The Ministry of
Information and Broadcasting, which is entrusted with the responsibility to
Inform, Educate and Entertain the masses, took various initiatives in the last
one year to attain its objectives. The Information sector witnessed a plethora
of initiatives in the form of International cooperation with Ethiopia, devising
360 degree multimedia campaigns, release of RNI annual report on Press in
India, etc. Similarly, the Films sector witnessed successful completion of the
48th IFFI and the Broadcasting sector witnessed the launch of 24x7 DD Channel for Jharkhand.
The Initiatives of
Ministry in different sectors are mentioned below:
Information
Sector
●
MoU signed between Publications Division
and Sasta Sahitya Mandal for Joint Publication
of books, to sensitise the young generation about India’s rich and diverse
culture and history. It would promote availability of good literature for the
people on diverse topics.
●
Agreement on “Cooperation in the field
of Information, Communication and Media”
was signed between India and Ethiopia. The Agreement will encourage
cooperation between mass media tools such as radio, print media, TV, social
media etc. to provide more opportunities to the people of both the nations and
create public accountability.
● 360
degree Multimedia Campaigns such as International
Yoga Day, Swachh Bharat , Make in India, Skill India, Digital India, Rashtriya
Ekta Diwas were launched by the Government. It entailed Multimedia
Exhibitions, social media campaigns using Infographics, animations, graphic
plates, short videos, live streaming of events /conferences etc.
● 6th
National Photography Awards organized. Shri Raghu
Rai conferred Lifetime Achievement Award. Professional Photographer of the year
award to Shri K.K. Mustafah and Amateur Photographer of the year award to Shri
Ravinder Kumar.
●
Three Heritage Books on the occasion of Centenary
Celebrations of Champaran Satyagraha released.
●
Set of books titled ‘Swachh Jungle ki
kahani – Dadi ki Zubani’ Books published in 15
Indian languages by Publications Division to enable development of cleanliness
habit amongst children released.
●
“Saath Hai Vishwaas Hai, Ho Raha Vikas
Hai” Exhibition organized and was put up across
state capitals for duration of 5-7 days showcasing the achievements of the
Government in the last 3 years in various sectors.
●
100
Volumes of Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi released. The Collected Works of Mahatma
Gandhi’(CWMG) is a monumental document of Gandhiji’s thoughts which he spoke
and wrote from 1884, when Mahatma was a 15 year old boy, till his assassination
on January 30, 1948.
● Special Webpage on Goods and Services Tax (GST)
http://pib.nic.in/gst was created on PIB Website and is a one stop
platform for all information on the new tax regime.
● RNI
Annual Report - Press in India, an Important Index of
Print Media was released. The report gave a comprehensive analysis of the
contours of the growth for the industry specially the growth amongst regional
language publications.
Broadcast
Sector
●
Analog signals in Phase III Urban Areas
switched off. "Authorized officers" under
Sec 11 of the Cable TV Networks (Regulation) Act can seize the equipment of the
MSOs/Cable Operators, if they continues to carry analog signal in Phase III
urban areas after 31st January, 2017.
●
Digital Radio Round Table Conference organized.
Digital Radio technology would provide listeners with significantly improved
audio quality and service reliability at an affordable price. All India Radio
has already completed the technical installation and upgradation of 37 powerful
transmitters in the first phase of Digitization of Radio Broadcast.
●
14 short films produced by Doordarshan
on success stories of various Flagship schemes of the Government which had positively impacted people’s lives and had
brought a transformational change in the country.
● A separate 24x7 DD Channel for Jharkhand announced. DD
Bihar to telecast DD Ranchi programmes till the launch of 24x7 channel.
● 2 new Shortwave Solid State digital transmitters of 100 KW to broadcast across the border for Afghanistan- Pakistan
region announced.
● New website of DD News launched.
●
Sardar Patel Memorial Lecture 2017 was
organised.
Film
Sector
●
Indian Panorama Film Festival
organized in Delhi. The festival opened with the
Documentary film “Ima Sabitri” directed by Bobo Khuraijam and Hindi feature
film “Pinky Beauty Parlour” directed by Akshay Singh. It also screened five
iconic films in which Shri Om Puri has acted to commemorate him.
●
Film Condition Assessment Project under
National Film Heritage Mission launched. This one-of-its-kind project in the
world, for film preservation, will make rich filmic heritage available for the
future generations to come. The condition of about 1,32,000 film reels at NFAI
would be assessed and each film reel will be tracked and monitored through RFID
tagging, during the first phase.
●
North East Film Festival –
Fragrances from the North East organized at National Film Archives of India,
Pune. 10 film makers from the North East sponsored for the first time to attend
the IFFI in Goa.
●
Bhojpuri
Film Festival organized
in Delhi. The festival includes a National Award winning film “Kab Hoi Gavana
Hamaar” and screening of two films selected in Indian Panorama section of IFFI
- Nitin Chandra’s Deswa, and Mangesh Joshi’s film “He”.
● India & Ukraine to strengthen bilateral cooperation through the medium of Film Festivals and
utilizing the Film Facilitation Office platform established by India.
● MoU signed between FTII and Canon to promote short courses in Film &
Television. Canon to support skill-oriented courses as Technology Partner.
These short courses will be held in collaboration with State Governments,
Universities and Educational institutions.
● New category of visa for foreign filmmakers created to ease issues related to their entry
into the country. Both the Film Visa and the Film Facilitation Office (FFO)
have been aimed to promote India as an attractive filming destination to the
world.
● 64th National Film Awards organized in Delhi. Kassav awarded Best
Feature Film and Sathamanam Bhavathi awarded as Best Popular Film providing
Wholesome Entertainment, Akshay Kumar given Best Actor award for the film
Rustom, Ms. Surabhi awarded Best Actress for the Malayalam movie
Minnaminungu-The Firefly Rajesh Mapuskar given Best Direction Award for Marathi
movie Ventilator.
● Renowned Film Director & Actor Shri
Kasinadhuni Viswanath to be conferred Dadasaheb Phalke Award for the
year 2016
● The 48th International Film Festival of
India (IFFI), 2017 was organised in Goa. A Total of 196 Films from 82
Countries, over 64 India Premieres of International films, 3 world Premieres,
over 28 Oscar submissions were screened, for the first-time ever Retrospective
of James Bond film screened. A special section of Restored Classics, a special
Focus on Canada curated by the Toronto International Film Festival showcased. A
Retrospective of Lifetime Achievement Award given to Atom Egoyan, Indian Film
Personality of the Year was awarded to Shri Amitabh Bachchan.
● Mumbai International Film Festival for
Documentary, Short and Animation Film (MIFF) 2018 got overwhelming response, 792 films in fray
for Golden & Silver Conch Awards. It will be inaugurated on 28 January,
2018 at the National Centre for Performing Arts, Mumbai.
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AK