MAM
Rajat Nigam to receive broadcast excellence award at BES Expo 2026
New Delhi: India’s broadcast engineering community is set to put the spotlight on technology leadership as Rajat Nigam, chief technology officer at JioStar, will be conferred the broadcast excellence award along with an honorary fellowship at BES Expo 2026.
The recognition will be presented during the inaugural ceremony of the 30th International Conference and Exhibition on Broadcast and Media Technology, organised by the Broadcast Engineering Society (India), at Bharat Mandapam later this month.
BES Expo 2026, scheduled from January 29 to 31, brings together the sharp end of broadcasting, media technology and innovation at a time when the industry is being reshaped by rapid technological change. This year’s theme, Broadcast intelligence innovation: Make in India for the world, signals an ambition to position Indian broadcast engineering at the centre of global conversations.
The three-day conference will feature six sessions led by senior broadcasters and media technology professionals from India and overseas, focusing on state-of-the-art broadcast systems and next-generation media infrastructure. Organisers expect over 1,000 delegates to attend.
Running alongside the conference, the international exhibition will host around 300 broadcast equipment manufacturers, service providers and technology companies from across the world, showcasing the latest products, platforms and solutions shaping the future of broadcasting.
The event is supported by the ministry of information and broadcasting, the ministry of communications, Prasar Bharati, the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union, the Society of Broadcast Engineers (USA) and the Indian Broadcasting and Digital Foundation.
The inaugural session on January 29 will be opened by the union minister for information and broadcasting. Nigam’s award will be presented by the chief guest during the ceremony.
The Broadcast Engineering Society said the honour recognises outstanding contributions to the advancement of broadcasting and media technology, and reflects Nigam’s role in driving large-scale technology transformation in the sector.
As India’s broadcast ecosystem accelerates towards smarter, more integrated platforms, BES Expo 2026 is positioning itself not just as a showcase, but as a statement of intent. And with the spotlight on technology leadership, the message is clear: the future of broadcasting will be built by those shaping its systems today.
Brands
Amazon Q1 revenue jumps 17 per cent to $181.5bn, profit soars to $30.3bn
AWS surges 28 per cent while AI bets reshape cash flow and drive future growth
SEATTLE: Amazon kicked off 2026 with a strong first quarter, reporting a 17 per cent year-on-year jump in net sales to $181.5 billion, up from $155.7 billion in the same period last year, as growth across cloud, advertising, and retail continued to gather pace.
Excluding a $2.9 billion favourable impact from foreign exchange, sales still rose a solid 15 per cent, underlining broad-based demand across its businesses.
The company’s cloud arm, Amazon Web Services, remained the star performer, with revenue climbing 28 per cent to $37.6 billion. Operating income for AWS reached $14.2 billion, up from $11.5 billion a year ago, reinforcing its role as Amazon’s profit engine.
Meanwhile, North America sales rose 12 per cent to $104.1 billion, while international revenue increased 19 per cent to $39.8 billion, or 11 per cent excluding currency effects.
Profit growth outpaced revenue. Operating income climbed to $23.9 billion from $18.4 billion last year, while net income surged to $30.3 billion, or $2.78 per share, compared with $17.1 billion, or $1.59 per share, in the first quarter of 2025. A significant boost came from $16.8 billion in pre-tax gains linked to Amazon’s investment in Anthropic.
Cash generation also strengthened, with operating cash flow rising 30 per cent to $148.5 billion over the trailing twelve months. However, free cash flow dropped sharply to $1.2 billion from $25.9 billion, largely due to a $59.3 billion increase in capital expenditure, primarily tied to artificial intelligence investments.
Commenting on the results, Amazon president and CEO Andy Jassy said, “We’re making customers’ lives easier and better every day across all our businesses, and their response is driving significant growth.”
He added that AWS growth of 28 per cent marked its fastest pace in 15 quarters, while Amazon’s chips business crossed a $20 billion annual revenue run rate, growing at triple-digit rates. Advertising revenue also crossed $70 billion on a trailing twelve-month basis, and store unit growth hit 15 per cent, its highest since the tail end of pandemic lockdowns.
Artificial intelligence remained front and centre of Amazon’s strategy. The company deepened partnerships with OpenAI, Meta, NVIDIA and Uber, while expanding its proprietary chip ecosystem including Trainium and Graviton.
Amazon revealed that it has already deployed over 2.1 million AI chips in the past year and plans to roll out more than one million NVIDIA GPUs starting in 2026. OpenAI alone is expected to consume around two gigawatts of Trainium capacity for advanced AI workloads beginning in 2027.
The company also highlighted rapid adoption of its AI services, with Amazon Bedrock processing more tokens in the first quarter than in all previous years combined, and customer spending on the platform rising 170 per cent quarter-on-quarter.
Beyond cloud and AI, Amazon continued to scale its consumer and logistics ecosystem. It delivered more than one billion items via same-day or overnight delivery so far in 2026 and expanded ultra-fast delivery services across multiple global markets. Prime Video also saw strong engagement, including sports streaming growth and box office success for original content like Project Hail Mary, which has grossed nearly $615 million globally.
Looking ahead, Amazon expects second-quarter net sales to reach between $194 billion and $199 billion, representing growth of 16 per cent to 19 per cent year-on-year. Operating income is projected between $20 billion and $24 billion.
Despite macro uncertainties ranging from foreign exchange fluctuations to global economic conditions, Amazon appears to be leaning into its biggest bets yet. With AI investments accelerating and cloud demand holding firm, the company is positioning itself not just for growth, but for what it calls the next big inflection in technology and commerce.
