MUMBAI: The week long second edition of CNN's Eye on India will kick off from 18 September. The show, which was announced in Mumbai today, is being produced in association with Oberoi Hotels & Resorts and will focus on India.
Eye on India, commonly referred to as EoI, will showcase a wide-ranging mix of over 20 hours of live shows, studio based shows and other news feature programming on India.
It is interesting to know, that this time round EoI has been brought to Mumbai from where the show will kick off live from the Oberoi Hotel in Mumbai. Last year, the first edition of EoI was held in Delhi.
Through the week, CNN will host a live televised panel discussion from across India and Pakistan - CNN Connects: Dialogue for Peace. The panel discussion will air on 18 September at 8:30 pm.
The show will have special guests lined up that include minister of civil aviation Praful Patel, Pakistan minister of commerce Humayoon Aktar Khan, Bollywood actress Shabana Azmi, former Pakistani cricket captain Imran Khan, Bombay Dyeing Group chairman Nusli Wadia and Pakistan general Pervez Musharraf (via video), to name a few
CNN Connects - Outsourcing, the subject of outsourcing was a special documentary by award winning filmmaker Thomas Friedman. The shows will be hosted by Jim Clancy.
At present, as the possible meeting of Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has been hogging the limelight wherein the two leaders will discuss the Kashmir dispute during their meeting at the UN General Assembly session this week.
Meanwhile, CNN will telecast through this dedicated week initiated, a special documentary on the same theme, India Pakistan: The Path of Peace will be on air. The documentary features the two correspondents Satinder Bindra from India and Hugh Riminton from Pakistan interacting with populace of both the countries to look at the prospects for rapprochement between the two countries.
Speaking on the second edition of EoI, CNN International Asia Pacific managing editor Jill Dougherty says, "The objective of the second edition is to provide a broader and deeper view of India to international audiences who wish to understand India's evolving role in the world.
And also to provide insights into India, which as a nation is a growing power in the world with its rapidly growing political and economic influence."
Further Dougherty adds, the EoI will feature special editions of World News Asia, Talk Asia, from Mumbai and the live debates with CNN's anchors, including Jim Clancy, Veronica Pedrosa, Andrew Stevens, Satinder Bindra, Richard Quest, Ram Ramgopal and Mallika Kapur.
She continues, "This edition will look at India as an economy on the upswing, its growing demands for energy, infrastructure bottlenecks, the burgeoning middle class with ever increasing spending power and its growing role in global politics. Every evening will air a different ranging from components such as health issues, lifestyle, culture, yoga, Bollywood and Hollywood diplomacy and infrastructure to name a few."
As Part of EoI, Talk Asia will air the interview with India's much admired and the newest youth icon of Indian tennis Sania Mirza which will air on 18 Septemeber at 6 pm.
EoI will extensively be promoted through an integrated marketing campaign in association with Oberoi Hotels & Resorts. The campaign will also include advertising in print and online, direct mail, promotional TV spots on CNN and inflight promotions.
"The partnership with CNN for Eye on India is part of our global marketing and brand strategy. Through our continued association, we want the spotlight to remain focused on India and also increase visibility for Oberoi brand in the key markets across the world and also to the markets where CNN has its reach," says Oberoi Hotels &Resorts executive vice-president Rattan Keswani.
