media platforms and has built a strong relationship with the audience. Social media interactions
      in various formats such as Talkathon and Facebook Live are organised regularly to enable direct
      communication between ministers, senior officers and general public. On Twitter, the official
      handle of the Ministry, @MIB_India has 929 followers with an average of 6 M impressions per
      month. The Facebook page of the Ministry,@inbministry has 1.3 M followers. Recently, the
      Ministry has started a Twitter handle in Hindi, @MIB_Hindi to reach out to the Hindi speaking
      population on social media space.
      India-A Reference Annual
           The Division compiles a reference book, ‘India-A Reference Annual’, on development and
      progress made by Central ministries/departments, states/ union territory administrations and
      PSUs/autonomous bodies. It is simultaneously published in Hindi titled- ‘Bharat’.
      Photo Division
           Photo Division, an independent media unit meant for the visual support of the varied
      activities of the Government of India, is a subordinate office of the Ministry of Information and
      Broadcasting and the biggest production unit of its kind in the country in the field of
      photography. Photo Division was established in late 1959 as a culmination of the government’s
      decision for establishing a separate department keeping in view the importance of the medium,
      as the photograph gives the most authentic & truthful record as well as recognize the new
      medium for right projection, create the archival record under the professional experts. This was
      done with integrating the photo studios of the Publication Division and the Photo Unit of the
      Press Information Bureau and D.A.V.P. with a view of eliminating the duplication of the
      activities. The Division produces photographic visuals of achievements and activities of
      Government of India for internal and external publicity as well as other purposes. In its 50 years,
      the Division has a collection of nearly 10 lakh images in its archive. On the occasion of
      completion of 50 years of its existence in 2010 the Division introduced National Photography
      Awards to promote nation’s art, culture, development, heritage, history, life, people, society,
      traditions etc., and to encourage professional and amateur photographers from all corners of the
      country. The Division has its own official website for the photo publicity of the official
      assignments. The Division is in the process of selling the photographs through e-commerce
      gateway.
      Synergy with other Media Units
           To keep synergy between the other Media Units, the Division has taken up various
      measures. It has launched its official website to explore the global utility of around 8-10 lakh
      archival and current images. The Division is in progress of introducing E-commerce feature for
      the sell/buy of images through the official website. A high capacity server is installed for the on-
      line/off-line retrieval of archival images. The News Photo Network of the Division has been
      functioning on complete digital mode to avoid the delay in sending photographs to newspapers
      and Press Information Bureau. The Division provides facility to DAVP for the supply of life size
      digital inkjet images for the exhibition purpose.
      Relevant Website: www.photodivision.gov.in
      Publications Division