The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting is one of the vital Ministries that represent the face of the government in reaching out to the masses. The Ministry is entrusted with the task of disseminating information about government policies, schemes and programmes through the different mediums of communication.

The Ministry took several key initiatives in the year 2018 to meet these objectives, a snapshot of which is presented below.

Information Sector

• Bureau of Outreach and Communication formed through integration of Directorate of Advertising & Visual Publicity (DAVP), Directorate of Field Publicity (DFP) and Song & Drama Division (S&DD) for ensuring synergy between the media units which were otherwise working in silos.
• Reference Annual India 2018 and भारत 2018released - the flagship publications brought out by Publications Division. The two Reference Annuals were also made available as e-book in the most commonly used  e-PUB format so that they could be easily accessed on a variety of devices such as tablets, computers, e-readers and smartphones.
• Reconstitution of Committee on Journalist Welfare Scheme - for the first time, journalists were also made members of the Committee. It was also made leaner with only Secretary (I&B), Joint Secretary (P&A), Principal Director General, PIB as official members.
• DeenDayalUpadhyay Scholarship announced for people of Indian Origin who have done exemplary work in the field of development journalism.
• Special Yojana issue on ‘employment and self-employment’ released - covered wide ranging issues including those related to livelihood opportunities, entrepreneurship, employment data; also featured success stories of programmes like MUDRA Yojana
• Multimedia Exhibition on 150 years of Celebrating Mahatma Gandhi’s Birth Anniversary organized by Bureau of Outreach and Communication. The Exhibition had many engaging features like Quiz on the life of Mahatma Gandhi, interactive timeline depicting life of Mahatma Gandhi, Photo Booth with various backgrounds to choose from, 3D Video Wall, etc. It also showcased several books on the Life of Mahatma Gandhi.
• “The Republican Ethic” and “LoktantraKeSwar” book released - selected speeches of President Shri Ram NathKovind, brought out by Directorate of Publications Division.

Broadcast Sector

• 15th Asia Media Summit organized in Delhi with the theme, ‘Telling Our Stories – Asia and More’; it encouraged dialogue and cooperation in Media Sector in the Region
•  All India Radio streaming services launched on Amazon Alexa Smart Speakers - a synergy of the old and modern forms of communication. The initiative will also benefit Indian diaspora since now anyone from any part of the world can listen to the programmes in All India Radio through Alexa.
• 9 DSNG vans of Doordarshan flagged off - with 4 of these 9 DSNGs meant for Gangtok, Kohima, Imphal and Agartala, the development stories of the people of North-East will further reach out to people.

Films Sector

• Agreement on Film Co-production between India and Israel signed - to facilitate mutual exchange of art and culture, create goodwill and better understanding among the people of both the countries as well as various aspects of film making. The Agreement will also help in generation of employment among artistic, technical as well as non-technical personnel.
• 65th National Film Awardsorganized - Late veteran Actor Shri Vinod Khanna awarded DadasahebPhalke Award; Late eminent Actress, Sridevi awarded Best Actress for the Hindi movie Mom; Riddhi Sen given Best Actor award for Nagarkirtan; Assamese movie Village Rockstars awarded Best Feature Film and Baahubali - The Conclusion awarded as Best Popular Film providing Wholesome Entertainment; Jayaraj given Best Direction Award for Malayalam movie Bhayanakam.
• ASEAN India Film Festival organized in Delhi - the festival acts as a vehicle of cultural exchange and facilitates people to people contact in member countries, especially amongst youth.
• Dedicated web portallaunched by Film Facilitation Office to disseminate information on filming locations and the facilities available in India for film production/post production and to allow foreign film makers to make online application for permission of shooting of feature films, reality TV shows and commercial TV series in India.
• India Pavilion was organized at Cannes Film Festival 2018, along with exploration of co-production opportunities between India and France in May 2018. India Pavilion was also set up in Berlin Film Festival (Feb 2018) and Toronto International Film Festival (Sep 2018).
• India hosts European Union Film Festival - 24 latest European films from 23 EU Member States screened. The festival traversed through 11 cities in India including New Delhi, Chennai, Port Blair, Pune, Puducherry, Kolkata, Jaipur, Visakhapatnam, Thrissur, Hyderabad and Goa from 18th June till 31st August 2018.
•  India Pavilion organized at Videocittà 2018 in Rome Film Festival. India was the partner country at Videocittà 2018, an event focussing on Virtual Reality, Video gaming, Animation, Film Making, etc. India Pavilion atVideocittà 2018 showcased Indian films’ heritage, ease of film shooting in India, promoted film shooting locations in India, International Film Festival of India, Indian Cinema from different regions and Audio Visual Co Production between India and Italy.
• 49th International Film Festival of India organized in Goa. Israel was the country in focus and Jharkhand was the state in focus during the Festival. The Festival opened with the world premiere of ‘The AspernPapers’. ‘Donbass’ directed by Sergei Loznitsa has won the coveted Golden Peacock; Lijo Jose Pellissery was conferred Best Director Award for ‘Ee.Ma.Yau’; Chemban Vinod was declared the  Best Actor (Male) and AnastasiiaPustovit got Best Actor (Female) Award. Dan Wolman was given the Lifetime Achievement Award. Master Scriptwriter Salim Khan was presented with IFFI Special Award at IFFI 2018 Closing Ceremony, for his Lifetime Contribution to Cinema.

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AP