In his keynote address, Indian Consul General in New York Binaya Srikanta Pradhan asserts the role of media in a democracy; Indian Eye promoter Sunil Hali announces the beginning of 11 roadshows across the USA
Our Bureau
New York, NY
The fastest-growing Indian media powerhouse in the US has announced an exclusive partnership with NDTV 24×7 & NDTV India in USA and AASTHA TV Networks in USA, Canada, Central & South America. Founded and led by Sunil Hali, a pioneer in media, entertainment and marketing, who has been in the forefront of these spaces in the Americas for more than 25 years, the group owns multiple premium media, including The Indian EYE Newsweekly which is circulated across the US, Radio Zindagi, which is the largest South Asian network in the Americas, and Jee Punjabi and Divya Gujarati in regional languages and leading global portal www.TheIndianEYE.com.
The glittering event was held in New York at PEARL with more than 200 guests, creme de la crème from the Indian-American community in New York. With Indian Consul General Binaya Srikanta Pradhan present as the Chief Guest and keynote speaker, the stage was set for the first of the 11 city road shows planned to present the multiple media under one roof to be the voice of India and Indian diaspora. The Grand Inception presents the theme of “Connecting the World” when India and its diaspora is emerging as a world power.
Speaking at the event, CG Pradhan said, “In a democracy, we say that media is the fourth pillar, whether it is the democracy in India or US. In the post-Independent India, media has played a very important role with people like Ramnath Goenka, who played a crucial role to uphold the democratic values. Media has been playing a constructive role in educating people, social reforms, etc. It remains the voice of people even in the age of social media. Coming to India, it is considered to be the most active media space. The way it is setting narratives here and with sheer numbers, the digital media is truly dynamic now.”
Sunil Hali, founder of the Group, announced that the event was first of the 11 city road shows planned to announce the exclusive partnership with NDTV 24×7 & NDTV India in USA and AASTHA TV Networks with eleven channels in USA, Canada, Central & South America. These premium channels are on DISH, Sling, Spectrum and apps available in every household. While paying respects to the media in the US in the past five decades in news publications and broadcast, Sunil Hali said: “It is time to break the glass ceiling in the mainstream media all around the world. Indians control companies that have multi-trillion revenues yet go unnoticed in the media for all the good work done to build the US and the relationship between two of the largest economies. It is time to have quality media that connects the two as Indian positions to be amongst the top three economies in the world. It is time to have a local connect with premium programming of international quality in each genre, news and spirituality, yet with South Asian ethos.”
The group announced the induction of a well-known medical professional, community leader and philanthropist Dr Raj Bhayani as the Chairman. While accepting the role, Dr Bhayani said, “It is with great appreciation and humbleness that I accept the Chairmanship. As you see, the multidevice platform with newspaper, radio, TV under one umbrella, is the vision that we have. News and media are undergoing substantial revolution in the last decade. Social media, AI and content-creators will completely disrupt the media as we have seen it in past 25 years. The next generation wants very short, in-depth, focused coverage of the news. The augmented and virtual reality will replace the interactive storytelling. Any content created must be personalized and most importantly mobile friendly.”
“We are committed to adapt the new reality and expand accordingly in connecting the world with a focus on India and diaspora,” Dr Bhayani added.
Speaking at the event, Sejal Dasondi, promoter, said, “I am so proud to stand before you today as an Indian woman in a leadership position. I recognize that there are so many women and especially Indian women who do not have the opportunities I have today, but I speak for all women in leadership when I say you can do everything you set your mind to. And I am proud to be leading by example. I am proud to represent our media in all formats at this level and hope to continue doing bigger things for our community as it continues to rise next level as a primary connect with diaspora.”
Rhonda Binda from New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ office applauded the group for connecting the community with the city administration. She spoke about the free press and how it helps the voice of the people usually left behind. “Elevating the voice is the key. Here is the time for India and US relationship to transcend to the next level and diaspora can play a big role,” said Rhonda, complimenting the group for the “task undertaken”.
Nilesh Dasondi, President of the group, said, “Thank you so much for your support. We really need local community support to develop media which is going to be our strongest asset going forward.”
Guests at the event included leadership of all organizations in New York, professional, social, spiritual, art, academics among others as well as Business leaders.
The event was hosted by Sanjiv Pandya and Krupa Panchal Lauricella and supported by Ashish Nigam, Sunil Tristar, Nutan Kalamdani and Maulik Gajjar.
The corporate patrons, include Ananda, ICICI Bank, DS Group and PEARL.
The road show now travels to New Jersey, Houston, Dallas, Chicago, San Francisco, Seattle, Atlanta, Florida and Washington, DC as India celebrates the 78th anniversary of its Independence.
