News Broadcasting
Stan Grant is CNN Intl Beijing correspondent
MUMBAI: CNN has announced that its journalist Stan Grant who is currently based at its regional headquarters in Hong Kong, has been appointed as the Beijing correspondent. Furthermore his anchor/correspondent position in Hong Kong will taken up by Hugh Riminton, a veteran journalist who joins CNN from Australia’s Nine Network
CNN Intl MD Chris Cramer said, “Stan and Hugh reinforce CNN’s commitment to serious news coverage and analysis of the events taking place in the Asia Pacific. China’s growth and influence will be a major story in the coming years and Stan’s journalist credentials will serve us well. In Hugh CNN has secured an accomplished news anchor whose refreshing style will take CNN’s award-winning news team in Hong Kong to greater heights.”
From January 2005, Grant will join Beijing Bureau Chief Jaime Florcruz and take up his new position. he will be responsible for CNN’s coverage of China. Riminton will co-anchor the daily show CNN Today with Kristie Lu Stout from CNN’s regional headquarters in Hong Kong.
last year Grant travelled with the Lifeline Express to rural areas in China, looking at how a team of volunteer Chinese doctors, nurses and technicians helped the cataract sufferers. A veteran journalist with more than 20 years of experience, Grant has also covered a lot of major news events, including the Federal Elections in Australia, South Africa election in 1992, Hong Kong’s handover and the death of Princess Diana in 1997, the Northern Ireland Peace Deal in 1998, the 2004 Olympic flame lighting ceremony in Greece.
Before joining CNN, Riminton worked with The Nine Network in Australia, with the past four years as a news presenter of the evening news programme Nightline. Prior to that, he served as the network’s senior correspondent in Sydney from 1995 to 2001, and previously a London-based correspondent from 1991 to 1995.
News Broadcasting
CNN-News18 to host Kolkata Town Hall on Hooghly River
‘Bhalobasa Bengal Inspiring Bharat’ event on April 20 brings cultural icons, trailblazing women and leaders aboard a cruise to celebrate Bengal’s enduring influence.
MUMBAI: Bengal is about to make fresh waves on the Hooghly and this time the current is pure conversation. CNN-News18 is taking its iconic Town Hall format to the waters of the iconic Hooghly River on 20 April 2026 with a special edition titled ‘Bhalobasa Bengal – Inspiring Bharat’. The floating event will celebrate the state’s rich cultural legacy and how its ideas, creativity and spirit continue to shape the rest of the country.
The unique riverside setting draws on Bengal’s history as a cradle of reform, art and intellectual thought. The speaker line-up mirrors that diversity: cultural heavyweights Mithun Chakraborty and Sreenanda Shankar will share the stage with trailblazing “Devis” such as Tanya Sanyal (India’s first woman firefighter in aviation), Ipsita Chakraborty (Kolkata’s first woman bartender) and Reshma Nilofer Visalakshi (Nari Shakti awardee and marine pilot). Music will flow through the celebrated pianist-vocalist duo Sourendro and Soumyojit, while public life and governance will be represented by Smriti Irani, Leander Paes, Saira Shah Halim, Keya Ghosh, Rekha Patra, Roopa Ganguly and Babul Supriyo.
CNN-News18, editorial affairs director, Rahul Shivshankar, said the event honours voices that carry Bengal’s legacy forward. Smriti Mehra, CEO – English & Business News, Network18, added that Bengal’s stories resonate far beyond its borders, especially as the state heads into polls.
From the first woman to battle flames in the skies to legendary actors who shaped Indian cinema, the gathering promises a rich mix of inspiration, courage and candid dialogue. In a city where culture has always flowed as freely as the river itself, CNN-News18 is turning the Hooghly into a floating forum for ideas that matter.
Tune in on 20 April on CNN-News18, CTV and YouTube to catch Bengal’s heartbeat in full flow.
