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NEW DELHI: Indian Information Service officer Bhupendra Kainthola
has taken over as the new executive director (programmes)
of Lok Sabha Television, filling the vacancy created in January
after the termination of services of Sudhir Tandon, without
ascribing reason.
Kainthola has been posted to LS TV on deputation for three
years. He is an IIS officer of the 1989 batch.
His last posting was as the deputy general manager (media) for
the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for the past
two years, but he has earlier worked for several years in Doordarshan
News in the Mumbai and Delhi kendras. He also functioned in
the Press Information Bureau for one year.
The post of the ED (P) has been held as an additional charge
first by the executive producer Vartika Nanda-Sahai, and then
by the executive director (marketing), Sunit Tandon, who is
in the channel on deputation from the National Films Development
Corporation.
Sudhir Tandon had retired as deputy director general in August
2005 from the charge of Director of the Delhi Kendra of Doordarshan
before joining LS TV. He had received a termination order
in late December ending his three-year contract (in just over
a year), without assigning any reasons.
The LS TV was first conceived by the Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath
Chatterjee and offered to Doordarshan.
However, the public broadcaster had demanded financial support
for a minimum of 250 employees. Bhaskar Ghose - a former Director
General of Doordarshan and also Secretary in the Information
and Broadcasting Ministry - was then given the task of running
the channel with a strength of less than 80 people.
He was appointed with the designation of media adivsor to
the speaker and chief executive of the channel. LS TV was
formally launched as a 24x7 channel from July 24, 2006 when
the Monsoon session commenced.
Commencing with the Budget session, the channel is now in
charge of transmitting the signals to the Doordarshan tower
from where these are uplinked. Earlier, this work was being
handled by DD staff.
Furthermore, two more studios are coming up to augment the
facilities, but sources in the channel told indiatelevision.com
that there was no corresponding increase in staff strength
which was now just over 100.
The channel still does not have any funds of its own and has
to depend on the Audio Visual Unit of the Lok Sabha Secretariat
for its expenses and infrastructure.
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