MAM
Khushwant Singh: The man with good-intentioned malice towards all, signs off
NEW DELHI: ‘With Malice towards one and all’ was a rare title for a weekly column. He had seen India grow from being a country ruled by the British to a freedom tainted by corrupt politicians and technocrats. Only he could have had the courage to speak out so bluntly.
Renowned author and columnist Khushwant Singh, who is remembered not only for his weekly knife-edged columns but also his ability to laugh at himself, passed away Thursday morning, aged 99.
He was married to Kawal Malik. He is survived by his son Rahul Singh and daughter Mala. Actress Amrita is the daughter of his brother Daljit Singh and Rukhsana Sultana.
He stayed in “Sujan Singh Park” near Khan Market, New Delhi’s first apartment complex built by his father in 1945 and named after his grandfather.
He founded the Planning Commission journal Yojana, and also served as the editor of the Illustrated Weekly of India, the National Herald, and the Hindustan Times.
Apart from his columns and poems, he is remembered for one of the best novels based on the partition of the country –Train to Pakistan – which was converted into a very moving and poignant film years later.
Not surprisingly, he titled his autobiography as “Truth, Love, and a Little Malice” and this was published in 2002.
Singh was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1974, an award he returned in 1984 to voice his protest against the siege of the Golden Temple in Amritsar. Later in 2007, he received the Padma Vibhushan, the second highest civilian honour in the country.
He also served as a member of the Rajya Sabha from 1980 to 1986 and
Even though he could be very pungent and acidic in his criticism, he never gave up humour in his writings. His comparisons of social and behavioral characteristics of Westerners and Indians are laced with acid wit.
Singh was born on 2 February 1915 in Hadali in District Khushab in the then undivided Punjab, which is now known as Sargodha district and is in Pakistan. His father Sir Sobha Singh was a prominent builder and is credited with the design of the present-day Connaught Place and many parts of Lutyens’ Delhi. His uncle Sardar Ujjal Singh (1895–1983) was Governor of Punjab and Tamil Nadu.
He was educated at Modern School, New Delhi, Government College, Lahore, St. Stephen’s College in Delhi and King’s College London, before reading for the Bar at the Inner Temple.
During his tenure, The Illustrated Weekly (now extinct) became India’s pre-eminent newsweekly with its circulation rising from 65,000 to 4,00,000 copies. Known for his penchant criticisms, he was asked to leave the journal on 25 July 1978, a week before his retirement, after working for nine years in the weekly. This led to a major drop in readership of the weekly.
His works ranged from political commentary and contemporary satire to outstanding translations of Sikh religious texts and Urdu poetry. Despite the name, his column “With Malice Towards One and All” regularly contained secular exhortations and messages of peace. In addition, he is one of the last remaining writers to have personally known most of the stalwart writers and poets of Urdu and Punjabi and profiled his recently deceased contemporaries in his column.
He had often been accused of favoring the ruling Congress and was known to be close to the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. His faith in the Indian political system had been shaken by events such as the anti-Sikh riots that followed Indira Gandhi’s assassination. But he has remained resolutely positive on the promise of Indian democracy and worked via Citizen’s Justice Committee floated by H. S. Phoolka who was a senior advocate of Delhi High Court.
His many books include The Mark of Vishnu and Other Stories (1950), The History of Sikhs (1953 with a revised edition in the early sixties and a second edition in the late sixties),Train to Pakistan (1956), The Voice of God and Other Stories (1957), I Shall Not Hear the Nightingale (1959), The Sikhs Today (1959), The Fall of the Kingdom of the Punjab (1962), Ranjit Singh: The Maharajah of the Punjab (1963), Ghadar 1915: India’s first armed revolution (1966), A Bride for the Sahib and Other Stories (1967), Black Jasmine ( 1971), Tragedy of Punjab (1984) Women and Men in My Life (1995), Uncertain Liaisons; Sex, Strife and Togetherness in Urban India (1995), Why I Supported the Emergency: Essays and Profiles ( 2009) and Delhi: A Novel (1990). In addition, he had several anthologies of short stories, and wrote the television documentary Third World – Free Press for a British channel in 1982.
Apart from the Rockfeller Grant, he had received the Honest Man of the Year award from Sulabh International, the Punjab Rattan award from the Punjab Government, and the Sahitya academy fellowship of the Sahitya Akademi.
Often a butt of jokes for his attitude towards women and sex, Khushwant did not lose his sense of humour even after he had stopped actively writing or socialising. He will remain an icon for the modern Indian writers who often emulate his style to gain popularity.
MAM
India’s financial sector spent less on TV ads in 2025 but flooded the internet
Banks, insurers and lenders cut tv ads as digital jumps, LIC and Muthoot lead tv and Axis Bank tops online
MUMBAI: India’s banking, financial services and insurance sector, one of the most prolific advertisers in the country, delivered a split verdict on media in 2025. It spent less on television, held its nerve in print, turned up the volume on radio and deluged the internet with a ferocity that left every other medium looking pedestrian. The picture that emerges from TAM AdEx’s cross-media report for the BFSI sector is of an industry in transition, still wedded to the news bulletin but increasingly seduced by the algorithm.
Television: a retreat with caveats
TV ad volumes for the BFSI sector fell 16 per cent in 2025 compared with 2024, a sharp reversal after two years of consistent growth that had pushed volumes 16 per cent above 2021 levels by 2023 and a further 7 per cent higher by 2024. Within 2025 itself, the drop was concentrated in the middle of the year: the second and third quarters saw ad volumes slide 35 per cent each against the first quarter, with a partial recovery of 13 per cent in the fourth.
The retreat did not reshuffle the deck. Life insurance retained first place among TV categories with 19 per cent of ad volumes, mortgage loans held second with 16 per cent, and the top ten categories together accounted for 82 per cent of all BFSI television advertising. The dominance of news channels was equally pronounced: news claimed 68 per cent of ad volumes, general entertainment channels a distant 14 per cent and movies 12 per cent. Together, news and GEC captured 82 per cent of the sector’s television spend. News bulletins alone took 48 per cent of programme-genre volumes, with feature films second at 12 per cent. Prime time, between 6pm and 11pm, drew 34 per cent of ad volumes, followed by afternoon at 22 per cent and morning at 20 per cent. A full 82 per cent of all ads ran between 20 and 40 seconds.
Life Insurance Corporation of India was the sector’s biggest TV spender with 11 per cent of ad volumes. Muthoot Financial Enterprises came second with 9 per cent, followed by National Payments Corporation of India at 6 per cent, Tata AIG General Insurance at 5 per cent and State Bank of India at 5 per cent. The top ten advertisers together accounted for 51 per cent of total TV volumes. Three names were new to the top ten in 2025: Tata AIG General Insurance, IIFL Finance and Tata Capital. At brand level, Muthoot Finance Loan Against Gold led with 9 per cent share, Tata AIG Health Insurance entered the top ten for the first time, and the top ten brands together contributed 35 per cent of ad volumes.
Print: the long climb continues
Print told a different story. Ad space for the BFSI sector has grown every year since 2021, rising 16 per cent in 2022, 30 per cent in 2023, 51 per cent in 2024 and 64 per cent in 2025, all measured against a 2021 baseline. Within 2025, ad space was flat in the second quarter but surged 46 per cent in the third and 33 per cent in the fourth compared with the first. Life insurance led print categories with 21 per cent of ad space, followed by mutual funds and banking services and products at 13 per cent each, and corporate financial institutes at 11 per cent. The top ten categories together took 82 per cent of print ad space. LIC led print advertisers with 6 per cent share, and the top ten together covered just 19 per cent of ad space, a reflection of how fragmented print spending remains. Three new entrants joined the top ten in 2025, with Billion Brains Garage Ventures the only exclusive presence not seen in 2024’s list. In the top ten brands, LIC dominated with a 2 per cent share, while Nippon India Mutual Fund rose to third position from fourth in 2024. English accounted for 62 per cent of print ad space, Hindi for 20 per cent. Business and finance publications took 59 per cent of the genre split. The south zone led regional spending with 33 per cent of print ad space, Bangalore topping that zone, while New Delhi and Mumbai were the leading cities nationally.
Radio: louder than ever
Radio ad volumes for the BFSI sector have climbed steadily, rising 12 per cent above 2021 levels in 2023, 36 per cent in 2024 and 45 per cent in 2025. The quarterly pattern within 2025 was volatile: a sharp drop of 43 per cent in the second quarter and 42 per cent in the third, followed by a near-full recovery in the fourth. Life insurance led radio categories with 22 per cent of volumes, banking services and products second at 14 per cent and corporate NBFCs third at 11 per cent. LIC of India held its position as the leading radio advertiser with 20 per cent of ad volumes; the top ten radio advertisers together covered 69 per cent. Muthoot Financial Enterprises led radio brands with 10 per cent share, five of the top ten brands belonged to LIC alone, and SBI Mutual Fund made a remarkable leap to fifth position from 272nd in 2024. Evening and morning time-bands together captured 84 per cent of radio ad volumes, with evenings at 44 per cent and mornings at 40 per cent. Maharashtra was the leading state for radio BFSI advertising with 18 per cent share; Maharashtra, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh together accounted for 43 per cent.
Digital: the five-times surge
If one number defines the 2025 BFSI advertising story, it is five. Digital ad impressions for the sector multiplied fivefold between 2021 and 2025, having already doubled in 2023 and doubled again in 2024 before the 2025 leap. Within the year, impressions dipped 19 per cent in the second quarter and 12 per cent in the third before recovering 8 per cent above the first quarter by the fourth. Banking services and products led digital categories with 27 per cent of impressions, life insurance and credit cards tied at 19 per cent each, and securities and sharebroking organisations fell from first place in 2024 to fourth in 2025. Axis Bank was the runaway leader among digital advertisers with 12 per cent of impressions, followed by ICICI Bank at 9 per cent, IDFC First Bank at 7 per cent and Kotak Mahindra Bank at 6 per cent. The top ten digital advertisers covered 59 per cent of impressions, and seven of them were new entrants compared with 2024, signalling rapid churn in the digital spending hierarchy. At brand level, Axis Bank led with 9 per cent, ICICI HPCL Super Saver Credit Card vaulted to third place from 921st in 2024, and six of the top ten digital brands were new to the list. Programmatic buying accounted for 91 per cent of all digital BFSI transactions; combined with ad networks, it captured 96 per cent.
The data from TAM AdEx paints the portrait of a sector that still believes in the power of the television news bulletin to sell insurance to the masses, but increasingly knows that the next generation of borrowers, investors and cardholders is scrolling, not watching. The race is now on to reach them before the algorithm serves up someone else’s loan offer first.
