2021.

FB adds new feature in video-calling devise Portal

ocial media pla orm Facebook is adding a new feature in video-calling device Portal, which is ge ng a ‘Harry Po er and the Cursed Child’ crossover that would allow users to dress up as characters from the play using augmented reality technology. According to ANI, the AR masks that transform into a character is powered by Facebook’s Spark AR technology and will also match the user's skin tone. “Callers can fully embody the characters thanks to real- me skin sampling that matches the 3D character to their unique skin tone before conver ng it into an AR mask for seamless integra on,” Facebook said. Anyone can use the new feature by tapping ‘Curtain Call’ in the eﬀects tray on Portal. They can select one of the three loca ons from the menu to visit: Hogwarts Great Hall, the Ministry of Magic, or the Edge of the Forbidden Forest. The feature works with Portal-to-Portal video calls for users in the US and UK. And if they don’t have a Portal device, “fans on Instagram and Facebook can s ll interact with the AR masks via each app’s camera and share video and photos via Stories”, according to the company. 34 July 2021

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SC refuses to bar lower courts hearing challenges to IT Rules

ith a flurry of pe ons being filed in various courts of India challenging the country’s new digital regula ons, especially by news outlets, the federal government had requested the Supreme Court that all such cases be toggled together and lower courts be barred from entertaining such pleas. The apex court turned down the request on 9th July. However, the Supreme Court ordered that the federal government's transfer pe on on Informa on Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 (IT Rules, 2021) be tagged with a pending special leave pe on rela ng to the issue in a case of Union of India vs. Founda on for Independent Journalism & others, legal website Bar & Benchreported. The federal government by way of its transfer pe on had sought transfer of all cases in lower courts, challenging the cons tu onality of the IT Rules 2021, to the Supreme Court. When the case came up for hearing on 9th July, Jus ces AM Khanwilkar and Sanjiv Khanna tagged the plea with an appeal filed by Jus ce for Rights Founda on pending before the top court, the Bar and Benchreport said. The government’s transfer plea had contended that if lower courts were allowed to hear individual pe ons, outcomes could result "in a likelihood of conflict between

Ne lix drops ‘The Witcher’ season 2 trailer

treaming giant pla orm ‘Ne lix’ has dropped the key art, premiere date, and trailer for the Henry Cavillstarrer season two of ‘The Witcher’, which will set to release on December 17 this year. According to ANI, the streamer partnered with ‘Cyberpunk’ and ‘The Witcher' developer CD Projekt Red for the inaugural WitcherCon on 9th July, where they unveiled the news about the series and video game franchise, including a new look at ‘The Witcher’ Season 2. The new season will follow Geralt of Rivia (Cavill), convinced Yennefer’s life was lost at the Ba le of Sodden, who seeks to bring Princess Cirilla to the safest place he knows, his childhood home of Kaer Morhen. While the Con nent’s kings, elves, humans, and demons strive for supremacy outside its walls, as he must protect the girl from something far more dangerous: the mysterious power she possesses inside. The key art has been shared by the builds upon the cryp c teaser Ne lix which shared in June during its Geeked Week event, which teased Freya Allan’s Ciri, mysterious runes, & more. The journey of season two’s produc on has been a treacherous one.

35 July 2021

the decisions of the Hon'ble High Court and this Hon'ble Court (Supreme Court)." Several High Courts, including those of Delhi, Bombay, Madras and Kerala, are presently hearing challenges to the new IT Rules with the Kerala HC also gran ng interim relief to pe oners. Dwelling on the same issue, NDTV reported that news publishers have alleged the new rules infringe upon basic cons tu onal rights, including freedom of the press & are designed to enable the government a far ghter grip over online news content. The IT Rules were extensively defended by former IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and his successor Ashwini Vaishnaw too hasn’t said anything contrary. O n t h e o t h e r h a n d , t h e fe d e ra l government has countered the new IT Rules were needed to regulate content on social media and to ensure that all online news complies with the law, apart from OTT pla orm adhering to some basic content rules. News publishers and SM players like Twi er have been at loggerheads with the Indian government over various provisions of the new regula ons, which include appoin ng certain speciﬁc execu ves resident in India to take up complaints from the general public. Twi er had various cases ﬁled against it and employees in several Indian States.

Produc on was put to a halt in November 2020 a er numerous people involved in the series tested posi ve for COVID-19. Just a month later, season two produc on came to another stop as Cavill incurred an injury on set. Produc on was wrapped in April.

‘The Witcher’ Season 2 is set to premiere on December 17. Lauren Schmidt Hissrich is the execu ve producer and showrunner. Tomek Baginski, Jason F. Brown, Sean Daniel, Mike Ostrowski, Steve Gaub, and Jaroslaw Swko are also the execu ve producers.

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WhatsApp privacy policy on hold ll Parliament formulates law

hatsApp LLC told the Delhi High Court on 9th July that ll India’s data protec on law comes into force, it would not compel users to opt for its new privacy policy, as it had been put on hold and will implement it "if Parliament allows it". WhatsApp clarified before a bench of Chief Jus ce D.N. Patel and Jus ce Jyo Singh that it would not limit the func onality for users who were not op ng for new privacy policy in the mean me, PTI reported from New Delhi. Appearing for the instant messaging pla orm, Senior Advocate Harish Salve said, "We voluntarily agreed to put it (the policy) on hold... We will not compel people to accept." Salve said that WhatsApp would nonetheless con nue to display the update to its users. In response to Salve's submission, the court observed that even though the implementa on had been put on hold, the policy s ll con nued to exist. Salve reiterated that the approach would be maintained ll the data protec on bill becomes a law. “Commitment is that I will do nothing ll the Parliament's law comes in. If Parliament allows it, I will have it. If it doesn't, bad luck... I've taken it off ll the Parliament makes a law. Either we fit in or we don't,” Salve said. India’s proposed Personal Data Protec on law seeks to regulate the use of individual's data by the government and private companies. A joint commi ee of Parliament is presently examining a Bill rela ng to data protec on. The

panel had been given me ll the monsoon session of Parliament --- likely to start later this month --- to submit its report. The court was hearing the appeals of Facebook and its ﬁrm WhatsApp against the singlejudge order refusing to stop the compe on regulator CCI's order direc ng a probe into WhatsApp's new privacy policy. Last month, WhatsApp moved an applica on for an interim stay on the probe. Salve informed the court that on June 4, WhatsApp received a le er from CCI, seeking informa on directly in rela on to the issue of privacy, which is being looked into by the Supreme Court and the high court. “Please see the ques ons – month-wise number of downloads, number of ac ve users, number of users le ... number of users who opted out...80-90% is directly what your lordship is hearing,” he said. Salve added that even the federal government communica on sent to it in May asking it to withdraw the policy established that the privacy policy was already a subject ma er of hearing before the SC and the high court. Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Facebook, submi ed that the CCI was jumping the gun by ini a ng a probe into the privacy policy when a challenge to the same was pending before two higher courts. Addi onal Solicitor General Aman Lekhi, appearing for CCI, said that as long as the privacy policy existed, its implica ons would con nue to persist.

MX Player set to release ‘Puncch Beat’ Season 2

ver-the-top streaming pla orm ALTBalaji’s roman c web series ‘Punchh Beat 2’ will start streaming on MX Player from July 16 for free. In the new season of ‘Puncch Beat’ things at Rosewood High take a deadly turn. The students return to enjoy the perks of being at a pres gious academic ins tu on, but are surrounded by the darkness of death, which turns friends into foes and casts a shadow of doubt on everybody. Season 1 of ‘Puncch Beat’ was a massive hit with the Indian youth, and its second season had taken a sinister twist with the mysterious death of one of its students. Talking about the series, actor Priyank Sharma said, “Playing Rahat is like going through a whirlwind of emo ons - there’s anger, regret, happiness, sadness and a strong ﬁre in the gut to deliver the ul mate punch in the ring. As a character, this one is very special for me, and I think I can empathize with that sense of emo onal turmoil that he seems to experience in the show. I am glad that the series will now be streaming for free on MX Player, and I am looking forward to feedback from my fans.”

36 July 2021

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WhatsApp tes ng new ‘Video Upload Quality’ feature

nstant messaging pla orm WhatsApp is tes ng a new feature for its users called ‘Video Upload Quality’ which lets users share videos in high quality. The feature is currently under development, hence it’s not available for the Public. According to ANI, the feature would be available for users in a future update. This new feature had been currently released as part of WhatsApp Android Beta version 2.21.14.6. In a future update, users would be able to choose the video upload quality by picking one of 3 op ons, namely, Auto (recommended), Best Quality, and data saver. In the case of auto, WhatsApp would detect the best

compression algorithm for that speciﬁc video. Then another feature is the best quality one that lets WhatsApp always send the video using the best quality available. There’s also the data saver op on which is enabled in Android se ngs and allows WhatsApp to compress videos before sending them. This new feature would come in handy to users as WhatsApp users currently don’t have the op on to select the quality of videos before sharing them with their contacts. It has been also recently reported that WhatsApp is tes ng a new privacy feature that allows users to send media that can disappear once the receiver has seen the message.

9X Media appoints Priyanka Sinha Jha as VP & Head-SpotboyE

he largest Indian music broadcaster 9X Media had appointed Priyanka Sinha Jha as senior VP & head of its subsidiary SpotboyE, an entertainment news portal. Priyanka shared her post on her LinkedIn account. She will lead and take over the editorial team and be responsible for the growth and mone za on of the portal, build alliances and partnerships across digital, print, and television pla orms. Priyanka has more than two decades of experience in crea ng & execu ng editorial strategy, content crea on & cura on & striking alliances & partnerships across mul ple pla orms. She is also a senior media strategist & journalist. Priyanka said in her LinkedIn post on her appointment,

“Leading the SpotboyE team with a focus on introducing the best-in-class prac ces for successfully execu ng the editorial and business strategy. Responsible for the growth and mone za on of the portal, building alliances and partnerships across digital, print, and television pla orms, and for the crea on of e n ga g i n g co nte nt t h at wo u l d resonate with end-users.” Before joining 9X Media, she haD worked in key posi ons in varied media ecosystems-from Screen, Hotstar, Star India, and Network18 to The Indian Express, Hindustan Times, and Magna Publica ons.

Enterr10Rangeela dropped trailer of 'Bandhan Rakhi Ka

hojpuri entertainment channel Enterr10 Rangeela had dropped the trailer of their upcoming film 'Bandhan Rakhi Ka' on Sunday, 4th July. The film's first look is already been released on Thursday, 1st July where the Bhojpuri superstar Yash Kumar who is known for his unique performance in the Bhojpuri cinema industry, is depic ng a very spectacular look in the film. The trailer depicts the unique bond of sister and brother. The producer Durga Prasad Majumdar describes the film as a very social & family film. He says that the produc on of such films in the Bhojpuri film industry indicates that the Bhojpuri film industry is moving forward. Adi Shak Entertainment's film 'Bandhan Rakhi Ka' is directed by Ajay Kumar Jha. The film is produced and wri en by Durga Prasad. The lyrics of the songs are penned by Ashok Kumar, Aurobindo Tiwari & Satya Shankar, while

37 July 2021

the music is composed by Durga Natraj - Madhukar Anand. 'Bandhan Rakhi Ka' is a starrer with Richa Dixit, Poonam Dubey, Mohan Singh, Priya Jha, Sanya Singh, Radhe Mishra, Rao Rannvijay, Bhanu Pandey, J Neelam will be seen in the lead roles along with Yash Kumar in the ﬁlm.

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MTV India exclusive home of LaLiga now

iacom18 Media, India’s youngest and leading media conglomerate, con nues to raise the bar by challenging itself to ensure that Indian viewers are provided with entertainment that is diﬀeren ated and fresh. Home to some of India’s more exci ng and entertaining proper es, Viacom18’s ﬂagship youth brand MTV had now teamed up with LaLiga to bring the Spanish Football League exclusively to the Indian sub-con nent for the next 3 years. Enabled & supported by Rise Worldwide, LaLiga will air exclusively on MTV in India, along with select na onal & regional network channels & live-streamed on Voot & Jio pla orms. Having the consump on and following of f

o o tball in India have consistently increased over the past decade, especially amongst the youth. Currently, in its 91st season, the iconic league is one of the most followed football leagues across the world and is home to Europe’s ﬁnest talent and football clubs including Atlé co Madrid, Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, amongst others. MTV is the premier des na on for youth entertainment and content in India and boasts of a strong aﬃnity with its young-at-heart viewers. Given the following that Football currently enjoys in India, Viacom18 and MTV are commi ed to building a wholesome entertainment-driven

ecosystem centered around LaLiga, in a bid to further augment the fandom of the game. Speaking about the associa on Oscar Mayo, Execu ve Director, LaLiga said, "We are excited to partner with Viacom18 (MTV India) and further bolster the LaLiga fandom to an ever-growing football fan base in India. Having set one of the highest standards of football globally and India gaining tremendous momentum, we are conﬁdent that we will reach and engage with the youthful audience that MTV as a des na on appeals to.” Speaking about LaLiga on MTV, Anshul Ailawadi, Business Head – Youth, Music, and English Entertainment said, “We at MTV have always known that football enjoys a groundswell of support amongst young-at-heart Indians. The LaLiga in par cular is a cultural phenomenon all over the World. When the folks from RISE Worldwide introduced us to the LaLiga team, we realized that this was a partnership wai ng to happen – the vision was common, the vibes were good & we quickly put pen to paper.” LaLiga will commence on 13th August 2021 and will see Viacom18 put the network’s might behind building reach and resonance for the league amongst Indian viewers. Viacom18 will connect with the football fans through a massive marke ng and communica ons campaign, further building the fandom and outreach for LaLiga in India. MTV’s extensive social media and digital clout will ensure that LaLiga engages fans through a mul -pla orm approach, poten ally making football a part of dinner-table conversa ons across Indian homes and further widen MTV

Streamers likely to invest up to 25% local revenue in French content

treaming services, including Ne lix, Amazon and Disney Plus, would soon have to invest between 20-25 percent of their French revenues in French content under a new decree that was recently unveiled by the French government following an 18-month process. The French decree is a stepping stone in the implementa on of the Audiovisual Media Services Direc ve (AVMS), a legisla on put forth by the European Commission to place streaming giants on an even playing field with exis ng players across Europe. France is the first country to have set new rules and regula ons as part of the AVMS and other countries within the E.U. are expected to follow course, Varietyreported. Published in the Journal Officiel of the French government, the decree says streamers must dedicate 25 percent of their annual revenue in France in order to access films 12 months a er their theatrical release or under, instead of the current 36-month window. Services that choose to invest 20 percent of their French revenues would have access to movies that are 12 months or older. Ne lix had said it’s aiming to invest 20 percent rather than 25percent and is looking to obtain a 12-month window. Specific details on the windowing have been discussed separately for months among French industry professionals, TV channels and streaming services who had un l July 1 to come to an agreement. So far, talks have stalled because of conflic ng interests from different par es; the French government had suggested it will step in and issue new windowing rules if an agreement between professionals can’t be reached, Varietyreported.

38 July 2021

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Apple planning to launch new MacBook Pro in September

merican tech giant company Apple is planning to roll out its new MacBook Pro with 14-inch and 16-inch radial redesigns to the current model, in Sept. this year. As per ANI, the new devices would be quite a radical redesign of current models, especially the 13-inch MacBook Pro, which is likely to be replaced with the 14-inch variant. The new devices are expected to have new, 'Mini-LED' displays and a faster processor with the ﬁrst successor of Apple's M1 chip. Reportedly, the 16-inch MacBook Pro is currently being

Anna Ben starrer 'Sara's to release on Prime Video

shipped with an Intel chip, which is expected to change in the future, as the company plans to completely "switch to its silicon to its future". The new devices could prove to be the most powerful laptop in the company's lineup, meaning that it would require a signiﬁcantly more powerful chip than Apple's M1, which supports a maximum of 16GB of RAM & only one addi onal, high-resolu on display. Exci ngly, the new MacBook Pro models are rumored to come with a new ﬂat-edged design, as well as more ports, including a memory card reader and HDMI.

'The Witcher: Monster Slayer' set to launch this month

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Mollywood star Anna Ben, who gets good recogni on for her survival thriller 'Helen', is back to entertain her fans with another movie tled 'Sara's. Earlier, the makers of the film hinted at plans to go for a direct OTT release for the movie. Now, Anna Ben has confirmed that 'Sara's would stream on Amazon Prime Video from July 5 onwards. Anna took to her Instagram account and cap oned, "It's almost here!!! I hope you guys will enjoy this li le film of ours, made with lots of love. Coming out on July 5th on Amazon Prime. Trailer link in bio if you need a sneak peek," wrote Anna. Anna is playing the lead role in 'Sara's. The movie helmed by Jude Anthony Joseph also features Sunny Wayne in the pivotal role. The film is set to release on 5 July on Amazon Prime Video.

Pokémon Go-like augmented reality game for mobile devices 'The Witcher: Monster Slayer is set to release on July 21st, CD Projekt Red announced on Friday,2nd July. According to ANI, the reality game would be available for free on both Android and iOS devices. In 'The Witcher: Monster Slayer', users would get to explore the world around them and ﬁght the menacing virtual monsters in AR. Users would also go on "story-driven quests that propel you through epic adventures inspired by the Witcher series, taking you deep into the heart of what it means to be an elite monster slayer," reported by the game website. The game was ﬁrst announced in August 2020, If the user is an android user, you can preregister for the game on Google Play. If the users would do, then they able to play the game as soon as it launches, they would get access to a special sword which gives them the extra experience for each monster kill. As the announcement comes a week before WitcherCon, a celebra on of the franchise hosted by CD Projekt Red and streaming giant Ne lix, which streams the TV hit series. There could be some exci ng news from the event as it seems likely to hear more details about the second season of the show (which Ne lix had already shared a very brief teaser of), and CD Projekt Red had already promised that a next-gen update for The Witcher 3 is set to release this year.

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Colors Tamil premieres two blockbuster ﬁlms this weekend

WhatsApp tes ng new 'View Once' feature

olors Tamil, the youngest GEC of Tamil Nadu, had been entertaining the film buffs with back-to-back movies every weekend. To take it to the next level, the channel is set to bring the world television premiere of ‘Traffic Ramaswamy’, starring actordirector S.A. Chandrasekhar. Along with this intriguing biopic, the channel would also telecast a meless entertainer, ‘Ellame En Rasathan’, starring actor Rajkiran, as part of its Sunday Cine Combo. As per the press release of Colors Tamil, ‘Traffic Ramaswamy’is an inspiring 2018 movie based on real-life social ac vist Mr. Traffic Ramaswamy. Directed by noted director Vicky, the film feature S.A. Chandrashekhar in a pivotal role, alongside renowned actors like Makkal Selvan Vijay Sethupathi, Prakash Raj, Rohini, Living-ston, Ambika, Vijay Antony, Khushbu Sundar, Seeman & Kasthuri. The film also trails the journey of Traffic Ramaswamy & his revolu onary ac ons taken to resolve the corrup on in the State through pe ons & protests. The story highlights the eternal struggle that he faced to bring substan al changes in society. ‘Ellame En Rasathan’is a 1995 drama film directed and played by veteran actor-director Rajkiran alongside popular actors like Sangita and Roopa Sree. The film traces the life of Singarasu (played by Rajkiran), who along with his daughter, travels to a secluded village to avenge his wife’s murder. Singarasu also works on a plan to punish the murderer, and what transpires later cons tutes forms the crux of the narra ve. These two blockbusters are set to premiere on Colors Tamil on Sunday, July 4 at 1:00 PM and 4:30 PM.

nstant messaging pla orm WhatsApp is tes ng a new feature for its users called 'View Once' which is similar to the snaps on Snapchat, the new feature would allow users to send disappearing photos & videos. According to ANI, the a ached images or videos would disappear a er being viewed, which may prove good for conﬁden al business-related chats. The feature had been introduced to WhatsApp Beta testers on Android. Reportedly, if the test goes smoothly, the feature would be rolled out for the general public too. It also further reported that the new feature currently had some drawbacks, which may be resolved quite soon. For instance, a recipient can take a screenshot of the phone to stay the image beyond the auto-delete. Addi onally, the read receipts would goo automatically disabled & the sender can s ll see the messages which you have sent. Even, the blocked contacts can also see the single-use a achments if they are a part of the standard group. However, there is no informa on on when this new feature might roll out globally, neither there is any men on of a rollout to iOS and desktop as of yet.

Bhopal creeps into NewsOnAir radio India rankings

n the latest rankings of top ci es in India where All India Radio (AIR) live-streams on NewsOnAir app are most popular, Bhopal is the latest newcomer in the Top 10 list, while Lucknow is out. Chennai has displaced Hyderabad to take the third spot, while Pune and Bengaluru have retained their first and second posi ons respec vely. Hyderabad slides to number 4, according to data released by the government for the pubcaster. In major changes in rankings of top AIR streams in India, AIR Pune had moved three posi ons up from rank 7 to rank 4. In quite a significant fall, FM Rainbow Delhi had slipped from 5th to 9th posi on. FM Rainbow Kochi is the new entrant, while FM Rainbow Mumbai is no more in the Top 10. More than 240 radio services of AIR are live-streamed on the NewsOnAir app, Indian public broadcaster Prasar Bhara ’s official app. These AIR streams on NewsOnAir have a large number of listeners not just in India, but also globally in more than 85 countries and 8,000 ci es across the globe. These rankings are based on fortnightly data from June 1-15, 2021.

40 July 2021

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Instagram tes ng new ‘Exclusive Stories’ feature

ocial media pla orm Instagram is working on a new feature ‘Exclusive Stories’ which is similar to the micro-blogging site Twi er’s ‘Super Follows’ feature. The feature would let creators offer exclusive stories to their followers. As per ANI, Twi er recently rolled out a feature ‘Super Follows’ which allows users with a certain number of followers to provide offer exclusive content for a fee, similar to YouTube’s membership feature. Following this, Instagram is also planning to roll out the un tled exclusive stories feature. Developer Alessandro Paluzzi broke the news by sharing the screenshots of the feature on Twi er a er which Instagram officially confirmed that the feature is indeed in the works. According to the screenshots shared by Paluzzi, when the regular users would fall upon an exclusive story, Instagram would tell them “only members” can view the content. The feature would also be marked with a purple heart icon, which would work just like how stories for ‘Close Friends’ currently get labeled with a green star icon, ANI reported.

‘Masterchef 13’ set to release in Indian languages

he popular culinary show, ‘MasterChef Australia’, is now available for Indian viewers in Hindi, Tamil & Telugu languages. According to an ANI report, ‘MasterChef Australia’ is currently being judged by esteemed people from the culinary world: Jock Zonfrilo, Melissa Leong and Andy Allen. An Indian origin contestant Depinder Chhibber was also a part of the ongoing show. “Food has been a very special & personal part of my life since a very young age, as I learned how to cook from my parents who gave me their passion for diﬀerent cuisines. Being in the MasterChef Kitchen was a dream come true for me. I couldn’t be happier that MasterChef Australia Season 13 will be more accessible to millions in India through Disney + Hotstar VIP,” Dipender said. He also added, “I hope to con nue to cook a lot more dishes inspired by Indian ﬂavors and am thrilled that viewers will be able to see their food being celebrated on a global stage.” According to ANI, the aim of telecas ng the show in India is to ‘reach a wider audience who can enjoy the iconic cooking show in a language of their choice’. A spokesperson of Disney+ Hotstar said, “MasterChef Australiais more than just a cooking reality show & had been hugely popular among the Indian audiences. By localizing MasterChef Australiaand releasing it in Hindi, Tamil & Telugu on Disney + Hotstar VIP, we aim to reach a wider audience who can enjoy the iconic cooking show in a language of their choice.”

HOMBALE FILMS to announce ﬁlm ‘Dvitva’

he theatrical and OTT ﬁlm produc on HOMBALE FILMS in Indian Cinema is typically recognized as showcasing content that revolves around ac on, masala, and romance because of many outstanding pieces of direc on, art, cinematography, and ac ng have gone unno ced in certain cases. Over the last decade, Indian Cinema had experimented quite a lot and has delivered some unconven onal pieces of work. The team of HOMBALE FILMS is experimen ng their way through it by tapping on some unexplored parts in the genre of a physiological thriller with their upcoming movie DVITVA and is all set to win the heart of the movie lovers who gravitate around the genre of thriller and promises the audience a deligh ul watch. According to a company press release, starring prominent and dynamic actor Punneth Rajkumar and directed by supremely talented ‘Lucia and u-turn fame’ Pawan Kumar, it is sure to awe the

41 July 2021

audience in no me. The tle of the film DVITVA’means duality and is a psychological thriller drama and the team of DVITVA, which aims to bring to produc on and principal photography will start from September 2021. Commen ng on the film, Producer, Vijay Kiragandur, said, “I am delighted to work with Puneeth Rajkumar again in a completely different and exci ng genre movie. Further, he also added that he is very sure that director Pawan Kumar’s delivery of this thriller is going to be winsome and the movie is going to be a treat for Puneeth’s fans as they will see him in a very different avatar, than what he has been previously engaged in.” DVITVA is directed by Pawan Kumar, Prertha Jayaraman would be behind the camera and Poorna Chandra Tejaswi would do the music. The rest of the cast and crew would be soon announced by the team of HOMABLE FILMS on the Twi er handle of the team.

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ABP Network spl. programming on Doctors’ Day

n the occasion of Doctors’ Day, ABP Network saluted Indian medical professionals for their meaningful contribu ons towards the fight against Covid-19 through special programming ini a ves on ABP News, ABP Majha, ABP Ananda, and ABP Ganga. ABP News hosted the third edi on of India vs. Corona eConclave. With an aim to understand the impact of COVID19 in India and paving the way forward for vaccina on in our country, this conclave delved into various crucial themes pertaining to the pandemic. ABP Majha and ABP Ananda, on the other hand, conducted a panel discussion on similar themes. ABP Ganga conducted interac ons with doctors and key poli cal leaders for its Doctors’ Day special programming, according to a press release from ABP Network. In the ongoing fight against COVID-19, healthcare workers and medical professionals have worked relessly to save lives by staking their own. Their service towards the society had been unparalleled. The speakers on the conclave of ABP News, therefore, were those who are leading the fight against Covid-19. In the first edi on of India v/s Corona e-conclave, ABP News had looked at the Covid-19 situa on from a healthcare perspec ve. The sessions on this edi on not only provided expert advice to the viewers on how to best fight against the pandemic, but also highlighted the steps being taken to combat the crisis at the na onal level. The second edi on,

Speaking about the special offerings, Avinash Pandey, CEO, ABP Network said, “The contribu on and commitment of our doctors and medical workers towards the welfare of humanity has been unparalleled during the course of this pandemic. Our special programming on the occasion of Doctors’ Day is an ode to their reless efforts. Plus, as the threat of the third wave has alerted our na on, it is crucial to talk about the steps that need to be taken to defeat COVID-19. We hope our viewers found these special programming ini a ves to be helpful in understanding the significance and urgency of vaccina on.”

Airtel launches its new all-in-one plan

elecom company Bhar Airtel, known as (Airtel), which is also known as India’s premier communicaons solu ons provider on Friday, (2nd July) announced the launch of all-in-one solu ons as homes become a single pace for both work life and personal life. The need for high-speed data, entertainment at home, and seamless connec vity on mobile is now one holis c need. Yet the services have become historically been bought and managed as individual services. According to ANI, Airtel said that customers have expressed their frustra on on mul ple bills which are to be paid on different due dates across the months, services which ge ng switched off due to forgo en recharges, and difficulty in managing the services from mul ple local service providers. The telecom company had launched a new program called, ‘Airtel Black’ in which the customer can bundle two or more of Airtel services (fiber, DTH, mobile) together for one single bill, as one customer care number with a dedicated team of 42 July 2021

on the other hand, was all about Indian businesses & corporates and how they have been figh ng against the pandemic with compassion and innova on. Owing to the success of the first two edi ons, ABP News conducted another edi on of the India vs. Corona econclave on the occasion of Doctors’ day. The special programming on ABP Majha, ABP Ananda, and ABP Ganga also witnessed conversa ons on doctors, medical professionals, and healthcare workers who have selflessly led the fight against Covid-19. These channels also ini ated discussions on India’s next big challenge – the implementa on of the na onal vaccina on drive.

rela onship managers, and priority resolu on of faults and issues. All of this comes with the value of zero-switching and

installa on costs coupled with free services visits for life. Shashwat Sharma, Director for marke ng & communications, said the ini a ve addresses the need for convenience and peace of mind for customers as they navigate their lives in the new normal.

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Google faces privacy legal heat over Voice Assistant

US federal judge had said Google must face much of a lawsuit accusing the company of illegally recording and dissemina ng private conversa ons of people who accidentally trigger its voice-ac vated Voice Assistant on their smartphones. In a Thursday, 1st July, night decision, U.S. District Judge Beth Labson Freeman let plain ffs in the proposed class ac on pursue claims that Google & its parent Alphabet Inc. violated California privacy laws, some claims that they violated federal privacy laws & some breach of contract claims, Reuters reported from New York. The San Jose, California-based judge also dismissed the plain ffs' California consumer protec on claims, but said they could be refiled. Google Assistant is designed to react when mobile device owners use ‘hot words’ such as "Hey Google" or "Okay Google," similar to Apple Inc's Siri. But the plain ffs said Google had no right to use their conversa ons for targeted adver sing when Google Assistant misperceived what they said as hot words, known as "false accepts."

Microso introduces a new feature for Windows 11

merican tech company Microso Corpora on had introduced a new feature ‘Dynamic refresh rate’ or DRR for Windows 11, which should help to improve the ba ery life on laptops. The higher refresh rate display smartphones have had the so ware-enabled dynamic refresh rate capabili es for a while now as a ba ery-saving measure and although the laptops and PCs have had the high refresh rate displays for a longer me, which has taken for a while now. According to ANI, last week, Microso made Windows 11 oﬃcial, bringing with it a higher s t a n d a r d o f s e c u r i t y, a modernized UI, Start Menu, and Microso Store, as well as several performance improvements, touch op miza ons, and gamerspeciﬁc features. The integra on would essen ally let Windows 11 dial-up or down the refresh rate of the display based on the use of frequency to save power. If users have a monitor which supports high refresh high rates of at least 120Hz and a GPU with a variable refresh rate or VRR tech like AMD Freesync and/ or NVIDIA Gsync, they would be able to turn on the se ngs in Windows 11. 44 July 2021

In a 37-page decision, Freeman said the plain ffs showed they used Google Assistant-enabled devices o en enough to have had a reasonable expecta on of privacy when speaking. She added that while Google disclosed in its privacy policy how it collects informa on for targeted adver sing, "it does not sufficiently apprise users that it will use recordings made in the absence of manual ac va on or a hot word u erance". In seeking a dismissal, Google said the plain ffs failed to show they were h a r m e d , o r t h at i t b ro ke a ny contractual guarantees. "Google never promises that the Assistant will ac vate only when plain ffs intend it to," it said. The proposed class seeking unspecified damages includes U.S. purchasers of Google Assistant-enabled devices since May 18, 2016. Google and its lawyers did not immediately respond on 2nd July to requests for comment. The plain ffs' lawyers did not immediately respond to similar requests.

Once if they turned on, DRR would ac vely & automa cally swap between a 60Hz refresh rate and the higher 120Hz refresh rate depending on the task that the app lets you do. While typing out an email or working on Photoshop could run at a lower60Hz refresh rate without any issue, browsing through a social media app, or doing a sketch, DRR would switch up to a higher refresh rate for a be er experience. Although, this is all dependent on whether or not the user’s display supports a higher refresh rate, to begin with since it won’t go magically to make a 60Hz display a 120Hz one. It’s also worth no ng that Microso ’s DRR is not VRR for the app, even though they work in quite similar ways. While VRR refers to the general ability for displays to adjust the refresh rate on the ﬂy, DRR is a Windows-speciﬁc feature that informs VRR-capable displays when to vary the refresh rate. VRR relies on the user's display hardware which switches the refresh rates, while DRR is a so ware implementa on that controls when to automa cally switch the refresh rates.

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ViacomCBS revamp its Global leadership

he leading global media and entertainment company ViacomCBS announced on Thursday (1st July) that they would unify the company’s US and interna onal businesses under a simplified global leadership structure. Effec ve immediately, Chris McCarthy and Brian Robbins are each promoted to the role of President & CEO, with global oversight for their respec ve brand groups, MTV Entertainment Group and Nickelodeon. In addi on, George Cheeks, President & CEO, CBS, would expand his role to include the responsibility for a global content strategy across ViacomCBS’ FTA networks around the world. McCarthy, Robbins, and Cheeks would con nue to report to Bob Bakish, President & CEO, ViacomCBS, and work closely with Raffaele Annecchino, President & CEO of ViacomCBS Networks Interna onal (VCNI). Interna onal brand leadership will be realigned under this new structure. In addi on, Dan Cohen, President of ViacomCBS Global Distribu on Group, will add the distribu on of ViacomCBS Interna onal Studios content to his group’s mandate, which will now oversee all ViacomCBS content licensing and distribu on globally. Barbara Zaneri also assumes the tle of Chief Program Acquisi ons Officer for ViacomCBS, which reflects her to expand her role to leading all acquisi ons

Bob Bakish, President & CEO, ViacomCBS, said, “These changes enable a truly global approach to the brand management, content acquisi ons, and licensing across ViacomCBS’ networks around the world.” He also added, “With a global reach of 4.1 billion cumula ve homes in over 180 countries, our globally aligned leadership structure will ensure that our interna onally recognized brands & content are ubiquitous across every pla orm and every market.”

Share Chat’s Moj app completes a year

ocial media pla orm ShareChat's Moj app on Thursday, July 1 completed one year of opera ons with the highest number of daily ac ve users. The app was launched on July 1 last year, within 30 hours of Chinese short video app TikTok was banned. Seeking to provide a pla orm for users to watch short videos and creators to produce innova ve and engaging content, Moj had registered the highest ac ve users with over 120 million monthly ac ve users, ANI reported. "MoJ was launched on July 1, exactly 30 hours a er the Chinese app ban. From there on, there had been absolutely no looking back. From being one of the most downloaded apps in recent mes, we have now become one of the most loved brands and the number one app in the short video space with 120 million users using it every month," said Ajit Varghese, the Chief Commercial Oﬃcer of ShareChat and Moj. "What we have achieved over the last one year is create a pla orm where we can encourage grassroots level talent to become creators and expand their inﬂuence, connect with their audiences both at a micro-level and a macro level," he added.

45 July 2021

globally across linear, streaming, and pay. Zaneri would con nue to report McCarthy and partner closely with the leaders across the ViacomCBS and VCNI.

Moj is the only Indian pla orm to have e-ups with Snap for its camera features. It also had the largest music library with over 180,000 licensed songs. Over the past year, the pla orm had seen over 100 billion minutes spent with an 18 million-strong creator community uploading 75 million pieces of content every month. The aim of the short video app is to support both established and upcoming creators and also provide its community an immersive video watching experience. MoJ is also associated with some of the biggest celebri es in India like Sonu Sood, Ananya Panday, Vijay Deverakonda, Remo D'souza and more. "We strongly believe that there is nothing which stops us from becoming one of the largest and long-term player in the creator & inﬂuencer ecosystem & develop that ecosystem in India. We have achieved a great milestone in our ﬁrst year of opera on but we strongly believe that the journey has just begun," said Varghese. "We want to connect with every Indian and bring them on to the short video space in the next few years and that's our ambi on," he further said.

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News

VodaIdea posts Rs. 7.23 cr. Loss in Jan-march quarter

odafone Idea on Wednesday, June 30 once again posted a big loss of Rs. 7,023 crore during the JanuaryMarch quarter, wider than the Bloomberg consensus es mate of Rs 6,241.07 crore. The loss had widened signiﬁcantly compared with the previous quarter of Rs 4,540 crore. The company con nued to lag on the opera onal front as well. The revenues declined sharply by nearly 12 per cent on a quarter-on-quarter basis to Rs 9,608 crore, much below analyst expecta ons of Rs 10,040.50 crore, The Financial Expressreported. Ebitda (earnings before interest, tax, deprecia on and amor sa on), however, increased 2.8 percent sequen ally to Rs 4,408 crore. Ebitda margins came in at 45.9 per cent, a sharp increase of 660 basis points quarter-on-quarter. The company’s average revenue per user (Arpu) during the quarter declined to Rs 107 compared with Rs 121 in the preceding quarter. Minutes of voice usage also declined to 657 minutes against 673 in the preceding quarter.

World IP body rules in favour India on brand ‘khadi’

he World Intellectual Property Organiza on (WIPO), a specialized agency of the United Na ons for brand protec on across the world, had ordered a Delhi-based firm against using a domain name www.urbankhadi.com, which illegally uses the brand name “Khadi”. The administra ve panel of WIPO’s Arbitra on and Media on Center ruled that the firm “Om So Solu ons”, owned by one Harsh Gaba, had registered & used the domain name www.urbankhadi.com in “bad faith” & to gain benefit from the goodwill of Khadi, an official statement put out by the Indian government stated. The panel’s order came on a pe on of government-owned Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) against Om So Solu ons, which was indulging in the business of garments by misusing the brand name “Khadi”. The panel lent credence to KVIC’s conten ons that “it was a systema c a empt by Mr Harsh Gaba to derive unfair advantage, wrongful commercial gains and to mislead the public into believing that www.urbankhadi.com is an associate of Khadi India”. “It is evident that the respondent can have no legi mate interest in the disputed domain name…nobody would use the word “Khadi” unless seeking to create an impression of an associa on with Khadi,” the WIPO panel noted, according to the government statement. “….the evidence submi ed by the complainant (KVIC) leads

46 July 2021

Average data consump on, however, rose to 13,068 MB against 12,288 MB in the previous quarter. Subscriber churn rose to 3 percent compared with 2.3 percent in the preceding quarter. In a statement, Ravinder Takkar, MD & CEO, Vodafone Idea Limited, said “FY21 has been a transforma onal year for Vodafone Idea with several important milestones achieved including launch of our uniﬁed brand “Vi”. In the year of the pandemic, when people and businesses were hugely dependent on telecom connec vity, we delivered superior network experience and improvement in several opera ng metrics supported by Vi GIGAnet, which remains the fastest 4G network in India, as per Ookla, as well as the network with highest rated voice quality as per TRAI. “We enter FY22 with renewed focus on execu ng our strategy to keep our customers ahead, and our cost op miza on plan remains on track to deliver the targeted savings. We are in ac ve discussion with poten al investors for fund raising, to achieve our strategic intent.”

to the presump on that the disputed domain name www.urbankhadi.com was registered and used by the respondent in bad faith….the panel orders that the disputed domain name be transferred to the complainant, i.e. KVIC,” the panel ruled. The panel rejected the arguments of Om So Solu ons that the word “Khadi” enjoyed no protec on and that nobody had an exclusive right to use the name “Khadi”. “…. the complainant (KVIC) is the owner of several KHADI trademark registra ons. The complainant is also the owner of trademarks “Khadi” & “Khadi India”…the disputed domain name www.urbank hadi.com includes the trademark of KVIC and is confusingly similar or iden cal to the trademarks of the complainant (KVIC),” the panel observed. KVIC Chairman Vinai Kumar Saxena said the WIPO’s order will bolster Khadi’s ﬁght against viola on of its brand name not only in India but also globally. KVIC, in recent mes, has won several cases against viola on of its trademark “Khadi”. On June 4, Delhi High Court barred a Ghaziabad-based trader JBMR Enterprises from manufacturing & selling counterfeit Khadi Prakri k Paint. On May 28, Delhi High Court restrained “Khadi Design Council of India” & “Miss India Khadi Founda on” from using “Khadi” brand name, the oﬃcial statement said, outlining a slew of such favourable judgements.

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News

PM Modi’s stress on data, dividend and ‘India’s ‘techade’

ndian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on July 1 said the combina on of the na on's demographic dividend and data, with proven tech prowess presents immense opportuni es. Exuding confidence, he said the decade would be 'India's techade' (as in India’s tech decade). Speaking at a virtual event to mark the comple on of six years of Digital India, Modi said India is fully conscious of its responsibili es as a data powerhouse and noted that work was underway on all aspects of data protec on, PTI reported from New Delhi. “Data and demographic dividend present a massive opportunity for India... together, we will be successful in making this decade 'India's techade',” Modi said. Poin ng out that es mates suggest that dozens of tech companies in India would enter the unicorn club (with USD 1 billion valua on) in coming years, he asserted that data and demographic dividend collec vely offers huge poten al. Modi spoke via video conference to beneficiaries of various schemes of Digital India programme, including Diksha, eNAM, eSanjeevani solu on for telemedicine, DigiBunai and PM SVANidhi scheme. Modi talked about the cri cal role that technology had played during the pandemic to ensure con nuity of educa on, access to healthcare, and other ci zen services, and noted that digital solu ons created by India during this

period are being acknowledged globally. The digital solu ons that India had prepared during this me are a topic of discussion and interest all over the world today. One of the world's largest digital contact tracing app, Aarogya Setu, had played a key role in containing the spread of COVID, he said. Digital India programme underscores the na on's resolve for self-reliance (AatmaNirbhar Bharat), he said. Affordable tablets and digital devices are being offered to students across the na on and produc on-linked subsidies are being given to electronic companies to realise this goal. Launched on July 1, 2015, Digital India builds on the concept of minimum government, maximum governance and had led to opportuni es for all, facility for all, and par cipa on of all . It had enabled people's access to the government system, made services and processes transparent, nondiscriminatory & a acked corrup on. The Prime Minister also highlighted how India was embracing technology to provide be er services to the ci zens. For example, through PM WANI, access points are being created so that rural youth can connect with high-speed Internet for be er services and educa on. Also, 5G technology will bring significant changes in the world, and India is preparing itself to make the most of this opportunity, he asserted. IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad was also present on the occasion.

BARC Ra ng 26th Week: Star Plus again leads in all genres

roadcas ng Audience Research Council (BARC) 26th Week (26th June 2021 – 2nd July 2021) has released its report. In India, Star Plus is the most-watched pay-TV channel across all genres (All India 2+) with 2878.68 impressions this week. Whereas, Sun TV had also remained on the second spot with 2713.36 impressions followed by Sony SAB on the third spot with 2394.99 impressions respec vely. However, last week Star Maa is in the third spot but this week it has been on the fourth spot with 2366.38 impressions, whereas Star Utsav, Colors remained the same with their ﬁ h and sixth spots with 2230.62 and 1939.01 impressions respec vely. Star Vijay, Zee Telugu, Sony Pal, and Colors Rishtey bagged seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth spots with 1821.76,

47 July 2021

1637.52, 1626.62, and 1526.46 impressions respec vely. In Hindi Speaking Market (HSM), Star Plus is again leading with 2783.23 impressions, followed by Sony Sab, Star Utsav again spot with the second and third posi on with 2331.01 a n d 2215.93 impressions respec vely. Meanwhile, Colors and Sony Pal who entered the list bagged the fourth and fi h spots with 1910.19 and 1611.79 impressions respec vely. In the South Market, Sun TV bagged the first spot with 2709.21 impressions, followed by Star Maa on the second spot with 2303.83 impressions, Star Vijay enters with 1811.67 impressions on the third spot. Whereas Zee Telugu who stood on the third spot last week has come down on the fourth spot with 1605.09 Impressions and Zee Kannada enters with 1338.48 impressions in the fi h spot.

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News

BCCC asks TV channels to exercise restraint on gender-based violence

oon a er the Indian government said self regulatory bodies would get statutory powers, IBF’s content body, the Broadcas ng Content Complaints Council (BCCC), on July 1 asked non-news TV channels to exercise restraint in depic ng content related to crimes against women, children and people from the LGBTQ community. Issuing a detailed advisory for the portrayal of genderbased violence in TV programmes, the council asked the channels to ensure that explicit visualisa on of violence against women, children and people from the LGBTQ community is minimised, and the message that such violence is unacceptable and must be abjured is clearly conveyed, PTI reported from New Delhi. "The BCCC would like to re-emphasise that the channels must exercise necessary prudence and cau on while scrip ng, filming and edi ng such scenes," BCCC said in the advisory. BCCC is the self-regulatory body set up by the Indian Broadcas ng Founda on (IBF) that would soon be known as Indian Broadcas ng Digital Founda on to keep pace with changes & embrace the govern-ment-mandated digital regula- ons --- which have been causing heartburns all round the media and entertainment industry. "The council, therefore, advises television channels to exercise self-modera on while framing such plotlines based on social issues engulfing gender-based violence; ensure that their depic on is subtle and nuanced," the PTI report quoted from the BCCC advisory. In addi on, the BCCC said, the TV channels should also ensure that any such portrayal of violence on television is accompanied with an on-screen disclaimer in English, Hindi & other regional languages sta ng: “Gender-based violence is a penal offence. This channel does not support or endorse any form of gender-based violence or abuse of any nature.”

Twi er rolls out a new security feature

he microblogging site Twi er on 30th June announced its new feature, which uses a security key as the only two-factor authen ca on method on both mobile and web. This new feature comes a er Twi er announced the same in March. According to ANI, the physical security keys have advantages over two-factor methods like an authen cator app or SMS because they do not rely on code that a bad server could intercept. On a related note, this is not the ﬁrst me 48 July 2021

“The BCCC asks for sensi vity while portraying such persons as vic ms of diﬀerent forms of violence on television and expects channels to strive to use the impact and reach of television for construc ve and reforma ve purposes,” the council said in the advisory. “It is an all-encompassing advisory for broadcasters to exercise restraint on depic ng content related to crimes against women, children & persons from the LGBTQ community. Sexual & domes c violence are ma ers of deep concern for the society & must be addressed with all seriousness,” BCCC chairperson Jus ce (retd.) Gita Mi al said. India’s federal government had no ﬁed the Cable Television Networks (Amendment) Rules, 2021 on June 17, which provides for a three-layer statutory mechanism to take care of complaints rela ng to content aired on TV channels. The BCCC, set up by the IBF in June 2011, is a self-regulatory body that examines content-related grievances against more than 300 non-news channels in the country. “The council had so far issued 15 advisories over various aspects of content aired on television channels. The new advisory covers various dimensions of the portrayal of gender-based violence on television,” the BCCC said. According to the Cable Television Networks (Amendment) Rules, 2021, the self-regula ng bodies are required to register themselves with the central government within 30 days from the date of publica on of the amended rules, or within 30 days from the date of its cons tu on, whichever is earlier. “The BCCC, which had redressed thousands of complaints against general entertainment channels over the past 10 years, is set to be registered with the Ministry of Informa on and Broadcas ng,” the council said.

that Twi er had announced a new feature related to improvising the security on its pla orm. In recent years, Twi er had added several features to beef up login security. The company also expanded beyond SMS in 2017 by adding support for the authen ca on apps like Google Authen cator and Authy. In 2019, the microblogging site had enabled two-factor authen ca on without giving the phone number, which comes with a posi ve change given to the SMS that can be vulnerable to the SIM-swapping a acks.

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News

Sony ropes in 15 adver sers for India-Lanka series

he Men in Blue are all set to return on Sony Pictures Sports Network (SPSN) as the India tour of Sri Lanka begins on July 13, 2021. The series which will feature 3 ODIs and 3 T20Is will be aired on India Live in four languages: SONY TEN 1 and SONY SIX in English, SONY TEN 3 in Hindi, and on the newly launched SONY TEN 4 in Tamil and Telugu from 1.30 pm IST as well as live-streamed on its on-demand OTT pla orm SonyLIV. To enhance the fan's engagement and ensure an unparalleled viewing experience for audiences across the na on, SPSN would be back with its ﬂagship studio show Extraaa Innings in English and Hindi. The LIVE studio show in English would be presented by former players like Sanjay Manjrekar, Ajit Agarkar, and Ajay Jadeja along with Ma Floyd while the Hindi studio show would be presented by former cricketers namely Mohammad Kaif, Vivek Razdan, Amit Mishra, Saba Karim along with Arjun Pandit. The Tamil commentary box wouls feature Laxman Sivaramakrishnan, WV Raman, Vidyut Sivaramakrishnan, T Arasu, and S Seshadri while the Telugu commentary will be presented by Venkatapathy Raju, Ganeshwar Rao, C Venkatesh, RJ Hemanth, Sandeep Kumar, and Vijay

Mahavadi. The upcoming India tour of Sri Lanka has received a great response from adver sers across mul ple sectors and SPSN has roped in brands like Byju’s, Pan Bahar, Amazon Prime, 99 acres.com, Cars24, Oppo, Tata Motors, Raj Niwas, Vimal Kent, Unacademy, Housing.com, Policy Bazaar, Paisa Bazaar and Dafa News for the series and are also in the process of closing more brands before the start of the ﬁrst ODI on 13th July 2021. Led by former India captain Rahul Dravid who would step in as coach, this would be the ﬁrst me when two senior Indian men’s teams play bilateral series simultaneously. Shikhar Dhawan would captain the young side while Bhuvneshwar Kumar would be the vicecaptain in the 3-match ODI and T20I series against Sri Lanka. SPSN has also launched the #JeetneKiZid campaign that depicts the #HungerToWin or #JeetneKiZid of the Indian Brigade, who are ready to give their all to emerge victorious in Sri Lanka. The campaign calls all Indian cricket fans to show their support and cheer for their home team as the young squad is very determined to emerge victorious in Sri Lanka.

YuppTV re-launches Zee channels in US

uppTV, the world’s leading OTT pla orm for SouthAsian content, had launched Zee Network channels in the USA and Canada. Through this pla orm, viewers would now be able to catch a wide mix of relatable fic on, high voltage non-fic on, marquee events, and blockbuster movies in Hindi & regional languages in Zee channels. As per the press brief, the launch of Zee channels completes the YuppTV spectrum from Indian Entertainment, almost in all languages and Genres. Commen ng on the associa on, Uday Reddy, Founder & CEO of YuppTV, said, “We are delighted to once again join hands with one of the leading entertainment networks, Zee Entertainment, to bring back its premium entertainment channels to the USA and Canada markets. Zee undoubtedly is the most powerful Indian brand in Interna onal, par cularly in the USA, where it has become synonymous with the Indian culture. The US market has been at the forefront of digi za on, not only in access but also in Ad Sales. With our pla orm now, Zee can offer its adver sers not only the incremental HHs but also structure deals based on delivery (impressions) both at a

49 July 2021

na onal or local level, an advantage that no other pla orm oﬀers to its programmers. Every Ad on YuppTV can be measured to the last dot and that is a game-changer for the South Asian Adver sers in the USA.” Be it cap va ng family dramas such as ‘Kumkum Bhagya’, the family comedy ‘BhabhiJi Ghar Par Hai or the reality show ‘Indian Pro Music League’, YuppTV users can access the Zee channels oﬀerings through its pla orm. The users

would get access to channels such as Zee TV, &TV, and Zee Cinema (Latest Movies) as well as various regional channels such as Zee Telugu, Zee Tamil, Zee Kannada, Zee Keralam, Zee Punjabi, Zee Marathi, and Zee Bangla. Zee Entertainment also oﬀers a bouquet of entertainment channels and is one of the leaders among South Asian entertainment channels. With the re-launch of this network in the USA and Canada markets, YuppTVV users would be able to enjoy the deligh ul blend of programming across languages and genres.

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News

Koo brings out ﬁrst compliance report

ndia’s home-grown microblogging website Koo had proac vely moderated 54,235 content pieces, while 5,502 posts were reported by its users during June, the company said in its maiden monthly compliance report as mandated by India’s new digital regula ons, popularly known as IT Rules. Koo said it was the first Indian social media pla orm to release its monthly compliance report as required under the IT guidelines that came into force from May 26, PTI reported from New Delhi. Koo said its report for June 2021 shows that of the 5,502 Koos (posts) reported by its user community, 22.7 per cent (1,253) were removed, while 'other ac on' was taken against the rest (4,249 Koos). Similarly, Koo took steps to proac vely moderate 54,235 Koos, of which 2.2 per cent (1,996) were removed, while 'other ac on' was taken against the rest (52,239), Koo said in an email to PTI. 'Other ac on' includes overlay, blur, ignore, warning etc. on Koos that do not comply with the guidelines. Koo, also dubbed the Indian version of Twi er --which is at loggerheads with the Indian government over being rules-compliant --- had over six million users. The company said its compliance report would be published and available on the first day of each month and, where appropriate, will include addi onal insights. Under the new IT Rules, large digital pla orms with over five million users would have to publish periodic compliance reports every month, men oning the details of complaints received and ac on taken. The report is to also include the number of specific communica on links or parts of informa on that the

“H

'Hungama 2'to debut on Disney+Hotstar July 23

ungama2”, director Priyadarshan's comedy film, is set to debut on Disney+ Hotstar on July 23, the streaming pla orm announced on 30th June. The official Twi er handle of Disney+ Hotstar shared the news of the film's release date along with a new poster, according to a PTI news report from Mumbai. "Cannot wait to see our favourites back on screen & it's going to be double the 'hungama' with this iconic cast. Are you ready for a laughter riot?" the tweet read. The film, a sequel to the director's 2003 hit comedy of the same name, was slated to hit theatres on August 14 this year. But in May this year, the film's makers had said that

50 July 2021

intermediary removed or disabled access to in pursuance of any proac ve monitoring conducted by using automated tools. "As Koo gains trac on across India, we would ensure that Koo respects the law of the land and meets the requirements, enabling every country to define its own digital ecosystem. This Compliance Report is one step in that direc on," Koo co-founder and CEO Aprayameya Radhakrishna said. He added that Koo would con nue to make efforts to make social media a safe place for all users. On 30th June, Google said it had received 27,762 complaints for Google and YouTube content in April this year from individual users in India over alleged viola on of local laws or personal rights, which resulted in the removal of 59,350 pieces of content. Earlier this week, social media giant Facebook had said it would publish an interim report on July 2 providing informa on on the number of content it removed proac vely between May 15-June 15. The final report would be published on July 15, containing details of user complaints received and ac on taken. It will also contain data related to WhatsApp. The popularity of Koo in the country had peaked amid the Indian government's spat with Twi er and growing calls for expanding the ecosystem of homegrown digital pla orms. Koo, which was founded in 2020, had witnessed a massive growth in its user base over the past few months, a er federal ministers and government departments in India endorsed the homegrown microblogging pla orm. The Twi er rival allows users to express their views on its pla orm in mul ple Indian languages.

"Hungama 2"will skip theatres and release directly on an OTT pla orm as cinema houses remain shut due to the deadly second wave of the coronavirus pandemic. The trailer of "Hungama 2" will be unveiled on 1st July. Veteran actor Paresh Rawal is returning for the sequel and is joined by Shilpa She y Kundra, Meezaan, and Pranitha Subhash in the cast. "Hungama 2"will also feature Ashutosh Rana, Manoj Joshi, Rajpal Yadav, Johnny Lever and Tiku Talsania in pivotal roles. The original ﬁlm starred Rawal along with Shoma Anand, Akshaye Khanna, A ab Shivdasani, and Rimi Sen. A Venus Records and Tapes LLP project, "Hungama 2"is also produced by Ganesh Jain, Chetan Jain, and Armaan Ventures.

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News

FB launches newsle er product ‘Bulle n’

acebook Inc. launched its newsle er product "Bulle n" on June 29, a standalone pla orm for free and paid ar cles and podcasts that will aim to rival Substack. CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the pla orm, which is live at Bulle n.com, and introduced some of the writers that the company had recruited in a live audio room on Facebook, Reuters reported from Dallas. Facebook is pushing to compete in the fastgrowing email newsle er trend, as highprofile journalists & writers have le media companies over the past year to strike out on their own. Self-publishing pla orm Substack is a leader in helping writers sell email subscrip ons, and had lured journalists with cash advances. Other tech companies are also compe ng in the field, including Twi er Inc., which acquired newsle er pla orm Revue. Facebook said it would not take a cut of Bulle n creators' revenue at launch & that creators can choose their own subscrip on prices. It is launching the pla orm with a number of high-profile personali es & writers, including

sportscaster Erin Andrews, author Malcolm Gladwell & "Queer Eye"star Tan France. The social network has had a tumultuous rela onship with the news industry, which came to a head in February 2021 a er a showdown with the Australian govt over paying news outlets for content. Following the conﬂict, Facebook pledged to invest $1 bn in the news industry globally over the next three years. The company said the ar cles and podcasts would also be available through the Facebook News Feed & through Facebook's News sec on. "We built Bulle n on a separate website to enable creators to grow their audience in ways that are not exclusively dependent on the Facebook pla orm," it said on the new site. Facebook said it was primarily launching with U.S. creators and it was not accep ng new ones at this me. But it said the Bulle n site was available worldwide and it would look to add more interna onal names a er the beta test. In April, Facebook said it would pay $5 mn to recruit independent local journalists to write for its new publishing pla orm.

Amazon Prime Music launches a playlist

usic streaming pla orm, Amazon Prime Music haD launched a unique collec on of playlists from yesteryear ar sts with the latest ‘Signature’ series. As per ANI, the ‘Signature’ series is a specially curated collec on of playlists from 24 renowned ar sts including singers, composers, and songwriters who redeﬁned Bollywood music through their unique signature styles of singing, music composi ons, and lyrics. The pre-90s era has been the golden years of Bollywood music, where each ar st had their signature style of making music. Their dis nct individual singing traits, choice of lyrics & music led to unique melodies that are forever etched in the hearts, resona ng with the young and previous genera ons alike. From Kishore Kumar’s yodeling to Gulzar Saab’s melodic best with their signature style & soulful lyrics, Amazon Prime Music’s latest playlist series had something for everyone. The series features playlists from legendary ar sts like – Laxmikant-Pyarelal, Lata Mangeshkar, Anand Bakshi, O.P Nayyar, R.D. Burman, Kishore Kumar, Asha Bhosle, Gulzar, Mukesh, Bappi Lahiri, Majrooh Sultanpuri, Talat Mahmood, Mohammed Raﬁ, Rajesh Roshan, Kalyanji-Anandji, Pradeep, S.D. Burman, Salil Chowdary, Naushad Shailendra, & more. Users can enjoy listening to the signature playlists with a hand-free voice-enabled experience with Alexa by

51 July 2021

simply asking “Alexa, Play RD Burman’s Signature Playlist” on the Amazon Prime Music app and Echo devices. Commen ng on the launch, Sahas Malhotra, Director, Amazon Music India said, “At Amazon Prime Music, the team is constantly working at crea ng memorable musical experiences for our listeners to easily rediscover and reconnect with their favorite musical hits and ar sts. With the launch of ‘Signature’ playlists, we not only hope to delight the exis ng fans of these legendary ar sts but also introduce these musical gems to new listeners.” Amazon Prime Music includes songs across major Interna onal & Indian music labels in over 20 languages including Hindi, English, Tamil, Telugu, Punjabi & mul ple other Indian languages. Amazon Prime Music had recently launched podcasts in the Indian market. This move take music streaming pla orm, however, might seem a li le late to the party, especially since the likes of Spo fy & Apple have had it around for years. The podcast pla orm on Amazon Prime Music had a curated list of shows by popular creators like Jay She y, Cyrus Broacha, Neil Bha , Robin Sharma, Sadhguru, Anupam Gupta, among many others. The new podcasts pla orm can be accessed through the Amazon Prime Music app on android and iOS, apart from the Web player & Amazon Echo devices.

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News

Scope, biz model of public b’band network BharatNet expanded

ndia’s federal cabinet on June 30 approved a revised implementa on strategy of the country's ambi ous digital broadband programme BharatNet through public private partnerships (PPP) in 16 States of the country. BharatNet will now extend up to all inhabited villages beyond gram panchayats or village administra ons in the 16 States. The revised strategy also includes crea on, upgrada on, opera on, maintenance and u liza on of BharatNet by the concessionaire who would be selected by a compe ve interna onal bidding process. The es mated maximum viability gap funding approved for the above PPP model is Rs. 19,041 crore, an official statement from the government said. BharatNet was originally conceived as a project by India’s federal government to digitally connect all the gram panchayats & villages. A combina on of wired & wireless technologies and design were being adopted to fulfill the goal. As of September, 2020, according to media reports, nearly 1.5 150,000 kilometers of op cal fibre cable had been laid under the BharatNet Phase 2, covering over 23,000 village administra ons. The programme envisages connec ng nearly 600,000 villages across India. The States covered under the Cabinet approval are Kerala, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, U ar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Nagaland

Microso is ready to change its screen color

merican tech giant Microso Corpora on is ready to change its famous Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) to a black one in its upcoming Windows 11 opera ng system. According to ANI, the so ware giant started tes ng its new design changes in a Windows 11 preview earlier this week, but the Black Screen of Death is not fully enabled yet. The new switch for Windows 11, is in pace with the new black logon and shutdown screens. It’s the first major change to the BSOD since Microso had added a sad face to the screen in Windows 8 in 2012, and QR codes in 2016. Microso first introduced the BSOD in Windows 3.0, offering a way for IT professionals and support personnel to diagnose hardware and memory faults. A BSOD is Windows’ kernel error or bug check, and it usually includes a dump of data that can help the system

52 July 2021

and Arunachal Pradesh. An es mated 361,000 villages, including village administra ons, would be covered. The Cabinet also accorded in principle approval for extending BharatNet to cover all inhabited villages in the remaining States and Union territories (UTs). The Department of Telecommunica on would separately work out the modali es for the remaining) States & UTs. The government said that the PPP model would leverage private sector efficiency for opera on, maintenance, u liza on and revenue genera on, and is expected to result in faster roll out of BharatNet. T h e s e l e c te d co n c e s s i o n a i re (private sector partner) is expected to provide reliable, high-speed broadband services as per predefined agreement. Extension of reach of BharatNet to all inhabited villages with reliable, quality, high speed broadband will enable be er access of e-services offered by various federal and State Government agencies. It would also enable online educa on, telemedicine, skill development, e-commerce and other applica ons of broadband. It is expected that revenue would be generated from various sources, including broadband connec ons to individuals and ins tu ons, sale of dark fibre, fiberiza on of mobile towers, e-commerce, etc. Prolifera on of broadband in rural areas would bridge the rural-urban digital divide.

administrators analyze what system fault caused the blue screen. While Microso would be switching to a Black Screen of Death in Windows 11, the screen is iden cal to the one found in Windows 10 otherwise. The sad face remains, as does the stop code and crash dump. The current preview of Windows 11 includes a green BSOD, a color that Microso has been using for Windows Insider builds since 2016. It’s not en rely clear as to why Microso is changing the color from blue to black & the company isn’t commen ng on the change yet. Microso is overhauling many parts of Windows 11, with a fresh approach to the OS. It’s likely because Windows 11 includes a visual overhaul to modernize the OS in the key areas, including the classic parts like the Start menu, File Explorer, and now even the BSOD.

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India’s UP State challenges in SC legal protec on to Twi er

ven as India's technology minister said on 1st July that the US social media giants must obey the laws of his country, where they are doing brisk business without directly naming Twi er, the state of U ar Pradesh challenged in the Supreme Court a bar on police ac on against Twi er's country head, Manish Maheshwari, a er a lower court protected him against arrest over an accusa on that the pla orm had been used to spread hate, Reuters reported from New Delhi and Lucknow. The comments by IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad follow accusa ons by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government that Twi er Inc. had violated rules requiring it to appoint new compliance officers. "You operate in India, you make good money in India ... but you will take the posi on that 'I will only be governed by laws of America' ... This is plainly not acceptable," Prasad said during the India Global Forum 2021 event. "You have to be accountable to India's cons tu on and India's laws," Prasad added. The minister also objected to a recent brief block imposed by Twi er on his account for a tweet he issued years ago, as it violated US laws, saying the pla orm must then also obey Indian laws. Industry execu ves say India's tussle with Twi er, coupled with discontent over increasing regulatory scru ny of other US digital giants such as Facebook's WhatsApp & Amazon, had soured the business environment in a growth market. WhatsApp had 530 million users while Facebook had 410 million in India --- their top market by users globally, while Twi er had 18 million users. As acrimony grows with Indian authori es, Twi er faces at least five police cases in different Indian States. Its noncompliance with new rules raised sugges ons that Twi er may no longer enjoy legal protec on in India over content posted by users. On 1st July, the northern State of U ar Pradesh challenged in the Supreme Court a bar on police ac on against Twi er's country head, Manish Maheshwari, a er a lower

Bhopal creeps into NewsOnAir radio India rankings

54 July 2021

court in the State of Karnataka protected him against arrest over an accusa on that the pla orm had been used to spread hate. Police in U ar Pradesh, ruled by PM Modi's party, issued summons this month to Maheshwari over a video that they said had incited "hate and enmity" between Hindu and Muslim communi es. Twi er and police in U ar Pradesh declined to comment. Maheshwari did not respond to Reuters request for comments. Cases Against Twi er & It’s Country-head’s Plea: When Maheshwari approached the lower court, he argued that the inves ga on concerned content on the Twi er pla orm, which is run by Twi er Inc., a company "incorporated under the laws of the United States of America", according to a court filing seen by Reuters but not made public. Twi er's Indian unit had no role in "opera on and management of the said pla orm", the filing added. Other cases arose from complaints that some poli cally sensi ve regions were depicted as outside India in a map on Twi er's careers website, or that child pornography was visible on its pla orm. Twi er has not commented on the map cases. On June 29, it said it had a policy of zero tolerance for sexual exploita on of children. Police in India have registered three new cases against Twi er Inc. for allegedly hur ng sen ments and promo ng child pornography, marking an escala on in the row between the U.S. firm and Indian authori es. Police in the States of U ar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh have named Twi er India chief Manish Maheshwari in complaints a er the poli cally sensi ve regions were depicted outside a map of India on its careers website. Late on Tuesday, police in the capital New Delhi said in a statement they have registered a case against Twi er for "availability of child sexual abuse and child pornographic material" on its pla orm.

quite a signiﬁcant fall, FM Rainbow Delhi had slipped from 5th to 9th posi on. FM Rainbow Kochi is the new entrant, while FM Rainbow Mumbai is no more in the Top 10. More than 240 radio services of AIR are live-streamed on the NewsOnAir app, Indian public broadcaster Prasar Bhara ’s oﬃcial app. These AIR streams on NewsOnAir have a large number of listeners not just in India, but also globally in more than 85 countries and 8,000 ci es across the globe. These rankings are based on fortnightly data from June 115, 2021.

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News

Niche channels to beneﬁt from HC order if TRAI doesn’t contest

ven as the Bombay High Court upheld the cons tu onal validity of the Indian regulator TRAI’s cable TV tariff guidelines issued last year, it gave a major concession to the broadcasters who, along with the producers guild, had pe oned the court to strike down the economic regula ons altogether. A division bench of Jus ces Amjad Sayyed & Anuja Prabhudessai passed the judgement on a bunch of pe ons filed by several pe oners like the Indian Broadcas ng Founda on, a representa ve body of TV broadcasters, the Film & Television Producers Guild of India, Zee Entertainment Ltd and Sony Pictures Network India, a PTI news dispatch from Mumbai stated. It could be termed as a big win for TRAI whose powers to issue economic guidelines were being challenged. However, the TV channels too stand to gain from the court order, if implemented, which also could be described as a big gain. On Wednesday, according to PTI, the high court said that the challenge to the cons tu onal validity of the 2020 rules and regula ons of TRAI fails. "One condi on related to the average pricing of a channel in a bouquet is arbitrary and hence is struck down”, PTI quoted the court as saying. As per this condi on, the a-la-carte rates of each pay channel (MRP), forming part of a bouquet, shall in no case exceed 3 mes the average rate of a pay channel of that bouquet. As 1st reported by Indianbroadcas ngworld.com on 30th June morning, the court did finally pass an order bringing to rest a longdrawn legal fight and the wait for a judgement that could pave the way forward. However, industry sources indicate that a er hearing the order --- the full copy of the judgements with its fine prints not yet available to stakeholders--- the top brass of the IBF went into a huddle to discuss a future course of ac on. The new secretary-general of IBF, Siddharth Jain, who joins office from today seems to have his immediate work cut out and will have to hit the ground running. But a cursory understanding of the court order makes it amply clear that TRAI had got the thumbs up from the Mumbai court --- jus fiably so --- but the concessions given to the pe oners, especially the TV channels, is significant as English & niche TV channels, a dying breed due to the twin a ack of digital’s march & the pandemic, stand to gain from the court relief & it’d help broadcasters in packaging & pricing such channels be er. Meanwhile, the PTI report from Mumbai added that on January 1, 2020, the TRAI issued new tariff rules by which the NCF price was lowered, benefi ng consumers. Previously, a sum of Rs 130 was applicable for all free-to-air channels & consumers needed to pay more in order to watch addi onal channels.

55 July 2021

A er the amendments to the broadcast sector tariffs, consumers will pay Rs 130 as NCF charge, but would be en tled to get 200 channels. Changes were also mandated in the price of individual channels. The pe ons said the new regula ons were arbitrary, unreasonable and viola ve of their fundamental right (to do business). The pe oners requested the court to extend its earlier orders of August and October 2020 direc ng the TRAI to not take any coercive steps against the stakeholders for some me, so that they could study the judgment and decide their future course of ac on. The court then sought to know if the other stakeholders, who have not approached the HC in challenge, have implemented the new regula ons. Senior counsel Venkatesh Dhond and advocate Ashish Pyasi, appearing for TRAI, said the other stakeholders have already implemented the rules. "The interim order passed earlier asking the TRAI not to take any coercive steps is extended for a period of six weeks,” the court said. The TRAI had defended its regula on, saying it was a consumer-friendly measure & aimed at ensuring ensure transparency and non-discrimina on in channel rates. Bombay HC had approved the above except for the clause of limita on of 33% discount on bouquet vs. a la carte prices. Karan Taurani of Elara Caps opined: “We believe there is a high likelihood of this being contested in the Supreme Court by TRAI as the en re reasoning of ge ng the NTO 2.0 was to cap discount & move to selec ve viewing, which the NTO 1.0 did not fulfill.” IBF refused to comment on the court order, saying without studying the full judgement any reasoned comment is not possible. Arvind Prabhoo of Mumbai cable ops body MCOF, it was “good” the court order had "upheld Trai’s conten on”. He added: “However we are wai ng for court's verdict on the LCO plea and, hopefully, the broadcasters will be more transparent with MSOs on inter-connect agreements.” While welcoming the court order on the amendments in tariff regula on, Piyush Pankaj of GTPL-Hathway said the “full implementa on of amendment will bring more transparency in the industry and give more choices and power to (the) customer”. “We are hopeful that this will get implemented soon. It is good for all stakeholders in the industry value chain,” Jain added. According to Sanjive Narain, CMD, Prag News, “It seems to be a great order but how far it can be implemented I am scep cal. The industry, as a whole, is so huge that to sa sfy all the stakeholders all the me is very difficult. We will have to wait and see what steps the broadcasters take.”

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News

Musk bets big on Starlink despite shortcomings

n Joyce, a Nokia director working from home at a remote lake co age in Canada, recently abandoned his painfully slow phone-line internet in favor of satellite broadband service Starlink, oﬀered by Elon Musk's SpaceX. Starlink, which cost him C$600 dollars (US$486) for hardware and a lo y C$150 monthly subscrip on, provides "blindingly fast" speeds when uploading videos or streaming movies, he said, according to a report by Reuters. But the beta test customer said he experiences dropouts during calls on Microso Teams and Zoom. "If you're in the city and you have alterna ves, I wouldn't recommend it. But if you're in the country, like in the middle of nowhere and you're ge ng pathe c Internet service, then it's deﬁnitely a compe tor." For billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk ---founder of electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla Inc. --- the success of one of his biggest bets may come down to just how many people like Joyce are out there. Musk on June 29 is expected to discuss Starlink's progress in a speech at the Mobile World Congress telecommunica ons event, an audience with a lot at stake in the fate of Starlink. If the service is successful, it could vastly expand the reach of broadband Internet around the world, connect Tesla vehicles, and even provide a new pla orm for traders and others with exo c Internet needs, people familiar with the Starlink plan said, Reuters reported. But to do that, it must avoid the fate of similar satellite ventures that have preceded it.

Ne lix’s new anthology ‘Feels Like Ishq’ to release in July

treaming pla orm Ne lix is set to release its new anthology series tled ‘Feels Like Ishq’. The series follows six exci ng stories starring Radhika Madan, Amol Parashar, Rohit Saraf, Zayn Khan, Neeraj Madhav, Tanya Maniktala among others. The streaming giant had shared the posters with the cap on, “Mee ngs by chance, love at ﬁrst glance and everything else that #FeelsLikeIshq arrives 23rd July!” The series features six storylines that are followed through the episodes from directors Ruchir Arun, Tahira Kashyap Khurrana, Anand Tiwari, Danish Aslam, Jaydeep Sarkar, Sachin Kundalkar. Radhika Madan is known for ﬁlms like Angrezi Medium,

56 July 2021

"Not bankrupt, that would be a big step," Musk said last year, “That's our goal." SpaceX's Starlink division launched its "Be er Than Nothing Beta program" in the United States last October, with data speeds up to a compe ve 150 megabits per second. Early reviews are mixed, with some users complaining of the problems that have always plagued satellite Internet: sensi vity to weather. Recent heat waves have caused new problems. "I'm gonna have to spray it with a garden hose to reboot my internet... That just feels so wrong," a Reddit user who said he lives in Arizona posted earlier this month, along with an error message saying "Offline: Thermal shutdown" and "Starlink will reconnect a er cooling down". SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell in April said the firm has "a lot of work to do to make the network reliable". The company said on June 29 did not have an immediate comment. Service should improve with more satellites and other improvements: Starlink had launched over 1,700 of its 260 kilogram satellites so far, and envisions more than 40,000. S ll, compe on promises to be fierce. Amazon.com Inc. subsidiary Kuiper had a directly compe ng project, while OneWeb --- a collapsed satellite operator rescued by the Bri sh government and India's Bhar Group --- had vowed to be in the game as well. Terrestrial telecom providers, meanwhile, are racing to deploy high-speed, fi h-genera on (5G) broadband services.

Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota, and Amol Parashar is known for Tripling, Dolly Ki y Aur Woh Chamakte Sitare. The poster shows that they feature in the same story. Tanya made a name for herself a er she appeared in the miniseries A Suitable Boy. Rohit Saraf, who was recently seen in Ludo, is known for the Ne lix series Mismatched and the Priyanka Chopra-Farhan Akhtar ﬁlm The Sky is Pink. Neeraj Madhav, who played Moosa in the Prime Video series The Family Man, also stars here. Aamir Khan’s niece Zayn also stars in the series. The series is created by Devrath Sagar and produced by Mutant Films and Awesomeness TV. Feels Like Ishq starts streaming on Ne lix, July 23.

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News

ZEE5, US students' body to mobilize Indian community

orth American Associa on of Indian Students (NAAIS) had announced a partnership with ZEE5, an Indian streaming pla orm from the Zee Entertainment stable. Through this partnership, NAAIS and ZEE5 aim to engage and mobilize over 850,000 students and professionals of Indian origin based in North America. This partnership is aimed to facilitate dialogue, support, innova on, talent, and a unique cultural language that binds the Indian community in North America. It also aims to cul vate a greater sense of community, a statement from NAAIS said. In order to do so, NAAIS and ZEE5 will be conduc ng a series of North-America wide workshops to reach out to the young Indian diaspora alongside a series of philanthropic events later in the year. Over the next six months, NAAIS, in partnership with ZEE5, would be conduc ng North America wide workshops in over 40 states and over 150 universi es through summer and fall 2021. Some major ci es include but are not limited to New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Sea le, Houston, Dallas, Aus n, Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Phoenix and Washington DC. The workshops will be aimed towards informa on and resource sharing on topics related to immigra on and visa ma ers such as op onal prac cal training (OPT) and curricular prac cal training (CPT), internships and jobs, personal healthcare management in the US, and

vaccina ons among several other topics relevant to Indian students and young professionals. The workshops will provide a great pla orm for cul va ng strong professional rela onships and to provide varied perspec ves through networking and panel discussions. Addi onally, to cul vate talent and facilitate opportuni es in areas of other professional interests, ZEE5 and NAAIS would be organizing student film fes vals and a cultural telethon involving over 50 performers. NAAIS believes that ZEE5 is a perfect partner to bring forth films and performing arts to the doorsteps of North America’s Indian community. “We’re very excited with this strategic and philanthropic partnership with ZEE5. It gives NAAIS the resources to take the next steps in ensuring a support group and community for Indian origin students” said Sudhanshu Kaushik, Execu ve Director of NAAIS in a statement. The partnership will also focus on philanthropic efforts such as COVID-19 relief for India, an endeavor that NAAIS has been successfully making significant impact in. “The Indian community and diaspora has shown incredible resilience and strength in dealing with the COVID-19 crisis, and ZEE5’s partnership comes at a cri cal point in me when the community needs, more than ever, a shared sense of belonging. We are excited to expand our footprint and impact through the workshop tour,” said Jyo ka Chandhoke, Board member at NAAIS.

Colors’ ‘Balika Vadhu 2’unveils a teaser

olors hit show ‘Balika Vadhu’is all set to entertain fans with the second season. On June 27, the social media handles of the channel shared the ﬁrst teaser of the social drama. The cap on of the teaser read, “Baal vivaah wo kupratha hai jo aaj bhi samaaj mei jeevit hai! Isko mitaane ke liye janm liya hai ek nayi Anandi, ek nayi Balika Vadhu ne. Balika Vadhu Season 2 jald hi aa raha hai sirf#Colors par. #BalikaVadhu2.” A er seeing the promo, the fans of the show can’t keep calm, many even remembered late actor Pratyusha Banerjee, who played the grown-up Anandi in ‘Balika Vadhu’. In the teaser, we see a toddler walking towards her mother. While apprecia ng her daughter’s beauty, she says she will now have to ﬁnd a ‘Nanha Rajkumar’(young prince) for her. The li le kid is then seen in a bridal avatar, and the voice-over men ons that child marriage con nues to be one of the biggest social evils even today in India. And, another Anandi has taken birth to bring it to a halt. The show stars young actors Shreya Patel (Aapki Nazron Ne Samjha) and Vansh Sayani (Baal Veer) in the lead role, and Riddhi Nayak Shukla, Ketki Dave, Seema Mishra, Anshul Trivedi and Supriya Shukla, among others, will also be part of the show.

57 July 2021

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News

Mumbai court likely to pronounce order on NTO 2.0

he wait may be finally over for a clear direc on on Indian broadcast regulator’s direc ves on tariff orders for cable TV. One hopes so as Bombay High Court would hold forth on the NTO 2.0 case on 30th June and stakeholders expect an order would be pronounced, which would at least give a clearer picture on way forward--- unless one of the par es involved challenge the order in higher court. In February 2021 India’s Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), the economic regulator for the broadcast sector, had filed an applica on with the Bombay High Court reques ng an order be pronounced at the earliest in a case that the country’s broadcas ng sector, via some TV channels, had filed contes ng the regulator’s economic tariff regula ons, also popularly known as the New Tariff Oder 2.0. TRAI’s request came at a me when the Mumbai court had reserved its order on the case a er hearing the pe oners, which include the TV & Films Producers Guild of India, IBF and a clutch of TV channels, and the respondent TRAI. In the last quarter of 2020 the court, while reserving its order in the case, had directed TRAI not to take any coercive ac on against TV channels for not implemen ng the tariff order, first issued by the regulator in January 2020 and implementable by March 2020. TRAI had requested that only the pe oning channels be exempted from implemen ng the NTO 2.0, a point the court then discounted, extending the protec on to all TV channels. While the Ministry of Informa on and Broadcas ng (MIB), by and large, is regarded as the content and licensing regulator, TRAI is the economic regulator for the broadcast sector in India. Latest amendments in the Cable TV Rules haD given more powers to the MIB. At the me of issuing the NTO 2.0 in January last as amendments to the regulatory framework for broadcas ng and cable services sector — an earlier avatar was put in place earlier — TRAI had said “the amendments address the teething issues faced by the consumers, while balancing the interests of broadcasters as-well-as the DPOs to create a level playing field… (and) address certain anomalies in (the) market, which necessitated review for achieving the orderly growth of the sector”. According to TRAI, NTO 2.0 while facilita ng consumers to

58 July 2021

choose channels of their choice either on an a-la-carte basis, ensures that prices of a-la-carte channels are “not illusory”. Consumers could choose 200 channels of their choice, excluding mandated Prasar Bhara channels, for Rs. 130 per month. Poin ng out that relief had been given to mul -TV homes, and FTA, news and regional broadcasters, TRAI had said, “It is important to note that the broadcasters con nue to have full ﬂexibility to price their channel as maximum retail price of any channel remains in forbearance. NTO 2.0 prescribes linkage between a-la-carte price and bouquet by manda ng that the sum of the a-la-carte channels in a bouquet will not be more than 1.5 mes to that of bouquet price. It had also prescribed a condi on

that MRP of a-la-carte channel should not be more than Rs. 12 per month to be part of the bouquet, which was Rs. 19 earlier. These steps became necessary to “curb misuse of pricing facility by few broadcasters” TRAI had pointed out, adding that a er implementa on of NTO 1, some broadcasters “enhanced their channel prices dras cally, which in large number of cases were more than 100 per cent” thus becoming an -consumer and “forcing regulatory interven ons”. The pe oners have contested NTO 2.0 on various counts including that capping of channel pricing by TRAI doesn’t take into account the real cost of content acquisi on that is very high and that world over bundling is allowed with various studies never sugges ng that bouquets were unfriendly to consumers. It had also been pointed out by pe oners that con nuing inﬂa on from 2017 ll 2020 was not taken into account by TRAI while reducing the MRP cap from Rs. 19 to Rs. 12 — a move that looked arbitrary, non-transparent, baseless and in viola on of Ar cle 14 of the Indian Cons tu on.

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News

Google launches new search tool

S technology giant company, Google had announced a new search tool to help combat food insecurity for a ‘one-stop shop’ for people with food insecurity. The ‘Find Food Support’ tool is powered by Google Maps by which people can use to search for their nearest food bank, food pantry, or school lunch program pickup site in their community. According to Verge, the company is working with non-proﬁt groups like No Kid Hungry and FoodFinder, as well as the US Department of Agriculture, to aggregate 90,000 loca ons with free food support across all 50 states- with more loca ons to come. The tech company also designed a website for the product of Google’s newly formed ‘Food for Good team’ formerly known as Project Delta which was headquartered at Alphabet’s X moonshot division. The project Delta’s mission is to “create a number of the food system”, which includes standardizing data to improve the communica on between food distributers to

curb food waste. Food insecurity is defined by the US Department of Agriculture as a lack of consistent access to enough food for a healthy, ac ve life. The number of people experiencing food insecurity spiked during the COVID-19 pandemic, affec ng an es mated 45 million people or 1 in 7 Americans, including 15 million children. Google says that searches for “food bank near me”, “Supplemental Nutri on Assistance Program (SNAP)”, “Food stamps applica on”, and “School lunch pick up” reached record highs during 2020. In addi on to the new food loca on site, Google is publishing five new videos on YouTube aimed at de-s gma zing food insecurity. The site would also include links to food support hotlines, state-bystate benefit guides, and informa on for specific communi es, such as seniors, families, and children, and military families. Visitors can also find informa on about how you can donate food, me, and money to support those in need.

iTV Network joins hands with Kaydence Media Ventures

ndia’s fastest-growing news network iTV Network and Kaydence Media Ventures (KVM) have entered into a strategic partnership to develop the global media proper es from Goa. According to ANI, this synergis c e-up of Goa Chronicle & Incubees brands of Kaydence Media Ventures would get a major expansion across the Print, Digital & TV pla orms of iTV Network. iTV Network and KMV would also be launching a Goa-based news channel & Newspaper focusing on the Konkan region. Commen ng on the strategic partnership with KMV, Kar keya Sharma, Founder, iTV Network, expressed, “We believe in entering into the strategic media partnerships with media companies who have created a global niche with their brand of journalism. As a media group, we also want to expand our footprint in the Konkan region, therefore, the decision to launch a New Channel with KMV. We believe the Konkan region is growing rapidly. The people living in the Konkan region need a na onal and interna onal pla orm to voice their news, views, and concerns locally, na onally and interna onally.” Expressing his views on the new strategic partnership with the iTV Network, Savio Rodrigues, Founder & CEO, Kaydence Media Ventures Private Limited, expressed, “We are happy to partner with iTV Network as it gives our brand of journalism wings to grow na onally and interna onally in a progressive manner.”

59 July 2021

While speaking on this, Varun Kohli, CEO, iTV Network, “Our regional ventures are aimed at fostering the local iden ty while encouraging debate and par cipa on. Our associa on with KMV reiterates our posi on as a valuable source of news and informa on and is set to further highlight the personality and dis nc ve culture of Goa.” On this development, Meenakshi Singh, President – Government and Retail, iTV Network, revealed, “We believe that under the leadership of its Founder, Savio Rodrigues, it has created a deﬁnite niche for its brand of journalism not only in India but globally too. The strategic

partnership with KMV is in keeping with a con nued focus to partner and invest into some good ideas within the media space in India and globally.” Speaking on this partnership, Rishabh Gula , Managing Editor, NewsX, said, “The team of Goa Chronicle lead by the brilliant Savio Rodrigues have proved the value of eﬀec ve, research-driven journalism. As a part of iTV they will have access to a larger audience on more pla orms and we, in turn, will beneﬁt from their quality and depth.” With Incubees, iTV Network and KMV have decided to launch a show focused on the Indian startup sector.

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News

Mobile Congress vows to put digital at center of a reboot

lobal telecoms bosses toasted the return of Barcelona's Mobile World Congress on 28th June with an agenda to put the industry at the centre of digital development and inclusion in a global reboot following the coronavirus pandemic. Having kept networks humming while people were locked down at home, telecoms execu ves said the pandemic had shown how vital connec vity was to those with access to the latest technology, and more so for those the billions who lack it, Reuters reported from Barcelona. Cancelled last year at the last minute when COVID-19 ﬁrst began to spread across the globe, the annual event is being held in a hybrid format with around 30,000 visitors, compared to the more than 100,000 that usually a end, with others online. "We are back to business, back to Barcelona and back together," said Mats Granryd, head of the GSMA industry associa on that hosts the biggest telecoms get-together at the Catalan capital's sprawling Fira trade fair grounds. With the accelera on of digitalisa on during the coronavirus crisis, cybersecurity and data governance are taking centre stage, the chiefs of Telefonica, Deutsche Telekom and France's Orange said, adding that building trust with consumers was key. "For too long progress in technology meant only advancement at any cost - but real progress comes when we move towards an equitable future, not when we just make shiny new things," Stephane Richard, Orange CEO & GSMA chairman said in a keynote address from the event's main stage. Saddled with high debt and weak revenues, telcos are hoping to capitalise on the social credit derived from their role connec ng socie es and individuals during the pandemic to posi on themselves as the 'good guys'. "Data cannot be extricated without compensa on - it's

called digital dignity," Telefonica CEO Jose-Maria AlvarezPallete said, "I have a right to know what my data is worth." The trio also called for an overhaul of regula on in the European Union, saying fragmenta on across the 27-na on bloc put them at a disadvantage against rivals like Facebook's WhatsApp messaging service. "Connec vity today is needed. But, in 2030, connec vity will be a human right," Deutsche Telekom CEO Tim Hoe ges said. With visitors armed with nega ve COVID-19 tests, FFP2 face masks and a digital contact tracing badge, the industry hopes the event will create a blueprint for the future. But several big names including Ericsson, Nokia and Samsung ar staying away this year. "I promise next year that Deutsche Telekom and all of us will be back again in Barcelona," said Hoe ges, who joined by video link from the company's headquarters in Bonn, Germany. Focus On Cyber Security:Richard said that a third of European businesses had reported cyber-a acks last year, a poten ally fatal occurrence for smaller ﬁrms lacking the so ware to protect themselves. "Cybersecurity is a constant race... no one can be protected any longer behind a closed digital wall," Richard said, a posi on echoed across the panel, who suggested nextgenera on 5G mobile networks were both a solu on & risk. Most telcos are be ng big on 5G, with partnerships announced at MWC spanning the cloud, so ware-as-aservice and tradi onal mobile and broadband opera ons. "In China, 5G is on the fast track of development, with the deployment of nearly 850,000 5G base sta ons and 330 million 5G cell phone users," China Mobile Chairman Yang Jie said via videolink. He predicted that China's digital economy would represent half of its GDP by 2025.

Twi er India grievance oﬃcer quits

wi er's grievance officer for India Dharmendra Chatur steps down, leaving the micro-blogging site without a grievance official as mandated by the New IT Rules, CNNNews18 has reported on 28th June. Twi er refused to comment, media reports said. A PTI report stated the social media company's website no longer displays his name, as required under Informa on Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021. The development comes at a me when the micro-blogging pla orm had been engaged in a tussle with the Indian government over the new social media rules. The government had slammed Twi er for deliberate defiance and failure to comply with the country’s new IT rules. A er interim resident grievance officer for India Dharmendra Chatur stepped down, Twi er had appointed Californiabased Jeremy Kessel as the new grievance officer for India as required under the new Informa on Technology Rules, 2021, CNNNews18 reported. 60 July 2021

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ONEOTT INTERTAINMENT eyes ‘opera onal merger’ for growth

NEOTT INTERTAINMENT, the broadband subsidiary of Hinduja Group''s NXTDIGITAL, aims to grow its subscriber base to 700,000-800,000 this fiscal by upselling bundled services to cable TV customers of parent company and chasing inorganic ''opera onal merger'' with smaller internet service providers, according to a top company execu ve. The fixed line broadband player crossed 600,000 subscriber mark in FY21, adding over 100,000 customers in the fourth quarter alone ending March 2021. "We have an ambi ous plan of 30 per cent growth this year, that would bring the subscriber numbers to 7-8 lakh (700,000-800,000)," ONEOTT Chief Execu ve Officer Yugal Kishore Sharma told PTI. ONE Broadband is posi oning itself in the on-demand entertainment space by offering convergent solu ons in the ecosystem of connec vity, devices, content and apps, powered by a fiberop c to the home (FTTH) network, and cable infrastructure. It has also been leveraging the cable television and HITS (Headend-In-The-Sky) subscriber base of NXTDIGITAL for expanding its footprint across the country. "We are going to all ci es where NXT services of cable TV is available...our synergy of overall NXT media, in which we have cable TV base of over 5 million, is a unique strategy for us to convert into broadband as well," Sharma explained. Besides this, the company is looking at inorganic growth through “opera onal merger'' of smaller internet service providers (ISPs). "We have an inorganic business model which comes from smaller ISPs in smaller towns. These ISPs find it difficult to sustain business, because of cost pressure as well as

compe ve advantage of large players, including telcos, that have interna onal bandwidth, gateways, fibre networks," Sharma said. Many such ISPs are teaming up with ONEOTT to sustain opera ons, and for benefits such as cost, management bandwidth, regulatory and compliance requirements, compe veness, and leverage of a na onal brand. "We are ge ng into opera onal merger with smaller ISPs. We get into managing their business, and their business come under our licence and control," he said. Elabora ng on the model, Sharma said ISPs con nue to be promoters and have a profit-sharing model. "There is a profit sharing agreement. Since it is their business, they help us expand it because overheads are ours. So they help in further expansion," Sharma added. Sharma noted that the broadband service provider, which had a strong footprint in west, north and south India, is now looking to spread its wings in eastern part of the country. "We are not rela vely strong in East (India), from a broadband perspec ve. But now we are leveraging NXT parent company’s base...We have HITS pla orm which is highly prevalent in North Eastern states especially, where terrestrial network can not go. So these are er 3/4 markets, which we are keen to open up," he said. The company had presence in 35-40 ci es, including Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Aurangabad, Nasik, Ahmedabad, Baroda, Surat, Delhi, Patna, among others. "Our HITS pla orm touches 1,500 ci es, so this is the funnel we have, and we have partners in those ci es. That is our expansion strategy, where we plan to expand by leveraging HITS pla orm and HITS ci es," Sharma said.

Instagram tes ng new desktop feature

ocial media pla orm Instagram is planning to roll out the ability to create posts using the web browser on the desktop computer. The test feature went live on Thursday, 24th June for some users. As per ANI, while the new desktop feature had been solely focusing on its mobile product, the photo-sharing pla orm is at long last thinking about le ng the user post from their computers. Several Twi er users no ced that the test feature had gone live on Thursday,24th June & an Instagram spokesperson said, “We know that many people access Instagram from their computer. To improve that experience, we’re now tes ng the ability to create a Feed post on Instagram with their desktop browsers.” Users can check if the test is live for them by heading to Instagram in the browser and looking for a new ‘plus’ icon in the icon tray on the top right. The test is not available to everyone and it only allows users to create posts for the main feed. The new test feature is Instagram’s latest desktop product a er the pla orm added the ability to view stories on the web in 2017 and added the direct messaging to desktop late last year.

61 July 2021

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Amidst new row, Twi er India names US-based exec grienvance oﬃcer

here are two sayings in Hindustani --- aa bail mujhe maar(to unnecessarily provoke the bull) and pair per kulhari maarna (knowingly pu ng ones foot on the sharp axe) --- that presently fit Twi er in India perfectly. Not content with the ongoing faceoff with the Indian Government over complying with the country’s new digital regula ons (par cularly those rela ng to appointment of grievance officers in India) and temporarily blocking access to Indian IT Minister’s account over infringement of an US law, Twi er on June 28 was accused of showing a wrong map of India --- not a first for the micro-blogging site as similar fault-lines had occurred with the China map too allegedly in the past. While Indians woke up on June 28 to the news that Twi er’s Twi er India’s interim resident grievance officer had quit on Sunday (June 27), soon came the news that an US based execu ve had been named as a replacement for the local person. Dharmendra Chatur, who had been recently named as a grievance official as mandated by the new IT Rules to address complaints from Indian subscribers, decided to call it quits, PTI reported. The social media company's website no longer displayed his name, as required under Informa on Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021, on Monday (June 28) morning India me. Twi er declined to comment on the development. The development comes at a me when the microblogging pla orm had been engaged in a tussle with the Indian government over the new social media rules. The government had slammed Twi er for deliberate defiance and failure to comply with the country’s new digital norms. CNNNews18 reported during the day that Twi er had appointed California-based Jeremy Kessel as the new grievance officer for India as required under the new Informa on Technology Rules, 2021. Kessel is the Global Legal Policy Director of Twi er. But his

appotmemtn is a complete breach of the rules as guidelines are clear that grievance and nodal officers for SM websites would have to be based in India and a resident employee of the company. Wrong Map Of India on Twi er:Amid a tussle with the Indian government, Twi er’s latest controversy is for displaying a distorted map of India, which shows Jammu and Kashmir & Ladakh as a separate country, The Quint reported. The distorted map appeared on the career sec on of the micro-blogging pla orm, showing J&K and Ladakh detached from the country. However, this is not the first me that Twi er had shown a distorted map of India. In a warning, the government said any a empt by Twi er to disrespect India's "sovereignty and integrity is totally unacceptable", India Today reported. New InfoTech Rules: The new rules which came into effect from May 25, 2021 having been no fied on February 25, mandate social media companies to establish a grievance redressal mechanism for resolving complaints from the users or vic ms, a PTI report said. All significant social media companies, with over 5 million user base shall appoint a grievance officer to deal with such complaints & share the name & contact details of such officers. The big social media compa-nies are mandated to appoint a chief compliance officer, a Nodal Contact Person and a resident grievance officer. All of them should be resident in India. Twi er in response to the final no ce issued by the government on June 5 had said that it intends to comply with the new IT Rules and will share details of the chief compliance officer. In the mean me, the microblogging pla orm had appointed Chatur as interim resident grievance officer for India. According to a government official, the company had lost legal protec on as an intermediary and will be legally held responsible for all content posted by its users on the pla orm.

Jimmy Shergill’s ‘Collar Bomb’ set to premiere on Disney + Hotstar

ollywood actor Jimmy Shergill’s crime thriller movie ‘Collar Bomb’ will set to release on streaming partner Disney + Hotstar on July 9. Jimmy is known for starring in acclaimed films like, ‘Maachis’, ‘A Wednesday’, ‘Special 26’, and ‘Tanu weds Manu’, which will now be seen for portraying the role of a police officer in ‘Collar Bomb’. The film revolves around saving the lives of innocent students from chaos as he is set out to catch the evil mastermind. The ‘Collar Bomb’ is helmed by Dnyanesh Zo ng, it also features actors Asha Negi and Rajshri Deshpande in pivotal roles. Nikhil Nair has penned the script and produced it by Yoodlee Films and 3 Earth Entertainment.

62 July 2021

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Delhi court refuses to stay India digital norms; new hearing date set

he Delhi High Court on June 28 refused to stay the new Informa on Technology Rules, which seek to regulate digital news media, saying it was not in agreement with the pe oners on passing such an order at this stage. Founda on for Independent Journalism, The Wire, Quint Digital Media Ltd and Pravda Media Founda on, parent company of Alt News, sought a stay on the Informa on technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, on the ground that a fresh no ce had been issued to them to comply with the rules or else coercive ac on would be taken, PTI reported from New Delhi. A vaca on bench of Jus ces C Hari Shankar and Subramonium Prasad said the no ce had been issued to them only for implementa on of no ﬁca on on which there was no stay.

“We are not in agreement with you. If you want we would pass a reasoned detailed order or if you want we can reno fy it before the roster bench. You take instruc ons and let us know,” the bench said. A er taking instruc ons, senior advocate Nitya Ramakrishnan, represen ng the news portals, urged the court to list the ma er on reopening of courts a er vaca ons. The court listed the applica ons for stay before the roster bench on July 7. According to amended IT rules, social media and streaming companies would be required to take down conten ous content quicker, appoint grievance redressal oﬃcers & assist in inves ga ons. Meanwhile, the court issued no ce and sought response of the Centre on a fresh pe on by Pravda Media Founda on challenging the vires of IT Rules.

T20 World Cup set to begin on October 17 in UAE

he ICC T20 World Cup is set to begin from October 17 in the UAE two days a er the Indian Premier League (IPL) final. According to ANI, the final of the T20 World Cup is scheduled for November 14. It is also reported that the first game on resump on of IPL would be played on September 19 while the final would take place on October 15. However, the cash-rich League (IPL) was suspended in May first week a er several COVID19 cases were reported in the bio-bubble. The upcoming T20 World Cup will be a 16-team tournament. The showpiece event was slated to be played in India but there have been talks of shi ing the tournament to the UAE. As per the report, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is yet to write to the Interna onal Cricket Council (ICC) officially. As per the ESPNcricinfo reports, “The first round, which will include 12 matches, will comprise eight teams from which four (top from each group) would qualify for the Super 12.” 64 July 2021

“Four teams from this slot of eight – Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Ireland, Netherlands, Scotland, Namibia, Oman, Papua New Guinea – will then progress to the Super 12s, joining the top eight ranked T20I teams,” the further reported stated. The Super12s phase, comprising 30 games it is slated to begin from October 24 across three venues in the UAE – Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Sharjah. A er the Super12s phase, there will be three playoff games- the two semi-finals and the final. Earlier, the ICC a er the board mee ng had confirmed that the BCCI would retain hos ng rights of the T20 World Cup even if the tournament is moved out of India. The ICC Board had also requested the management focus on its planning efforts for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 on the event being staged in the UAE with the possibility of including another venue in the Middle East. ICC said in the official release, “A final decision on the host country will be taken later in this month. The Board also confirmed that the BCCI will remain the host of the event regardless of where the event is played.”

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Radio City ready to launch its new show

ndia’s leading radio network, Radio City had recently launched its new show, ‘Khayalon Wali Khidki’ with RJ Jiah. The channel kick-started the show with the mul talented actor, inﬂuencer & former RJ, Mostly Sane aka Prajakta Koli who recently won the pres gious Day me Emmy Awards for Outstanding Day me Non-Fic on. Special which focuses on Michelle Obama. The show features the celebrity guests sharing inspiring anecdotes of their journey, struggle, and what kept them going. At a me when the world had been plagued in the clutches of the deadly pandemic, the show serves as a pla orm that urges people to stay strong as they de over their prevalent struggles and focus on the silver lining. Confessing that she is a very nervous person in life and feels overwhelmed all the me, Prajakta opened up about how she allows freedom and liberty to ﬂow, without limi ng herself or her crea vity. Taking listeners through her journey from an intern to becoming one of India’s most loved YouTuber and Ne lix stars, she revealed that consistency got her through her toughest periods, along with loved ones and her team. A favorite amongst the millennials, she recounted all the key moments in her incredible transi on that she truly is grateful for, one of them being her pres gious collabora on with Michelle Obama for an empowering project. The host of Khayalon Wali Khidki, RJ Jiah is a very popular voice across Indian Radio and is known for her unique outlook on life and rela onships. Owing to her immense appeal, Khayalon Wali Khidki's videos have become viral, having received more than 4.2 million views on all the virtual pla orms of Radio City combined. They are

especially popular on WhatsApp, due to their strong emo onal and mo va onal themes. Radio City is promo ng the show Khayalon Wali Khidki on its YouTube channel as well as through social media posts and stories on pla orms like Facebook, Twi er & Instagram. In her heartwarming style, Prajakta gave us a peek into her refreshingly real personality, which lies hidden under her quirky, funny, and hilarious public persona. Talking about her incredible success as a YouTuber and OTT star a er leaving radio, she added, “Timely failure provides the right direc on towards success,” adding with a candor that she was not fearful of failing as she started at a place where it could not have go en worse. She urged people to stay strong by powering through the low phases in life and not get disheartened with setbacks sta ng, “You win some, you lose some, there is no ﬁxed blueprint to success in one’s crea ve journey.” Mr. Kar k Kalla, Chief Crea ve Oﬃcer, Radio City said, “The greatest thing about Radio is the unmistakable emo onal depth of the medium. Its ability to touch lives and hearts, which is what Khayalon Wali Khidki is all about. We are glad to open the show with Prajakta Koli, a celebrity known for her vivid persona and authen city which is a perfect example of the kind of content we wish to bring to our listeners everywhere.” Sharing her excitement, Prajakta Koli said, “It was great talking to RJ Jiah on Radio City’s Khayalon Wali Khidki. Thank You for invi ng me for a truly heartwarming chat. It is always amazing when two people who are passionate about things sit down and have a conversa on. I hope the listeners enjoy listening to us.”

EU an trust regulators to decide on FB Kustomer acquisi on

U an trust regulators would decide by August 2, 2021 whether to clear Facebook's acquisi on of U.S. customer service startup Kustomer, a ﬁling on the European Commission website showed. The world's largest social network announced the deal in November to help it scale up its instant messaging app WhatsApp, which had reported a jump in usage during the COVID-19 pandemic. The EU compe on regulator wants to vet more tech, pharma and biotech startup deals for signs of so-called killer acquisi ons where tech giants buy nascent rivals to close them down. Austria had asked the Commission to take over its review. The Commission can clear the deal with or without condi ons or it can open a four-month inves ga on if it has serious concerns.

65 July 2021

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FB, Google depose before Indian parliamentary panel

acebook and Google representa ves on June 29 deposed before the Parliamentary Standing Commi ee on Informa on Technology over the issue of social media misuse, with sources saying they were told to comply with the new IT rules, government instruc ons and court orders. The panel, chaired by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, had asked them to appear in-person at the parliament secretariat here, PTI reported from New Delhi. While from Facebook its country public policy director Shivnath Thukral & general counsel Namrata Singh deposed before the panel, Google was represented by its country head (government aﬀairs and public policy) Aman Jain and director (legal) Gitanjali Duggal. The agenda of the parliamentary panel mee ng was to safeguard ci zens’ rights and prevent the misuse of social/online news media pla orms. The sources also said the representa ves were conveyed that there are loopholes in their exis ng data protec on and privacy policy mechanism, and were asked to put in place stringent safeguards to protect data privacy and data

security of their users. The sources said that panel chairman Tharoor expressed concern about the privacy of women users of social media pla orms. He said he had also received complaints from several women MPs in this regard. Earlier, Facebook representa ves had informed the p a r l i a m e nta r y p a n e l t h at t h e i r company policy does not allow their officials to a end in-person mee ngs b e ca u s e o f t h e i r C ov i d - re l ate d protocol. But Tharoor conveyed to Facebook that its officials would have to appear inperson since the parliament secretariat does not allow any virtual mee ngs. The Parliamentary Commi ee on IT will also summon representa ves of YouTube and other Social Media Intermediaries in the coming weeks over the issue. Facebook and Google representa ves were called days a er Twi er officials deposed before the panel. In the last mee ng, several members of the panel had categorically told Twi er that the rule of land is supreme not the social media pla orm’s policies.

Qualcomm ready to work with 30+ companies on 5G variant

merican tech giant Qualcomm Inc. on Monday, June 28 announced that it is working with more than 30 carriers and telecommunica ons gear providers who have commi ed to using the faster variant of 5G networking technology. According to Reuters, the ﬁ h-genera on networks use a combina on of technologies. The lower frequency version, called “sub-6” by industry insiders, travels well over long distances but is only somewhat faster than the previous network. The fastest version of 5G uses the higher frequencies and is called “sub-6” by the industry insiders, travels well over long distances but it is only for fastening the network. The fastest version of 5G uses the higher frequencies, which are called “millimeter wave” by Qualcomm, known as the biggest supplier of wireless data chips for smartphones, through diﬀerent carriers' brands with their trade names, such as Verizon’s “5G Ultra-Wideband”. However, the millimeter wave technology is the most useful in dense areas where many people are trying to connect their mobile networks at once, such as the sports arena

where many fans are trying to stream video to their social networks. The company also helped to develop the standards, which make millimeter-wave devices compa ble around the world, and phone makers such as Apple Inc. have tapped Qualcomm’s chips to gain access to the technology. Even the handsets can only take the advantage of what carriers oﬀer. Qualcomm said on Monday, June 28 that more than 30 carriers and gear makers are now commi ng to using the faster technology in some form.

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From DD to OTT via Bollywood: Shefali Shah’s rising career

er recent script choices have helped directors see her in a different light, says actor Shefali Shah who believes the industry had now started trus ng her with headlining projects, which wasn't the case earlier. A er a lull around the mid 2010s, Shah, a powerhouse performer whose career in television and cinema spans almost two decades, saw a revival with filmmaker Neeraj Ghaywan's short film "Juice" in 2017, PTI reported from Mumbai. She followed it up with consecu ve acclaimed performances, star ng with the 2018 film "Once Again", Interna onal Emmy Award winning Ne lix series "Delhi Crime"(2019) and Kayoze Irani's segment in the anthology film "Ajeeb Daastaans" for the same streamer earlier this year. In an interview with PTI, Shah said she could sense a change in the way the industry, which had once slo ed her in mother roles, is viewing her today. "The industry has started looking at me in a new light. The OTT had taken it up to another level. 'Juice', 'Once Again'and 'Delhi Crime'are my turning points. With 'Delhi Crime', the industry suddenly realised that they can put me in the central character," the 48-year-old actor said. Ci ng the example of "Ajeeb Daastaans", in which she played a woman who finds love outside her marriage, the Na onal Award winner said she was surprised the way actor-director Irani placed her --- pu ng her in the spotlight as the lead of a roman c drama. "Even Kayoze took that chance on me. When we were talking about styling, make-up for the film, I told him, 'Please, seriously’. He told me, 'But you're a quintessen al Dharma heroine and you've to look like that' and I just went, 'Are you kidding me? I am the wrong person’," she recalled. "If in my 40s, people can see me doing leads, carrying projects on my shoulders, being one of the primary characters, it's great," she added. Shah made her ac ng debut in the 1990s with the Doordarshan serial "Aarohan"and went on to star in shows like "Hasratein"and "Banegi Apni Baat"in the decade. Though she was always acknowledged as a fine actor right from her breakthrough role in Ram Gopal Varma's 1998 film "Satya"and later in Mira Nair's movie "Monsoon Wedding", the actor went through a frustra ng period when exci ng work didn't come her way. With the 2005 drama "Waqt", Shah was typecast as a

67 July 2021

mother (she played on-screen mother to Akshay Kumar who is five years elder to her) and her appearances in films like "Gandhi, My Father"and "Kucch Luv Jaisaa"also didn't do much for her career. Her only big success in the last decade was Zoya Akhtar's "Dil Dhadakne Do", in which she played a woman in an unhappy marriage. "For some me, that (low) phase did frustrate me. It got worse because people appreciated what I did, but it never got translated into work. It used to bother me a lot. "I reached a stage where I understood that the kind of work I want to do will come rarely. If it means I have to sit at home for two years, that's fine. But I won't take up work because I want to do a job," she explained. In retrospect, Shah said she is happy she turned down "a lot

of films" and chose only those scripts that connected with her. "People kept telling me I could work every single day, if I wanted, but I wanted to do stuff that I love. So I waited for it. I feel like finally I'm doing all the work I wanted to do." \She currently had three projects in the pipeline --- a medical thriller web series "Human", Shah Rukh Khan's home produc on film "Darlings", co-starring Alia Bha , and the Ayushmann Khurrana-headlined comedy feature "Doctor G". Shah said this is the first me she would finish a project and quickly start the next. "It's overwhelming because I've never gone from set to set. In every project, I take a lot of me working on the script. "Because of the lockdown, I had the me to go back to my scripts. But before that I was terrified. It's not my work pa ern. I'm going to be an anxious wreck for a long me," she added. Shah is also set to star in the second season of Ne lix’s award-winning series "Delhi Crime".

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Discovery Sports as a corporate brand unveiled

iscovery had unveiled Discovery Sports as a new corporate brand to represent the dedicated group that operates its unrivalled por olio of sports brands, channels and pla orms. Already collabora ng across all aspects of content produc on, distribu on and commercial ac vity, Discovery’s combined sports por olio oﬀers rights-holders and brand partners the unparalleled opportunity to reach an audience of more than 130 million people every month across all pla orms where consumers are spending me — free-to-air, pay-TV, streaming and online, a company statement said. The move provides an external corporate iden ty that embodies Discovery’s unique sports proposi on. Andrew Georgiou would oversee all Discovery’s sports brands and businesses as President of Sports, Discovery. Con nuing to report to Discovery Interna onal CEO JeanBriac Perre e, Georgiou is adding responsibility for GOLFTV and Golf Digest to his expanded por olio. He already oversees Discovery’s sports channel, Eurosport, and Discovery’s global sports rights and marke ng solu ons, as well as Play Sports Group, which include Global Cycling Network (GCN) and Eurosport Events. Jean-Briac Perre e, CEO, Discovery Interna onal said in a statement: “We have an unparalleled mul -pla orm

Discovery’s por olio of sports brands, channels & pla orms collec vely reach up to 130mn people every month. The consumer brands include Eurosport, GCN, Global Mountain Bike Network (GMBN), Golf Digest and GOLFTV powered by PGA TOUR, as well sports on discovery+ and Discovery’s free-to-air networks. Andrew Georgiou, President of Sports, said: “When taken together, Discovery’s por olio of sports brands, channels and pla orms is unrivalled for its ability to engage audiences however the viewer chooses to watch. From the scale of Discovery’s free-to-air networks, to the breadth of sports oﬀering through Eurosport and the depth of superfan engagement from GOLFTV, Golf Digest and GCN, taken together Discovery Sports serves passionate fans everywhere and brings limitless opportuni es for our brand and rights-holder partners. “By collabora ng as one global team, Discovery presents an unprecedented level of sports media exper se. We bring the only truly 360-degree oﬀer, from pla orms to promo on that can truly grow an event, series or even an en re sport.” While each of Discovery’s consumer-facing sports brands would con nue to be presented & operate as usual, Discovery Sports would support collabora on within all areas of

oﬀering for rights holders and marketers that uniquely provides the broad reach of television with the targe ng and interac ve capabili es of digital. With two Olympic Games in quick succession and Eurosport’s live content now rolling out onto discovery+ in many interna onal markets, there has never been a greater opportunity to leverage the scale and exper se of our sports oﬀer. “As we organise all our sports business under Discovery Sports, I am hugely excited to have Andrew lead the charge for this consolidated group. His exper se, strategic vision and strong rela onships have steered our sports business through last year’s challenging period for live sports & set us on a course for further transforma on & growth going forward.”

the combined sports business that Discovery takes to market. Discovery Sports’ services engage fans and broad audiences in more than 200 markets and in over 20 languages, connec ng them with some of the greatest spor ng events in the world. Eurosport is being included on discovery+ as part of the phased interna onal rollout of the service. Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 would be available to watch on discovery+ in Denmark, Finland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Spain and the United Kingdom. In all other European markets, except Russia, Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 would be available on Eurosport digital services. Discovery is an Oﬃcial Broadcaster in France and the U.K for Tokyo 2020.

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Gadkari talks jobs at TV9 Network World SME Day Conclave

n the new normal, TV9 Network had been se ng benchmarks, innova ng every step of the way to remain ahead of the curve. This World SME Day, Network’s flagship channel, TV9 Bharatvarsh, became the first channel in South Asia to create a unique virtual event from its state-ofthe-art studios. Bringing together engaging content & cu ng-edge broadcast technology, TV9 Bharatvarsh aired on June 27, World SME Day Conclave in which Union Minister for Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises Ni n Gadkari was the chief guest, according to a company statement. Speaking on the occasion, Gadkari told eminent SME leaders and industry stalwarts present at the conclave that the government is working towards increasing the contribu on of SMEs to GDP from the current 30% to 40% and export from SMEs from 48% to 60% in the near future. “We need to establish coopera on, coordina on & communica on if we have to become a global economy & bounce back from the challenges posed by Covid,” Gadkari said. The minister added, “Unemployment is one of the most challenging issues facing the country, and if we have to deal with it effec vely we need to boost our SMEs. These enterprises have created close to 11 crore (110 million) jobs and we look forward to adding 5 crore more.” TV9 Network CEO Barun Das also talked about the importance of SMEs in job crea on. “India, according to a UNICEF report, will have an es mated 31 crore (310 million) secondary school graduates by 2030 ready to join the job market. Will we be able to create that many jobs? The only way out for us is that we will have to convert job seekers into job providers. We would need to create millions of MSMEs who would be providing jobs rather than seeking jobs,” he said. To boost the entrepreneurial ecosystem, Das said TV9 Network too is playing the role of an enabler. “As a media pla orm, we are commi ed to the idea of discovering entrepreneurial talent. I am happy to announce the launch of a na onwide regional start-up awards which will be conducted across all regional

language speaking states in the country,” he explained. The eclec c mix of policymakers and industry leaders at the Conclave included Ashish Chauhan, MD & CEO, BSE; Mahendra Shah, MD & CEO, V-Trans India; Rajeev Kumar Pathak, Business Head, Ujjivan Small Finance Bank; Sanjay Katkar, Joint MD & CTO, Quick Heal Technologies, Sooraj Pandey, MD & Founder, ACME India; Aditya Shah, ED, VTrans India and Raunak Shah, ED, V-Trans India. Sanjay Aggarwal, Chairman & CEO Paramount Cables and President PHD Chambers; Shreekant Somany, Chairman, CII Na onal MSME Council and Chairman & MD, Somany Ceramics; Vineet Agarwal, President Assocham represented the India’s top industry associa ons and put across their expecta ons from the government.

On TV9 Network’s deepening connect with the SME ecosystem, Rak m Das, COO, TV9 Studio (Broadcas ng & Digital) said, “Our Leaders of Global Bharat series featuring top entrepreneurs of India’s homegrown businesses came as a shot in the arm for the SME Sector struggling with the impact of lockdown. It showcased that these leaders are living embodiments of Atmanirbhar Bharat & also brought about mentorship value for budding entrepreneurs in these extraordinary mes with their stories of grit and determina on. “We will con nue to bring policymakers, SME captains, Industry bodies & like-minded brands & partners on one pla orm.” The full episode of the Conclave was broadcast on TV9 Bharatvarsh YouTube channel and TV9 Bharatvarsh.

Scarle Johanss on joins hands with Disney

ollywood actress Scarle Johansson, who is wai ng for the release of her movie ‘Black Widow’, had joined hands with Disney to produce the ‘Tower of Terror’project. According to ANI, the script of the project is based on the classic Disney theme park ride, which is wri en by ‘Toy Story 4’director Josh Cooley. Whether the Oscar nominee would act in the project and other plot details are being kept under wraps. Scarle is producing the project under her ‘These Pictures’ banner with Jonathan Lia. The Twilight Zone ‘Tower of Terror’opened in 1994 at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Florida, with other ‘Tower of Terror’ rides opening at the Disney California Adventure in Anaheim, France’s Walt Disney Studios Park, and Tokyo DisneySea.

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Aavishkar Dish Antenna Programme Guide

Telegram adds group video calling feature

opular messaging app Telegram had ﬁnally added a group video chat feature to its mobile and desktop apps. This was something that the pla orm had promised to come back in April 2020. According to ANI, Voice chats in any group on the pla orm can be turned into video calls by tapping the camera icon to turn on the device’s video. Telegram says an unlimited number of users can par cipate in an audio call, but the group video calls will be limited to the 1st 30 people who can join the voice chat. The company said in its announcement, that they will increase the limit “soon”. Users can also share their screens during a video call. Telegram CEO Pavel Durov said in January that the company

had reached 500 million ac ve users, many of whom came to the pla orm a er the Facebook-owned rival chat pla orm WhatsApp bungled the introduc on of a new privacy policy. H owever t h e m es s a gin g p la o rm introduced the group video calls which lags the compe on; WhatsApp, which had 2 billion users as of February, added a group video and voice calling back in 2018. Along with long-awaited group video calls, Telegram had added several other new features, including noise suppression, and animated backgrounds. The users on Telegram’s iOS or Android apps can choose from several default op ons or create their animated backgrounds.

Google Fi’s VPN service is rolling out for iPhone users

S technology giant company, Google had recently announced that they are rolling out Google Fi’s built-in VPN service for iPhone subscribers, giving iOS users another way to ensure that their connec on is secure and private on a cellular or Wi-Fi network. According to ANI, this new feature, which routes the phone’s internet traﬃc through an encrypted connec on to protect privacy, had been available on Android since its beta launch in November 2018. The launch comes a li le later than Google’s previously announced “spring” release date. Tech Company said, not all iPhone users will have access to the feature straight away, but that it will be widely available “over the coming weeks”.

To turn the feature on, the user should make sure that their Fi companion app is updated to the latest version and then head to ‘Phone Se ngs’ in the main Account Tab. From there go to ‘Privacy and security, where there’ll eventually be a ‘Protect your online ac vity’ op on to enable. The VPN is included with all Google Fi plans. The arrival of Google Fi’s VPN on iOS comes as Apple gears up to launch a similar privacy-protec ng feature as part of its iCloud Plus subscrip on service. Apple’s version, which the company is calling the Private Relay, routes web traﬃc to a pair of relay servers to protect sensi ve informa on. It’s designed in such a way so that not even Apple itself had a complete picture of your browsing.

Akshaye Khanna starrer State of Siege: Temple A ack set to premiere on Zee5

treaming pla orm Zee5 had released the teaser of ‘State of Siege: Temple A ack’, it was the first film which was released on Zee5 a er the pandemic hit the en re world, which was a tribute to our brave Indian soldiers who sacrificed their lives for the country. The film drama zes the events surrounding the terrorist a ack on Akshardham Temple in Gujrat in 2002. Starring Akshaye Khanna, who is making his digital debut with the movie, portrays the role of an NSG officer charged with elimina ng the terrorists and securing the area. The incident had been helmed on September 24, 2002, by two armed terrorists who a acked Akshardham Temple in Gandhinagar, killed 33 people, including a Na onal Security Guard (NSG) commando, and two Gujrat police officer, and injured 80 people. The two terrorists iden fied as Ashraf Ali Mohammed Farooq and Murtaza HafizYasin were gunned down by NSG commandos. State of Siege: Temple A ack, also starred Vivek Dahiya and Gautam Rode in pivotal roles, directed by Ken Ghosh, who is known for movies like Ishq Vishk and Fida, produced by Abhimanyu Singh of Con loe Pictures. State of Siege: Temple A ack will premiere on Zee5 on July 9. 70 July 2021

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Aussie media watchdog examining FB content deal

ustralia's compe on watchdog is looking into a claim that Facebook Inc. refused a publisher's request to nego ate a licensing deal, the regulator told Reuters, se ng the stage for the first test of the world's toughest online content law. The Conversa on, which publishes current affairs commentary by academics, said it asked Facebook to begin talks as required under new Australian legisla on that requires the social media firm and Alphabet Inc.’s Google to nego ate content-supply deals with media outlets. Facebook declined without giving a reason, The Conversa on said, even though the publisher was among the first in Australia to secure a similar deal with Google in the lead-up to the law in 2020, Reuters reported from Sydney. The knockback could present the first test of a controversial mechanism unique to Australia's effort to claw back adver sing dollars from Google and Facebook: if they refuse to nego ate licence fees with publishers, a government-appointed arbitrator may step in. In a statement responding to Reuters ques ons, Facebook's head of news partnerships for Australia, Andrew Hunter, said the company was "focused on concluding commercial deals with a range of Australian publishers". Hunter did not answer specific ques ons concerning The

Britain to ban day me junk food ads on TV, Internet

ritain would ban adverts promo ng unhealthy food from appearing on television during the day and on the Internet as part of its drive to tackle obesity and encourage healthy ea ng. The new rules, which would come into force at the end of next year, are designed to change the current trend where one in three children leave primary school overweight or obese. But the government move prompted an angry reac on from some media groups, Reuters reported from London. Under the plan, adverts for foods that are high in fat, salt and sugar would be banned from appearing on television or UK on-demand programming before 2100 hours. They would also be banned from paid-for slots online, allowing them to s ll appear on their producer's website and social media pages. The Bri sh government said the restric ons would apply to all businesses with 250 or more employees that make or

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Conversa on, but said Facebook was planning a separate ini a ve "to support regional, rural and digital Australian newsrooms and public-interest journalism in the coming months", without giving details. “If Google's done a deal with them, I can't see how Facebook should argue that they shouldn't," Rod Sims, the chair of the Australian Compe on and Consumer Commission (ACCC), said in an interview. "The ques on of designa on might need to come into play," he noted, using the term for assigning an arbitrator. Under the law, the decision to designate a Big Tech ﬁrm for interven on was made by the treasurer, which is advised by the ACCC, noted Sims, but "an absolute 'no' for an organisa on that should be ge ng a deal is something we'll look into." The Conversa on was "exactly what we had in mind with the Code", he said, although the situa on had some way to play out before any further ac on would be taken. Governments around the world are introducing laws to make the tech giants compensate media companies for the links that drive readers - and adver sing revenue - to their pla orms. But Australia is the only country where the government may set the fees if nego a ons fail, a factor that drove Facebook to block newsfeeds in the country just before it was passed.

sell the products, helping to protect smaller companies that can only aﬀord to adver se online. "With children spending more me online it is vital we act to protect them from unhealthy adver sing,” Public Health Minister Jo Churchill said on June 24. Analysis cited by the government showed that almost half of all TV food adverts shown in a month in 2019 were for unhealthy food. A sugar tax introduced in 2018 prompted some drink manufacturers to cut their sugar levels. The News and Media Associa on (NMA) said it was very disappointed with the decision because it was not clear a link had been found between adver sing exposure and childhood obesity. "Instead of tackling the problem of childhood obesity, this draconian measure will harm news media publishers who rely on adver sing revenue to fund the journalism which keeps us all informed," the NMA's Sayra Tekin said.

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IT Minister Prasad blasts Twi er for blocking account over US rules

wi er’s love-hate rela onship with the Indian government turned a new chapter on Friday. 25th June. The InfoTech Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad’s account got blocked for an hour who cri cized the microblogging website for penalizing him for telling the US company to follow Indian laws. A parliamentary commi ee head and Congress leader Shashi Tharoor joined issues with the Minister twee ng he’d ques on Twi er on the issue. Prasad said on Koo, a domes c rival to Twi er, that the company had denied access on the grounds he had violated the U.S. Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). His account was subsequently restored access even as the Minister later put out his anger on Twi er. “Twi er’s ac ons indicate that they are not the harbinger of free speech that they claim to be but are only interested in running their own agenda, with the threat that if you do not toe the line they draw, they will arbitrarily remove you from their pla orm. No ma er what any pla orm does they will have to abide by the new IT Rules fully & there shall be no compromise on that,” Prasad tweeted. According to a Reuters news dispatch from New Delhi, Prasad said Twi er had violated India's new IT rules, which became eﬀec ve in May and mandate that an intermediary or a host of user content must inform a user of the grounds for its ac on. The rules also say that a user must be "provided with an adequate and reasonable opportunity to dispute the ac on" taken by an intermediary. It was not immediately clear which of Prasad's posts violated the DMCA. Twi er conﬁrmed that access to Prasad's account was temporarily restricted because of a DMCA no ce and that a tweet was withheld. "Per our copyright policy, we respond to valid copyright complaints sent to us by a copyright owner or their

authorized representa ves," a Twi er spokesperson said. But it’s not clear who was the complainant. Twi er had withheld more than one million Tweets between January & June 2020 for viola on of DMCA, according to the company's transparency report, Reuters stated. The dispute over the Minister's account comes as India's federal government and Twi er are wrangling over noncompliance with the new IT rules. In a separate case, police summoned Twi er's India head Manish Maheshwari earlier this month for failing to stop the spread of a video that allegedly incited religious discord. On June 24, a Karnataka State court gave Maheshwari relief in that case, saying police can ques on the execu ve virtually. Prasad had previously cri cised Twi er over the viral video, saying its failure to act was "perplexing". On June 25, Prasad reiterated that all social media ﬁrms must abide by the new IT rules, which also mandate the appointment of new compliance execu ves. Meanwhile, other media reports indicated that India’s Parliamentary Standing Commi ee on Informa on Technology chairman and Congress MP Shashi Tharoor waded into the Prasad-Twi er June 24 wrangle by saying he too was subjected to the DMCA law and that his panel would examine Twi er on this issue. Tharoor tweeted: "Raviji, the same thing just happened to me. Clearly DMCA is ge ng hyperac ve. This tweet had been deleted by @Twi er because its video includes the copyrighted BoneyM song Raspu n." He further added: "As Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Commi ee on Informa on Technology, I can state that we will be seeking an explana on from @Twi erIndia for the locking of ?@rsprasad's & my accounts & the rules & procedures they follow while opera ng in India.”

ZeeTV’s ‘Pavitra Rishta 2’ begins shoo ng

eeTV hit show ‘Pavitra Rishta’ is all set to entertain fans with a second season. On 11th July, ALTBalaji shared the news with fans on social media. Along with the informa on, the team also shared a few pictures of the show’s cast holding the clapboard. For the unversed, ‘Pavitra Rishta’ is a popular TV show, which launched on Zee TV in 2009. The Hindi daily soap made Ankita and late actor Sushant Singh Rajput the household names with their respec ve characters of Archana and Manav. However, Ankita is reprising her role of Archana in ‘Pavitra Rishta 2’, while Shaheer stepped into the shoes of the late Sushant Singh Rajput for the role of Manav. Also, the new season of the hit show will stream on ALTBalaji.

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Aavishkar Dish Antenna Programme Guide

Microso adds Android apps to Windows 11

merican tech company Microso Corpora on is bringing Android apps to Windows 11. The company revealed the surprise during its Windows 11 launch event on 24th June. The Android apps would run na vely on Windows 11 and would be downloadable from Amazon’s Appstore, via the new Windows Store which is included in the opera ng system. According to ANI, apps would be listed in the new Windows Store, and Microso is also partnering with Intel to use its Intel Bridge technology to make this a reality. The Android apps on Windows 11 can be pinned to the taskbar or snapped alongside the tradi onal Windows apps. Android apps on Windows 11 are an obvious answer to Apple’s progress with its M1 apps, as they are o en lackluster, and certain apps like Snapchat, Ring, Venmo, Roomba, & the majority of home automa on apps are not available on the Web. Even Microso is also demonstra ng the apps like TikTok running on Windows 11 during the launch event. The Windows store that Microso showed listed Ring, Yahoo, Uber, and others, so likely there would be full access to Amazon’s Appstore. The company does not clear as to how many exis ng devices would support the Android apps with Windows 11,

as hardware would need to support Intel Bridge technology. The surprise announcement followed Microso ’s original plans to let Windows developers rework their exis ng Android apps for Windows in 2015. Project Astoria, as Microso labeled it, was a method to try to convince the developers to port the apps and make it easier to do so. The plan eventually fell apart less than a year later, with Microso admi ng that having “two bridge technologies to bring code from mobile opera ng systems to Windows was unnecessary.” The company had been toying with the idea of running Android apps on Windows na vely for years, and it had been experimen ng with the idea of lis ng Android apps in the Windows store just ahead of the Windows 10 launch. Instead, the tech company pushed ahead trying to convince the developers to adopt its failed Universal Windows Pla orm. Android app would integrate directly into Windows is a signiﬁcant shi , especially as the company had been favoring a diﬀerent method to bridge the gap between Android and Windows. Microso had been embracing Android as the mobile version of Windows for years, and now those same mobile apps will run directly in Windows 11.

Colors Tamil set to premiere ‘Kadamban’

olors Tamil, the youngest GEC of Tamil Nadu, is all set to entertain its audiences with yet another ac on-packed film this weekend. As a part of the Movie of the Month, the channel brings to screen, the World Television Premiere of Arya’s hit ac on-adventure film, ‘Kadamban’, powered by Gille e Guard 3 and with Nippon Paint as Special Partner, a company statement said. The film is set in the enchan ng backdrop of a dense forest in Tamil Nadu, the story revolves around the difficul es, an isolated tribe of ‘Kadamban’(played by Arya), faces a er the owners of a large cement factory lay their interest upon the enormous quan ty of limestone in the area. The movie shows the journey of Kadamban’s ba les to shield the jungle from the corporate intruders. Besides the exci ng encounter to save the habitat, the movie also showcases the complex love saga between Kadamban and Radhi (played by Catherine Tresa), making it a flawless entertainer, packaged with intense ac on, love, and conflict. The film is directed by Ragavan and the star cast features Catherine Tresa, Deepraj Rana, Aadukalam Murugadoss, Madhusudhan Rao, and Y. Gee. Mahendra. ‘Kadamban’will air on June 27, 2021at 1 pm and 4 pm as part of its special Sunday Cine Jumbo, only on Colors Tamil.

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ABP Nadu crosses 3 million users on its digital pla orm

he Media and content crea on company ABP Network had recently launched the Tamil News Digital Pla orm, ‘ABP Nadu’, which had already dis nguished itself in the ultra-compe ve Tamil Digital news space as it reached a milestone of 3.3 million users in its 2nd month itself, reported by Google Analy cs 15 May-14 June. The milestone is especially noteworthy for considering the top performer in the market stands at 8.2 million users, reported by Comscore – April 2021. By the dint of its unique content and unparalleled local news coverage, ABP Nadu had managed to appeal to Tamil audiences in only two months since its arrival. The digital news portal saw a whopping 15.4 Million Video Views on Facebook & YouTube, which is only its second month a er the launch. These numbers would truly reﬂect the credibility repute of the news portal amongst its users and also shines a light on the pla orm’s excep onal content delivery. Since the launch of ABP Nadu, the channel had conducted a series of exclusive interviews with eminent personali es, introduced numerous video & text series such as ‘Thupparivalan’ and ‘Social Soldiers’, launched new ver cals like Personal Finance and Health, and scaled up its local coverage. The pla orm had covered noteworthy stories on various key issues such as the mismanagement of dead bodies of COVID-19 pa ents by the government in Theni, the free temple campaign, and the recently concluded Tamil Nadu assembly elec ons. Furthermore, ABP Nadu also ran a hashtag on its social media pla orm called ‘#AskAbpNadu’ to resolve people’s queries/doubts related to the lockdown and other important issues. Consistent delivery of quality content and unique engagement ini a ves on social media had

significantly contributed to the pla orm’s burgeoning user base. In the last two months, ABP Nadu had offered a wide range of content choices to its users such as unique pieces on the burning issues of Tamil Nadu, in various content formats such as expert opinion pieces, data stories, and videos. With the diverse offering and a special emphasis on youth-

oriented topics, the digital news pla orm is all set to become a leader in the Tamil Digital news space. Speaking on the achievement, Mr. Avinash Pandey, CEO, ABP Network said, “Our network has always been known for its credible coverage and viewer-driven content. When we launched ABP Nadu, we coalesced the same approach with the regional ﬂavors of Tamil Nadu. The fact that we are celebra ng such a tremendous milestone within our second month itself, is a testament to our dedica on towards quality. These numbers will only mo vate us to create be er, stronger, and more engaging content. We hope our users will con nue to repose their faith in us.”

Venkatesh Dagguba ’s ‘Narappa’ to release on Prime Video

eteran actor Venkatesh Dagguba - starrer Telugu film ‘Narappa’ is all set to release on Amazon Prime Video on July 20. Directed by Srikanth Addala, and jointly produced by D. Suresh Babu and Kalaippuli S. Thanu, the upcoming movie narrates a story of a regular man’s sacrifice for his family in a world filled with chaos and uncertainty. The film is an adapta on of the Tamil hit film ‘Asuran' Producer D. Suresh Babu said, “It is an extremely s mula ng and enriching experience to work with such talented stars and a highly crea ve crew.” He also added, “The story of Narappa is not only close to my heart but also narrates a social commentary on the system as a whole and this is our a empt to breathe life into this story.” The film also stars, “Priyamani, Karthik Rathnam, and Rajsekhar Aningi in pivotal roles.

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Pubcaster Prasar Bhara goes paperless with e-oﬃce

se of technology had turned the opera ons at India’s public broadcaster Prasar Bhara around, the government said on 24th June. It’s no more business as usual. In less than two years, 577 centers and 22,348 employees of Doordarshan (DD) and All India Radio (AIR) have embraced e-office opera ons. Well established IT-enabled working structure through eoffice at Prasar Bhara came in handy during the pandemic when employees across the country had to work within several limita ons during the lockdown and a er, a government statement said. With the vision to make Prasar Bhara opera ons more efficient and paperless, e-office was introduced in August 2019. Of 577 Prasar Bhara centers across the country, 10 percent adopted e-office in 2019 (Aug – Dec), 74 percent in 2020 and the remaining 16 percent have joined by June 18, 2021. In what had brought speed and transparency in the working of the organisa on, more than 50,000 e-files have

been created so far, with the status of every file available online. Internally, departments concerned can trace their files, whether it is in movement or parked or closed. On an average, complete process of clearing one physical file used to take almost a week, the statement explained, adding that through e-office, this me period had been dras cally reduced to 24 hours on an average, some mes even a couple of hours. As a result, the figures on total volume of cleared files over almost the last two years and average number of files cleared every month during the same period have jumped significantly. This ini a ve had also made P ra s a r B h a ra o p e ra o n s paperless, saving the organisa on's expenditure on paper by 45 percent between August 2019 and June 2021. Apart from reducing carbon footprint, paperless work also enhanced the COVID safety during the pandemic through remote working, Prasar Bharat claimed.

Twi er India gets interim relief from high court

n Indian court on 24th June said Twi er Inc.’s India head Manish Maheshwari should face no "coercive ac on" in a case where police summoned him for failing to stop the spread of a video that allegedly incited religious discord, media reports indicated. "If the police desire to examine the pe oner (Manish Maheshwari), they may do so through virtual mode," the high court of India’s southern State of Karnataka said, according to a PTI report ﬁled from Bengaluru. "If the ma er requires considera on, we list it on June 29.In the meanwhile restraining the respondents (Ghaziabad Police) from ini a ng any coercive ac on against the pe oner," the court maintained, adding, “It is case of pe oner that he has replied to no ce under sec on 160 of CrPC (criminal penal code) to join through virtual mode. The respondent taking objec on to the request has turned around and issued no ce under sec on 41(A) virtually pu ng him in shoes of accused." Last week, police in northern U ar Pradesh state sent a wri en summons to Twi er India head Manish Maheshwari to appear before oﬃcials and answer 75 July 2021

allega ons that include inci ng "hate and enmity" between Hindu and Muslim communi es, a Reuters dispatch from New Delhi stated. Maheshwari, who is based in Bengaluru city Karnataka, appealed to the court and sought to quash the summons. A source told Reuters the order, in eﬀect, gives Maheshwari protec on from any possible arrest by the police. Twi er declined to comment. The police case had been registered over a video of a few men, apparently Hindu, bea ng an elderly man believed to be a Muslim and cu ng his beard. The police report named Twi er, its local unit and seven others for helping in the spread of a fake news that had been given a sectarian angle. InfoTech Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had lashed out at Twi er for the incident, saying its failure to act was "perplexing". The controversy comes at a me when India's federal government had locked horns with Twi er over noncompliance with certain federal rules, raising concerns that the pla orm may no longer enjoy protec on against usergenerated content.

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Jio, Google unveil budget phone for booming India market

ndian billionaire Mukesh Ambani of Reliance Industries Ltd. unveiled the much-awaited JioPhone Next codeveloped with Alphabet Inc.’s Google, a handset designed to target India’s hundreds of millions of first- me smartphone users. “An ultra-affordable 4G smartphone is essen al,” Ambani told shareholders at Reliance’s annual general mee ng on June 24, outlining the capabili es of the device that will run a re-engineered version of the Android opera ng system. According to a Bloomberg news dispatch, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai joined remotely to say that the JioPhone was “built for India” and would deliver transla on features, a voice assistant and a great camera. Neither company leader disclosed a price for the handset, which will debut in the market on September 10, 2021 ahead of the country’s peak shopping and gi ing season. Both indicated plans to achieve a breakthrough price. Jio is India’s leading telecom operator with over 423 million users of voice and data services. The new 4Gcapable device will try to en ce users of basic phones, those “trapped in the 2G era,” in Ambani’s words, to make the transi on to more advanced hardware, the Bloomberg report stated. For Google, it marks another effort toward making Android friendlier to more frugal devices and thus accessible to a wider audience of poten al users of its services. Google Cloud technologies will form the basis for Jio’s upcoming 5G wireless solu ons as well as serving the internal needs of online services such as Reliance Retail and JioMart, Ambani said. Engineers from the two companies worked for more than nine months to co-develop the JioNext hardware specifica ons in sync with a modified version of Android that would maintain a high-end experience without recourse to expensive components. The launch comes nearly a year a er Google agreed to buy a $4.5 billion stake in Jio Pla orms Ltd., the digital arm of Reliance Industries. Global tech leaders like Google and Facebook Inc. have jumped on the Reliance bandwagon as they look for ways to grab a slice of the Indian market where an es mated 300 million first- me smartphone users are expected to start accessing the internet by 2025, according to the Internet and Mobile Associa on of India. Asia’s richest man, pursuing his own large-scale project of turning an oil-and-petrochemicals giant into a homegrown tech leader, presented the new device even as the plans to sell hundreds of millions of the Google-powered

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smartphone faced supply chain headwinds. Standing in the way of the Google-Jio alliance would be China’s fast-rising coterie of leading smartphone makers. Xiaomi Corp., Oppo, Vivo and OnePlus have already established their brands, creden als and some manufacturing facili es in India, with their domes c approach of high specs at low prices resona ng well with the Indian consumer. India is the world's second-biggest mobile market with about 530 million smartphone users, but more than 300 million people s ll use legacy feature phones, Hong Kongbased tech consultancy Counterpoint Research says. Cloud Partnership: Google also said it would help India's biggest wireless carrier with tech solu ons for its enterprise and consumer oﬀerings as it plans to launch 5G services, a Reuters report from New Delhi said. The e-up lends Jio the exper se of a global tech giant as it expands digital services to small and medium businesses as

well as hundreds of millions of individuals. And it gives Google the unmatched scale of Reliance, whose businesses range from oil to telecoms and e-commerce. "It's a broad partnership, it involves mul ple pieces of Alphabet working together," Thomas Kurian, CEO at Google Cloud, told Reuters, adding: "Our own partnership spans mul ple parts of Jio not just the communica ons business ... but also health, retail and other things." He declined to share the terms of the cloud deal with Jio. As part of this partnership, Reliance would shi its core retail businesses to Google Cloud's infrastructure, Google’s Pichai said. Jio established a 10-year alliance with Microso in 2019, aimed to build data centres across India that would be hosted on its Azure cloud pla orm in a bid to offer services to the country's booming start-up economy. On June 24, Ambani said Jio, which also counts Facebook, Qualcomm and Intel among its backers, was confident of being the first to launch 5G services in India.

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Facebook rolls out Shop feature to WhatsApp

ocial networking giant Facebook is rolling out the ‘Shops’ feature to WhatsApp, a er launching its ecommerce integra on to Instagram in 2020. The ‘Shops’ feature is an e-commerce integra on of Facebook, which was launched as a measure to help businesses sell their products digitally. According to ANI, the upcoming integra on on WhatsApp would beneﬁt both the users and sellers as it would make it easier for the users to get products through shops in selected countries. Meanwhile, to assist businesses to sell their products to quite one billion monthly visitors worldwide, Facebook will reportedly add ‘Shops’ to the US marketplace too. The pla orm also revealed that it would display the product ra ngs and reviews on ‘Shops’ in Instagram with addi onal details like suppor ng media from the

community soon. Another update that has been introduced is ‘Shop ads’. It is also reported that the adver sements on ‘Shops’ are intended to oﬀer people a customized shopping experience dependent on their shopping behavior. The new experience would “send shoppers to where they are most likely to make a purchase” supported by the shopping preference. The pla orm would also test an AI-based capability called the Visual Search on Instagram, over the approaching months to assist people to upload their photos to look for similar products. Facebook would also make it possible to ﬁt or try the product before buying it. The integra on has been introduced to keep in mind for the shoppers who prefer to buy items virtually.

Twi er adds new Ticketed Space feature

he microblogging site Twi er had added a new feature ‘Ticketed Spaces’, which would be a new mone za on tool for its Spaces audio features. According to ANI, US-based users can apply separately for each program through Twi er’s mobile app. Super Follows are restricted to iOS, while the Ticketed Spaces are available for iOS and Android. Twi er would select a “small group” of users to test its new mone za on features, both of which were announced earlier this year. The Super Follows feature lets users charge USD 2.99, USD 4.99, or USD 9.99 per month for access to exclusive content. The feature would charge between USD 1 and USD 999 for access to one of Twi er’s social audio rooms, and it oﬀers extra features like se ng a room size cap. Users can see if they’re eligible to apply by checking a new “Mone za on” op on in the mobile app sidebar. The test group par cipants would ini ally keep 97 percent of the money that they make with Ticketed Spaces or Super Follows, a er the fee that iOS and Android charge for in-app purchases. Twi er would increase its cut from 3 percent to 20 percent if a user makes a total of USD 50,000 on both systems. A far more generous revenue spill has been added since a preview of Ticketed Spaces last month.

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On a cancella on spree, Ne lix shu ers fantasy ‘Cursed’

treaming pla orm Ne lix had canceled the fantasy series ‘Cursed’, which was based on a key character from the King Arthur legend, a er one season. The cast has been released to pursue other opportuni es. Based on Frank Miller and Tom Wheeler’s illustrated book, ‘Cursed’ was a re-imagining of the Arthurian legend as told through the eyes of the young woman, played by Katherine Langford, who would become the Lady of the Lake, ANI reported. “Cursed”whose ﬁrst season was released on July 17 last year, explored such themes as the oblitera on of the natural world, religious zeal & oppression, senseless war, and ﬁnding the courage to lead in the face of the impossible. The cancella on comes only one week a er Ne lix pulled the plug on four of its comedy series, ‘The Crew’, ‘Country Comfort’, ‘Mr. Iglesias’ & ‘Bonding’. Last month, Ne lix also canceled its superhero show ‘Jupiter Legacy’, an adapta on of Mark Millar & Frank Quitely’s comic series of the same name, only a er one season. ‘Cursed’ had Wheeler at the helm as show-runner & execu ve producing it alongside Miller.

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Twi er India gets grievance oﬃcer; publishes compliance report

mid tensions with the government, Twi er haD appointed a Resident Grievance Officer, days a er it designated a chief compliance officer, and also released its first India Transparency Report to meet the needs of the new IT Rules. The US social media giant’s website had listed Vinay Prakash as the new grievance officer, providing contact details and procedure for users to report poten al viola ons of its rules & terms, PTI reported from New Delhi. Twi er had previously appointed Dharmendra Chatur as its interim grievance officer for India a er the new IT Rules came into force on May 26. However, Chatur stepped down within weeks of taking over the key role. California-based Jeremy Kessel was named as India’s grievance officer on the pla orm's website, although the appointment did not meet the requirements of IT Rules that clearly mandate key officers--grievance officer, chief compliance officer & nodal officer--to be resident in India. Twi er's website on 11th July showed Vinay Pr akash as the Resident Grievance Officer (RGO). Users can contact him using an email ID listed on the page. "Twi er can be contacted in India at the following address: 4th Floor, The Estate, 121 Dickenson Road, Bangalore 560 042," the page further said. Prakash's name appears along with Kessel, who is the Global Legal Policy Director, and is based in the US. Twi er did not share addi onal details of the new resident grievance officer. Twi er had also published its maiden compliance report. In its India Transparency Report: User Grievances and Proac ve Monitoring July 2021 report, Twi er said it had received 94 grievances and "ac oned" 133 URLs between May 26 and June 25, 2021. Twi er said the majority of complaints received via Grievance Officer - India channel during the repor ng period fell into categories including defama on (20), Abuse/Harassment (6), Sensi ve Adult Content (4), Impersona on and privacy infringement (3 each), IPrelated Infringement (1), and Misinforma on/Synthe c

and Manipulated Media (1). In addi on to this, Twi er processed 56 grievances, which were appealing Twi er account suspensions. In a separate category, ''Proac ve Monitoring Data'', Twi er said 18,385 accounts were suspended over the issue of Child Sexual Exploita on, Non-Consensual Nudity, and similar content, while 4,179 accounts were suspended for Promo on of Terrorism. However, the ''Proac ve Monitoring Data'' -- content proac vely iden fied by employing internal tools and industry hash sharing ini a ves -- represents global ac ons taken, and not just ac ons related to content from India. Twi er noted that going forward, it will publish this report on a monthly basis and that it would make improvements over me, based on feedback received from the government, or in accordance with internal changes that allow it to provide more granular data. Under the new IT rules, large digital pla orms (with over five million users) are required to publish periodic compliance reports every month, men oning the details of complaints received and ac on taken. Non-compliance with the IT rules would result in these pla orms losing their intermediary status that provides them immunity from liabili es over any thirdparty data hosted by them. The Indian government had confronted Twi er over deliberate defiance and failure to comply with the IT Rules, despite repeated reminders. Twi er -- which had an es mated 17.5 million users in India -- lost its legal shield as an intermediary in India, becoming liable for users pos ng any unlawful content. Ashwini Vaishnaw, who had recently taken charge as Informa on Technology Minister, had on Thursday said all those who live and work in India would have to abide by the rules of the country. On the same day, Twi er had informed the Delhi High Court that it had appointed an interim CCO, who is a resident of India & that it would endeavour to fill the regular posi on within eight weeks as per the IT Rules.

WhatsApp beta tests ‘view once’ feature on iOS

nstant messaging pla orm- WhatsApp had rolled out the disappearing messages feature tled 'view once’ to iOS beta users. The new feature is similar to snaps on Snapchat. According to ANI, the feature will disappear the a ached images or videos a er being viewed, which may prove for good conﬁden al businessrelated chats. Users, who want to ﬁnd out if the feature is available to them, should look for an explanatory pop-up next me by sending an image or clip. Reportedly, users will also see a blue-and-white '1' icon in the cap on text box. The feature had already been rolled out to WhatsApp beta testers on Android.

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Even the new messages will automa cally disappear from a device and also from a recipient's device once opened. A er a dele on, text reading 'Opened' will occur. Adding some more details like ‘when it was delivered and seen’ could be found through the Message Info Op on. Also, the se ng will not aﬀect the messages sent or received before ac va on. However, the feature had some drawbacks, as the recipient can take screenshots of the user's phone to stay image beyond the autodelete. The new feature is currently rolling out to iOS beta users & there is no informa on on when this feature might roll out globally, neither there is any informa on on desktop feature yet.

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Important to revive and reinvent on TV: Divyanka Tripathi

ctor Divyanka Tripathi, who will next feature in stuntbased reality show "Khatron Ke Khiladi", believes it is important for an ar ste to move out of their comfort zone to avoid career stagna on. In recent years, Tripathi had swi ly transi oned from doing daily soap operas to appearing in varied reality shows. The 36-year-old actor, who hails from Bhopal, started her career as an anchor on All India Radio but found fame a er she starred in 2006 drama show "Banoo Main Teri Dulhann", PTI reported from Mumbai. She then featured in the second season of horror thriller show "Ssshhhh...Phir Koi Hai", appeared in comedy drama "Mrs & Mr Sharma Allahabadwale", followed by a s nt in reality shows like "Zor Ka Jhatka: Total Wipeout" and "Comedy Circus". Tripathi returned to TV dramas with "Yeh Hai Mohabbatein", in which she played the role of Dr Ishita Bhalla for over six years. Since the show's end in 2019, the actor had been featuring in reality shows such as "Nach Baliye", "The Voice"and now "Khatron Ke Khiladi". "It's been 15 years for me and a er a period of me you do get stagnated. I believe in reviving and reinven ng. I do it diligently. A er I ﬁnished ‘Banoo Main Teri Dulhann' everyone was oﬀering me the role of a du ful daughter-inlaw. That's the image associated with me. "I consciously decided I will not take up the role of a daughter-in-law again. I chose to do comedy shows, played a strong powerful woman in ‘Yeh Hai Mohabbatein', picked up ‘Nach Baliye 7'& ‘Crime Patrol'. I have never refrained from taking up new challenges. I want to expand myself as an actor. I don't limit myself," Tripathi told PTI in an

interview. The actor added that it is essen al to change with me. Tripathi, who made her digital debut with "Coldd Lassi Aur Chicken Masala", said she is keen to do more work in the web space. "I am open to work on any medium be it films or TV or web shows as long as the character is challenging," she added. In "Khatron Ke Khiladi", Tripathi will be seen as a celebrity contestant alongside Shweta Tiwari, Arjun Bijlani, Abhinav Shukla, Vishal Aditya Singh, Sourabh Raaj Jain, Mahek Chahal, Anushka Sen, Sana Makbul, Nikki Tamboli, Varun Sood and singers Rahul Vaidya and Aastha Gill. Hosted by filmmaker Rohit She y, the 11th season of the adventure-reality show was filmed in Cape Town, South Africa in June this year with COVID-19 safety protocols in place. "The moment when I was leaving, my family thought whether a wrong decision had been made or not as COVID-19 scare was s ll looming over and that life is so unsafe. "But the en re team of ‘Khatron Ke Khiladi' both in India and in Cape Town were very vigilant and we strictly followed all the measures. If the guidelines are followed during shoots, then we can be at peace at work," she said. For Tripathi, the high point of her s nt at "Khatron Ke Khiladi" was when She y called her one of the bravest contestants on the show. "I always felt like a child. I was so happy when he (She y) would praise and it did mean a lot to me. "I am quite an introvert, I don't do things to grab a en on, I am lost in my own world and if my work is no ced it feels good and you feel proud of yourself," she said. The Colors channel show ‘KKK’ will start airing from July 17.

Network18 reappoints Rahul Joshi as MD

he country’s premier mul lingual digital news pla orm, Network18, had announced the reappointment of Rahul Joshi as Managing Director (MD) for three years. Joshi is also the CEO- News and Group Editor-in-Chief of Network18. He is also the MD of TV18, the broadcas ng arm of Network18, which owns a majority stake in Viacom18. The company said in a filing on the BSE, “We would like to inform you that Mr. Rahul Joshi had been reappointed as Managing Director of the Company with the effect from July 9, 2021, for a further period of three (3) years to hold office up to July 8, 2024, subject approval to the shareholders.” They also added, “Rahul Joshi is not related to any of the Directors of the Company, and he is not debarred from holding the office of director by any order of SEBI or any such other authority.” He had been associated with Network18 Group since September 2015. Before joining Network18 Group, Rahul had worked with ‘The Economic Times’ for more than two decades. He also played a pivotal role in launching ET NOW and helped to shape the digital coverage of ET Online. He also worked with ‘The Indian Express’ in the past. Joshi has done his Master’s in Management Studies from Narsee Monjee Ins tute of Management Studies (NMIMS), Mumbai University.

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MIB registers BCCC as a self regulatory body

he Cable TV Networks (Amendment) Rules, 2021 were no fied on 17 June The ministry of informa on and broadcas ng (I&B) had registered the Broadcas ng Content Complaints Council (BCCC) as a self-regulatory body for redressal of grievances against the non-news television channels under the Cable TV Networks (Amendment) Rules, 2021 no fied recently. Founded in June 2011 by the Indian Broadcas ng Federa on (IBF), BCCC is an independent self-regulatory body for non-news general entertainment channels that examines content-related grievances against over 300 nonnews channels in the country. "The BCCC shall perform all func ons specified for a self-regulatory body in Rule 18 of the Cable Television Networks (Amendment) Rules, 2021," the ministry said. While Jus ce (retd) AP Shah was the BCCC’s founding chairperson, Jus ce (retd) Gita Mi al is the present chairperson of the Council. "It is a pleasant recogni on of ten years of very hard work done by the BCCC under its various learned chairpersons," BCCC's general secretary Ashish Sinha told PTI. Under the amended Cable TV network rules no fied by the government in May, self-regulatory bodies of TV channels

are required to be registered with the central government. The amended rules s pulate a three-layer grievance redressal mechanism -- self-regula on by broadcasters, self-regula on by the self-regula ng bodies of broadcasters & an oversight mechanism by the central government. The rules require each broadcaster to establish a grievance or complaint redressal mechanism, appoint an officer to deal with the complaints, display the contact details of their grievance officer on their website or interface and be a member of a self-regula ng body. As per the rules, any person aggrieved by the content of a programme of a channel may file his/her complaint in

wri ng to the broadcaster ﬁrst. "The broadcaster shall, within 24 hours of a complaint being ﬁled, generate and issue an acknowledgment to the complainant for his informa on and record. The broadcaster shall dispose of the complaint and inform the complainant of its decision within 15 days of receipt of such complaint," the rules state.

Disney+Hotstar unveils ‘Bhuj’ trailer

ver-the-top streaming pla orm Disney + Hotstar highly-an cipated film Bhuj: The Pride of India’ released the first trailer on 12th July morning with the war cries ranging loud and clear. The film revolves around the 1971 India-Pakistan war which serves a story burs ng with patrio sm, songs, and heavy-duty dialogues. Bhuj: The Pride of India will release on Disney + Hotstar this August ahead of Independence Day. The film stars Ajay Devgn, Sanjay Du , Sonakshi Sinha, Punjabi singer-actor Ammy Virk, Nora Fatehi, and Sharad Kelkar. As Ajay plays IAF Squadron leader Vijay Karnik, who is in charge of the Bhuj airport at the me of the war, and details how he saved the area from the Pakistani army by re-construc ng an en re IF airbase along with the help of 300 women from a local village in Madhapur. While Sanjay and Sonakshi are members of the village who come together to aid the Indian soldiers, Sharad Kelkar and Ammy Virk are part of the army. The film comes with dialogues that talk about martyrdom and the du es of a soldier. Bhuj: The Pride of India is presented by TSeries and Ajay Devgn Films. It is produced by Bhushan Kumar, Kumar Mangat Pathak, Ginny Khanuja, Vajir Singh & Bunny Sanghavi. The film has been penned by Abhishek Dudhaiya, Raman Kumar, Ritesh Shah, and Pooja Bhavoria. Helmed by Abhishek Dudhaiya & will release on August 13 on Disney + Hotstar.

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Samsung launches its free TV Plus streaming service on the web

outh Korean tech giant Samsung had launched a web version of its free ad-supported Smart TV Plus streaming service. According to ANI, the launch is for both live and linear programming. The company had also added cas ng support for Chromecast devices. As the streaming product, which was previously limited to Samsung TV and mobile devices, launched as a web service in the second quarter. It is a new product by the company in the streaming services & had launched with seemingly li le fanfare.

The company also states that the rollout would make the app which was previously limited to Samsung users, and now it is widely available to anyone. The rollout was conﬁrmed by the spokesperson of the company. The Samsung TV Plus service had been around for years & it is been available on Samsung smart TVs since 2016, “but the rollout to the addi onal devices are outside of the streaming ecosystem places which is more directly in compe on with ad-supported streaming like Peacock, the Roku Channel, or any number of linear-programming freebies like Pluto TV or Plex”.

Esha Deol Takhtani turns producer with ﬁlm ‘Ek Duaa’

ollywood actress Esha Deo Takhtani on 12th July announced that she is set to star in the upcoming film “Ek Duaa”, which would also mark her as a producer debut. Helmed by Ramkamal Mukherjee. According to PTI, the film will be backed by Esha and her businessman-husband, Bharat Takhtani, under the banner of Bharat Esha Films (BEF). The actor, whose last big-screen ou ng in Bollywood was the 2011 drama “Tell Me O Khuda”, said she decided to turn producer as she connected deeply with the film’s script. “When I was approached with ‘Ek Duaa’ as an actress, I felt a deeper connec on with the script. I just knew, I had to support the film, the cause, and would want to be associated with it as a producer too. It opened the doors for Bharat and me to start another innings as partners,” Esha said in a statement. The actress took a sabba cal from work a er her marriage to Bharat in 2012. The couple had two daughters. The 39-year old actor said, “Ek Duaa” aligned with the kind of work she was hungry to do. “Ek Duaa”, co-produced by Venky’s and Assorted Mo on Pictures, the film will premiere soon on the streaming pla orm Voot Select. Apart from the film, Esha will also be seen in the Disney + Hotstar VIP crime-drama series ‘Rudra- The Edge of Darkness’ with superstar Ajay Devgn.

YouTube Shorts rolls out globally to more than 100 countries

he online video pla orm YouTube Shorts, which is Google’s short-form video service and an obvious compe tor to TikTok and other similar applica ons, had now started rolling out globally. According to ANI, YouTube says that the service will now be available in “more t h a n 1 0 0 c o u n t r i e s ”, b a s i c a l l y everywhere where the video pla orm itself is available. YouTube Shorts was officially launched in September 2020, featuring 15-second videos, the same me limit as TikTok, through TikTok later expanded maximum video length, first to one minute, and then, to three minutes. The service was first made available to creators in India,

81 July 2021

then rolling out to the US in March 2021 and the UK in June. The primary advantage of YouTube Shorts over TikTok, for creators, is the ability to tap into YouTube’s massive library of audio content to include in their shorts. Other than that, the app, which is available on both iOS and Android, allows creators to e mul ple video clips together into one, speed control, and a mer and countdown to make capturing the right moment easier. As per ANI, the new features that are coming include automa cally added cap ons, adding clips from the phone’s gallery to the Shorts camera, as well as the ability to add ﬁlters and eﬀects, with more coming in the future.

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'Scam' protagonist desn't want to get typecast

ra k Gandhi's performance in the cri cally-acclaimed series "Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story" made him an overnight star, but the actor says he is not le ng the newfound fame dictate his decisions as an ar ste. The actor, who had been working extensively in the Gujara film and theatre circuit for more than 10 years, said post the success of the Hansal Mehta-directed show he was flooded by sugges ons from well-inten oned people. "Ini ally, when 'Scam' was released and it instantly became huge, I did feel the pressure. Everyone kept telling me that my next move will decide my career, that I had to choose wisely and be double sure of what I do next. "But when I thought about it. I realised there's no formula to this. I reached this stage following my gut and it's the only way I have to go forward. I kept conver ng the pressure into excitement for new projects," Gandhi told PTI in an interview. The 41-year-old actor said his biggest learning in the past year had been that one needs to have a good balance of pa ence & hard work to make a mark in the entertainment industry. "You'll be given only one opportunity. But you'll have to prepare yourself for years for that opportunity, even before it knocks on your door," he added. Gandhi's convincing act as the controversial stockbroker Harshad Mehta in the SonyLIV series had resulted in countless offers for films and series. Earlier this year, he was seen in the Gujara drama series "Vi hal Teedi". His upcoming Bollywood films include Taapsee Pannu-starrer "Woh Ladki Hai Kahaan?" and roman c comedy "A thi Bhoota Bhava". He was also filming Tigmanshu Dhulia's un tled web series, co-starring Richa Chadha, before the second wave of COVID-19 halted the shoot earlier this year. For the Surat-born actor, this line-up is a testament to the trust of the filmmakers in his ac ng ability. Gandhi said there are makers who are wri ng roles

especially for him, which is a dream come true. "There is a lot of excitement around me. Everyday there are new things coming to me. What changed a er 'Scam' on a bigger level was the way the audience and the makers started looking at me as an actor. "There are interes ng oﬀers coming my way. There are people approaching me with roles wri en for me. I was wai ng for this for 16 long years," he gushed. Gandhi, however, is also aware that ﬁlmmakers will be o en tempted to cast him in the roles that the audience has loved him in before. "It's important for me now more than ever to not get stuck. To keep reinven ng myself. Once something gets no ced

and people love you, most of the makers want to put you in the same bracket, feeling this is what the audience would want from an actor. "But as an ar ste, I don't want to be in that space. I want to be in a space where, if I appear on the stage or the screen, the audience should not know what I'm going to do," he said. The actor is currently featured on one of the episodes of the online celebrity cooking show "Gobble - You Got Chef'd" season three. In the episode, the actor will try his hand at cooking. The actor said if the audience con nues to be engaged with his work, it means he is "constantly evolving".

Yami Gautam, Pankaj Kapur to feature in ‘Lost’

ollywood actress Yami Gautam is all set to share the screen space with veteran star Pankaj Kapur in a new project, tled ‘Lost’. Directed by Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury, ‘Lost’ is being touted as “a hard-hi ng inves ga ve drama centered around media integrity,” as reported by ANI. Yami will portray the role of a crime reporter in this project. ‘Lost’ will also feature Rahul Khanna, Neil Bhoopalam, Pia Bajpiee & Tushar Pandey. Commen ng on the project, Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury said, “Designed as an inves ga ve drama, as its core the film explores themes like commitment, responsibility, holding hands, and making our world beau ful and compassionate. For me, any film I make must have a social context, and the stories are taken from the world around us”. He also added, “‘Lost’ is an emo onal thriller that represents a higher quest, a search for lost values of empathy & integrity.” The film will be largely shot at real loca ons across the city of Kolkata and Purulia and will highlight the underbelly of an urban city which o en goes unno ced. Produced by Zee Studios, Shareen Mantri Kedia, Kishor Arora, Sam Fernandes, and Indrani Mukherjee.

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NEWJ to bring Gujara cuisine to the world in new show

ith an eye to celebrate the richness of Gujara cuisine and culture, a leading Indian media-tech company, NEWJ, through its original content studio, will create a series of engaging, mul lingual content pieces aimed to reach an aggregated audience of over 20 million across a dozen social media and OTT pla orms. The 5-episode mini-series will see Chef Smit Sagar travel to different ci es in Gujarat, visi ng local eateries & interac ng with locals in search of the special delicacies that truly represent the unique flavor of the state, ANI reported. Made in associa on with Gujarat Tourism, the show is full of exquisite locales and o eat kitchens to regale both culinary and travel enthusiasts. NEWJ, a social-first publisher produces inspiring, India-

centric stories of all genres under an umbrella pla orm and is present in 13 Indian languages --- Hindi, English, Tamil, Bengali, Marathi, Gujara , Telugu, Kannada, Punjabi, Odia, Assamese, Urdu & Malayalam. Its unique visual storytelling has allowed NEWJ to garner close to 12 billion views since its incep on in 2019. Shalabh Upadhyay, Founder-CEO at NEWJ, said, "We're thrilled to support this series which is an ode to Gujarat. At NEWJ, it has been our consistent eﬀort to celebrate regional diversity and bring impac ul stories from the grassroots of Indian ci es and towns to the fore. I'm sure our audiences across India, beyond just Gujarat will be most intrigued to see the hidden gems the show will bring to light."

Indian media, entertainment group eyes $67m UAE funding

V Capital, an Indian media and entertainment credit fund, plans to organise virtual roadshows to tap investors across the UAE for raising AED246 million ($67 million) corpus. Given the ac ve involvement of Indian diaspora inves ng across various equity and debt instruments in India, as well as exploring new alterna ve asset classes, NV Capital is looking forward to raising funds from high networth individuals (HNIs), NRI investors, family offices and financial ins tu ons based out of UAE to par cipate in the growth story of this sunrise sector, according to Trade Arabia. The fund recently received a nod from Indian markets regulator SEBI as Category II Alterna ve Investment Fund. Founded by industry professionals and ex-bankers Ni n and Vivek Menon, NV Capital was also India’s first credit fund focused on the media and entertainment sector with the objec ve of inves ng in content creators, OTT pla orms, gaming and entertainment start-ups, Trade Arabia reported. With the rapid rise of Category II credit funds in India over the last few years, NV Capital said it was looking to establish a new alterna ve asset class in the media & entertainment space. The key sponsor of NV Capital is Jayan lal Gada, CMD of Pen Studios, an industry veteran with over 35 years of experience in the media and entertainment industry. Pen is a leading integrated studio with presence in Indian film produc on, distribu on, movie aggrega on, broadcas ng, digital media, visual effects and anima on. On the plans, Vivek Menon, the co-founder and managing partner, NV Capital, said: "It is a proud moment for us to launch India’s first media and entertainment credit fund

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which is on the cusp of exponen al growth. Given the rise of UAE as a preferred des na on for global FPIs, it is eminent for the country to become the gateway of new age sectoral funding to countries like India." "At the same me, owing to cultural similari es, a large expat popula on of Indian origin and sustained e-ups with Indian media and entertainment industry, UAE remains a key market for garnering funds for pioneering oﬀering," he noted. With close to 1,500 movies being released every year,

combined with the rapid rise of mul ple OTT pla orms, which showcased 180+ web series and 80+ direct to OTT ﬁlms launches in Hindi language alone since last year, the value of content has been growing exponen ally. "This trend highlights the scope and enormous opportunity in entertainment ﬁnancing where content creators are in constant dearth of capital to scale up," he added. Trade Arabia is a Bahrain-based online business news and informa on portal covering various trade & industry sectors in the Persian Gulf region, Middle East & the Levant.

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Homable Films to announce 10th ﬁlm, ‘Richard Anthony’

he theatrical and OTT ﬁlm produc on Homable Films in Indian Cinema is typically recognized as showcasing content that revolves around ac on, masala, and romance because of many outstanding pieces of direc on, art, cinematography, and ac ng which have gone unno ced in certain cases. However, Homable ﬁlms have earlier made it to the charts with its blockbuster release of KGF Chapter 1 which is

crea ng a buzz with its much-an cipated release KGF Chapter 2 and Salaar. Now they have signed Rakshit She y for the upcoming new endeavor. As per the company’s press release, On July 8, Homable ﬁlms announced their 10th ﬁlm on social media pla orms with a quote saying, “When the de brings back the dead, the shores bleed red” which created a buzz and excitement among cinema lovers who gravitate around the genre of mystery and suspense. The audience is eagerly wai ng for

the cast and crew of the movie to be announced. The film Richard Anthony will go into produc on soon. Homable films have made consistent and deliberate efforts to serve the audience outstanding pieces of direc on, art, cinematography, ac ng, and story plot which keeps the audience up throughout the movie and promises them a deligh ul watch. With its new endeavor, Richard Anthony, Homable films have a empted to incorporate all these aspects and awe the audiences. In an exclusive chat with Vijay Kiragandur, producer of Homable Films revealed that he is very excited to sign Rakshit She y and work with him, who is also the director and lead actor for the new film tled ‘Richard Anthony’. Further, he also added that “Rakshit’s crea ve brilliance and dedica on are well known among cinema lovers. Rakshit is cinema personified, he had been dreaming of being a filmmaker since childhood and with an upbringing from the grassroots, he is good at understanding the pulse of the audience. Good cinema runs in his blood. We at Homable Films are pleased to collaborate with him for our 10th film, which will be a refreshing story with layers of mystery. The produc on will begin in January 2022.” He also added that the team is excited and thrilled for the movie to hit the big screens and is looking forward to entertaining the audience. The much-an cipated film KGF Chapter 2 by Homable Films is set to release the theatres worldwide soon.

Colors Odia brings Ratha Yatra home

he historic Ratha Yatra of Lord Jagannath, which commenced on 12th July, will be telecast by COLORS Odia. People can watch the fes vi es, being held under COVID protocols, from the safety of their homes. As per the company’s press release, viewers shouldn’t be disheartened with the restric ons or the fact that they would be allowed to touch the deity in puri badadanda because COLORS Odia brings the same experience at home. The various rituals will be aired from July 12, including Ratha Yatra special, Bahuda Jatra on July 20, Suna Besha on July 21 and Niladri Bije on July 23. For the unversed, Ratha Yatra is an important Hindu fes val organized every year at the famous Jagannatha temple in Puri, Odisha. It is one of the oldest ratha yatras in the world. On this day, the idols of Lord Jagannath and his siblings (Goddess Subhadra and Lord Balabhadra) are decorated and brought to cover a 3-km-long journey (from Jagannath Temple to the Gundicha Temple) in chariots drawn by over hundreds of devotees every year. It is believed that anyone who pulls the rope linked to the chariots of the dei es and helps others also in doing so or merely touches the rope or chariots, gets the merit of several penances. This would be the second year in a row that the channel would be airing Ratha Yatra for devotees.

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Aavishkar Dish Antenna Programme Guide

India’s cyber security coordinator to address Pursuit 2021

t General (Dr) Rajesh Pant, the Na onal Cyber Security Coordinator of India, would be addressing Pursuit 2021, a conference to technologically reduce online ﬁnancial frauds. Pursuit 2021 is being organised by the Internet and Mobile Associa on of India (IAMAI) and is likely to be a ended by 2,000 delegates, according to a statement from the trade organiza on. The Covid-19 pandemic had led to a sharp rise in cybercrimes. A recent assessment of the impact of Covid19 on cybercrime had shown a signiﬁcant target shi from individuals and small businesses to major corpora ons, governments & cri cal infrastructure. The two-day virtual conference will deliberate upon issues pertaining to cybercrimes & emerging technologies leveraged by regulators & enforce-ment agencies to have an edge over the cyber criminals. Speaking on the rising number of cybercrimes, India’s First Cyber Security Coordinator?Dr Gulshan Rai, who is also a speaker at the event, said: "With penetra on of digitalisa on, applica on of technology and use of digital pla orms for online applica ons in our day-to-day life, the misuse of technology has also increased.“ Adversaries are exploi ng glitches in the technology par cularly so ware & stealing data & vital informa on

rela ng to financial transac ons which an individual performs through compu ng devices. The informa on so gathered is mone sed. A acks in the financial sector have increased more than 2,000 mes during the pandemic period.” Cybercrimes have turned out to be one of the most challenging aspects for the Indian financial sector today. With a rise in the number of such crimes, the industry stakeholders are increasingly leveraging various technologies to keep certain threats at bay. Technology is helping in the preven on of financial crime all across the world. Ar ficial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML) and data analy cs are at various stages of technology evolu on and are being applied to safeguard infrastructure. The virtual conference will provide a endees an opportunity to directly hear from the regulators, enforcement agencies, industry experts, CXO of large financial ins tu ons, heads of tech companies, founders of regtech startups, etc., on their perspec ve and how they are contribu ng towards the fight against cybercrimes. The event will see over 50 sessions and workshops and a endees will get a chance to meet a host of regtech and compliance companies from India and overseas.

Ne lix unveils ‘Mimi’ trailer

treaming pla orm Ne lix released the trailer of the family entertaining movie ‘Mimi’ on 13th July. Starring Kri Sanon, and veteran actor Pankaj Tripathi in the lead roles. The family entertainer, which revolves around the plot of the surrogate mother in the directorial venture of Laxman Utekar. Kri will be seen in a new avatar, she is playing the role of a surrogate mother. Pankaj Tripathi is playing an agent who comes to Kri with the offer of surrogacy for a foreign couple. While the trailer starts on a comic note, which soon gets on an intense note when the couple asks Mimi to abort the child. The trailer promises that Mimi is going to be high on emo onal quo ent. Sharing the trailer, Kri wrote, “#Mimi expected everything, except for this unexpected journey! Watch the glimpse of her unexpected story with your family. #MimiTrailer out now.” Earlier, Kri shared a teaser of the film to get her fans excited for the next. The film also stars, Sai Tamhankar, Supriya Pathak, and Manoj Pahwa in pivotal roles. Mimi is Kri Sanon’s second film with director Laxman Utekar. Earlier, they have worked together in Luka Chupi, also starring Pankaj Tripathi in pivotal roles. It also the latest collabora on with Dinesh Vijan and Kri Sanon a er films like Raabta, Luka Chuppi, and Arjun Pa ala. Even her fans also remember her striking camaraderie with Pankaj Tripathi as father-daughter in Bareilly Ki Barfi. Mimi will premiere on Ne lix and Jio Cinema on July 30.

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Aavishkar Dish Antenna Programme Guide

Satellite industry urges India to further liberalise rules

ndia’s satellite industry stakeholders have exhorted the government to make PM Modi’s clarion call of ease of doing business into a reality as some on-ground impediments remain even as stressing that satellites, whether foreign or Indian, could help in increasing digital footprint of the country by delivering quality broadband service. In a virtual mee ng on 12th July, chaired by Telecoms Secretary Anshu Prakash, various satellite companies said PM Modi’s dream of Digital India could get a major fillip if satellites were used to deleiver broadband services in areas where wired broadband was difficult and which could open up a variety of e-services for people living in far-flung and hilly areas of India. For example, a representa ve of a foreign satellite company opined that data shows that about 40 per cent of India was s ll broadband-dark or where such services were inadequate. Such a scenario highlights why satellite-delivered-broadband becomes important in a vast country like India, the satellite company rep added. Even a new industry organiza on, Satellite Industry Associa on India (SIAIndia), echoed similar sen ments at the mee ng, a ended by senior government officials from organisa ons like Ni Ayog, Indian space agency ISRO, apart from those of DoT. Other organisa ons like the Indian Ins tutes of Technology, Indian Ins tute of Sciences, BIF and COAI too a ended the over two hour mee ng. SIA India also added that the space and spectrum regulatory framework should be investment-friendly & that spectrum alloca on for KA band should as per ITU norms. Many other satellite companies too expressed views that DoT should simplify regula ons related to spectrum alloca on and claearance and the whole process ought to be simplified further. Even as broadband-via-satellite was talked about, some telcos expressed reserva ons on such services. VodafoneIdea, for instance, said more tests

should be carried out before satellite were permi ed to give broadband as this may interfere with terrestrial mobile services. Meanwhile,Economic Times on 13th July reported that Elon Musk’s SpaceX plans to partner with Indian companies to locally manufacture satellite communica ons equipment, including antenna systems and user terminal devices, as it gears up to launch its high-speed Starlink satellite broadband services in the country next year. “SpaceX is excited to find ways to work together with the Indian industry for manufacturing products for its Starlink devices,” ETquoted Ma Botwin, director (market access with the Starlink program), as saying during the 11th July mee ng, which was also SpaceX’s first official interac on with Department of Telecommunica ons (DoT) secretary Anshu Prakash. The company always looks for opportuni es to maximise the efficiency of its (global) supply chain, and “is now looking forward to working with its partners in India to recognise those opportuni es”, Botwin said. This was also SpaceX’s first official comments on its India plans in the satellite communica ons space. The DoT had called a mee ng with global satellite companies to discuss a holis c roadmap for locally manufacturing satellite communica ons gear & ways to create an enabling regulatory regime for global low earth orbit (LEO) satellite constella on operators to establish in-country gateways in India.“ Those present at the mee ng included officials from OneWeb, Viasat, Hughes, Airtel, Reliance Jio, Vodafone Idea, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India. During the mee ng, Botwin said, “SpaceX had been working with the Indian industrial sector for a long me, buying steel & steeltubing for many of its rockets.” It is now commi ed to manufacturing hardware & satellite components & components of (satellite broadband) networks in India, he said, according to the ETreport.

Apple launches iPad mini this year

merican tech giant Apple, which unfairly neglected the design aspect of its iPad mini since its debut in 2012, recently announced its plans to release its new itera on featuring “the biggest redesign in its nine-year history” this fall. According to ANI, the new device is expected a new feature of slimmer bezels, a larger display, faster performance & a design similar to Apple’s new iPad Air from last year. Earlier it is also reported, that the upcoming device, which it said might ditch the home bu on to allow for narrower screen bezels. The iPad Air-style design suggests that it could use a Touch ID sensor built into a side-mounted power bu on. Last year, the tech analyst had predicted that Apple’s next iPad mini could have a screen that’s 8.5 to 9-inches in size, up from the 7.9-inch display the mini had always sported. The new iPad mini would be the 6th genera on of the tablet, following a 2019 redesign which added support for the Apple Pencil Stylus alongside a faster A 12 processor. The company had another Apple Silicon-powered iMac with a larger screen than the recent 24-inch model. The new device is reportedly intended to replace the exis ng Intel-powered 27-inch model.

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Aavishkar Dish Antenna Programme Guide

France an -trust body ﬁnes Google $500mn on copyrights

rance's an trust watchdog slapped a 500 million euro ($593 million) fine on Alphabet's Google on 13th July for failing to comply with the regulator's orders on how to conduct talks with the country's news publishers in a row over copyright. The fine comes amid increasing interna onal pressure on online pla orms such as Google & Facebook to share more revenue with news outlets, Reuters reported from Paris. The US tech group must now come up with proposals within the next two months on how it would compensate news agencies & other publishers for the use of their news. If it does not do that, the company would face addi onal fines of up to 900,000 euros per day. Google said it was very disappointed with the decision but would comply. "Our objec ve remains the same: we want to turn the page with a defini ve agreement. We will take the French Compe on Authority's feedback into considera on and adapt our offers," the US tech giant said. A Google spokesperson added: "We have acted in good faith throughout the en re process. The fine ignores our efforts to reach an agreement, and the reality of how news works on our pla orms." News publishers APIG, SEPM and AFP accuse the tech company of having failed to hold talks in good faith with them to find common ground for the remunera on of news content online, under a recent European Union direc ve that creates so-called "neighbouring rights".

The case itself focused on whether Google breached temporary orders issued by the an trust authority, which demanded such talks take place within three months with any news publishers that ask for them. "When the authority decrees an obliga on for a company, it must comply scrupulously, both in the spirit and le er (of the decision). Here, this was unfortunately not the case," the an trust body's chief, Isabelle de Silva, said in a statement. She also said the regulator considered that Google had not acted in good faith in its nego a ons with the publishers. APIG, which represents most major French print news publishers including Le Figaroand Le Monde, remains one of the plain ffs, even though it signed a framework agreement with Google earlier this year, sources have told Reuters. This framework deal has been put on hold pending the an trust decision, the sources said. The framework agreement, which many other French media outlets cri cised, was one of the highest-profile deals under Google's "News Showcase" programme to provide compensa on for news snippets used in search results, and the first of its kind in Europe. Google agreed to pay $76 million over three years to a group of 121 French news publishers to end the copyright row, documents seen by Reuters showed. Produced by Zee Studios, Shareen Mantri Kedia, Kishor Arora, Sam Fernandes, and Indrani Mukherjee, the film is expected to go on the floors in July 2021.

Twi er suspends fake accounts veriﬁed by mistake

wi er Inc. said on 13th July it mistakenly verified some fake accounts that the social media company has now permanently suspended, months a er restar ng its verifica on program. The company in May relaunched verifica ons a er a years-long freeze on public submissions for the site's blue check marks, saying only "notable" users would be awarded the badge, Reuters reported. "We mistakenly approved the verifica on applica ons of a small number of inauthen c (fake) accounts," a Twi er spokesperson said in a statement. "We have now permanently suspended the accounts in ques on, and removed their verified badge, under our pla orm manipula on and spam policy," the spokesperson added. The social media company had paused the verifica on program in 2017 amid cri cism that it was arbitrary and confusing. It said at the me the check mark was being confused with "an endorsement or an indicator of importance". Under Twi er's new verifica on rules, accounts must have been ac ve in the last six months and fit one of several criteria: government, companies, brands and organiza ons, news outlets and journalists, entertainment, sports and gaming, ac vists, organizers and other influen al individuals.

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Aavishkar Dish Antenna Programme Guide

Ne lix-Gold House partner to showcase Asian, Paciﬁc cultures

e lix and Gold House, at leading non-profit collec ve of Asian & Pacific Islander (API) cultural leaders behind #GoldOpen, have created a partnership called “Ne lix Gold” to amplify API stories, ar sts, and creators. The partnership marks an evolu on for Gold House by expanding its support beyond films for Asian audiences. Gold House will work closely with Ne lix to amplify all culturally relevant stories (inclusive of films, series, documentaries, and stand-ups) and will engage the API community through private and public experiences to celebrate diverse, mul dimensional storytelling. The first “Ne lix Gold” event will be the premiere of Season 2 of Ne lix’s cri cally-acclaimed ‘Never Have I Ever’. This will bring the Gold House community together for the first me in Los Angeles since the pandemic to get a sneak peek at the season, enjoy South Asian food and culture, highlight small businesses, and celebrate intersec onal South Asian stories. Ne lix had previously partnered with Gold House to amplify films such as the Academy Award-nominated ‘The White Tiger’ and ‘Over The Moon’, as well as Alice Wu’s GLAAD Award-winning film ‘The Half Of It’, which all were highlighted in the organiza on’s inaugural Gold List celebra ng special achievements in film. “Ne lix Gold” will encompass the variety of API storytelling on Ne lix with upcoming releases including ‘The Chair’ with Sandra Oh and ‘Sparking Joy’ with Marie Kondo.

Ne lix is con nuing to develop to invest in series and films across the Asian American experience including upcoming documentary series Naomi Osaka, and recently announced projects including ‘Portrait of a Thief’, ‘BEEF’, ‘Free Food for Millionaires’, ‘White Ivy’, ‘Dial A for Aun es’, ‘Boo Bitch’, an un tled Awkwafina and Sandra Oh comedy, and a slate of animated series and film.

"Growing up, I didn’t see girls who looked like me in the TV shows I loved. A show like ‘Never Have I Ever’ -- with API creators and ar sts on screen and behind the scenes -- is s ll too rare and something I’m proud to celebrate. I’m thankful to Gold House for their partnership to make sure that the API community has an opportunity to con nue to see even more of ourselves, our families, our language, and our stories on Ne lix," says Bela Bajaria, Head of Global TV at Ne lix.

Amazon’s AWS acquires messaging service Wickr

mazon’s cloud services giant Amazon Web Services (AWS) had acquired Wickr, the encrypted messaging app founded in 2012. The company announced this in an oﬃcial social media post that read, “We are excited to share that AWS had acquired Wickr, an innova ve company that had developed the industry’s most secure, end-to-end encrypted, communica on technology.” As per ANI, Stephen Schmidt, Amazon Web Services’ vicepresident, con nued to nod t h e c o m p a ny ’s e v e rdeepening rela onships with the military, and Washington, in general, and said that Wickr’s features give “security-conscious enterprises and government agencies the ability to implement important governance and security controls to help them meet their

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compliance requirements”. The Wickr app is an encrypted messaging service used to secure the messaging compe tor Signal. It has been popular with journalists and whistleblowers. An ANI report said that through this move, it is unclear if the proximity to the tech monolith wo u l d i m p a c t t h e a p p ’s popularity for free users. Schmidt indicated that the a c q u i s i o n wa s at l e a st par ally influenced by the need to preserve informa on security while working remotely. The terms of the deal were not disclosed but Schmidt concluded by adding that AWS would be offering Wickr services effec ve immediately and the current Wickr users would not see significant changes for the me being.

Aavishkar Dish Antenna Programme Guide

‘Stateless’docu on minority persecu on premieres in US

he documentary 'Stateless' depic ng the story of minori es who ﬂed to India due to religious persecu on in Pakistan had a virtual premiere in the US. An ini a ve of IndicDialogue, the documentary is directed by Manavendra Singh Shekhawat and produced by Nikhil Singh Rajpu . As per PTI, The virtual premiere was a ended by prominent personali es from 35 ci es across the US, Europe, India, and Singapore, according to a media release. In his remarks on the occasion, renowned actor Anupam Kher, whose own community was forcefully driven out of their homes in Kashmir Valley, shared the pains of these refugees and said, "...to be in a perpetual state of statelessness is the biggest curse that a human being can make some people go through." He also added, "When you see the faces of these people, they have agony that the camera captures for that ﬂee ng moment when the director must have said start sound, camera, ac on, and that must have been 1 or 2 minutes. But what about the other 23 hours, 58 minutes? They are

Business Today appoints Anirban Roy & Aabha Bakaya for its digital makeover

ountry's number one business magazine published by the India Today Group, Business Today, is all set for a digital revamp aimed at an audience looking for news and informa on to get ahead in the post-pandemic world. As per the company’s press release, they plan to bolster its business oﬀerings with the latest tools in digital storytelling, the Group announced the appointment of Anirban Roy, formerly with ‘The Wall Street Journal’ and ‘Reuters’, as Business Today’s Online Editor. Roy is a seasoned journalist and editor with more than 20 years of rich experience in mul media, mul -pla orm, and mul language newsrooms. He had set up and led digital news opera ons, audience engagement, and social media strategy for some of the largest interna onal and Indian media houses. Roy was the founding Digital Editor and News Editor for The Wall Street Journal India, where he and his colleagues won the SOPA Award for Excellence in Mul media News Presenta on. Before that, he was India Digital Editor at Reuters. He has also been the Group Editor for Social Pla orms at Network18. Commen ng on his new role as ITG, Roy said, “Business Today has always led the discourse on business journalism in India and now with its move towards a digital-ﬁrst, mul media-led coverage, it is poised to lead the way for

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living with that reality. They are living with that pain." Producer Rajpu said that the story of these refugees was not covered in the media the way he saw it. "Nobody talked to the actual vic ms. I saw that gap. I was intrigued and thought we should hear their story from their mouths. We are just showing you why they le , no refugee group in the world leaves on their own accord. They leave their home country under dire circumstances.... This movie is their story,” he said.

storytelling in the digital age. I look forward to showcasing stories about India's new economy and how it is being shaped by the ongoing tech revolu on.” Whereas in another key announcement, the Group also named its leading financial journalist and anchor Aabha Bakaya as the co-host of its upcoming Business Today TV Show. Aabha is a career business journalist, she has more than 15 years of rich experience in financial news television at leading channels in the country. She was a consultant anchor at ET NOW, hos ng its flagship “The Market” and “Closing Trades” shows. Bakaya was a founding team member at NDTV Profit and ET NOW. In a previous role, she anchored stock market opening and closing shows at Bloomberg TV. She also hosted finance and economy shows out of Bloomberg’s studios in London and New York, and independently produced India’s first virtual stock market gaming show aimed at educa ng students in the world of inves ng. Commen ng on her new role as ITG, Bakaya said, “I look forward to being a part of the India Today family. I am thrilled to join the team at Business Today & bring my knowledge along with the exper se to cover the markets & decode important business news daily for the audience”.

Aavishkar Dish Antenna Programme Guide

Nawazuddin Siddiqui ready to star in Kangana Ranaut’s produc on, ‘Tiku weds Sheru’

ollywood actress Kangana Ranaut had announced that Bollywood actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui had joined her upcoming produc on ‘Tiku weds Sheru’. The shoot of the film will begin shortly. As the official Instagram handle of Kangana’s produc on house, Manikarnika Films shared the announcement, by saying, “The best actor of our genera on joins team Tiku weds Sheru... We are privileged to have found our Lion #TikuWedsSheru Filming begins soon.” The actress also shared the same post on her Instagram page, “Welcome to the team, sir @nawazuddin._siddiqui @manikarnikafilms # kuwedssheru,” Kangana wrote. This is the first me when Nawazuddin and Kangana will be collabora ng on a project. Earlier, late actor Irrfan Khan was supposed to feature in the

film. Tiku weds Sheru marks Kangana Ranaut’s maiden produc on. Her produc on house Manikarnika Films was launched in 2020. A er the launch of Manikarnika Films, Kangana’s sister Rangoli had shared on Twi er that while Kangana will work as a director and a producer, their brother Akshit will look a er legal and finance departments. Apart from that, Kangana is currently filming for Dhaakad alongside Arjun Rampal. She will be also seen in Ronnie Screwvala’s Tejas & Emergency. She is also awai ng the release of the Jayalalithaa biopic Thalaivi, which was postponed due to the second wave of Covid-19. As for Nawazuddin Siddiqui, he will be next seen in Sangeen, Heropan 2, and Jogira Sara Ra Ra.

WhatsApp faces EU consumer complaint over privacy update

t’s not just in India where social media pla orms are facing the heat whether it’s WhatsApp or Twi er or Google or Facebook or you name it. Globally tech companies are coming under increased & intense scru ny as sovereign governments look to ghten the regulatory screws. Now, Facebook's WhatsApp faces a complaint from European Union consumer groups who say the chat service had been unfairly pressuring users to accept a new privacy update in what it calls a breach of the bloc's regula ons. The European Consumer Organisa on, or BEUC, ﬁled a complaint on 12th July over the way WhatsApp has brought in changes to its terms of service and privacy policy, saying they aren't transparent or easily understood by users, AP reported from London. Many WhatsApp users switched to other chat apps like Signal and Telegram because of privacy concerns when the update was rolled out earlier this year because of concerns the changes would give Facebook access to more informa on on users. WhatsApp had been bombarding users for months with aggressive and persistent pop-up messages to force them to accept its new terms of use and privacy policy," BEUC

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Director General Monique Goyens said. They've been telling users that their access to their app will be cut off if they do not accept the new terms. Yet consumers don't know what they're actually accep ng. BEUC and consumer rights groups from eight member countries filed the complaint to the EU's execu ve Commission and the bloc's network of consumer authori es. WhatsApp said the complaint is based on a misunderstanding of the update's purpose and effect and would welcome the opportunity to explain it to the BEUC. Meanwhile, in India, faced with a similar situa on WhatsApp told a Delhi court last week that it has put its privacy policy for Indians on hold ll the me the Parliament brings in a personal data protec on law, which is pending House approvals. India’s proposed data protec on law seeks to regulate the use of individual's data by the government and private companies. A joint commi ee of Parliament is presently examining a Bill rela ng to data protec on. The panel had been given me ll the monsoon session of Parliament --likely to start later this month --- to submit its report.

Aavishkar Dish Antenna Programme Guide

YuppTV launches SonyLIV across interna onal markets

uppTV, the world’s leading OTT pla orm for SouthAsian content, had launched streaming pla orm SonyLIV in UK, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Middle East, and Europe. Through this pla orm, viewers will be able to watch a wide range of entertainment content in mul ple na ve languages, blockbuster Originals, TV shows, and movies in various genres. The pla orm oﬀers an assortment of VOD content including SonyLIV premium Originals, blockbuster TV shows, and movies. With the launch of SonyLIV onYuppTV in the UK, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the Middle East, and Europe, YuppTV users will be able to enjoy a wide range of shows and movies across mul ple genres. Commen ng on the associa on, Uday Reddy, Founder & CEO of YuppTV, said, “It is a delight for us to add SonyLIV to our vast library, oﬀering the entertainment giants a much wider reach across the globe. Our viewers are set to enjoy ample of the latest and greatest op ons from SonyLIV on our pla orm. These markets provide great poten al for Indian television viewers from Hindi shows to South Indian

movies. It will be a great associa on for both.” Manish Aggarwal, Head – Growth and Mone za on, Digital Business, said, “We are excited to extend our presence overseas and oﬀer a plethora of enriching and diverse content to a wider set of audience with YuppTV. It is a pleasure to come together and be able to con nue

transforming the face of Indian entertainment globally. This collabora on will help us to make our content easily available & ensure a seamless experience for our viewers.” Be it shows like the ultra-famous ‘Scam 1992 – The Harshad Mehta Story’, Maharani, Avrodh, users can access a wealth of SonyLIV shows through the YuppTV pla orm. The users will get a blend of shows in mul ple languages including Hindi, Marathi, and Bengali along with Hindi dubbed South Indian content.

Colors Tamil set to launch new ﬁc on show ‘Abhi Tailor’

amil Nadu’s youngest GEC, Colors Tamil, on 14th July announced the launch of its much-an cipated ﬁc on show, Abhi Tailor. Set amidst a semi-urban backdrop, Abhi Tailor through its compelling narra ve is set to bring to life the stories & struggles of small- me women entrepreneurs. According to the company’s press release, “Abhi Tailor follows the story of a young, vibrant Abirami (played by Reshma Muralidharan), a small-town tailor. Responsible for an alcoholic father Sundaramoorthy (essayed by popular actor/ comedian Badava Gopi) and sibling Anandhi (played by Actor Jayashri), Abhi’s life is devoted towards building her small shop. Life takes an unexpected turn as a corporate honcho, Ashok (played by Madhan Pandian) sets foot into the town with a factory and soon comes head to head in ba le with Abhi. The story is set to further discover a trail of drama and love between Abhi and Ashok. Commen ng on the launch, Anup Chandrasekharan, Business Head – Colors Tamil, said “Our ﬁc on shows have paved the way for changing trends in the way women protagonists are showcased and we have always brought to

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life real, hard-hi ng stories with a gripping storyline. In line with our promise, today we add yet another striking fic on show that is set to break barriers and set new benchmarks. We are confident that Abhi will become an instant household name and the show will be well received by Tamil speaking audience across the globe.” Adding to this, Director Basheer, said, “Abhi Tailor is a project close to my heart and I am happy to be presen ng this in associa on with a leading channel like Colors Tamil. The channel, since its entry, had changed the narra on of women-centric stories by o ffe r i n g a re f re s h i n g , re a l i s c perspec ve. I am excited for the viewers to join the journey of Abhi, a young woman who is set to take on the corporate giant with girt and courage. I am confident that Abhi and her story will inspire many young women entrepreneurs and they will certainly develop a sense of sisterhood with the character.” Star ng from 19th July 2021, Monday, the show will air every Monday to Saturday at 10:00 PM only on Colors Tamil.

Aavishkar Dish Antenna Programme Guide

Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare

Shri Dharmendra Pradhan

Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw

Shri Anurag Singh Thakur

Shri Amit Khare (Secretary) Shri Mansukh L. Mandaviya

Shri Ashish Upadhyaya (Addi onal Secretary & Financial Adviser)

Neerja Sekhar Addi onal Secretary & CVO

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Aavishkar Dish Antenna Programme Guide

Vacant JS

Sanjiv Shankar

Vikram Sahay

Syed Tausif Abbas

Dr. PD Vaghela

Meenakshi Gupta

V. Raghunandan Sri Biresh Kumar

Rajiv Sinha

Tel:- +91-11-26882173

Dr. M.P. Tangirala Vivek Srivastava

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Aavishkar Dish Antenna Programme Guide

Kuldip Kumar PPS Tel:- +91-11-23118803 Email:- ps.ceo@prasarbhara .gov.in

Mayank Kumar Agrawal Director General (N&CA) Tel:- +91-11-23118803 Email:- ps.ceo@prasarbhara .gov.in

Arjun Mehto Sr.Content Manager Tel:- +91-11-23118490

Col. Maneesh Chugh ADG (Admin) Tel:- +91-11-23118810 Email:- adg-admin@prasarbhara .gov.in

Harshdeep Srivastava Chief Viligance Oﬃcers Tel:- +91-11-23114509 Email:- cvopb@prasarbhara .gov.in

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Aavishkar Dish Antenna Programme Guide

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Aavishkar Dish Antenna Programme Guide

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SITI NETWORK Ltd.

Anil Malhotra, CEO

Si - Corporate Oﬃcefc 19, Sector 16a, Film Citygautam Budh Nagar, Noida-201301 E-mail:- Anil.malhotra@si .esselgroup.com,

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Aavishkar Dish Antenna Programme Guide