Tidbits from Southasian region

Will levying annual license fees on TV sets really pull Prasar Bharati out of its financial crisis? And is it proper? The Indian government's proposal rests on the debatable argument that Prasar Bharati, a statutory autonomous body set up to run the state's Doordarshan and All India Radio, is a public-service broadcaster. The BBC, on which Prasar Bharati was modelled, raises a significant part of its revenue from license fees, and is indeed a non-profit venture, steering clear of commercial advertising. Chhetria Patrakar is plagued by questions: Can DD or AIR, which continue to function as an arm of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry, really be categorised as 'public service'? Are the bureaucrats that have been handpicked by the government to head the Prasar Bharati since its birth in 1997 sufficiently professional? Should consumers be asked to cough up all of that moolah, just to be fed official propaganda and downright shoddy fare?
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While on the subject of AIR and DD, CP was amused to find that, in some parts of India, they are not accessible at all! For the past few months, residents in areas of Arunachal Pradesh have been unable to tune in to these state airwaves, which seem to have been jammed by more-powerful Chinese transmitters. The transmitter in the Arunachali capital, Itanagar, is nowhere near capable of covering the state's more remote districts – to which, incidentally, China has been increasingly staking its own claim of late. If the situation continues, all those hooked on government broadcasting will be well advised to carry their "Teach Yourself Chinese" booklets on their next trip to Arunachal – which, incidentally, is the Northeastern state that speaks the best Hindi.
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