Press in India- 2014-15

The Annual Report “Press in India- 2014-15” was prepared on the basis of analysis of annual statements filed by the registered publications. The registered publications were required to file Annual Statements giving details including circulation figures under the Press & Registration of Books Act 1867. The report provided broad analysis of the general trend of the Indian Press based on the claimed circulation.

The print media registered a growth of 5.80% over the previous year as a total of 5,817 new publications were registered during 2014- 15 and 34 publications ceased their operation. Out of the total 1,05,443 publications registered as on 31^st March, 2015, the largest number of newspapers and periodicals registered in any Indian language was in Hindi with a figure of 42,493 publications followed by English with 13,661 registered publications. Out of 1,05,443 registered publications, 14,984 were dailies and bi-tri weeklies and remaining 90,459 were of other periodicities. State-wise analysis shows that Uttar Pradesh with 16,130 publications was at top position at the end of 2014-15. Maharashtra with 14,394 publications and Delhi with 12,177 publications were at second and third position respectively.

Total claimed circulation of publications stood at 51, 05, 21,445 in 2014-15 as against 45, 05, 86,212 copies per publishing day in 2013-14. The number of Annual statements received in RNI for the year 2014- 15 was 23,394 against 19,755 in 2013-14 registering an increase of 18.42%. As per report, circulation-wise, Hindi Publications continued to lead with 25,77,61,985 copies per publishing day followed by English with 6,26,62,670 copies and Urdu with 4,12,73,949 copies per publishing day.

The report also carried different Chapters viz. ownership of newspapers, analysis of daily newspapers, language wise study of the press and analysis of registered newspapers.

Main highlights of the Indian Press in 2014-15 are as follows:-

1	The total number of registered publications i)        Newspaper category (daily, tri/bi weekly periodicities) ii)      Periodicals category (other periodicities)	:	1,05,443 14,984 90,459
2	The number of new publications registered during   2014-15	:	5,817
3	Number of publications ceased during 2014-15	:	34
4	Percentage of growth of total registered publications over the previous year	:	5.80%
5	The largest number of publications registered in any Indian language  (Hindi)	:	42,493
6	The second largest number of publications registered in any language other than Hindi (English)	:	13,661
7	The State with the largest number of registered publications (Uttar Pradesh)	:	16,130
8	The State with the second largest number of registered publications (Maharashtra)	:	14,394
9	The number of  publications that submitted Annual Statements (this figure includes 607 Misc. publications)	:	23,394
10	The total claimed circulation of publications during   2014-15 i)        Hindi Publications ii)      English Publications iii)    Urdu Publications	:	51,05,21,445           25,77,61,985 6,26,62,670 4,12,73,949
11	The largest number of publications that submitted Annual Statements in any Indian language (Hindi).	:	12,516
12	The second largest number of publications that submitted Annual Statements in any language (English)	:	2,219
13	The largest circulated Daily: “Ananda Bazar Patrika”, Bengali, Kolkata.	:	11,78,779
14	The Second largest circulated Daily: “Hindustan Times” English, Delhi.	:	10,18,367
15	The largest circulated Hindi Daily: “Punjab Kesari”, Jallandar	:	7,42,190
16	The largest circulated multi-edition daily: “The Times of India”, English, (33  editions)	:	46,30,200
17	The second largest circulated multi-edition daily : “DainikBhaskar”,     Hindi, (34  editions)	:	36,94,385
18	The largest circulated Periodical: “The Sunday Times of India”, English/Weekly edition, Delhi.	:	8,85,201
19	The largest circulated Periodical in Hindi: “Sunday Navbharat Times”, Hindi/Weekly edition, Mumbai		7,04,257
20	i)          Total title applications received ii)        Titles approved iii)      Titles deblocked	: : :	20,217 13,492 7,819

CNN IBN- Real Heroes

New program on CNN IBN launched called "Real Heroes", an initiative of Network18, is to recognize and award ordinary citizens dedicated to making a difference in people’s lives. This weekend’s special episode featured celebrated footballer Baichung Bhutia, who will bring to you six unsung heroes from India’s east zone.

March 3rd, Sat @ 7:30 PM.March 4th, Sun @ 10:30PM.On  CNN IBN

'Issi Ka Naam Zindagi' by NDTV

NDTV India . launch of a new series titled 'Issi Ka Naam Zindagi', revealing the true individual behind a celebrity,
 
Hosted by the popular actor Raveena Tandon, the talk show features the country’s most loved and well-known celebrities. Watch the 13 episode series as it traces inspiring journeys of celebrities and revisits some of the most unforgettable experiences of their lives. Stars, with their family members, friends, mentors, and co-workers will share some of the most memorable and significant incidents

History TV 18 New Initiative

History Har Din’, the first initiative being announced, is an innovative UGC (user generated content) concept where viewers are invited to share instances from their life when they too have made history.
Entries can be submitted through a simple process by visiting HistoryHarDin.in.com. The best of the ‘history making’ stories will be telecast on History TV 18 in the coming months.

SC slashes Rs.100 crore to Times Now

Supreme Court declined to relax Bombay High Court order asking TIMES NOW channel  to deposit Rs. 100 crores -Rs.20crore in cash and Rs.80 crores as bank guarantee before taking up its appeal against a trial court verdict in a defamation case as former Supreme Court Judge  P.B.Sawant sued TIMES NOW for mistakenly displaying his photograph in a report on September 10, 2008, about a person (with a phonetically similar sounding name) allegedly involved in the multi-crore Provident Fund scam

Chairman wants more teeth for the Press Council

The Press council Chairman Markandey Katju has written to Prime Minister Manmohan singh suggesting that  electronic media  be brought under its purviews and be given powers to stop  government advertisement ,suspension of  license of that media for certain period if it behaves  in a very obnoxious manner. “I have poor opion of the media  and added that “they should be working for the interest of the people .They are not working for the interest of the people and sometime they are positively working in an anti people  manner .Justice Katju told Karan Thapar on the CNN-IBN ‘s Devil’s Advocate  programme.

United Nations Plan of Action to Improve Safety of Journalists and Combat Impunity

Representatives of United Nations agencies, programmes and funds meeting at UNESCO in Paris have drafted an Action Plan to improve the safety of journalists and combat impunity of crimes against them.

A Draft Action Plan was prepared at a meeting held on September 13 and 14, 2011, under the chairmanship of Shri Raghu Menon, Secretary, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Government of India and Chairperson of the Impunity to Programme for the Development of Communication (IPDC). UNESCO Director-General Ms. Irina Bokova; Mr. Kiyo Akasaka, UN Under-Secretary General for Communications and Public Information; Mr. Frank la Rue, UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression and representatives of leading freedom of expression and press freedom organizations also attended the two-day meeting.

The meeting was endorsed by UN Secretary-General Mr. Ban Ki-moon and Ms. Navi Pillay, High Commissioner for Human Rights, who addressed the participants at the start of session.

More than 500 professionals have been killed in the course of their duties over the past decade. Many more have been assaulted, abducted, sexually violated, intimidated, harassed, arrested or illegally detained. The vast majority of these crimes did not concern international war correspondents but journalists working in their home countries, often in times of peace, and covering local stories. The instigators for the most part, remain unpunished.

The measures in the Draft Plan include the establishment of a coordinated inter-agency mechanism to handle issues connected to the safety of journalists and impunity. This will involve monitoring of progress at both national and international levels. Safety and impunity are also to be incorporated into UN contributions to national strategy, notably development assistance programmes and the possible inclusion of media stake holders in some of the preparatory processes of the UN’s development projects.

The Draft also foresees the extension of work already conducted by UNESCO to prevent crimes against media workers. This notably includes assisting countries to develop legislation and mechanisms favourable to freedom of expression and information, and by supporting their efforts to implement existing international rules and principles, especially the 1997 UNESCO General Conference Resolution concerning violence against journalists. This stipulates that there should be no statute of limitations on crimes against freedom of expression.

To further reinforce prevention, awareness raising campaigns will also be conducted with Member States, civil society, non-governmental organizations and concerned bodies about issues of freedom of expression, journalists’ safety and the danger of Impunity to Programme for the Development of Communication (IPDC) at its next session in March 2012 and will then be submitted to the bodies in charge of UN-wide coordination.

UNESCO, as the UN agency mandated to “promote the free flow of ideas by word and image”, with the aim of establishing a coordinated, UN system-wide approach to preventing and combating these crimes.