The information and broadcasting ministry has issued advisories to India TV and Aaj Tak for spreading "misinformation, fear and horror" among people. It has advised the channels to exercise restraint in presenting issues.
According to the Times of India, the ministry has also written to the Indian Broadcasting Federation (IBF) and the News Broadcasters Association (NBA) to advise its members to refrain from broadcasting such content and to be careful in selection of news items.
The ministry found stories talking about the world coming to an end, shown in various dramatised forms, as unsuitable for "unrestricted public exhibition" and "unsuitable for children".
According to the downlinking guidelines, the ministry can issue a showcause notice to channels for violation of the programme code. A decision on punitive action is taken by an inter-ministerial committee after the TV channel responds. While in some cases, the channel may only have to run a scroll of apology for screening an offending advertisement or programme, in cases of serious violation, the ministry is empowered to ban the channel.
A ministry official told the Press Trust of India (PTI) that the advisory has been sent quoting Sub Rule 6 1(O) and 6 (5) of Cable Television Network and Regulation Act 1995, related to unrestricted public exhibition; and programme affecting children, respectively.
The official added that the ministry has issued the advisory to the said TV channels as an act of first warning to the channels on its own, though normally it acts on complaints received from people regarding objectionable content being shown on TV. "But on certain occasions, when it is felt by the ministry that the content regulation guidelines are being violated, we issue such advisories," the official said.
Incidentally the airing of the Big Bang experiment on television channels and various interpretations being done on it by television channels allegedly led to the death of a farmer's daughter in Madhya Pradesh.
According to media reports, the 16-year-old girl, daughter of a farmer in Sarangpur village in Rajgarh district of MP, died after she consumed some pills on seeing the "world coming to an end" prediction on the neighbour's television.
