Kalimpong cable TV barred from airing foreign channels

PRADIP LOHAGUN 

KALIMPONG : The local cable television network of Kalimpong has barred the airing of channels from Nepal and Bhutan and they include Nepal TV, Kantipur, Bhutan Broadcasting Service and Peace TV (Dubai). This comes after the Union information and broadcasting ministry declared the channels to be functioning illegally in India as they have not obtained the necessary licenses. According to the ministry, Section 5 of the Cable Television Act, 1995 clearly states it is a violation of law to air channels not registered with it. Further, various intelligence wings of the country have advised the ministry to clamp down on the broadcasting of foreign channels citing national security risks. The issue was also debated upon in the Lok Sabha on December 4, 2012. Manish Tiwari, the information and broadcasting minister at the time, had issued a notification listing 24 foreign channels as functioning illegally in the country. The notification also contained the names of the channels that have been barred of late. Even so, several areas in the Darjeeling hills continued to air the channels. Now, the administration has proscribed them in Kalimpong sub-division, but reports have come in claiming areas of the hills are still airing the channels.