GECs
Essel Group picks up stake in UNI
NEW DELHI: The Subhash Chandra-promoted Essel Group, which is the co-owner of DNA newspaper along with the Dainik Bhaskar group, has joined the United News of India (UNI) board as a shareholder.
News agency UNI has shareholding from about nine big media organisations who also form the board of the news organisation formed in 1961.
Confirming the development, Essel Group senior vice-president Ashish Kaul said, “We are on the board of UNI now as a shareholder, but the quantum of the holding cannot be disclosed at this point of time.”
Kaul also clarified that Zee Telefilms, also an Essel Group enterprise, has nothing to do with the UNI deal. The other shareholders and board members of UNI include media outfits like HT Media, Times of India group, Ananda Bazar Patrika and The Hindu.
Chandra has used his investment vehicle, Mediawest, to conclude the UNI agreement.
Launched in March 1961, UNI has grown into one of the largest news agencies in Asia. today it serves more than 1000 subscribers in more than 100 locations in India and abroad. They include newspapers, radio and television networks, web sites , government offices and private and public sector corporations.
The agencies communication network stretches over 90,000 kms in India and the Gulf states with bureaux in all major cities and towns of India.
UNI has collaboration agreements with several foreign news agencies, including Reuters and DPA , whose stories are distributed to media organisations in India.
Apart from that, UNI has news exchange agreements with Xinhua of China, UNB of Bangladesh, Gulf News Agency of Bahrain, WAM of the United Arab Emirates, KUNA of Kuwait News Agency, ONA of Oman and QNA of Qatar.
The terrestrial TV area also will include a demonstration of the Harris/Neural Audio MultiMerge for DTV. MultiMerge uses intelligent detection to blend any audio (mono, stereo, matrix encoded stereo (L/R), and 5.1 discrete content) into a seamless, uninterrupted 5.1 surround sound stream.
Harris began developing terrestrial transmission platforms for mobile TV in 2004 after participating in early demonstrations and the development of the DVB-H standard. The company’s recent acquisition of Leitch Technology adds a range of servers, routers, switchers and processing equipment to Harris® NetVX video encoding and distribution systems, providing the infrastructure for bringing content into the mobile TV headend. Meanwhile, equipment from the Harris Software Systems business unit adds a complement of broadband software and distribution equipment for network management, traffic scheduling, digital asset management and ad insertion, among other applications.
GECs
Sebi sends show-cause notice to Zee over fund diversion, company responds
Regulator questions 2018 letter of comfort and governance lapses; company vows robust legal response
MUMBAI: India’s markets watchdog has reignited its long-running scrutiny of Zee Entertainment Enterprises, issuing a sweeping show-cause notice that drags the broadcaster and 84 others into a widening governance storm.
The notice, dated February 12, has been served by the Securities and Exchange Board of India to Zee, chairman emeritus Subhash Chandra and managing director and chief executive Punit Goenka, among others. At its heart: allegations that company funds were indirectly routed to settle liabilities of entities linked to the Essel Group.
The regulator’s probe traces its roots to November 2019, when two independent directors resigned from Zee’s board, flagging concerns over the alleged appropriation of fixed deposits by Yes Bank. The deposits were reportedly adjusted against loans extended to Essel Group entities, triggering questions about related-party dealings and board oversight.
A key flashpoint is a letter of comfort dated September 4, 2018, issued by Subhash Chandra in his dual capacity as chairman of Zee and the Essel Group. The document, linked to credit facilities availed by certain group companies from Yes Bank, was allegedly known only to select members of management and not disclosed to the full board—an omission SEBI believes raises red flags over transparency and governance controls.
Zee has pushed back hard. In a statement, the company said it “strongly refutes” the allegations against it and its board members and will file a detailed response. It expressed confidence that SEBI would conduct a fair review and signalled readiness to pursue all legal remedies to protect shareholder interests.
The notice marks the latest twist in a saga that has shadowed the broadcaster since 2019. What began as boardroom unease has morphed into a full-blown regulatory confrontation. The final reckoning now rests with SEBI—but the reputational stakes for Zee, and the message for India Inc on governance discipline, could scarcely be higher.
