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Prasad is the brother-in-law of journalist turned Rajya Sabha MP
Rajeev Shukla and elder brother of Anuradha Prasad, who heads BAG
Films. Anuradha Prasad's production house delivers software to both
Star India and Doordarshan,
With Swaraj out of I&B, it will be left to Prasad to oversee
the rollout of conditional access systems in the broadcast sector,
an area in which she showed a deep focus interest. The question
that arises is whether Prasad will show the zeal that Swaraj showed
in the matter, especially since the notification for the implementation
of CAS in the four metros of Mumbai, New Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai
has already been issued. The deadline has been set as 15 July.
The I&B ministry is still to announce what will be the cost
of the basic tier of free to air channels under CAS as too how many
channels will be included in it. That may well be among the first
issues that Prasad takes up as an A priority. Then there is also
the pending issue of Star India's application for an uplinking licence
for its Star News channel. Prasad will certainly have enough on
his plate from Day 1.
Meanwhile, The information technology and communications ministry,
earlier under Pramod Mahajan, was shifted to disinvestment minister
Arun Shourie who now holds additional charge of that portfolio.
Mahajan, who resigned from his cabinet post as information technology,
communications and parliamentary affairs minister last night, took
charge as party general secretary.
See earlier reports:
I&B
ministry readies for a new head in Ravi Shankar Prasad?
Mahajan, Jaitley trade
places; Swaraj may move to parliamentary affairs
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