News Broadcasting
Kerala bans all lotteries in State
BANGALORE: Describing lotteries as a social evil, Kerala – one of the pioneers of government run lotteries in India, has decided to ban all lotteries in the state, including its own state run paper lottery.
In a bid to prevent the return of online lotteries and lotteries of other states which were garnering a major chunk of income from the lottery business in Kerala, the state cabinet on 25 January issued a blanket ban on all lotteries.
Lotteries in the country are governed by the Lotteries (Regulation) Act, 1998 (Act No 17 of 1998). As per Section 6 of the Act: The Central Government, may by order published in the Official Gazette, prohibit lottery organized, conducted or promoted in contravention of the provisions of Section 4, or where tickets of such lottery are sold in contravention of the provisions of Section 5. As per various orders of the Supreme Court, lotteries cannot be banned selectively.
Earlier too, the Kerala Government on 8 November 2003, attempted to prevent the sale of other State lotteries, but this was stayed by the Kerala High Court on 19 December and subsequently upheld by the Supreme Court, in its interim order.
In the present situation, when the government recently banned on-line lotteries again, the concerned affected parties; namely the Government of Meghalaya and online lottery players approached the Supreme Court. The apex court’s verdict on Monday (24 January) underlined two options to the state governement – either to allow all lotteries or to ban the entire trade in the state.
This ban, directly or indirectly, will affect around 200,000 people including about 30,000 handicapped persons who will loose their income and livelihood earned by the sale of lottery tickets. The state exchequer will also be poorer by around Rs 200-300 million every year. The gazetted and non-gazetted officers of the state lotteries department would be deployed to other government departments, while alternative rehabilitation plans for people, directly affected by the ban, especially the handicapped, are being mooted by the government according to the state chief minister Oommen Chandy.
News Broadcasting
Network18 channels lead YouTube news viewership in March 2026
CNN-News18, News18 India and CNBC channels top categories with record views
MUMBAI: When the world hit refresh on breaking news, Network18’s channels were already streaming ahead. As geopolitical tensions and war-driven headlines fuelled a surge in global news consumption, the network’s digital playbook delivered big clocking record Youtube viewership across English, Hindi and business news categories in March 2026.
At the forefront was CNN-News18, which emerged as the clear leader in the English news segment with 130 million live and video-on-demand views. The channel edged past competitors such as Times of India (126.5 million), Times Now (101.1 million), India Today (88.2 million) and NDTV (77.5 million), according to Databeings data for March.
In the Hindi news arena, News18 India delivered a commanding performance, racking up a staggering 3,297 million views on YouTube. The channel comfortably outpaced NDTV India, which recorded 3,119 million views, underlining its deep reach and consistent engagement with mass audiences, as per Playboard data.
The network’s dominance wasn’t confined to general news. In the Hindi business segment, CNBC Awaaz topped the charts with 92 million views, narrowly ahead of Zee Business (90 million) and well ahead of ET Now Swadesh (57 million). Meanwhile, its English counterpart CNBC-TV18 posted a strong 58 million views, reinforcing the network’s cross-category strength.
The spike in viewership reflects a broader shift in audience behaviour, with viewers increasingly turning to digital platforms particularly Youtube for real-time updates and in-depth coverage during high-intensity news cycles. For Network18, the numbers signal more than just scale; they underline the effectiveness of a multi-platform strategy that blends speed, credibility and continuous coverage.
In a month where the news never paused, it seems viewers chose to stay tuned where the stream never stopped.
