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with Bangladesh are Petrapole- information campaigns attempted by Council of India monitors print media,
Benapole, Gede-Darshana, Singhabad- the researchers had better impact. It the News Broadcasters Association
Rohanpur and Radhikapur-Birol. was successful in reducing last mile (NBA) monitors news channels, and
The Haldibari-Chilahati route is delays and encouraging greater the Central Board of Film Certification
expected to enhance Bangladesh's participation in the programme. (CBFC) regulates film content.
connectivity to Assam too. Work is Earlier, the delays had been taking OTT platforms grew rapidly in India,
progressing on the rail link connecting place because workers were often not especially during the corona virus
Agartala in Tripura and Akhaura. aware when their wages got credited induced lockdown period, when the
The 180 BSF battalion will be deployed to their accounts. Postal officials, closure of film theatres led several
at the International Check Post, including managers, often exploited production houses to release their films
Haldibari to man gates on the rail this fact and used payments for their directly on OTT platforms. While
track. The 65 BSF Battalion looks after own needs. emphasising the need for
the border in this sector. In 2017, payments were delayed by 66 "convergence" between various
ministries to keep abreast with the
days on average, but this reduced by
Right information is key to 28 days as a result of the intervention, rapid growth in emerging platforms

welfare goals the authors say. The relief was even like OTTs, the I&B ministry also
highlighted the need for a level playing
more significant for beneficiaries from
India has launched several welfare the scheduled castes and tribes. field for both telecom and media and
programmes in recent decades, entertainment companies in terms of
ranging from direct benefit transfers to The authors also found that the adjusted gross revenue (AGR).
Ayushman Bharat and the PM-KISAN programme reached more people in
scheme. But their implementation and the year following the intervention. Premji is most generous
delivery at the "last mile"-the final The improvement in outcomes is likely Indian
stage of the process-remains a key to have encouraged more people to
challenge. participate, the authors suggest. IT major Wipro's Azim Premji donated
Rs 22 crore a day or Rs 7,904 crore in
A new study by Upasak Das of the a year to emerge as the most
University of Manchester Global OTT platforms and online generous Indian in FY20 and top a list
Development Institute and others news portals now under of philanthropy.
shows that keeping the intended
beneficiaries updated with correct and I&B ministry Premji pipped HCL Technologies' Shiv
relevant information about such The Union government has ordered Nadar, who had earlier topped the list
programmes can significantly improve that all online news portals and collated by Hurun Report India and
the welfare outcomes. content providers like Netflix, Amazon Edelgive Foundation, by a wide margin.
Prime Video, Hotstar and others be Nadar's donations stood at Rs 795
As an experiment, the researchers
brought under the purview of the crore for FY20 as against Rs 826 crore
publicized information on wages information and broadcasting ministry. in the year-ago period. Premji had
credited under the Mahatma Gandhi donated Rs 426 crore in the previous
National Rural Employment Guarantee The notification, signed by President fiscal.
Scheme in parts of Telangana. After Ram Nath Kovind and issued, said
the wages were credited to the government regulations would also Richest Indian Mukesh Ambani of
workers' accounts, lists of beneficiaries apply to news on social media Reliance Industries retained the third
were put up at main locations in the platforms such as Facebook, Twitter spot among the list of givers by
village. Messages on various provisions and Instagram. Until now, OTT donating Rs 458 crore as against Rs
of the programme were also sent out platforms streamed digitally fell under 402 crore a year ago, it said.
through local meetings, phone calls the domain of the information and The raging pandemic had the
and radio. technology ministry. corporate honchos repurposing their
Generalized campaigns, which involved Content on digital platforms, however, donations to fight the COVID
dissemination of information through remained unregulated, and was infections, and the top giver on this
radio and meetings, improved regarded by the government as turned out to be Tata Sons with a Rs
awareness, but personalized anomalous especially since the Press 1,500- crore commitment, followed by

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