| NEW
DELHI: President Pratibha Devisingh Patil today stressed the need to make access
to news and entertainment affordable and universal.
She said in her address
to Parliament at the start of the Budget session that in addition to notifying
guidelines for providing Headend in the Sky services, the digitalization of both
All India Radio and Doordarshan was on the anvil.
The
Commonwealth Games 2010 will be covered in High Definition format by Doordarshan
for the first time.
She added: "We also take pride that Indian films
and music compositions have got international acclaim and recognition for our
artists."
Meanwhile, she said a National Mission for Education through
Information and Communication Technology had been launched to provide broadband
internet connectivity to around 18,000 colleges and 400 universities in the country.
She
said the government was committed to the goal of extending the benefits of modern
communication facilities to rural areas. Financial support is provided from Universal
Service Obligation Fund to provide infrastructure for rural connectivity. Action
had been initiated to set up 10,000 towers in 2010-11 for connecting remote areas
across the country.
The space programme continued to provide societal
services to the Nation in the areas of tele-medicine, tele-education and village
resource centres. The Oceansat-2 satellite was successfully launched onboard the
Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle. The flight test of the GSLV-D3 launch vehicle
with indigenous cryogenic stage, and the launch of the Cartosat-2B, INSAT-3D and
Resourcesat-2 satellites are planned in the near future. The GSLV-Mark III launch
vehicle will be further developed and activities towards the Chandrayaan-2 Mission
will be initiated, she said. | 
