ITV

Tag: Bihar

  • Polls apart: NDA leads as Bihar warms up to vote

    Polls apart: NDA leads as Bihar warms up to vote

    MUMBAI: It’s polling season in Bihar, and the numbers are already making noise. As the state gears up for its high-stakes election, India News and Newsx have joined hands to take the electorate’s temperature, and the results are sparking plenty of chatter.

    Their two-phase Bihar opinion poll, conducted in partnership with Ians–Matriz, offers an early snapshot of the political battlefield. The survey gives the NDA a clear lead with 49 per cent of the vote share, while the Mahagathbandhan trails at 36 per cent, and others stand at 15 per cent. Development has emerged as the top voter priority, leaving caste and religion in the rear-view mirror.

    The poll dug deep across Bihar’s heartland, from Patna and Muzaffarpur to Gaya, Purnia, and Bhagalpur, capturing both urban buzz and rural voices. Beyond numbers, it decoded what’s driving Bihar’s electorate: leadership credibility, alliance chemistry, and Narendra Modi’s continuing influence.

    “The Bihar Opinion Poll reflects the authentic voice of the people,” said India News managing editor Rakesh Singh, adding that the channel aimed to deliver an unbiased, data-backed pulse of the state. Newsx & Newsx World editor-in-chief Rishabh Gulati, noted that the project went “beyond speculation” to analyse why voters are thinking the way they are.

    Aired on 6 October at 7 pm, the broadcast generated strong engagement and debate across social media, as analysts and party watchers dissected what the trends could mean for the final verdict.

    Meticulously researched and sharply presented, the India News–Newsx Bihar opinion poll has set a new benchmark for pre-election coverage, turning raw sentiment into smart insight, and giving voters a mirror to their own political mood.

  • Live Times turns one: a year of truth-telling in a noisy news era

    Live Times turns one: a year of truth-telling in a noisy news era

    MUMBAI:  India’s first global multicast news hub has just blown out its first birthday candle, celebrating 12 months of fearless journalism, bold scoops, and a no-nonsense approach to facts in an era where sensationalism often grabs the mic.

    Launched on 23 August 2024 with the unapologetic motto “Complete Truth, Whatever It Takes,” the channel has spent the past year prying open stories others left untouched. From exposing the bone-chilling horrors of Operation Murda to on-ground exclusives during the Delhi Assembly elections, Live Times has made a habit of rattling cages and raising questions.

    Healthcare too came under its lens: reports on Bihar’s crumbling hospitals, Chhattisgarh’s fragile medical system, and mass migration in Madhya Pradesh revealed the gaps between policy and reality. One expose on patients denied treatment despite holding Ayushman health cards made it all the way to the state Assembly, proving that journalism still has teeth.

    With exclusive drone visuals, Live Times captured India’s evolving counter-terror strategy, setting fresh benchmarks in both technology and reporting grit.

    But it hasn’t stopped at newsbreaks. To mark its anniversary, Live Times launched “Voices of Experience: Advice for Future Journalists” , a campaign that tapped India’s veteran reporters for wisdom nuggets. The advice? Double down on fact-checking, stay fearless, work hard, and always keep credibility intact. In other words: journalism has no shortcuts.

    One year on, Live Times isn’t just patting itself on the back; it’s holding up a mirror to the profession. Its message is clear: truth is timeless, and in the race for eyeballs, integrity still wins the day.

     

  • Ladhani group’s SLMG Beverages pops open Rs 11,000 crore fizzy investment plan for Coca-Cola

    Ladhani group’s SLMG Beverages pops open Rs 11,000 crore fizzy investment plan for Coca-Cola

    MUMBAI: SLMG Beverages – Coca-Cola’s largest Indian bottler  – is brewing up a storm with ambitious expansion plans that would make even the most hardened business tycoons gasp for breath.

    Ladhani Group, the fizz-fuelled empire behind SLMG Beverages, announced yesterday a whopping Rs 11,000 crore investment strategy over the next five years, with the lion’s share – Rs 8,000 crore – earmarked for expanding its bottling dominance across Uttar Pradesh and newly-conquered Bihar.

    “We’re looking at doubling our revenue to Rs 20,000 crore,” said  joint managing director Paritosh Ladhani,  whose ambition seems as effervescent as the products his company bottles at a mind-boggling rate of 40 million per day.

    Already among Coca-Cola’s top 15 global bottlers, SLMG has set its sights on cracking the elite top 10 by 2030. The company recently stormed into Bihar after snatching up territorial rights from Coca-Cola’s own bottling arm HCCBL, a move described by industry insiders as “gaining prime real estate in India’s beverage battleground.”

    The Lucknow-based firm is currently constructing a Rs 1,200 crore plant in Bihar’s Buxar district, with another Rs 1,500 crore facility in the pipeline. Meanwhile, its existing plants near Lucknow, Amethi, Bareilly and Ayodhya will receive substantial upgrades.

    Not content with dominating just one sector, the group plans to splash Rs 3,000 crore into its hospitality business, doubling its hotel room portfolio faster than you can say “ice and a slice.”

    “Our per capita consumption is still quite low and we are aspiring to catch up,” noted Vivek Ladhani, executive director, in a masterclass of understatement – considering Indians currently drink roughly one-eighth the cola Americans consume annually.

    The company’s aggressive expansion comes just as year ago-appointed CEO Costin Mandrea settles into his role. The European veteran brings 25 years of beverage industry expertise and a bold mission: “We are building the first Indian world-class bottler, a bottler that is made in India and able to sit at the same table with bottlers from Latin America, Europe and Asia.”

    With its newly expanded territory now covering a staggering 360 million potential consumers across UP, Uttarakhand and Bihar, SLMG appears poised to ride India’s fizzy drinks boom, which is expected to bubble up at a refreshing 7.29 percent annually through 2028.

    When asked about a potential IPO, Ladhani remained coy: “Definitely, we have a plan.” But for now, the company seems content to shake up the market through explosive growth rather than share offerings, backed by what executives described as “sufficient internal accruals” to fund their effervescent ambitions.

  • Himalaya Wellness reaches out to thousands of teenagers through pimple campaign

    Himalaya Wellness reaches out to thousands of teenagers through pimple campaign

    MUMBAI:  Zits are popups on a teenager’s face which get him or her  all riled up. Riled up enough to lose sleep and shed a river of tears. 

    To address the knowledge gap about pimples, wellness firm Himalaya Wellness  organised its impactful My First Pimple campaign and even successfully wrapped it up. 

     It reached thousands of young girls in over 125 schools across west Bengal, Bihar, and Uttar Pradesh. The initiative aimed to empower adolescents with knowledge and confidence to navigate puberty-related skin changes, particularly pimples.

    The campaign educated participants on the hormonal shifts that cause pimples, emphasising that they are a natural part of growing up. Interactive sessions led by local skincare influencers offered insights into managing skin health, including practical tips and emotional support.

    Himalaya Wellness marketing director – beauty & personal care  Ragini Hariharan  stated, “Pimples are a common experience that shouldn’t undermine a young person’s confidence. With My First Pimple, we normalised these changes and equipped girls with the knowledge to embrace healthy skincare habits.”

  • News18 Bihar/Jharkhand launches social campaign – ‘Hip Hip Hurray’

    News18 Bihar/Jharkhand launches social campaign – ‘Hip Hip Hurray’

    Mumbai: The region of Bihar/Jharkhand has an abundance of footballing talent, however basic infrastructure such as football fields, have been neglected in recent times resulting in an erosion of facilities available to players. News18 Bihar/Jharkhand has launched a campaign called ‘Hip Hip Hurray,’ that aims to shine the spotlight on this issue and drive action through concerned authorities.

    There’s a severe shortage of quality infrastructure when it comes to football. The lack of proper pitches is alarming.

    What’s worse is that even the best clubs in the country are failing to produce or maintaining quality football pitches. Poor pitches severely hinder the development of good football and footballers. 

    The campaign will cover all these elements  and thus help India shine in Football. The campaign will consist of stories, special shows as well as interviews with the concerned authorities and sportspersons and will also aim to encourage the female talent in the two states.

    Launching episode itself saw the support of many personalities along with sports minister of Bihar Alok Ranjan Jha, who appreciated the campaign and also promised to work hand in hand for improving the sports infrastructure in the region.

  • ZEE5’s content strategy is customer-centric: Aparna Acharekar

    ZEE5’s content strategy is customer-centric: Aparna Acharekar

    MUMBAI: The core values of Zee’s digital platform are based on three Cs – compelling content, the convenience of viewing  and consumer experience, said ZEE5 programming head Aparna Acharekar while giving a presentation at the fourth edition of The Content Hub 2020 organised by indiantelevision.com.

    Explaining about the three Cs, Acharekar said, “We want to create compelling content, which can be watched as per the convenience of the audience, anywhere and eventually, that increases the viewing experience of the consumer while giving value for their money.”

    She added, “We want to ensure that a 40-minute each 10 episode-long series or 90-minute long digital film become compelling enough to binge-watch. Similarly, we give the power of convenience to consumers of what to watch, when to watch and with whom to watch the content. And the consumer experience to view content on various platforms be it subscription or advertising-based.”

    “Our main theme is being customer-centric,” said Acharekar. “We have kept the customer at the heart of everything we do, and which is exactly why, we are able to entertain the young boy in Colaba, Mumbai and a person of the same age living in Chhapra, Bihar.”

    “Relatable content that is real and resonates with the audience is going to work,” Acharekar said. She believes convenience is the basic reason we see the shift of audience towards over-the-top platforms.

    “ZEE5’s content strategy has relied on the understanding of consumers, who are divided in a huge number of content clusters,” Acharekar said post the audiovisual screening, which had glimpses of the original shows and films the platform possesses.

    “It’s important to indulge in perfect science and art while creating content – the science of making the content and the art of how you execute it,” pointed out Acharekar. “We are in the era of content creation wherein even an antagonist, who has made a star in the state, is enough to attract eyeballs.”

    The Content Hub 2020 witnessed over 900 registered delegates, more than 110 speakers and 19 partners. The two-day event saw at least 35 sessions for the content creators.

    The Content Hub’s main goal is to bring individual creators, professional storytellers, and producers, streaming platforms and broadcasters, film studios under one platform to connect with a mission to broaden the knowledge pool of the content industry. “It is all about learning, networking and collaborating towards building a roadmap for a better content ecosystem,” said Indiantelevision.com group founder, chief executive officer and editor-in-chief Anil Wanvari.

  • VMate to incubate 1 lakh video creators from Bihar

    VMate to incubate 1 lakh video creators from Bihar

    MUMBAI: VMate, a trending short video platform, organized a 3-day bus tour for creators meet in Bihar covering Muzzafarpur & Patna to announce its focus on the state for incubating around 1 lakh talented video creators. During the creators meet, the top 12 VMate creators who are earning more than INR 1 lakh a month were invited from all over India. They delivered power-packed live performances and shared the benefits of VMate platform with the audience, like getting fame, learning new skills, earning money and others.

    The meetup opportunity was lapped up by the fans who met their favorite creators in person and learned the tricks of the craft from them. These fans also got the opportunity to win goodies, earphones, smartphones, etc. through a Lucky-draw activity organized in the event.

    Also, the top 10 winners of the VMate 'Roshan Karo India' campaign were felicitated who had won a car, bike, TV's and other exciting gifts. Among the winners of 'Roshan Karo India', Ms. Sangeeta Navik, a typical housewife from a rural background and the winner of the grand prize -a Maruti Suzuki Alto was present during the creator's meet. Her story inspired many in the audience to become a creator on VMate.

    One of the top creators, named Ms. Anju Singh addressed the audience and shared her journey on VMate. Anju said "I had a love marriage and our families didn’t support us; we were living in Mumbai at a meagre salary of INR 15,000 but VMate has changed our life beyond expectations. From living under a broken roof to earning INR 1.5 lakhs a month has turned our fortunes and I am grateful to VMate for this opportunity.”

    Ms. Komal Singh – a popular VMate video creator from Bihar said, “VMate actually helped me to earn name, fame, and money by doing what I love the most, that is dancing to Bhojpuri songs. Initially, my family members were bit reluctant and being a married woman, it was not easy. But with time and dedication, everything fell in place. People now recognize me and I am able to support my family financially also.” 

    With its focus on Bihar, VMate has allotted a fund of INR 1 cr. for the people of the state and aims to provide free training in video-making skills to one lakh content creators. Utilizing their newfound skills, creators can then participate in VMate campaigns to earn money and also win rewards such as a car, bike, mobiles, etc. Over 1 lakh people across India have already won rewards on this platform.

    The trending short video platform also plans to launch its free online VMate academy shortly. At the academy, people across India can learn the art of video making. VMate academy will help the aspiring creators to realize their talent and earning potential.

  • Justice dept working on legal literacy, MIB scotches reports of new channel

    NEW DELHI: Even as the Department of Justice is working with the human resource development and ministry of information and broadcasting to create a pool of shorts and documentaries to increase awareness about legal literacy, there is no plan to launch a separate television channel for this purpose.

    An MIB source told indiantelevision.com that it had not been approached by the law ministry for any separate channel. A Doordarshan source also confirmed that it had informed the department of justice that films on legal literacy were being regularly telecast on its national, news and regional channels.

    A law ministry source confirmed that any pool of films would be shown on DD, but details are yet to be worked out.

    The aim of the department of justice is to increase legal empowerment of the marginalised communities through increased awareness amongst the people about their rights and entitlements. For this purpose, the department proposes to widely disseminate awareness of rights and duties through the medium of TV which it says “has been an effective medium for education and awareness and for reaching out to maximum number of people.”

    The department noted that it has been seen that short films as a medium of increasing awareness have a larger impact as they are useful for semi-literate and illiterate masses.

    The aim is to create a pool of short films/ documentaries on socio-legal issues which will then be broadcast in partnership. Due credits will be given to the ministry/department or agency which has developed the video content.

    Meanwhile, the department is also organising a Legal Literacy Video Contest 2017 for which entries have been invited from civil societies, individuals, and educational institutes. The themes are: Child Rights; Women Rights; Rights of Persons with Special Needs; Rights of Undertrial persons; Fundamental Duties; Welfare of socially and economically backward classes of society and persons under circumstances of caste atrocity; ethnic violence; Juvenile Justice and Forest and Indigenous Communities.

    The department will also felicitate the efforts of civil society, individuals and academic institutions working in the area of legal aid and empowerment of the marginalised communities by announcing awards for short films/documentaries under these categories.

    The details to submit entries for awards by civil society, individuals, and educational institutions under the Legal Literacy Video Contest 2017 are available on the department’s website. The last date for submission of entries is 27 March 2017.

    The Department of Justice has been allocated the function of legal aid to poor; administration of justice access to justice delivery and judicial reforms under Allocation of Business Rules 1961. Towards this mandate the Department of Justice is implementing these two projects on Access to Justice for Marginalised in seventeen States of India which include Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, eight States of North East and Jammu and Kashmir.

    Both the Projects aim at strengthening access to justice for the marginalized – particularly women, scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, minorities, senior citizens, undertrial prisoners – by supporting strategies and initiatives that seek to address the barriers they face as well as to improve the institutional capacities of key justice service providers, to enable them to effectively serve the poor and disadvantaged.

  • RBNL all set to relaunch Big Magic

    MUMBAI: Indeed, good decisions lead to great success.  Getting into the stable of one of India’s leading media conglomerates has opened up several opportunities for Reliance Broadcast Network Ltd (RBNL).  

    After the acquisition deal with ZEEL, RBNL is all set to relaunch its Hindi general entertainment channel, Big Magic with a new programming line-up in March.

    ZEEL acquired the TV business of RBNL which includes two channels — Big Magic and Big Ganga. Big Magic, a comedy channel catering to the Hindi-speaking markets, has now been revamped into a variety entertainment channel. On the other hand, Big Ganga is a Bhojpuri entertainment channel which caters to the television audience of Bihar, Jharkhand and eastern Uttar Pradesh.

    The channel has already started revamping the content and its latest offering ‘Akbar’ is a part of the new offering.  The show aims to unravel the prodigious journey of the Mughal emperor right from the days of his childhood, and traces his path to the throne in a manner that has never been projected before, on Indian television.

    Speaking to Indiantelevision.com, RBNL CEO Tarun Katial said, “We are prepared and gung-ho about relaunching Big Magic. Recently, we launched Akbar which is a historical show. Three-four big shows are in the pipeline for the relaunch.”

    The channel is not only changing its programming but also expanding its time band. “We are making it wider and deeper as we are increasing the number of hours of programming. We will add variety to it,” he added.

    Also Read:

    Big Magic to air ‘Akbar’ from 20 Feb

    BIG Magic acquires ‘Boonie Bears’ exclusive FTA rights

    Big Magic launches ‘Big Mahotsav’ on 9 September

  • Airtel 4G to reach nine circles via US$ 230-mn deal with Nokia as latter expands global PON

    Airtel 4G to reach nine circles via US$ 230-mn deal with Nokia as latter expands global PON

    MUMBAI: Finnish telecommunication network company and gear maker Nokia has pocketed a 4G network deal from Bharti Airtel in nine telecom service areas. Nokia meantime is also extending its fiber solution for universal next-gen passive optical networks (PON) to help operators more effectively scale, deploy and automate their networks as the demand for data grows.

    Nokia will deploy its available 4G technologies across Airtel regions of Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Bihar, Rest of Bengal, Mumbai, Maharashtra, Odisha, Kerala and UP East. The coverage expansion will include major cities such as Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Patna and Siliguri.

    According to sources cited by Financial Express, the deal between the two telecoms is estimated to be worth around US$ 230 million.

    Nokia’s head of India market Sanjay Malik said, with the latest agreement, they had become the largest supplier of 4G for Airtel. The network expansion would provide the speed, capacity, coverage Airtel needs to meet the next wave of data demand in India, he added.

    The new agreement with Nokia will see Airtel expand the deployment of 4G technology in three new circles in addition to six circles it already serves, enabling launch of new services that started in September.

    Agreement between Nokia and Bharti Airtel will enhance coverage and access in urban, suburban and rural areas within nine circles in India, it added.

    Nokia’s universal PON solution launched in 2015 leverages existing fiber platforms and infrastructure to help operators evolve networks in a gradual way, adding wavelengths in line with demand.

    The solution offers various next generation PON technologies including XGS-PON and TWDM-PON on a single platform and line card. Operators can connect subscribers with any type of optical network terminal (ONTs) regardless of whether it’s XGPON1, XGS-PON or TWDM-PON, eliminating the risk of technology and platform lock-in, the New Indian Express reported.

    Now, Nokia is enhancing its universal solution to provide operators with a higher density option that can reduce costs. Increasing deployment flexibility, the enhancements include new SDN/NFV-based capabilities that automate and simplify the deployment, maintenance and evolution of traditional fiber networks. This provides a smooth evolution path to 10G symmetrical or asymmetrical speeds with cost-efficient non-tunable XGS-PON optics and to TWDM-PON with tunable optics.