News Snippets

• In what could be the biggest shake-up in television production in the uk since the creation of Channel 4 in 1982, the bbc may be forced to buy half its tv programmes from independent producers. According to Peter Bazalgette -- of Endemol, the uk's highest-profile independent producer -- speaking at the Oxford Media Conference on January 13, 2004, such a plan was being seriously considered by broadcasting regulator Ofcom.

• us-based Harris Corporation has been awarded a one-year, us $96 million (Rs 435 crore) contract by The Defense Contracting Command-Washington, on behalf of the Coalition Provisional Authority currently governing Iraq. Its task is to turn, according to the company's press release, "an existing but antiquated media network into a modern organization". The Iraqi Media Network program includes equipment, operation, training, and provisioning of programming for national radio and television networks and a national newspaper, with operating locations in Baghdad and more than 30 other locations in the country.

• The government of Mauritius is embarking on a plan to become a "cyber island" by 2005. It plans a state-of-the-art "cyber city" on a 60.7 hectare plot outside the capital, Port Louis. The project, funded mainly by us $100 million (Rs 453 crore) credit from India, seeks to "forge triangular cooperation involving India, Mauritius and Africa, to develop synergy and facilitate Africa's march towards an e-economy".

• The Indian Statistical Service Association has created its own website, www.issa-online.org, to allow members quick access to the latest developments relating to statistics and similar issues, and also to place these in the public domain.