Finance Minister Piyush Goyal has announced the Narendra Modi government’s sixth and final budget before the Lok Sabha polls this year. In his speech, he said that a single window clearance for filmmaking will be made available to filmmakers, and anti-camcording provision will be introduced to the Cinematography Act to help fight piracy.
The single clearance window, which was only available to foreign filmmakers in India till now, will aim to facilitate all types of clearances faster and under one roof. Details about who will form the umbrella organisation, and who will be the representatives from the film industry, are yet to be announced. How this will work for content on digital platforms is also yet to be known. Union minister Smriti Irani recently said that they hope to form the organisation in the next two months.
Following the proposed amendment to the Cinematography Act submitted by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Piyush Goyal announced today that the NDA government’s budget will include an anti-camrecording provision in the Act to help prevent piracy. The 2018 NDA budget which allocated Rs 110 crore for cyber security projects, including the setting up of National Cyber Security Co-ordination Centre among others things, did not make any significant move to stop piracy.
The Ministry’s proposed amendment to the current law, which has no provision to track piracy at source, suggested imposing strict penalties for piracy recordings in theatres, and incorporating anti-duplication provisions. This proposition came after members of Motion Pictures Association told the IB ministry that according to its data, approximately 90% of new releases appear illegally after being recorded on camera.
While announcing the Union budget today, Piyush Goyal praised the recently released Uri: The Surgical Strike to a high applause from other politicians. The film, along with all the big releases this month, was leaked online. Uri was based on Indian Army’s surgical strikes in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. It starred Vicky Kaushal, Yami Gautam, and also BJP MP Paresh Rawal.
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The Union budget 2019, announced ahead of this year’s Lok Sabha elections, highlighted important initiatives that the Modi government is planning to make for the upcoming year. A farmer support scheme of Rs 6,000 per year, no tax in income upto Rs 5 lakh, tax exemptions for those making investments in provident funds and equities, proposed ways to reduce GST for house buyers, interest subvention scheme for farmer loans, a new pension scheme for unorganised sector workers, promoting ‘Digital India’ and ‘Clean and Green India’ are among the highlights.
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