News Broadcasting
Sensex sheds 227.2 points, hits 52-week low
It was another wild day at the bourses today, with the Bombay Stock Exchanges Sensitive Index (Sensex) swinging through the day in a 24 per cent band. Opening 8 per cent down, recovering almost all its losses by midday, losing another 8 per cent during the day before closing at 3,549.06 to a new 52-week low – a loss of 227.24 points, or 5.81 per cent.
Markets witnessed an estimated Rs 300 billion erosion in market capitalisation. The S&P CNX Nifty also fell by 5.32 per cent to close the day at 1,923.38.
Zee Telefilms,Tips , Balaji and Mukta Arts also crashed by 8 and 16% ceilings. Zee was quoted at Rs 110 down by 5% while Balaji lost 8% to Rs 176. In other media shares, counters like Pentamedia Graphics, Crest Communications, Jain Studios, Saregama India, TV 18 and Sri Adhikari Brothers were trading at their lower limit and below, ranging from 15-8%. Tips Industries (Rs 97.60), Adlabs Films (Rs 68.10), Cinevista Communications (Rs 51.95) and Pritish Nandy Communications (Rs 27.90) hit the 8% lower limit of the circuit breaker.
The day began on a bearish note following the late Monday night sacking of all the broker-directors of BSE by market regulator Securities & Exchange Board of India (Sebi). The fall in the tech-heavy Nasdaq below the 2000-mark on Monday only added fuel to the fire. Finance minister Yashwant Sinha’s proposal to introduce rolling settlement in BSE’s specified section, too, contributed to the volatility, which was showing signs of cooling off in noon trading after institutions, primarily government-owned and one FII, had stepped in to lend support and ram up the Sensex to the day’s high of 3777.48.
However, as soon as TV channels started flashing excerpts from a film, part of a sting operation carried out by New Delhi-based tehelka.com, a self styled news-views portal, showing some politicians from the ruling National Democratic Alliance in accepting kickbacks, all hell broke loose, with the Sensex plummeting to hit an intra-day low of 3436.75.
The tehelka “expose” threatens to put even the stock market crisis into the shade with the opposition baying for blood. Tehelka has captured Bharatiya Janata Party president Bangaru Laxman on camera while accepting Rs 100,000 for a party fund. Further, the president of a key coalition ally, Jaya Jaitley of the Samata Party, has accepted Rs 200,000, according to the transcript of the film. India’s defence minister George Fernandes is from the Samata Party.
Although Laxman did not deny taking the money, he claimed it was for the party coffers that he accepted the money. The expose did have an almost immediate fallout. At the time of posting, Laxman had announced his resignation as BJP party president.
News Broadcasting
Times Network to air JVC Exit Poll across 5 regions on April 29
Four-hour broadcast spans states and Puducherry with data-led analysis
MUMBAI: Times Network is set to roll out what it calls one of its most expansive election programming efforts yet, culminating in the JVC Exit Poll on 29 April, with a multi-hour broadcast spanning key poll-bound regions.
The exit poll will air across Times Now and Times Now Navbharat, beginning at 5pm and 4pm respectively. Co-powered by Vedanta and Jindal Stainless, the programming aims to combine on-ground reportage with data-driven projections across West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam and Puducherry.
The network has deployed over 50 journalists across these regions, gathering voter sentiment and local insights in the run-up to polling. The effort builds on its ongoing election formats such as Election Yatra and Election Premier League, which have tracked campaign narratives and community-level issues.
In parallel, Times Now Navbharat has focused on constituency-level reporting in West Bengal through its Jan Gan ka Mann series, capturing voter opinions across diverse segments.
The coverage has also featured interviews with prominent political leaders. Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Congress leaders Ramesh Chennithala and V D Satheesan have appeared on the network’s election specials. From Tamil Nadu, voices including deputy chief minister Udhayanidhi Stalin, DMK MP Dayanidhi Maran, BJP leader K Annamalai and NTK’s Seeman have also featured in discussions.
On the day of the exit poll, the network’s primetime anchors, including Navika Kumar, Zakka Jacob and Sumit Awasthi, will lead the coverage. They will be joined by a panel of political analysts, psephologists and senior journalists offering real-time insights and interpretation of trends.
The programming will integrate grassroots reportage with analytics from the JVC Exit Poll, aiming to give viewers an early sense of electoral outcomes ahead of the official results on 4 May.
With its combined English and Hindi broadcast reach, Times Network is positioning this effort as a comprehensive look at voter sentiment, blending field reporting, data and debate to decode what could lie ahead when the final mandate is revealed.
