News Broadcasting
CNN’s 2 docs focus on political strife in North Korea and Aids
MUMBAI: News broadcaster CNN will air two documentaries-Undercover In the Secret State and Living With Aids.
Undercover In The Secret State features secretly filmed footage of public executions and people struggling for life in North Korea. This airs on 19 November 2005 at 5:30 pm and on 20 November at 10:30 am and 6:30 pm.
Grainy footage, never before seen on television, shows a crowd being ordered to gather in a dusty field in North Korea . A public official tells the people that those who go against their country will end up with a fate like this one. Minutes later, a man is tied to a pole and shot by a firing squad, his body slumping lifelessly to the ground. His alleged crime: trying to make contact with the outside world.
This rare video of a public execution—likely the first ever smuggled out of North Korea —is an example of how dissidents are using technology as a new weapon in their battle against North Korean leader, Kim Jong Il. In North Korea , protest is both difficult and dangerous. But now, dissidents are using hidden digital cameras and cell phones to record, as never before, images of life inside the country. In chilling detail, these images show the world what conditions are really like there.
Korean journalist ,Jung-Eun Kim, tracks down dissidents doing the dangerous work of making these secret films and smuggling them out of the country. In furtive meetings on the Chinese border and safe houses in Bangkok , Thailand , she learns firsthand how these images are captured and at what risk.
The documentary footage includes the cursory trials and public executions in two different border towns. Also captured on hidden camera: emaciated, dirty, homeless children steal and scrounge for scraps in the markets. In the bleak, frigid North Korean countryside, political prisoner labor in a concentration camp the government says doesn’t exist. And, under a bridge in a factory town, a dissident defaces a poster of “The Dear Leader,” films his anti-government protest and runs for his life. His act of protest has cost him everything: his home, his country, a life with his wife and daughter.
North Korea is one of the world’s last Stalinist societies, a tightly closed state that strictly controls its people. There is no freedom to travel, to speak openly, to question or oppose the regime. The government of North Korea describes the nation as a paradise, but refugees speak of famine, prison, torture, lack of food, safety and even the most basic freedoms. The images now being captured by dissidents are some of the first to show what life is really like there.
The documentary also shows how information threatens North Korea ‘s rigid isolation and seeps into North Korean culture as never before. Smuggled DVDs of South Korean soap operas and movies from the West are showing citizens that North Korea may not be the paradise the government indicates. An Internet radio station in Seoul , South Korea , run by North Korean defectors broadcasts news to those on the border. A smuggled cell phone allows Jung-Eun to speak personally with a young man she met years ago at the border, and who now struggles to survive in North Korea .
Another documentary is called Living With Aids. Filmmaker, Sorious Samura’s documentary reveals the horrifying backdrop to the spread of HIV in Africa It airs on 30 November 2005 at 7.30 pm, on 1 December 2005 World AIDS Day at 7.30 pm, on 3 December 2005 at 5.30 pm and on 4 December at 10:30 am and 6:30 pm.
Samura travels to Mongu, Zambia to find out how Aids is destroying Africa and what Africans are doing to cope with its merciless impact on day to day life. Living with a family beset by Aids, and working in the region’s largest hospital for four weeks, Samura discovers that the complex African culture is exacerbating the spread of the disease and its social toll.
Through conversations with hospital patients, wives and mothers, party-goers and sex workers, Samura uncovers the shocking truth behind the rate of infection amongst the young, procreating generation: recklessness towards knowingly infecting sexual partners, a disdain for using condoms for personal protection, and an ingrained reticence to educating offspring about safe sexual relations. Samura speaks frankly about living conditions and their impact on children’s understanding of intimate relations. “Parents need their own bedrooms. We all know that children model their behaviour on their parents. Exposure to adult intimacy means some girls are losing their virginity as early as six years old.”
CNN International senior VP ,Rena Golden, says, “Living With Aids has the kind of editorial value and educational impact that work side by side as a vital piece of journalism that heeds the responsibility of CNN and other news networks to bring such important issues to the fore. CNN is pleased to be a part of the awareness drive”.
The documentary will be seen internationally on CNN by a potential audience of more than 186 million television households and hotel rooms, whom Samura is hoping will be uncomfortable with what it sees. “The global premiere of my documentary is an important opportunity to communicate to a wide audience how easily HIV can be spread, and to gain international recognition of the sensitive issues involved. This is crucial to changing the statistics in the fight against Aids,” he says.
News Broadcasting
Induction cooktop demand spikes 30× amid LPG supply concerns
Supply worries linked to West Asia tensions push households and restaurants to turn to electric cooking alternatives
MUMBAI: As geopolitical tensions in West Asia ripple through global energy supply chains, the familiar blue flame in Indian kitchens is facing an unexpected challenger: electricity.
What began as concerns over the availability of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) has quickly evolved into a technology-driven shift in cooking habits. Households across India are increasingly turning to induction cooktops and other electric appliances, initially as a backup but now, for many, a necessity.
A sudden surge in demand
Recent data from quick-commerce and grocery platform BigBasket highlights the scale of the shift. According to Seshu Kumar Tirumala, the company’s chief buying and merchandising officer, demand for induction cooktops has risen dramatically.
“Induction cooktops have seen a significant surge in demand, recording a fivefold jump on 10 March and a thirtyfold spike on 11 March,” Tirumala said.
The increase stands out sharply when compared with broader kitchen appliance trends. Most appliance categories are growing within 10 per cent of their typical demand levels, while induction cooktops have witnessed explosive growth as households rush to secure an alternative cooking option.
Major e-commerce platforms including Amazon and Flipkart have reported rising searches and orders for induction stoves. Quick-commerce apps such as Blinkit and Zepto have also witnessed stock shortages in major metropolitan areas including Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru.
What was once considered a convenient appliance for hostels, small kitchens or occasional use has suddenly become an essential addition in many homes.
A crisis thousands of miles away
The trigger for this shift lies far beyond India’s kitchens.
Escalating conflict in the Middle East has disrupted shipping routes through the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most critical energy corridors. Nearly 85 to 90 per cent of India’s LPG imports pass through this narrow waterway, making the country particularly vulnerable to supply disruptions.
The ripple effects have been swift.
India currently meets roughly 60 per cent of its LPG demand through imports, and tightening global supply has already begun to affect domestic availability and prices.
Earlier this month, the price of domestic LPG cylinders increased by Rs 60, while commercial cylinders rose by more than Rs 114.
To discourage panic buying and hoarding, the government has also extended the mandatory waiting period between domestic refill bookings from 21 days to 25 days.
Restaurants feel the pressure
The strain is not limited to households. Restaurants, hotels and roadside eateries are also grappling with supply constraints as commercial LPG availability tightens under restrictions imposed through the Essential Commodities Act.
In cities such as Bengaluru and Chennai, restaurant associations report that commercial LPG availability has dropped by as much as 75 per cent, forcing many establishments to rethink their kitchen operations.
Some restaurants have reduced menu offerings, while others are rapidly installing high-efficiency induction systems, creating hybrid kitchens where electricity now shares the workload with gas.
For smaller eateries and roadside dhabas, the shift is less about sustainability and more about survival.
A potential structural shift
The government has maintained that there is no nationwide LPG crisis and has directed refineries to increase production to stabilise supply.
Nevertheless, the developments of March 2026 may already be triggering a longer-term behavioural shift.
For decades, LPG has been the backbone of cooking in Indian households. However, recent disruptions have highlighted the risks of relying on a single fuel source.
Increasingly, households appear to be hedging against uncertainty by adopting electric cooking options to guard against price volatility and delivery delays.
If the current trend continues, the induction cooktop, once viewed as a niche appliance, could emerge as a quiet symbol of India’s evolving kitchen economy.
