Over 90 foreign TV channels aired in India: MEA

[tech_genie]

Over 90 foreign TV channels are currently aired in the country, the Ministry of External Affairs said today. Reacting to reports that nearly two dozen foreign TV channels had come under the scanner of security agencies for showing anti-India content, official spokesperson of the MEA said these were channels which don't have legal permission to downlink in the country. He also referred to the Information and Broadcasting Ministry's response in Parliament on the issue. "I would refer you to an answer which has been provided by our Ministry of Information and Broadcasting on this to the Lok Sabha on the 4th of this month. I will also provide information on that. That answer indicates that under our laws, you require permission for down-linking of TV channels to India," the official spokesperson said here. "There are approximately more than 90 TV channels which are of foreign origin which are down-linked legally in India. Any other channel which has not sought this permission is technically in violation of our norms and regulations," he said. He said some of these TV channels are, in the view of some of the country's agencies, considered to carry anti-national information. The spokesperson added none of those 24 channels has sought permission for down-linking into India and have not been granted permission. So, to that extent they do not conform to Indian laws for transmission of TV channels to India. He further said that for the last three years the list is approximately the same. "One or two of those over a three- year period have subsequently sought permission and been granted permission for down-linking and therefore they do not appear in that list," he said.

Source: Over 90 foreign TV channels aired in India: MEA - PTI