Ansari(Rajya Sabha) TV is soaking up money faster than a sponge does water

Speaker, in a joint session after nomination of Rekha in Rajya Sabha

In creating an independent television channel to promote the Rajya Sabha (RS) and its members, Vice-President Hamid Ansari, who is chairman of the Upper House, seems to have indulged in an extravagance that our stretched public resources can ill-afford. Pallavi Polanki  files a very important & explosive report in Firstpost India :

Headed by Gurdeep Singh Sappal, formerly OSD (officer on special duty) to Ansari, Rajya Sabha TV is soaking up money faster than a sponge does water. For 2012-13, the bill will be around Rs 73 crore. In November 2007 when Sappal, then OSD to the chairman, requested the file on the initiative to “launch Rajya Sabha Television, which was eventually abandoned” to be put up for his perusal. Subsequently, in April 2008, when the GPC gave its ‘in principle’ nod to RS TV, the channel was proposed as joint project with Lok Sabha TV, under a common network called the Sansad Television Network. However, what transpired – the launch of RSTV as an independent entity – was neither approved nor endorsed by the GPC. This, despite members of another Rajya Sabha committee, expressing strong reservations about the creation of an independent channel.

… setting up of a new RS TV channel by spending several crores of rupees may not serve any purpose, as it would not be run by experts in the field, thereby leading to production and airing poor quality programmes. Moreover, the exercise to project the members of the Rajya Sabha was not advisable as proceedings were already being telecast by Doordarshan…But that was not to happen.

..No gazette notification was issued on the setting up of the channel…And for 2012-2013, the budgeted expenditure (for the channel)  is an astounding Rs 73.30 crore.

….Raising the question, do we really need more general interest programming using taxpayers’ money — on a channel dedicated to Parliament, when we already have a national broadcast network (Doordarshan) with a fleet of channels catering to everything from news and current affairs to entertainment, sports and more?

Read the full report: Ansari’s Rajya Sabha TV swallows huge state resources

Related articles

• Fine Print: Rajya Sabha to vote on Indian Media Censorship! (indologygoa.wordpress.com)
• Oldest Indian Parliamentarian Rishang Keishing says, It was so quiet and peaceful then! (indologygoa.wordpress.com)
• Are film stars a failure as Parliamentarians? (ibnlive.in.com)

Sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik’s sculpture with a message “Flowers Bloom, Earth Smiles”

116th Ooty Flower Show festival, Ooty: Sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik’s sculpture with a message “Flowers Bloom, Earth Smiles” at 116th Ooty Flower Show festival.

Related articles

• Global Warming: Sand Sculpture by Sudarsan Pattnaik (indologygoa.wordpress.com)

Kuwait is dry for Indian Media: Indian journos to Kuwaiti scribe

kuwait journalist in parliament

First India-Kuwait journos exchange

Both the Indian and Kuwaiti journalists expressed concern over the negligible presence of regular correspondents in either direction. Delegation coordinator Adnan Khalifa Al-Rashid posed a question to Indian journalists as to “why is it that there is no Indian media correspondent in Kuwait, while, on the other hand, the Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) and the Kuwait TV, each, has a regular correspondent here.”

The Foreign Editor of India’s English daily “Hindustan Times” Pramitpal Chaudhuri said in reply that the appointment of a correspondent in a particular country or region depends on a wide range of feasibility factors. These factors include interests of readers/viewers in that country or region. He further stated, “Interests of readers depend on the prevailing circumstances (like violence or political upheavals) in that particular country/ region. Interest among the Indian readers about Kuwait had risen during the Iraqi occupation, but then it was for a short span of time.”

Supplementing the same, senior Indian journalist Saeed Naqvi said, “because of the lack of interest among Indian readers for Kuwait, hardly anyone knows about the occurrence of parliamentary elections in this Gulf country in February, and none in India would know the poll results.” Journalist K.V. Prasad said that because of certain “feasibility factors”, the Indian English daily “The Hindu” has posted a regular correspondent in Dubai only to cover the whole of West Asia from there.

The Kuwaiti journalists were shown a short TV documentary on the Indian media. “There are more than 80,000 publications in various Indian languages being published across the country, with nearly 7000 published from New Delhi alone,” the documentary informed the Kuwaiti journalists.

The visiting Kuwaiti media delegation comprising of noted journalists engaged in the first-ever interaction between journalists from the two nations, arranged by the External Publicity Division of India’s External Affairs Ministry. Ministry Spokesman Syed Akbaruddin formally welcomed the delegation, consisting of ten journalists on a five-day visit, and hosted a lunch in their honor.

Related articles

• Kuwait: The dark horse among Gulf economies? (ydarasha.wordpress.com)