News Broadcasting
Narendra Modi picks ETV network for first election interview
MUMBAI: Ever since Congress vice president, Rahul Gandhi, gave his first ever television interview after making his political debut in 2004 to Times Now editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami, everyone has been waiting with abated breathe which channel will BJP’s prime ministerial candidate opt for.
Finally, the wait is over as Narendra Modi has decided to go the other way and give his first election interview to a regional channel, ETV Gujarati. While the channel’s senior anchor Hari Shankar Vyas was picked to grill Modi, the interview has been conducted in Hindi rather than Gujarati, a move to reach out to a larger audience.
Shot on 27 March, the one and a half hour episode will be telecast across the ETV Network’s Gujarati news channel, Urdu channel and Hindi news channels (ETV UP/Uttarakhand, ETV MP/Chhattisgarh, ETV Bihar/Jharkhand, ETV Rajasthan) on 31 March at 8:30 pm. The network is currently exploring options to also simultaneously telecast it on the ETV GECs as well.
Other regional ETV channels such as Kannada, Marathi, Bangla and Odiya will telecast it on a later date and time, that hasn’t been fixed as yet. These will have subtitles in their respective languages.
ETV channels are now under Network18 in which Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) is a shareholder. Network18’s other news channels such as CNN-IBN and IBN7 will also air the interview.
The promos for the interview will start airing by 7:00 pm today.
News Broadcasting
India Today Group debuts AI anchor ‘Sutra’ at AI Impact Summit 2026
Sutra aims to simplify live policy debates using sovereign AI models
NEW DELHI: India Today Group has unveiled Sutra, an AI-driven news anchor designed to deliver real-time, contextual reporting, marking the group’s latest push to integrate artificial intelligence into mainstream journalism.
The AI anchor was introduced at the India AI Impact Summit 2026 in New Delhi and developed in collaboration with BharatGen, with the initiative showcased by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.
India Today Group said Sutra is built to navigate complex policy discussions and fast-moving developments by synthesising information into concise, accessible insights, aimed at narrowing the gap between high-level debates and public understanding. The AI anchor was used to surface live takeaways from key sessions at the summit.
India Today Group chief AI officer Nilanjan Das, said the project was focused on clarity and accessibility without diluting editorial rigour. He added that working with BharatGen aligned the group’s AI ambitions with India’s broader push towards sovereign technology capabilities.
BharatGen CEO Rishi Bal, said the partnership reflected a shift from basic automation towards deeper contextual intelligence in media. He emphasised the importance of indigenous, multimodal AI models capable of understanding Indian languages, regional dialects and cultural nuance, particularly as AI-driven news formats gain traction.
The launch positions India Today Group among the first major Indian media houses to deploy an AI anchor backed by home-grown technology, underscoring a growing convergence between journalism, public policy and sovereign AI infrastructure.
