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Sachin, Sehwag to open for India again
MUMBAI: Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar, one of the most fearsome opening batsman of all time Virender Sehwag, the legendary West Indian Brian Lara, lethal Aussie speedster Bret Lee, one of Sri Lanka’s most stylish and dependable batsman of all time Tillakaratne Dilshan and the one and only, who took fielding in cricket to a different level, Jonty Rhodes, all come together once again to enthral us with their cricketing brilliance when they lock horns for the Road Safety World Series scheduled to be held in India early next year.
The Road Safety World Series will be an annual T20 cricket tournament between legends of five cricket playing nations—Australia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, West Indies and host India. Along with great rivalry and fierce competition, the cricketers will also spread the message of road safety during this League. The tournament will be played from 4th February to 16th February 2020, and will be hosted across premier venues in India.
Little Master Sunil Gavaskar is the Commissioner and Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar is the Brand Ambassador of the League. Viacom18’s Colors Cineplex is the broadcast partner while VOOT and Jio are the digital partners. The popular platform Tik Tok is coming on board as the Online Community Partner of the League.
The aim of the Road Safety World Series is to drive social change in the country and change people’s outlook towards road safety. As cricket is the most followed sport in the country and cricketers are looked upon as idols by many, this League will work as an ideal platform to influence and change people’s mind set towards their behaviour on the roads.
Apart from the legendary cricketers, Melroy D’Souza, COO, Professional Management Group (PMG); Sudhanshu Vats, Group CEO & MD, Viacom18; Nitin Saluja, Director Public Policy Programs, TikTok India and Ravi Gaikwad, RTO Chief of Thane (Konkan Range) who is also a senior member of the Road Safety Cell of Maharashtra, were also present during the launch of this T20 extravaganza which has all the making of a big-ticket event in India’s sporting calendar. A portion of the profits gained during this league will go to Shant Bharat Surakshit Bharat, a charitable trust whose main objective is to promote the cause of road safety in the country.
Mr. Gaikwad, who was a H. Sc. state topper and scientist before joining RTO said, “One things that runs very deeply in every Indians DNA is cricket. The reach of this game and the following of its stars are phenomenal and that is what we want to do, spread the message across through this game which is so close to everyone in this country. The Road Safety World Series is not just a cricket tournament but a platform to achieve a much greater goal towards humanity as a whole. It is perhaps divine intervention that has brought all of us together to create the Road Safety World Series where we will see all those legends in action whom we had started to miss in the last few years. I am sure, we all, who are here together today to make this happen, will one day be very proud of what we have achieved for ourselves and for our future generations. I know people look at sports as a form of entertainment, but if sports is played only for entertainment purpose, the Olympic movement and its glorious narrative will not have any meaning. I welcome you all to experience this unique journey where we will not only be creating memories but spearheading a movement to save more lives on Indian roads.”
Brand Ambassador of the League, Sachin Tendulkar said, “People in India loves cricket and we are blessed to be playing the sport. The love and affection showered by one and all towards cricket and cricketers is too fulfilling to express in words. I have been regularly talking about the importance of following traffic rules and driving safely, and the platform of Road Safety World Series feels like a full circle. I am really happy to be a part of this league which not only gives the stalwarts of the cricket world a chance to come back but also an opportunity for all of us to give something back to the society through this beautiful game.”
Speaking about the Road Safety World Series, Melroy said, “We are very excited about using cricket as a platform to promote road safety. The tournament will give an opportunity for the fans to see their idols, back in action, a chance which I think all of them will cherish. It will give some of the greatest cricketers of all time, an opportunity to pit their wits and skills against each other, all over again.”
Speaking about the partnership for Road Safety World Series, Sudhanshu Vats, Group CEO and MD, Viacom18 said: “We have always believed that entertainment has the potential to bring about meaningful change and what better way of practising this philosophy than to bring cricketing legends in the popular T20 format to spread the message of road safety. An annual tourney spread over two weeks, I believe this league has the right balance of fandom, brevity and consumer connect to make this a viable long-term proposition – both in terms of sporting and business value. We are happy to partner with PMG and Road Safety Cell of Maharashtra Govt. to bring forth this cricketing tournament to viewers across the world.”
Leading short view platform, TikTok has also extended its support to the campaign as Online Community Partners. As part of this partnership, the TikTok campaign #RoadSafetyChamps will launch go live on the platform in the lead up to the tournament in February 2019.
“In line with our commitment towards the safety of our users, we are excited to partner with Road Safety World Series. As part of our ongoing safety initiatives, we’ve launched several consumer education programs in the past. Through this partnership we look forward to extending support by spreading the message of road safety through TikTok,” Nitin Saluja – Director Public Policy Programs, TikTok India.
WHY ROAD SAFETY?
Every year India kills a decent size European nation on its roads. In India, one person dies in every four minutes. Every hundred people dying in the world, 30 are Indians. It is more alarming that as per the World Research Institute, by 2020, the death toll in road accidents every year will reach up to 2.2 million and 50 per cent will be Indians. Every year around 1,50,000 people are killed and more than 4,50,000 people are critically injured in our country in road accidents.
iWorld
Talk to your telly: JioHotstar’s new AI voice feature reads your mood to suggest shows
The streaming giant ditches the scroll for a “conversational” AI that understands moods, cricket and Hinglish
MUMBAI: The era of the endless scroll may finally be over. JioHotstar has officially flicked the switch on its “Conversational Voice Discovery” (CVD) feature, a high-tech overhaul designed to turn the hunt for a Friday night film into a natural chat. Developed in a landmark partnership with OpenAI, the tool moves beyond clunky keyword searches, allowing users to find content by describing their mood, context or even the most bizarre viewing scenarios.
The feature is vision of Uday Shankar, vice chairman of JioStar, whose goal is to eliminate “content overload” by replacing the tedious, traditional scroll with natural dialogue. By leveraging ChatGPT’s ability to grasp context and cultural nuance, the new mobile interface allows users to bypass menus entirely, turning search into a seamless conversation.
The launch, which rolled out across India this month, sees a ChatGPT-powered interface integrated directly into the heart of the app. Instead of typing “action movie” into a sterile search bar, viewers can now speak to their devices as if they were asking a well-read friend for a tip. For now, the feature is exclusive to the mobile app, with a rollout for Connected TV (CTV) expected in later phases.
Beyond the keyword
The CVD feature is built on what JioStar calls “Multilingual Cognitive Search.” It is designed to interpret nuance rather than just matching text. If you tell the app, “I’ve had a long day, give me something mindless and funny,” it won’t just look for those words in a title; it will sift through 300,000 hours of library content to find a light-hearted sitcom or a stand-up special that fits the vibe.
The tech is natively multilingual, catering to India’s diverse linguistic landscape. Users can switch effortlessly between languages—asking for “Koi light-hearted comedy dikhao” (show me some light-hearted comedy) or requesting a “Thriller hai but zyada dark nahi chahiye” (a thriller that isn’t too dark).
Real-time curiosity and live sports
Perhaps the most ambitious aspect of the rollout is its integration with live sports. During a high-stakes cricket match, the AI acts as a digital companion. Fans can ask, “Who is the top scorer right now?” or “Show me that last wicket again,” and the system will pull the relevant data or clips instantly. It even attempts to explain the “why” behind the crowd’s energy, responding to prompts like, “Why is everyone reacting like that?” by contextualizing on-field events.
A shift in streaming strategy
The move is part of a broader reimagining of the entertainment experience following the massive merger between JioCinema and Disney+ Hotstar. Uday Shankar noted that the goal is to make premium entertainment “truly accessible” by embedding AI at the core of the user journey. By anticipating culture and context, the platform hopes to kill off “decision fatigue.”
For OpenAI, the partnership represents a major play in the Indian market. Fidji Simo, the head of applications at OpenAI, said the goal was to turn a “one-way” passive consumption experience into a “deeply personal conversation.”
As the feature goes live for millions of subscribers, the message from Bombay House is clear: the remote control is becoming obsolete. Whether you’re looking for a show that “feels like a rainy Sunday afternoon” or a crime series with a “strong female lead but not too violent,” all you have to do is ask.
