MUMBAI: The government has cleared the decks for the return tomorrow of Sony's action channel AXN, which had been banned on 17 January charged with showing "obscene programmes".

The information and broadcasting ministry declared today that effective 1 March, it was lifting the ban order it had issued against AXN. The decision follows an apology tendered by the channel as well as a commitment to put in place a significantly improved and more effective system of self-regulation in order to ensure that programmes and advertisements telecast on it "do not create further problems in the future."

It was on 17 january that the government slapped a two-month ban on the channel for telecasting programmes such as ‘World’s Sexiest Advertisements’ that according to the ministry "were against good taste or decency and were likely to adversely affect public morality."