News Broadcasting
India best place in world for news channels: Purie
NEW DELHI: ‘India is a very dramatic country, and therefore it is the best country in the world to have television news channel – something is happening here every moment’.
Accepting the Indiantelevision.com’s Lifetime Achievement Award at the Second News Television Awards function over the weekend, TV Today Group editor-in-chief and chairman Aroon Purie said the 24×7 news channels were probably the greatest invention of recent times since they changed the way people think and also affect public discourse. “A television channel is like a Formula One Car. It just goes on and on at a speed beyond your imagination”.
“I love news – it is my passion”, said Purie, but added that it was unfair to blame TV news channels for everything. The TV news business was just over a decade old and ‘they still have to find their feet’, he said, adding that news channels had behaved tremendously against adverse circumstances.
Referring to what he termed the ‘tyranny of TRPs’, he said news channels were judged by the minute. He hoped things would change in a couple of years when people start paying for the few news channels they wanted to see and did not get them all free. The TV news channel business would see greater expansion then,
NDTV India’s Pankaj Pachauri, who won the Best News Anchor in Hindi award, said he was happy that news had been brought on the agenda as other TV awards were all for entertainment.
Noting that the awards had been created for the TV news industry, Wanvari added that there was space for both entertainment and news awards. He pointed out that the awards had been decided by impartial juries that were not part of indiantelevision.com
Rajdeep Sardesai who received the Best News Anchor Award in English for CNN IBN, said TV news was a tough competitive business which was presently facing a content crisis. He urged TV news channels to show greater unity amongst themselves.
Speaking about the honours that the NDTV group of channels received, CEO KVL Narayan Rao said, “NDTV has a pool of the most talented and bright reporters, anchors, producers, editors and others in the Indian television industry today. We are honoured for being recognised for our quality of work and credible journalism”.
HDTV-ready English news channel NewsX, from the INX Network was honoured with a special award for ‘Pioneering Initiatives in Digital Technology’ for its leadership role in technological innovation.
Said INX News chairman Indrani Mukerjea, “Our aim has been to bring a completely up-to-date news channel to the Indian television audience by combing world class technology with contemporary graphics and set designs. We have used an HDTV-ready format with a view to future proofing the technology. In addition, we adopted MPEG 4 for both, newsgathering and transmission, to ensure superior quality images. We are happy to know that the industry recognises our leadership role.”
News Broadcasting
CNN-News18 to host Kolkata Town Hall on Hooghly River
‘Bhalobasa Bengal Inspiring Bharat’ event on April 20 brings cultural icons, trailblazing women and leaders aboard a cruise to celebrate Bengal’s enduring influence.
MUMBAI: Bengal is about to make fresh waves on the Hooghly and this time the current is pure conversation. CNN-News18 is taking its iconic Town Hall format to the waters of the iconic Hooghly River on 20 April 2026 with a special edition titled ‘Bhalobasa Bengal – Inspiring Bharat’. The floating event will celebrate the state’s rich cultural legacy and how its ideas, creativity and spirit continue to shape the rest of the country.
The unique riverside setting draws on Bengal’s history as a cradle of reform, art and intellectual thought. The speaker line-up mirrors that diversity: cultural heavyweights Mithun Chakraborty and Sreenanda Shankar will share the stage with trailblazing “Devis” such as Tanya Sanyal (India’s first woman firefighter in aviation), Ipsita Chakraborty (Kolkata’s first woman bartender) and Reshma Nilofer Visalakshi (Nari Shakti awardee and marine pilot). Music will flow through the celebrated pianist-vocalist duo Sourendro and Soumyojit, while public life and governance will be represented by Smriti Irani, Leander Paes, Saira Shah Halim, Keya Ghosh, Rekha Patra, Roopa Ganguly and Babul Supriyo.
CNN-News18, editorial affairs director, Rahul Shivshankar, said the event honours voices that carry Bengal’s legacy forward. Smriti Mehra, CEO – English & Business News, Network18, added that Bengal’s stories resonate far beyond its borders, especially as the state heads into polls.
From the first woman to battle flames in the skies to legendary actors who shaped Indian cinema, the gathering promises a rich mix of inspiration, courage and candid dialogue. In a city where culture has always flowed as freely as the river itself, CNN-News18 is turning the Hooghly into a floating forum for ideas that matter.
Tune in on 20 April on CNN-News18, CTV and YouTube to catch Bengal’s heartbeat in full flow.
