Lok Sabha & Rajya Sabha TV merged into "Parliament TV"

New Delhi: The government-owned news channels Rajya Sabha TV and Lok Sabha TV channels have been merged together and a new channel "Parliament TV" has been formed which will telecast the proceedings of both houses.

It has been officially announced by the Rajya Sabha Secretariat. The merger was reported in June last year.

With this new merger, there is a change in the top level structure. Ravi Kapoor, a retired Indian Administrative Service officer, has been appointed as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Parliament TV. He will take over the responsibilities of 1-year tenure from Tuesday. While the present CEO of Rajya Sabha TV Manoj Kumar Pandey has been relieved from his duties.

Mr. Kapoor is a 1986 batch retired officer of the Assam-Meghalaya cadre. He was serving as the secretary of the Ministry of Textiles. Apart from the Additional Chief Secretary of Assam, he has served in various fields. He was in charge of the Department of Mines and Minerals, Forest and Environment, Act East Policy Affairs, and Public Enterprises. He has also served in the Ministry of Industry and Commerce.

It is noteworthy that the telecast of the proceedings of Lok Sabha was kick-started on Doordarshan from 1989. In the year 2004, separate Lok Sabha TV came into existence. In the year 2011, Rajya Sabha TV became operational to telecast the proceedings of the Upper house. Other than the live telecast of the sessions underway in both the house, both the channels were known to broadcast interviews of bureaucrats, Political personalities and also some informative programs regarding the constitution of India. (WD)