NEW DELHI: Justice R.V. Raveendran, former judge of the supreme court of India, is the new chairman of the News Broadcasting Standards Authority (NBSA), the self regulatory initiative of the News Broadcasters Association (NBA).

He succeeds justice (Retd.) J.S. Verma, chairperson of the NBSA, who passed away on 21 April after a brief illness, aged 80.

Justice Verma had been a former chief justice of India and former chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission. Verma was appointed the first Chairperson of the NBSA, a self-regulatory body set up by the NBA on 2 October 2008 and his first major challenge had been to draw up guidelines for news channels at the time of the terrorist attacks in Mumbai.

Justice Raveendran retired from the supreme court as a senior judge on 14 October 2011 and is presently engaged in giving lectures and writing articles on law related issues and in conducting arbitrations.

He completed his secondary education at Fort High School, Bangalore. He graduated from St. Joseph?s College, Bangalore and obtained Law Degree from Government Law College, Bangalore, in the year 1967.
 
He was enrolled as an advocate in March 1968 and practised extensively on the civil side till his elevation as a permanent judge of the Karnataka High Court in February 1993. He served as chairman of Karnataka State Legal Services Authority for several years and popularised Lok Adalats in Karnataka.

He was elevated as the chief justice of Madhya Pradesh High Court in July 2004 and as a judge of the supreme court in September 2005. Justice Raveendran has rendered several landmark decisions in the fields of Civil and Constitutional Law. He has served as the chairman of Supreme Court Legal Services Committee. As chairman of Mediation & Conciliation Project Committee, he was instrumental in developing mediation across the country.

NEW DELHI: While reiterating his demand for bringing electronic media under his ambit, Press Council of India Chairman Justice Markanday Katju has said that self-regulation is not workable.

In his foreword to the annual report of the Council for 2011-12 placed in Parliament, Justice Katju said "all institutions in a democratic set-up are subject to regulation by an independent statutory authority".

He said regulation was a concept distinct from ?control?. He added: ?In control, there is no freedom, whereas in regulation there is freedom subject to reasonable restrictions in public interest."

He said he had asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to enact amendments in the Press Council of India Act 1978 by not only bringing the electronic media under its ambit and renaming it as the Media Council of India, but to give it more teeth for punishing those who tampered with the freedom of the press. This could include suspending advertisements to a publication for a limited period.

At the same time, Justice Katju said that "in a democracy, issues are ordinarily resolved by discussion, persuasion and dialogue and that is the method to be preferred, rather than using harsh measures."

He said if his suggestions are accepted, the Council was bound to emerge as an authority ?to be recokoned with for its support of the freedom of the press while at the same time asking the press to act responsibly.?