MAM
Dr Kasturirangan Appointed Academician of Pontifical Academy of Sciences
MUMBAI: Pope Benedict XVI has appointed Dr K Kasturirangan, Member of Rajya Sabha and Director, National Institute of Advanced Sciences and, former Chairman of ISRO, as an Academician of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences.
The Pontifical Academy was founded in Rome on August 17, 1603 to promote the progress of mathematical, physical and natural sciences and the study of epistemological problems relating thereto. The academicians are chosen on the basis of their eminent original scientific studies and of their acknowledged moral personality, without any ethnic or religious discrimination, and are nominated for life by sovereign act of the Holy Father.
This international and interdisciplinary scientific body is subject to the direct authority of the Supreme Pontiff. The academicians will contribute to the activities of the Academy and attend its Plenary Session during October-November every two years and participate in other scientific matters organised by the Academy.
Dr Kasturirangan has made immense contribution to the Indian space programme including the development of launch vehicles and satellite technology, application in the areas of remote sensing, communications and education that have greatly benefited the society.
The Pontifical Academy has about 90 Academicians of which 29 are Nobel Laureates. Dr Kasturirangan is only the fourth Indian to be appointed to the Academy after Dr C V Raman, Prof M G K Menon and Prof C N R Rao.
The Holy Father will present Dr Kasturirangan the insignia of his appointment at a solemn pontifical audience sometime in the near future.
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Abhay Duggal joins JioStar as director of Hindi GEC ad sales
The streaming giant brings in a seasoned revenue hand as the battle for Hindi television advertising heats up
MUMBAI: Abhay Duggal has a new desk, and JioStar has a new weapon. The media and entertainment veteran has joined JioStar as director of entertainment ad sales for Hindi general entertainment channels, adding 17 years of hard-won revenue experience to one of India’s most powerful broadcasting operations.
Duggal is no stranger to big portfolios or bruising markets. Before joining JioStar, he spent a brief stint at Republic World as deputy general manager and north regional head for ad sales. Before that, he put in three years at Enterr10 Television, where he ran the north region for Dangal TV and Dangal 2, two of India’s leading free-to-air Hindi channels. The north alone accounted for more than 50 per cent of total channel revenue on his watch, a number that tends to get attention in any sales meeting.
His longest stint was at Zee Entertainment Enterprises, where he spent over six years rising to associate director of sales. There he commanded the Hindi movies cluster across seven channels, owned more than half of north India’s revenue across flagship properties including Zee TV and &TV, and closed marquee sponsorships across the Indian Premier League, Zee Rishtey Awards and Dance India Dance. He also handled monetisation for the English movies and entertainment cluster and the global news channel WION, a portfolio that would stretch most sales teams twice his size.
Earlier in his career Duggal closed what was then a Rs 3 crore single deal at Reliance Broadcast Network, one of the largest in Indian radio at the time, before that he helped launch and monetise JAINHITS, India’s first HITS-based cable and satellite platform.
His edge, by his own account, lies in marrying data and instinct: translating audience trends, inventory signals and client demands into long-term partnerships built on cost-per-rating-point discipline rather than short-term deal chasing. In a media landscape being reshaped by streaming, fragmented attention and AI-driven advertising, that kind of rigour is increasingly rare and increasingly valuable.
JioStar, which blends the scale of Reliance’s Jio platform with the content firepower of Star, is doubling down on its advertising business at precisely the moment the Hindi GEC market is getting more competitive. Bringing in someone who has spent nearly two decades doing exactly this, across some of India’s most watched channels, is a pointed statement of intent. Duggal has spent his career turning audiences into revenue. JioStar is clearly betting he can do it again, and bigger.
