Prasar Bharati to study DD's impact in Gulf countries

New Delhi, Aug 3: Public broadcaster Prasar Bharati has put on the anvil a study on the reach and impact of DD-India channel in the Gulf countries, the Rajya Sabha was informed today.

In a written reply, Information and Broadcasting Minister P R Dasmunsi said Doordarshan had already entered into agreements for the distribution of DD-India channel in Canada and the US to cater to the needs of the Indian diaspora there.

''A similar agreement for distribution in England is under finalisation,'' he said.

About the programming contents of DD-India, the minister said the channel carries news bulletins, features on topical events, entertainment programmes, feature films, music and dance, including children programmes in some regional languages.

''The content medley of DD-India channel is expected to serve the interests and needs of the Indian diaspora'' in those countries, he said.

Replying to another query, Mr Dasmunsi said the ministry, till June 30 this year, had permitted 185 private satellite TV channels to uplink from India. In addition, 65 TV channels had been provisionally allowed to downlink in India.

He said the proposals of 30 private satellite TV channels for permission to uplink from India and another 12 channels for downlinking were at various stages of scrutiny in accordance with the existing guidelines.

UNI