News Broadcasting
Strong Indian presence at Mipcom
CANNES: Things are looking up at Mipcom for Indian broadcasters, production and animation companies this year. At least if one goes by the strong presence of from Indian participants with companies such as Sony Entertainment, Star, WEG India, Land Marvel Animation choosing to take up stands.
While the Star stand is a standout in terms of size and design, the Sony stand is more compact. Sony is looking for buyers for its library of programmes right from Aayushman to its movies like Devdas while, Star has also put up its entire programme portfolio on offer.
Star’s men (or rather women and men) in the Palais are creative head Shailaja Kejriwal (who we hear is looking for the next blockbuster for Star) and Rajesh Kamath who is negotiating pricing with wannabe buyers for the Star movie and programme library.
Sony is represented in the Palais by Sunil Lulla and Tarun Katial (both are buying aggressively we are told), while UK-based international sales head Neeraj Arora is leading the sales initiative. WEG India, a veteran at the markets, is hawking its movie library while Land Marvel a provider of special effects to the south Indian film industry is looking at getting animation projects. Land Marvel is represented by chairman and CEO M Veerashekar, V Vetrivell, and Samir Bose.
Zee TV has come out in strength with Gagan Goel, Ajay Trigunayat and Sunil Khanna beating the Palais’ floors. NDTV is also putting in a lot of muscle behind MipCom and is represented by Niraj Dutt, Avinash Kaul, and journalist I M Bajpai.
This apart, one came across Biren Ghose, Moi from UTV (Ronnie Screwavala is landing here on Friday), Delhi-based igrafix’s CEO Gagan Gandhi, Toonz Animation India CEO P Jayakumar, GreenGold Animation’s Rajiv Chilakalapudi, Escootoonz’s Prafull Gade, Discovery India’s programming head Pankaj Saxsena. (Is Discovery India finally going to get a healthy budget for programming?)
Clearly, the mood at the market is buoyant. As Star India’s Kamath says, “We believe there is a lot of potential and we are exploring it at this market.” Adds Lulla, “It’s a good market and we have been very busy.”
News Broadcasting
Rising Bharat Summit 2026 spotlights India’s global ascent
PM Modi keynotes two-day event with ministers, diplomats and icons in New Delhi.
MUMBAI: India didn’t just host a summit, it threw a coming-out party for a nation ready to own the global stage. The News18 Rising Bharat Summit 2026, held on 27–28 February in New Delhi, emerged as a high-octane platform for ideas, vision and strategic dialogue, uniting national leadership, global policymakers, industry titans, defence strategists and cultural icons under the theme “Strength Within”.
Prime minister Narendra Modi set the tone with a keynote that framed India’s resurgence as a reclaiming of lost potential built over generations. “In previous industrial revolutions, India and the Global South were merely followers,” he said. “But in the era of Artificial Intelligence, India is a partner in decisions and shaping them.” He highlighted the country’s thriving AI startup ecosystem and the recent AI Impact Summit attended by over 100 nations.
Union minister Piyush Goyal (Commerce & Industry) stressed India’s readiness to scale exports and deepen manufacturing, while Ashwini Vaishnaw (Railways, I&B, Electronics & IT) positioned technology and infrastructure as twin engines of growth, especially in AI and digital trust. Jyotiraditya Scindia (Communications & North East Development) revealed India’s ambition to lead in 6G through the Bharat 6G Alliance and partnerships with over 30 countries.
Global voices added depth: former Singapore Foreign Minister George Yeo called India’s development “self-sustaining” and strategically vital; ex-UK Chief of Defence Staff General Sir Nick Carter asserted India deserves a seat at the great powers’ table; and former US Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez joined ambassadors from Norway, Germany and Sweden in discussions on geopolitical realignment, sustainability and defence preparedness.
Other speakers included veteran investor Ramesh Damani, World Gold Council CEO David Tait, Vianai Systems founder Dr Vishal Sikka, DeepTech Bharat Foundation co-founder Shashi Shekhar Vempati, defence experts Rajesh Kumar Singh, Sunil Ambekar, Patrick McGee, Tom Cooper and Adrian Fontanellaz, plus cultural and sporting icons Kangana Ranaut, Saina Nehwal, PR Sreejesh, Mohammed Shami, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mithali Raj, Anil Kapoor and Yami Gautam.
The summit was supported by Jio Financial Services (Presenting Partner), Phonepe and DS Group (Co-Presenting Partners), Pernod Ricard India and Kia Seltos (Powered By & Driven By), state governments of Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Uttarakhand (State Partners), and associate partners including NSE, M3M Foundation and Reliance Industries.
Broadcast live across News18 Network, CNBC-TV18 and CNBC Awaaz, the event reinforced India’s image as a confident democracy and emerging global power proving that when strength comes from within, the world can’t help but watch.
