The Directorate of Film Festivals in India is a government organisation set up to organise National and International film festivals in India. The Directorate facilitates the participation of India in festivals abroad, and arranges for foreign film programmes to be held in the country. It was set up by the Government of India in 1973, and works as part of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. The functions it initiates include the International Film Festival of India, the National Film Awards and the Indian Panorama. Although the Directorate helps appoint members of the jury panels each year, it has no input on which films are selected for consideration and which films ultimately win awards at the various functions it initiates. The Government of India (Hindi: Bharat Sarkar), officially referred to as the Union Government, and commonly as Central Government, was established by the Constitution of India, and is the governing authority of a federal union of 28 states and 7 union territories, collectively called the Republic of India. ... 1973 (MCMLXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday. ... The National Film Awards, commonly known as the National Awards, are arguably the most prestigious film awards in India. ...