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NDTV ban follows long history of clampdowns

Some of the actions included issuing advisories to 24 channels for issues ranging from covering live anti-terrorist operations by security forces, showing clippings from uncertified films as news items, and for broadcasting obscene visuals.

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Venkaiah Naidu at the 75th year celebrations of the Builders’ Association of India held in Chennai on Saturday
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Amidst widespread uproar over a one-day ban on NDTV India, documents highlight the fact that between 2012 and 2015, successive governments have used the provisions of the Cable Television Networks (Regulations) Act of 1955 to take action against 91 TV channels, which included prohibiting transmission of 17 channels up to maximum 30 days.

Some of the actions included issuing advisories to 24 channels for issues ranging from covering live anti-terrorist operations by security forces, showing clippings from uncertified films as news items, and for broadcasting obscene visuals. This apart, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting had also issued warnings to 29 channels for telecasting liquor advertisements, revealing the identity of rape victims and screening dead bodies and badly injured persons without morphing their faces. During the UPA regime, 59 actions were taken between 2012 and 2014.

In March 2015, Satlon News was ordered off air for 30 days for telecasting a news report about a private corporate party organised at five-star hotel on the Pune-Mumbai highway. Doha-based Al-Jazeera was also forced off air for five days in April 2015 for repeatedly showing wrong maps of India. The I&B ministry had said that it had come to its notice that Al-Jazeera had shown a wrong map of India in some of its broadcasts in 2013 and 2014, after which the matter was referred to the Surveyor General of India (SGI). In 2013, FTV and Comedy Central were taken off air for 10 days.

On Saturday, Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari linked the NDTV ban to the "squeezing of a liberal space", while Union Minister Venkiah Naidu said during the 10-year UPA rule, 21 channels were forced to shutdown for a period ranging from one day to two months. Naidu also quoted the UPA government's advisory issued on November 27, 2008, a day after the 26/11 Mumbai attack, saying, "All news and current affairs channels were asked to ensure that the coverage of the incidents relating to the (recent) terrorist attacks in Mumbai would not focus on or report the location, strength, movement, strategy or any related operations of the security forces."

Commenting on the protest by the Editors Guild of India, which described the ban as a return to Emergency days, he said, "I leave it to the wisdom of the Editors Guild to decide whether the action taken against NDTV is reminiscent of the dark days of (the) Emergency."

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