News Broadcasting
AIR’s B Singh acting CEO of Prasar Bharati; Mandloi officiating Doordarshan DG
NEW DELHI: Director-general of All India Radio, Brijeshwar Singh, has been given additional charge of looking after pubcaster Prasar Bharati as its chief executive.
He succeeds Navin Kumar whose term as DG Doordarshan and acting CEO of Prasar Bharati ended on 23 August 2006.
A 1975 batch Indian Administrative Service officer of Tamil Nadu cadre, Singh has been heading All India Radio since February 2004.
Under his stewardship, All India Radio clocked an impressive 70 per cent revenue growth during 2005-06, even while keeping intact its focus on public service programming.
AIR earned Rs 2.7 billion in revenue during 2005-06.
Singh’s keen interest in classical music enabled AIR to bring out quality CDs under the brand name Akashvani Sangeet, deriving rare content from the archives of All India Radio.
An active participant in broadcasting issues, Singh is also the
vice-president of the Commonwealth Broadcasting Association.
Prasar Bharati is not having a regular CEO since K S Sarma stepped down on June 30, 2006 on attaining the age of super annuation.
A regular CEO will be appointed by a three-member high level committee headed by the Vice President of India.
MANDLOI ACTING DIRECTOR-GENERAL OF DD
Meanwhile, LD Mandloi, the senior most deputy director-general of Doordarshan, has been named as the officiating director-general (DG) of the television pubcaster.
Mandloi, a programming side person, unlike his bureaucrat predecessors, will look after day-to-day functioning of Doordarshan till a full-time DG is appointed.
According to sources in the government — despite autonomy through an Act of Parliament, Prasar Bharati still remains an extension of the establishment — 17 applications have been received till now for the post of Doordarshan DG.
However, a regular DG of DD can only be selected once a full-time CEO of Prasar Bharati is in place.
After former information and broadcasting secretary Bhaskar Ghose in the late 1980s and early 1990s, DD has seldom had a full-time DG.
Ghose, father-in-law of CNN-IBN chief editor Rajdeep Sardesai, presently is the chief executive of Lok Sabha TV, an initiative of the Speaker of Lower House of Parliament. The channel is dedicated to airing proceedings of the Lower House, apart from other serious programming.
News Broadcasting
CNN-News18 to host Kolkata Town Hall on Hooghly River
‘Bhalobasa Bengal Inspiring Bharat’ event on April 20 brings cultural icons, trailblazing women and leaders aboard a cruise to celebrate Bengal’s enduring influence.
MUMBAI: Bengal is about to make fresh waves on the Hooghly and this time the current is pure conversation. CNN-News18 is taking its iconic Town Hall format to the waters of the iconic Hooghly River on 20 April 2026 with a special edition titled ‘Bhalobasa Bengal – Inspiring Bharat’. The floating event will celebrate the state’s rich cultural legacy and how its ideas, creativity and spirit continue to shape the rest of the country.
The unique riverside setting draws on Bengal’s history as a cradle of reform, art and intellectual thought. The speaker line-up mirrors that diversity: cultural heavyweights Mithun Chakraborty and Sreenanda Shankar will share the stage with trailblazing “Devis” such as Tanya Sanyal (India’s first woman firefighter in aviation), Ipsita Chakraborty (Kolkata’s first woman bartender) and Reshma Nilofer Visalakshi (Nari Shakti awardee and marine pilot). Music will flow through the celebrated pianist-vocalist duo Sourendro and Soumyojit, while public life and governance will be represented by Smriti Irani, Leander Paes, Saira Shah Halim, Keya Ghosh, Rekha Patra, Roopa Ganguly and Babul Supriyo.
CNN-News18, editorial affairs director, Rahul Shivshankar, said the event honours voices that carry Bengal’s legacy forward. Smriti Mehra, CEO – English & Business News, Network18, added that Bengal’s stories resonate far beyond its borders, especially as the state heads into polls.
From the first woman to battle flames in the skies to legendary actors who shaped Indian cinema, the gathering promises a rich mix of inspiration, courage and candid dialogue. In a city where culture has always flowed as freely as the river itself, CNN-News18 is turning the Hooghly into a floating forum for ideas that matter.
Tune in on 20 April on CNN-News18, CTV and YouTube to catch Bengal’s heartbeat in full flow.
