News Broadcasting
The Great Escape… Indianised
NEW DELHI: He is 45 years old. He has traveled to more than 50 countries. He loves to eat popcorn and misses his eight-year-old daughter. Meet William D Chalmers, founder of the Great Escape 2004, an annual travel-cum-adventure programme on television.
Chalmers was in Delhi last week with participants for the Great Escape 2004 competition – The Hunt for the Global Scavenger.
“The global scavenger hunt motto is `trusting strangers in strange lands’,” Chalmers says. His scavangers are placed at such tactical junctions that it is eminent for the team members to talk to the locals, make friends and enjoy the experience of even searching out the scavengers.
“It’s the challenge of a lifetime to see the world as very few people ever do and that too in 10 countries across four continents at one go. But at the same time, you’ll be helping raise a million dollars for some great international humanitarian organizations,” he says.
The Great Escape is one of the best real-life travel-adventure programmes on television. It explores the cultural legends and people and places and is the best place to have experiences. The annual event is meant to be a cultural immersion across 10 countries and four continents.
Independent-minded travelers take a quick lap around the globe, “learning about the world and their place in it.”
The first phase of the adventure involved countries like Hong Kong, China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Bangkok and India. The travel competition is also a prime time programme for the National Geographic Channel.
With 12 teams in all and two members in each team (there’s no bar on a participant’s age), selection does not depend entirely on fitness. Rather, as Chalmers points out, it depends on a would-be participant’s travel experience and how enthusiastic one is to go out and explore.
The annual adventure lasts for three weeks (this year from 16 April to 9 May) and the first phase ended on 30 April in Delhi.
Making it unique is the precise way the hunt for the Global Scavenger goes. “The hunt is strictly for travelers and not for tourists. Its not a vacation, it’s an adventure,” says Chalmers.
The programme becomes interesting not only because of the fact that it is a reality show, but also because the teams go about unraveling the mysteries of Delhi, Agra and Rajasthan during their four-day stay in India.
While relaxing at the Maurya Sheraton hotel in Delhi, which played host to the Great Escape team last week, Chalmers expressed his appreciation at the way India was conducting its general elections and that too completely on electronic voting machines.
Taking a potshot at US politics, Chalmers opined that he hoped this time the Americans “get the right guys for elections in the US because the people are still suffering from the misdoings of hiring people from Florida (a reference to the unfair US polls when George Bush junior got elected President).
News Broadcasting
Rising Bharat Summit 2026 spotlights India’s global ascent
PM Modi keynotes two-day event with ministers, diplomats and icons in New Delhi.
MUMBAI: India didn’t just host a summit, it threw a coming-out party for a nation ready to own the global stage. The News18 Rising Bharat Summit 2026, held on 27–28 February in New Delhi, emerged as a high-octane platform for ideas, vision and strategic dialogue, uniting national leadership, global policymakers, industry titans, defence strategists and cultural icons under the theme “Strength Within”.
Prime minister Narendra Modi set the tone with a keynote that framed India’s resurgence as a reclaiming of lost potential built over generations. “In previous industrial revolutions, India and the Global South were merely followers,” he said. “But in the era of Artificial Intelligence, India is a partner in decisions and shaping them.” He highlighted the country’s thriving AI startup ecosystem and the recent AI Impact Summit attended by over 100 nations.
Union minister Piyush Goyal (Commerce & Industry) stressed India’s readiness to scale exports and deepen manufacturing, while Ashwini Vaishnaw (Railways, I&B, Electronics & IT) positioned technology and infrastructure as twin engines of growth, especially in AI and digital trust. Jyotiraditya Scindia (Communications & North East Development) revealed India’s ambition to lead in 6G through the Bharat 6G Alliance and partnerships with over 30 countries.
Global voices added depth: former Singapore Foreign Minister George Yeo called India’s development “self-sustaining” and strategically vital; ex-UK Chief of Defence Staff General Sir Nick Carter asserted India deserves a seat at the great powers’ table; and former US Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez joined ambassadors from Norway, Germany and Sweden in discussions on geopolitical realignment, sustainability and defence preparedness.
Other speakers included veteran investor Ramesh Damani, World Gold Council CEO David Tait, Vianai Systems founder Dr Vishal Sikka, DeepTech Bharat Foundation co-founder Shashi Shekhar Vempati, defence experts Rajesh Kumar Singh, Sunil Ambekar, Patrick McGee, Tom Cooper and Adrian Fontanellaz, plus cultural and sporting icons Kangana Ranaut, Saina Nehwal, PR Sreejesh, Mohammed Shami, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mithali Raj, Anil Kapoor and Yami Gautam.
The summit was supported by Jio Financial Services (Presenting Partner), Phonepe and DS Group (Co-Presenting Partners), Pernod Ricard India and Kia Seltos (Powered By & Driven By), state governments of Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Uttarakhand (State Partners), and associate partners including NSE, M3M Foundation and Reliance Industries.
Broadcast live across News18 Network, CNBC-TV18 and CNBC Awaaz, the event reinforced India’s image as a confident democracy and emerging global power proving that when strength comes from within, the world can’t help but watch.
