On December 23, 2020, the Union Cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved the following proposals:-
i.Approved Merger of Five Film Media Units through Rationalization of Infrastructure, Manpower and Other Resources.
ii.Approved Revision in guidelines for providing Direct to Home (DTH) Services in India.
iii.Approved ordinance to protect Delhi’s unauthorised colonies from punitive action.
iv.Approved ₹59,000 crores post-matric scholarship scheme for 4 crores SC students.
The complete details of all approvals are as follows: –
Cabinet approved Merger of Five Film Media Units through Rationalization of Infrastructure, Manpower and Other Resources
Union Cabinet has approved the merging of four film media units, namely Films Division of India (FDI) or Film Divisions, Directorate of Film Festivals, National Film Archives of India, and Children’s Film Society India (CFSI) with the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC) Ltd. by expanding the Memorandum of Articles of Association of NFDC.
- Hereafter all the activities of the above four mentioned units will be carried by NFDC. Transaction Advisor and Legal Advisor will be appointed to monitor the transfer of assets, employees, and all functions of the merging aspects. Also, the interests of the staff of all the media units involved will be fully taken into consideration and no staff will be removed from the concerned units.
- The main focus of the merging five units and operates under one corporation will be to ensure balanced and focused development of Indian cinema in all its genres-feature films, including films /content for the OTT platforms, children’s content, animation, short films and documentaries.
Quick Facts about Five Film Media Units:-
Films Division of India (FDI) commonly referred to as Films Division was established in 1948 under Ministry of Information and Broadcasting(M/oI&B), primarily to produce documentaries and news magazines for publicity of Government programs and cinematic records of Indian history. FDI is divided into four wings, namely, Production, Distribution, International Documentary and Short Film Festival.
- Head Quarters – Mumbai,Maharashtra
Children’s Film Society India (CFSI) was founded in 1955 , functions under M/oI&B that produces children’s films and various TV programs in various Indian languages.
- Head Quarters – Mumbai,Maharashtra
National Film Archives of India is a subordinate office of M/o I&B, was established in 1964 with the primary objective of acquiring and preserving Indian cinematic heritage. It is a member of the International Federation of Film Archives.
- Head Quarters – Pune, Maharashtra,
Directorate of Film Festivals under M/o I&B was set up in 1973 to promote Indian films and cultural exchange. It initiates and presents the International Film Festival of India, the National Film Awards and the Indian Panorama.
- Head Quarters – New Delhi, Current Director – Senthil Rajan
National Film Development Corporation of India (NFDC) is incorporated in the year 1975 , functions in areas of film financing, production and distribution under M/o I&B with the primary object of planning and promoting an organized, efficient and integrated development of the Indian Film Industry.
- Head Quarters – Mumbai,Maharashtra
Cabinet approved Revision in guidelines for providing Direct to Home (DTH) Services in India
Cabinet approved the proposal to revise the guidelines of providing Direct to Home services in India.Once the revised guidelines issued by the Union information and broadcasting (I&B) minister Prakash Javadekar,it will be come into effect for all DTH providers.
Find the below changes as per the revised guidelines
i.License for the DTH will be issued for 20 years instead of the current 10 years and would be renewed for 10 years at a time.
ii. License fee has revised from 10% of Gross Revenue (GR) to 8% of Adjusted GR(AGR).
iii. License Fee will be charged on a quarterly basis instead of the current practice of an annual basis.
iv. DTH operators shall be permitted to operate to a maximum of 5% of its total channel carrying capacity as permitted platform channels. A one-time non-refundable registration fee of Rs.10,000 per Platform Service (PS) channels shall be charged from a DTH operator.
v.DTH operators, willing to share DTH platform and transport stream of TV channels, on a voluntary basis, will be allowed. Distributors of TV channels will be permitted to share the common hardware for their Subscriber Management System (SMS) and Conditional Access System (CAS) applications.
vi.Union Cabinet has also approved 100 per cent FDI in the DTH broadcasting services sector.The cap of 49% Foreign Direct Investment(FDI) in the existing DTH guidelines will be aligned with the extant Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) ‘s policy on FDl as amended from time to time.
Cabinet Approves Ordinance to Protect Delhi’s Unauthorised Colonies from Punitive Action
Delhi’s unauthorised colonies, JJ (Jhuggi Jhopri) clusters in rural areas built illegal constructions on agricultural land.In order to protect the livelihood of people cabinet approved an ordinance extending protection from disciplinary/punitive action for another three years under NCT of Delhi (Special Provisions) Amendment Ordinance 2020. The ordinance has to be signed by the President before it comes into force.
Background:-
i.The first law passed in the year 2011 under NCT of Delhi Laws (Special Provisions) Second Act, 2011 and extension again happened in 2014. Since the law re-enacted in 2017 is expecting to be finished on December 31 2020 so again approved to extend the protection till December 2023.
ii.The jhuggi jhopri cluster (JJC) is one of seven types of ‘unplanned’ settlements designated by the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD). JJCs are located on “public land” owned by agencies like the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), the Railways, or the Central Public Works Department and constructed without permission. As a result, JJCs are often described as “encroachments” by governing agencies in Delhi, and their residents have experienced repeated waves of eviction and resettlement since the 1960s.
CCEA approved changes in Post Matric Scholarship Scheme for Scheduled Castes students
Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) gave nod to the changes in Post-Matric Scholarship Scheme to students under Scheduled Castes (PMS-SC).It will help around 4 crores SC students to complete their higher education in the next five years.
i.Cabinet approved a cost of ₹59,048 crores for this scheme. The amount will be spent by the Central and State Government in 60% – 40% (i.e) central government will spend ₹35,534 crores and the remaining amount by the state government.
ii. Post Matric Scholarship Scheme for Scheduled Castes allows students to pursue any post matric course starting from class 11th and onwards.
iii. Amount will be transferred to the students under the scheme on Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT)mode, preferably using the Aadhar Enabled Payment System.
iv.The Central Assistance which was around Rs 1100 crore annually during 2017-18 to 2019-20 would be increased more than 5 times to be around Rs 6000 core annually during 2020-21 to 2025-26.
Recent Related News:
i.Government of India issued an order to bring digital or online Media, films and audio-visual programmes, news portal and current affairs content under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (Ministry of I&B).This will include OTT (over-the-top) platforms such as Netflix, Hotstar, Prime Video & Online News Portal. In order tobbring this under the Ministry of I&B President amended the Government of India (Allocation of Business) Rules, 1961.
