MAM
Former Hindustan Times journalist to lead Kremlin broadcaster’s biggest foreign bet
DELHI: Ashok Bagriya, a journalist who cut his teeth as legal editor at Hindustan Times and CNN-News18, has been named chief executive of RT India. The appointment comes as Vladimir Putin touched down in New Delhi to personally inaugurate what the Kremlin-backed network calls its largest overseas venture.
Bagriya has assembled a team of over 100 staff and built a new office complete with studio and newsroom. The channel promises four daily English language bulletins focused on India-Russia ties, international affairs and what it terms a “multipolar world”.
On launch day, Bagriya sat down with Herman Gref, chief executive and chairman of Sberbank, who pledged $100m to beef up the Russian bank’s Indian operations, a signal of deepening economic links between Moscow and New Delhi.
The timing is pointed. RT, formerly Russia Today, has been banned across much of the West since the Ukraine war began. The India launch marks a pivot for a network shut out of Europe and North America.
Russian deputy prime minister Dmitry Peskov made no bones about the strategy. “Sometimes it’s better to lose the right to broadcast in the small democracies (so-called democracies) and launch in the biggest one,” he said.
RT India is betting that New Delhi, which has refused to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, offers friendlier terrain than Brussels or Washington. Whether Indian viewers will tune in remains to be seen.
MAM
Time brings TIME100 Next franchise to India with Reliance
List to spotlight 100 emerging leaders, gala set for December 2026 in Mumbai.
MUMBAI: It’s about time India’s next wave got a global spotlight and now, it’s on the list. New York-headquartered Time is expanding its TIME100 Next franchise to India, partnering with Reliance Industries Limited to launch TIME100 Next India, its first international extension of the rising leaders platform. The announcement was made at the Time100 Gala in New York by Jessica Sibley and Nita Mukesh Ambani, signalling a strategic push to tap into India’s growing influence across sectors.
The India edition will recognise 100 emerging leaders from the country and the global Indian diaspora, spanning business, science, sports, arts and social impact. The list will be curated by Time’s editorial team and published online, continuing the franchise’s focus on identifying individuals shaping the future.
The initiative will culminate in a gala event scheduled for December 2026 at the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre, anchoring the platform within India’s cultural and business ecosystem.
TIME’s broader Time100 franchise has steadily expanded its global footprint since 2021 through events and impact-led initiatives. Executives noted that India’s growing pool of influential voices and innovators made it a natural next step for the platform’s international ambitions.
For Reliance, the partnership aligns with its broader push to support emerging talent and ideas on a global stage. For Time, it marks a timely bet on India not just as a market, but as a talent engine shaping the next chapter of global leadership.
