News Broadcasting
Star to decide on uplinking plan by next weekend
The recent decision taken by the government to allow broadcasters to uplink directly from India seems to have caught the fancy of almost all the television channels and most of them might be thinking about uplinking form India.
Not to be left behind, officials at Star will be meeting through next week to decide about uplinking from India. According to a Star spokesperson, if the policy is there, they would definitely take a look at it. He also said that they might take some decision regarding this issue by next weekend.
Asked whether Star’s content partner for Star News, NDTV, would be applying for an uplinking license, because it might be left behind in terms of live coverage of news by rival news channel Zee News, the spokesperson said that NDTV is using VSNL’s uplinking facilities and the time difference between uplinking directly form India and from Hong Kong is hardly be 2 to 3 minutes.
It can be mentioned that Star has its own uplinking hub in Clearwater Bay – Hong Kong form where it uplinks all its channels. This gives the group economies of scale as it uplinks its entire bouquet from there.
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.
