"We need to devise some mechanism which would address two competing priorities - right of the media for expression and rights & sensitivities of the civil society."

On 200 channels to carry DTH. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has always set itself the objective of making Doordarshan, the public broadcaster, of maximum use to the public.

Prasar Bharati has been given clear direction to work towards offering at least 200 television channels on the country's only free-to-air direct-to-home (DTH) platform, DD Direct Plus.

At present, DD Direct Plus, as the DTH service of DD is called, telecasts 50 free-to-air TV channels (containing both Doordarshan and private channels).

The Satellite Earth Station for uplink of signals has been set up in Delhi. High power Ku-band transponders of Indian Satellite, INSAT-4B are being used for hosting the DD Direct+ services.

On introduction of new channels on hold. Our Ministry has initiated wide ranging consultations with stakeholders for arriving at a consensus on the issue of regulating the content of television news channels. Self-regulation is the best path. However, we need to devise some mechanism which would address two competing priorities - right of the media for expression and rights and sensitivities of the civil society.

Presently, there are around 500 private TV channels on air in our country. We will not give permission to more channels till we constitute an independent, autonomous, regulatory body to look into all aspects of the broadcasting sector, including the content of TV channels.

We would allow only experienced people or groups to start a new channel. We would also make sure that new channels are financially stable to sustain for at least next three to five years.

On piracy. Film and video piracy are the principal banes of entertainment industry in the country. Widespread piracy puts to zero the efforts and investments that are made to entertain the country and Indian Diasporas abroad. These issues need to be addressed with a firm hand. It is not acceptable that some people work, some earn foreign exchange for the country, some sweat and toil to entertain the countrymen and people across the world but a few unscrupulous elements draw the benefits of that in illegal manner. This is not just acceptable. The entire issue needs to be a matter of joint concern of the states and centre.

On digitilisation of DD. In anticipation of the Commonwealth Games, the government has allocated Rs. 1,209 crore for digitalisation of Doordarshan and also to setup two studios to facilitate High Definition TV (HDTV) broadcasting.

From the eleventh plan (2007-12) outlay of Rs. 1369 crore, Rs. 1209 crore was set aside for this.

We have listed a number of steps such as digitalisation of existing studios, replacement and augmentation of old studios, satellite and transmission equipments.

Thirty-nine studio centres, which are partially digitalised or analog are planned to be fully digitalised in the 11th Plan. The remaining four studios, which are analog, are proposed to be digitalised in the 12th Plan.

HDTV transmission would provide 3 to 4 times higher resolution than the current. The new studios would come up at Mumbai and Delhi and field and production and post production facilities in four metros.

An amount of Rs. 1209 crore has been set aside for digitalization of Doordarshan out of an outlay of Rs. 1369 crore approved for the new schemes in the 11th Plan. The emphasis in the Eleventh Plan schemes is primarily on modernization. These schemes include work on digitalization of existing studios, establishment of digital transmitters, replacement and augmentation of old studio, transmitter and satellite broadcast equipment and setting up of HDTV facilities.

Presently Doordarshan has a total of 66 studio centers spread all over the country. Out of 66 studio centers, 23 centres are either already digitalised or being digitalized. 39 studio centers, which are partially digitalized or analog are planned to be fully digitalized in the 11th Plan. Remaining four studios, which are analog, are proposed to be digitalized in the 12th Plan.

It is planned to take up 40 locations where analog High Power Transmitters are operational for setting up of Digital terrestrial transmitters (DTT) in the country during the 11th Plan.

In addition, it is proposed to replace existing obsolete 14 numbers of High Power TV transmitters (UPTs) and 60 numbers of Lower Power TV transmitters (LPTs) by state of the art analog transmitters besides modernization and augmentation of equipment at existing studio centers.

Satellite Earth Stations are used in Doordarshan for networking of its programmes/channels throughout the country. It is proposed to upgrade and modernize existing Earth Stations, Digital Satellite News Gathering (DSNG) equipment in the 11th Plan.

High Definition TV (HDTV) broadcasting transmission provides pictures with a resolution 4 to 5 times higher than the existing transmission. It provides clear, noise free picture quality on wide screen TV receivers in aspect ratio of 16:9. It is proposed to establish two numbers of HDTV studios in Delhi and Mumbai, field production and post production facilities in four metros, HDTV uplink at Delhi apart from HDTV terrestrial transmitters in four metros.

On the media industry. The Indian media and entertainment industry which showed a turnover of Rs. 584 billion last year is projected to grow at 12.5 percent in coming five years and reach an annual turnover of Rs.1052 billion.

The I&B Ministry is earmarking Rs. 1000 crore during the current financial year to strengthen terrestrial reach of the electronic media to safeguard the people, especially in the border areas, from propaganda from across the country.

Our ministry is keen to get tax concessions for the entertainment industry. The ministry will try to convince the Finance Ministry to offer concessions on excise duty and lessen formalities and procedures which are more of hassles and obstacles than giving substantial inputs to government treasury from 2010 budget.