Saturday, September 2 2006 11:57 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Pune: The facilities at the city-based Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) would be upgraded so as to help it become the best model institute in Asia, Union Minister for Information, Broadcasting and Parliamentary Affairs Priyaranjan Dasmunshi said.

"We want the FTII to become a well-known institute in the world. Therefore, we have constituted a Task Force which is expected to submit its report on the FTII in the next two months," Dasmunshi told reporters during his visit to the institute here yesterday (Sept 1, 2006).

The Union Minister ruled out privatisation of the FTII and said that the work of digitisation at National Film Archives would be completed within a year.

He was of the opinion that all recordings of veteran musicians and speeches of leaders should be preserved. Digitisation would be of great help in this connection, Dasmunshi remarked.

He said that the Dada Saheb Phalke Award Committee has already given the name of the recepient of the award but the envelope was yet to be opened.

Dasmunshi, who was here to attend the 18th Pune Festival, which commenced today and will conclude on September five, earlier released two volumes of audio CDs and three volumes of VCDs of classical music of Pandit Bhimsen Joshi at the National Film Archives auditorium.

While promising government help towards the renovation of the National Film Archives, he said at a function to be held at Guruvayoor in Kerala next year, audio CDs and VCDs of artiste M L Valsan Kumari would also be released similarly.