News Broadcasting
Focus Bangla aims to capture its audience
KOLKATA: The 24×7 Bengali news channel Focus Bangla, aims to tirelessly captivate its audiences, and is toiling hard on its programming and on introducing fresh and exciting content.
The channel, which is bullish about its growth in the regional market, has also recently introduced a new slot for a programme featuring one-to-one interviews with achievers in different fields once a week from 7.30 pm to 9 pm known as ‘Sojja Saapta’ (Being Straight Forward).
Interesting personalities like ex-Housing Minister Gautam Deb, Opposition leaders like Surya Kanta Mishra, State Urban Development Minister Firhad Hakim, have already participated and spoken straight from their hearts when it came to political discussion.
The newly appointed editor Arkaprabha Sarkar said: “Apart from airing news, we came out with this concept of one-to-one interaction so that the interviewees can express their views, which is not possible to telecast during news slots. We are a non-biased news channel.”
At present, Focus Bangla “airs news bulletins for 16.30 hours a day and another 1.30 hours is dedicated for advertorial content,” Sarkar added.
“We believe in presenting the news… We have not adopted any political line. In a nutshell, we are committed to democracy, secularism and pre-market economy,” he further commented.
“Focus Bangla also aims to reach more viewers in the region. It has also changed its logo with a promise to be “focused” in presenting unbiased news and create a better impact,” remarked Sarkar.
How was Focus Bangla actually christened? At the end of February 2014, 24×7 Bengali news channel North-East Bangla (NE Bangla), changed its name to Focus Bangla, simultaneously changing its logo, which suggested that the channel would be “focused” in presenting unbiased news. A different name with a clearly different stance.
Matang Sinh, a former Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs in the PV Narasimha Rao government, used to own Focus TV and NE Bangla. But towards the end of 2012, Naveen Jindal, chairman of Jindal Steel and Power Ltd. (JSPL) bought a stake in the channel through his family and associates.
“The market for Focus Bangla is still nascent. To compete with the bigwigs, it needs to stay focused. It’s difficult to remain unbiased, especially when the other channels have shown their allegiance to certain political parties. But considering the pivotal role that media plays in a democratic set-up, households should stay as unbiased as possible. The role of media is not to take sides, rather to bring out the harsh truth, no matter how bitter it may sound,” said Abhishek Sengupta, a media analyst.
News Broadcasting
WITT Summit 2026 concludes in New Delhi
Babar Azam’s comical diving attempt goes viral as league introduces anti-dew measures.
MUMBAI: The WITT Summit just wrapped up with enough big ideas to fill a policy playbook because when India’s leaders, thinkers and icons gather under one roof, even the conversations hit sixes. The eighth edition of TV9 Network’s flagship What India Thinks Today (WITT) Summit 2026 concluded on Saturday after two days of dynamic discussions at its New Delhi venue. India’s largest multi-domain public policy and culture summit brought together political leaders, policymakers, sports icons, artists and technology innovators to examine the forces shaping contemporary India and its global standing.
Prime minister Narendra Modi delivered the keynote address on the theme “India and the World” for the third consecutive year. In a wide-ranging speech, he addressed the ongoing conflict in West Asia, calling for restraint and compassion while highlighting India’s continued development trajectory despite global turmoil.
The summit featured candid conversations with state leaders. Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy articulated a people-first governance model and contrasted it with other development approaches. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav declared that Left-wing extremism had been effectively eliminated in his state and highlighted preparations for the upcoming Kumbh Mela. Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann defended his government’s record, citing the closure of 19 toll plazas and creation of the Sadak Suraksha Force. Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar expressed confidence in Congress prospects in Assam and addressed recent allegations against him.
On geopolitics and national security, Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia outlined India’s ambition to become a builder of trusted digital infrastructure for the world, citing the rapid 5G rollout and village-level 4G connectivity.
Cricket received significant attention. Former India captain Sourav Ganguly praised player freedom and trust as hallmarks of great leadership and named MS Dhoni as the greatest captain due to his World Cup successes. India women’s team bowling coach Aavishkar Salvi credited the BCCI and Women’s Premier League for building a pipeline of world-class talent behind the team’s recent ODI World Cup triumph.
The summit also hosted the inaugural AI² Awards 2026, celebrating the convergence of human creativity and machine intelligence in storytelling and content creation. Poet and kathavachak Kumar Vishwas delivered a nuanced take on India’s concept of Dharma and criticised the recent arrest of an 80-year-old Shankaracharya. Veteran lyricist Sameer Anjaan and storyteller Neelesh Misra reflected on changing music trends and artistic responsibility in the wake of a recent controversy involving Nora Fatehi.
In a country where conversations often run as deep as the Ganges, the WITT Summit proved once again that when leaders, thinkers and storytellers come together, the real winner is public discourse lively, layered and refreshingly unafraid to tackle the big questions shaping India’s tomorrow.
