News Broadcasting
Shashi Tharoor files defamation case against Arnab Goswami’s Republic
NEW DELHI:On Friday, the Delhi High Court gave some relief to Republic TV’s Arnab Goswami in a case of IPR theft filed by Times of India group, but was petitioned by Congress leader and Thiruvanthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor who filed a defamation case against Goswami and his Republic.
Tharoor in the petition has claimed from Goswami damages and compensation of Rs 20 million (Rs 2 crore) for allegedly making defamatory remarks towards him while airing news on Republic TV relating to the death of his wife Sunanda Pushkar. The case would be taken up on Monday.
According to a PTI report, Tharoor has also sought a direction from the high court to restrain the TV channel from broadcasting any show relating to the death of his wife till the investigation is completed by the Delhi Police.
While the news was broken by a TV news channel, Tharoor used the channel’s tweet on the development to confirm by tweeting: “Pleased to confirm this story. We filed today in Delhi High Court. Had enough of his campaign of calumny.”
The Congress leader, in his lawsuit, has made Goswami and Arg Outlier Media- Asianet News Private Limited, the company which owns Republic TV, as parties. The petition referred to the broadcasting of news items from 8 to 13 May 2017 when the TV channel claimed to air an expose connected to the death of Pushkar, PTI reported.
“It is not out of place to say that defendants (Goswami and TV channel) broadcast news reports and alleged expose’ which were intended to lead the viewers to believe that the deceased was murdered either by plaintiff (Tharoor) or at the instance of the plaintiff. Such a broadcast clearly has the potential of adversely impacting the ongoing investigation into the death of the deceased,” PTI quoted sections of the plea in the high court.
However, Goswami seemed to remain unfazed on Friday. Via Republic TV’s Twitter handle he sent across his message on the civil defamation case to the world.
“The people of India know that Sunanda Pushkar was murdered and Republic TV has a right to investigate the case,” Goswami said in a tweet, adding in another emphatically: “Determined to pursue the truth in the Sunanda Pushkar murder case, despite Tharoor’s attempts to block us.”
Sunanda Pushkar was found dead in a suite of a five star hotel in south Delhi under mysterious circumstances on the night of 17 January, 2014.
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News Broadcasting
CNN-News18 to air live counting day coverage for five state election results on May 4
The channel is rolling out its biggest election coverage machinery yet for results day on 4th May
NOIDA: The votes have been cast. Now comes the reckoning. CNN-News18 is pulling out all the stops for results day on 4th May, when counting begins across five battleground states — West Bengal, Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and the Union Territory of Puducherry — in what promises to be one of the most closely watched electoral verdicts in recent memory.
The channel’s coverage, titled Battle for the States: The Verdict, kicks off at 7am and runs through the day across linear TV, connected television and YouTube. It is the culmination of CNN-News18’s multi-format editorial initiative, Battle for the States, which has tracked the polls from the beginning under the theme Road to Power.
At the operational heart of the coverage will be the Live Results Hub, the channel’s central command centre built to collate, verify and process real-time data flowing in from reporters stationed at counting centres across constituencies. The hub combines newsroom intelligence, analytics and on-the-ground reporting to deliver what the channel promises will be the fastest and most accurate results coverage in English news.
Leading the on-air charge will be primetime anchors Rahul Shivshankar, Anand Narasimhan, Aman Sharma, Nabila Jamal and Shivani Gupta. They will be joined by a wide panel of commentators including author Chetan Bhagat; GVL Narasimha Rao, senior leader of the BJP; Smita Prakash, editor of ANI; activist Saira Shah Halim; political analyst Sumanth C Raman; Abhijit Iyer Mitra, senior fellow at IPCS; Amitabh Tiwari, founder of VoteVibe; columnist Abhijit Majumdar; Nalin Mehta, managing editor of MoneyControl; political analyst Tehseen Poonawalla; senior journalist Subir Bhaumik; and political analyst Manojit Mandal.
Shivshankar, who serves as editorial affairs director at CNN-News18, set out the stakes plainly. “Counting day is one of the most watched events in the electoral cycle, where speed and credibility are tested in real time,” he said. “Battle for the States: The Verdict is built on that promise, combining ground reporting, sharp analysis and cutting-edge election technology to give viewers the clearest and fastest route to the verdict. On May 4, CNN-News18 will once again be the nation’s most trusted channel to witness democracy in action.”
Smriti Mehra, chief executive of English and Business News at Network18, framed the coverage in broader terms. “Elections are defining national events, and audiences turn to brands they trust in moments that matter,” she said. “CNN-News18 has consistently led from the front in every election coverage, and this special programming reflects the scale of our ambition and editorial strength.”
The channel has form here. It claims to have been India’s most preferred English news destination for election results for the past 20 years, covering everything from the 2024 general elections to the Delhi, Maharashtra, Bihar and BMC polls on the back of what it calls an “Always First, Always Right” record. Five states, one day, and a nation waiting for answers. The clock starts at 7am on 4th May.
