In March CNN turns its spotlight on India focussing on the growth and influence of India’s youth population and its potential to power the country’s vibrant economy to new heights in the coming decade. Beginning March 18, 2007, CNN’s week-long Eye on India: Generation Next centres on this powerful youth demographic and provides CNN’s global audiences a comprehensive look at the country’s youth.
“More than half a billion people under the age of 25 - or one in twelve people in the world – are young Indians. This makes them a potent economic and cultural resource on the world stage and CNN aims to offer viewers a unique perspective and a greater understanding of this demographic,” said Rena Golden, senior vice president, CNN International “By combining news resources with our local partners, CNN-IBN, we will be able to deliver exclusive coverage of the Indian youth and their changing attitudes and values to CNN’s audiences in more than 200 countries around the world.”
Eye on India kicks off with CNN Connects: India’s Generation Next on Sunday, March 18, 2007 at 1500 CET, an hour-long programme co-produced with CNN-IBN, and co-anchored by CNN-IBN’s Rajdeep Sardesai and CNN’s Monita Rajpal. The programme features a distinguished panel of young Indian celebrities, business leaders and commentators, and an audience of over 100 young Indians. The diverse panel includea Rahul Bose (Actor), Vasundhara Das (Actress & Singer), Vikram Akula (SKS Microfinance), Anupam Mittal (CEO of People Group – Shaadi.com) and Omar Abdullah (Member of Parliament). The interactive show will debate four main themes - The Power of Youth; Love: India Style; The Caste Challenge and India Pride.
Noted young Indian film maker, Karan Johar , and Indian TV moghul, Ekta Kapoor, also feature as part of Eye on India, in special editions of the CNN programme, ‘Talk Asia’.
Through the week of March 19, 2007, CNN and CNN-IBN teams will report from various locations around India for ‘World News Asia’ and ‘CNN Today’, expanding on the themes explored on CNN Connects: India’s Generation Next and other issues such as Youth and Religion, Growing Up Gay/Traditional Values.
CNN’s anchors and correspondents including Satinder Bindra, Seth Doane, Mallika Kapur, Anjali Rao and Monita Rajpal, supported by CNN-IBN’s Suhasini Haidar, Vidya Shankar Aiyar, Sagarika Ghose, Smitha Nair, Anubha Bhonsle, Paromita Chatterjee among others will report and showcase a series of specially produced packages from across India. The reports cover a wide range of topics including religion, education, homosexuality, arranged marriages, youth icons, etc.
The week’s programming also includes results from a survey, conducted by CNN-IBN and the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS). Organised by age, the survey was commissioned to find out attitudes on issues, relevant to Indian youth.
In a unique marketing roadshow activity called ‘Express Yourself’, CNN branded vehicles will travel around Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore, encouraging youth to express their views on issues relevant to them. To make the week even more interactive, viewers from around the world can submit their stories, photographs and videos capturing their impressions on India to CNN’s innovative i-Report. For details, viewers can log on to www.cnn.com/eyeonindia/.
Eye on India is sponsored by Aditya Birla Group, Kirloskar Group, ITC Welcomgroup Hotels and Tata Consultancy Services.
