News Broadcasting
Sushil Kumar Shinde unplugged on Sahara Samay’s ‘The RKB show’
“I have to pay a hafta of Rs 6,000 crore (60 billion) per week to Maharashtra’s creditors,” says Sushil Kumar Shinde on The RKB Show. Airing on 24 April at 7:30 PM , the show has Maharashtra's reigning chief minister Sushil Kumar Shinde in an exclusive hour-long interview.
In this explosive tete-e-tete, Shinde speaks about how he still holds the centre responsible for denying drought relief to the state government. "I met the prime minister along with Balasaheb Thackeray. I asked for Rs 1.99 crore (19.9 million), but Thackeray asked for Rs 2000 crore (20 billion). They have sent Rs 43 crore (430 million). They are not even bothered about their own alliance partners, the NDA have politicized even the issue of famine relief."
"People like Pramod Mahajan and the BJP are so scared of Sonia Gandhi that they see her everywhere. In fact they have already admitted defeat against us." Shinde says.
The chief minister claims that he has given a plus budget for the current financial year. "I agree this is only for the year but give me another couple of years and I shall wipe out the huge deficit we inherited from the Shiv Sena-BJP. I have already stabilsied it, in fact now it has started to come down. I am now having to pay a hafta of Rs 6,000 (60 billion) crore per week and I will pay it”
An obviously passionate and angry chief minister, replying to a question on Dr P S Pasricha’s transfer, says, "I was in intelligence when I was a sub-inspector. I know who is feeding what to whom. If he (Pasricha) wanted to continue only as Commissioner, he should have stated in writing that he did not want to be promoted."
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.
