Editorial 1: Stabilising ties with Nepal in uncertain time
Context: The recent electoral verdict in Nepal showed that democracy is taking roots in Nepal
Meaning of election results:
- Barring some shortcomings and controversies, the election was largely peaceful. These elections have resulted into many positives like-
- Peaceful mainstreaming of the Maoist movement into the democratic structure
- The integration of guerrillas into the Nepal Army
- The transfer of power
- The adoption of a Constitution and
- The emergence of a federal structure.
- At the same time there is some negatives like-
- Frequent hung assembly from these elections, which results into instability and frequent government changes in Nepal, which in turn results into unpredictability in India-Nepal relations.
- It was largely expected that Sher Bahadur Deuba would swear in as PM with the help of Pushpa Kamal Dayal ‘Prachanda’ and other three parties.
- But now it seems that Pushpa Kamal Dayal ‘Prachanda’ would swear in as new PM with the help of K.P. Oli.
- These political developments might be an irritant to India and music to the ears to China.
India and China Question:
- India has a long history in dealing with political instability and frequent changes of governments in Nepal.
- India focused to gain a non-partisan support for inclusive economic development, interdependence, communication links, people-to-people contacts, and building on the compulsive logic of economic complementarities, especially in hydropower sector where Nepal has huge but largely unexplored potential.
- India’s linkages of history, geography, culture, religion and economy with Nepal help India to manage the unpredictability in this relation within a tolerable limit.
- Whether Prachanda and Oli would be ‘pro-China’ or ‘Anti-India’ has to be seen.
- But being seasoned politicians, it would be prudent to assume that they would follow policies which are in the interest of Nepal and in the furtherance of their domestic politics.
- And right now the public mood in Nepal is in alert about Chinese infrastructure projects and their ‘debt-trap’.
- China does not enjoy same legitimacy after their recent COVID blunder.
- On the other hand, India’s transparency in infrastructure projects gives it an edge over Chinese projects.
- India has to deal with the irritant in the relation like the 1950 India-Nepal Treaty of Peace and Friendship and the border issue.
- They need to be managed in open and transparent manner.
Time for fresh thinking:
- COVID-19 crisis has made the possibility of a global recession a reality.
- More than 100 million people fell below poverty line in 2020-21.
- This has given a new chance for India and Nepal to do a fresh start in their relationship.
- Now is the time for fresh thinking on a host of issues, including economic recovery; bilateral, sub regional and regional cooperation; restructuring supply chains; human as well as conventional security; energy cooperation; development; people-to-people contacts; and the untapped potential for technology to accelerate inclusive growth, and soft power to maximise mutual advantage.
- Both sides need empathy and political will.
- Nepal expects mutual respects from India and India expects sensitivity from Nepal about its security concerns vis-à-vis China.
Conclusion: Diverse but balanced and constructive approaches to India-Nepal relations will contribute to a clearer understanding of the past, better awareness of present trends, and new roadmaps for substantive upgrading of ties in the years to come.
Editorial 2: Towards making India an Uplinking hub
Context: Two major developments in television industry have happened in India in last two years.
What are the developments?
- In 2021, the Cable Television Network Rules, 1994, were amended to include a statutory mechanism for redressal of grievances and complaints of viewers relating to content broadcast by television channels in accordance with the provisions of the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995.
- In 2022, the Union Cabinet approved the policy guidelines for the uplinking and downlinking of television channels from India.
What is uplinking and downlinking?
- Uplink refers to the link from a ground station up to a satellite.
- Downlink is the link from a satellite down to one or more ground stations or receivers.
Significance of these developments:
- The amended Cable Television Network Rules bring in a strong institutional system for redressing grievances and make broadcasters and their self-regulating bodies accountable and responsible.
- The policy guidelines for uplinking and downlinking are aimed at making India the hub of uplinking as they allow Indian teleports to uplink foreign channels.
An expensive and cumbersome affair:
- Since 1959 for almost 3 decades broadcasting was solely under state control.
- Early 1990s saw boom in transmission and broadcasting from foreign satellite in India.
- Cable television grew in an unprecedented and haphazard manner, while government was not ready to regulate them.
- In order to regulate this burgeoning cable network industry and to make registration of cable operators mandatory, the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995 was brought in.
- But it was only in 2000 that the first license to set up a teleport — an earth station facility from where TV signals can be uplinked to a geostationary satellite — was granted.
- 1st private television channel, Zee TV was started in October 1992.
- In the next few years, Business India Television; Asia Television Network, which was mainly a Hindi feature film channel; and Jain TV also began operating.
- All these channels flew out tapes every day to Hong Kong, Singapore or Moscow for uplinking.
Setting up earth station:
- Later uplinking started on Indian soil through Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited (VSNL).
- The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB), Government of India, notified the ‘Guidelines for Uplinking from India’ in July 2000 and private broadcasters got permission to set up their own earth stations and to uplink.
- The first license was given to TV Today Network Limited in November 2000 and the broadcaster started a 24X7 Hindi news channel, Aaj Tak, from December 31, 2000.
- Aaj Tak became the first Indian private television channel to uplink signals from its own earth station.
- The MIB issued uplinking and downlinking policy guidelines in 2011 for private satellite TV Channels and teleports.
- The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting decided to amend the existing laws and guidelines as per changing technologies in the field of uplinking and downlinking.
- The Ministry published the draft policy guidelines on April 30, 2020, and invited comments and suggestions from stakeholders within 15 days.
- After considering the comments and suggestions, the policy guidelines for uplinking and downlinking of television channels from India were notified on November 9, 2022.
Conclusion: The guidelines aim to create a conducive environment in line with the principle of ease of doing business on a sound regulatory framework. But more importantly, these are aimed at making India a teleport hub for other countries.