The high courts of Delhi, Punjab, and Haryana are set to hear two separate petitions over the validity of a rule that, while making it compulsory for media rights holders of sporting events with “national importance” to share live feeds with the public broadcaster, restricts it to only the terrestrial and DD Free Dish platforms.
The Supreme Court imposed restrictions on such retransmission to Prasar Bharati’s terrestrial network and DD Free Dish DTH service in August 2017. A legal expert said he doesn’t expect the high courts to give any interim relief to the petitioners in light of the Supreme Court judgment. But since these are public interest litigations, they could spend some time looking for merits.
The petitions argue that restricting the live telecast to Prasar Bharati’s terrestrial and DTH networks defeated the purpose of Section 3 (1) of the Sports Broadcasting Signals (mandatory sharing with Prasar Bharati) Act. The petitioners, Vaibhav Jain in the Delhi HC and Ramesh Kumar in the Punjab & Haryana HC filed the PILs just ahead of the ICC Cricket World Cup, seeking direction on allowing Prasar Bharati to live telecast the matches on its channels available on private cable and DTH platforms.
Both high courts posted the matter for a hearing in late July. The World Cup will end before that on July 14. In its order, the Supreme Court clarified that the sharing signals with Prasar Bharati enabled access to consumers who otherwise would not have access. The intention was not to reach consumers who have subscribed to private cable and DTH networks.
Out of about 180 million homes with TVs in India, 150 million use pay TV services from cable or DTH operators. The rest access public broadcasters’ DTH or terrestrial services. After the Supreme Court’s order, the government sought to amend the Act. In October last year, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry proposed changing it to ensure that events of national importance have the “widest possible reach”.” But it put the proposal on hold ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
NEW YORK: Eminent economist Arvind Panagariya has said the escalating trade war between the US and China is an “opportune time” for India to attract large multinationals looking for alternative locations outside the Communist country.
Speaking at a panel discussion organized by the Consulate General of India in New York, Panagariya strongly called for India to slash tariffs on imported motorcycles and automobiles through “give and take” negotiations with the US.
He said as the large multinationals “are coming out” of China, “it is an opportune time for India to do whatever it will take to bring these multinationals to the Indian shores”.
“This is also a great time for India to begin attracting the large multinationals now looking for alternative locations. Their wages have gone up, and the trade war with the US has begun to close the access of multinationals to the US market in a big way,” Panagariya said on Monday.
The US and China have been locked in a bruising trade war since Trump imposed heavy tariffs on imported steel and aluminum from China in March last year, sparking fears of a global trade war.
US President Donald Trump has already imposed 25 percent tariffs on USD 250 billion in Chinese imports, and China has retaliated with tariffs on US goods.
In response, China imposed tit-for-tat tariffs on billions of dollars worth of American imports.
Panagariya stressed that the US was asking India to open up its markets.
“It is a good thing for India. I would open it unilaterally, but here is an opportunity to negotiate with the US. Give them something and get something in return,” he said at the “Economic Priorities for the New Government” event of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Panagariya called for labor law and land acquisition reforms to make them more flexible and attract multinationals.
Panagariya, who served as the first Vice Chairman of the NITI Aayog from January 2015 to August 2017, acknowledged that there were “some sticky issues,” such as data localization but added that other issues, such as tariffs on Harley Davidson motorcycles, could be resolved.
“Go zero tariffs on Harley Davidson. What is the problem? How long will you punish your customers – (after) 70 years of protection? Today, auto tariffs in India are close to 100 percent plus. Why, who is it benefiting? Some of these tariffs don’t make sense,” he said.
In February, India slashed the customs duty on imported motorcycles like Harley-Davidson to 50 percent after US President Donald Trump called it “unfair” and threatened to increase the tariff on the import of Indian bikes to the US.
The US President has repeatedly claimed that India imposes “tremendously high” tariffs on American products.
Panagariya emphasized that India can use the exchange rate to its advantage rather than tariffs.
“Let the rupee depreciate a bit; it will open the door for your exporters while compensating for the tariff liberalization. This is exactly what we did in the 1990s,” he said, adding that this will help make Indian goods much more attractive and boost exports.
“I see this completely in India’s interest,” he said.
Panagariya, Director at the Raj Center on Indian Economic Policies at Columbia University, however, sounded a pessimistic note about India’s current trade environment with the US, saying it is a “source of serious worry.”
“You do not want to get into a trade war with the US. India has been generally on the good side of the US, so why head into this?” he said at the event. The panel discussion was organized in partnership with the Deepak and Neera Raj Centre for Indian Economic Policies and the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF).
Having served for three years as India’s G-20 Sherpa, Panagariya said that in his experience with the US, he learned that Washington “believes only in negotiations—give and take.”
Panagariya’s remarks came as US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo began this three-day visit to India. The two sides are expected to discuss economic and trade ties that are witnessing signs of strain.
The US has terminated India’s designation as a beneficiary developing country under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program.
“India has implemented a wide array of trade barriers that create serious negative effects on United States commerce,” the Office of the US Trade Representative said in March this year.
