ABP Ananda (formerly known as Star Ananda) is a Bengali 24-hour cable and satellite television news channel. The channel is owned by The Anandabazar Patrika ( ABP Group ). It brings viewers broad and insightful news reports along with entertainment features, it continues to hold the leading position reaching out to 7 million Bengali's across the nation. ABP Ananda is mostly available as free-to-air news channel, apart from that it is also distributed via satellite, cable, IPTV and DTT, and was launched on 1 June 2005. It has its headquartered in Kolkata and housing state-of-the-art production facilities, ABP Ananda boasts an extensive bureau network, bringing to the Bengali viewer unparalleled, comprehensive and incisive news coverage. With an over 40 per cent majority market share in the Kolkata and West Bengal markets amongst all news channels in launch week, ABP Ananda continues to consolidate, adequately reflecting the aspirations of the Bengali people.^{[citation needed]} Some of its main programs include STAR Khobor, Hoy ma noy bouma, Ek Dozen golpo, and Hello VIP. "STAR Khobor" is at 9 o'clock in the night. The channel has been rebranded as ABP Ananda on June 1 ,2012 . Similarly STAR News and STAR Majha have been rebrand as ABP News and ABP Majha on the same day.

Ānanda was one of the principal disciples and a devout attendant of the Buddha. Amongst the Buddha's many disciples, Ānanda had the most retentive memory and most of the suttas in the Sutta Pitaka are attributed to his recollection of the Buddha's teachings during the First Buddhist Council. For that, he was known as the Guardian of the Dharma.

According to the Buddha every Buddha in the past and to come will have two chief disciples and one attendant during his ministry. In the case of Gautama Buddha the pair of disciples were Sariputta and Mahamoggallana and the attendant Ānanda.

The word 'Ānanda' means 'bliss' in Pali, Sanskrit as well as other Indian languages. It is a popular Buddhist and Hindu name, but popular also among Muslims in Indonesia.

In the Kannakatthala Sutta (MN 90), Ananda is identified with the meaning of his name:

Ānanda was the first cousin of the Buddha by their fathers, and was devoted to him. In the twentieth year of the Buddha's ministry, he became the Buddha's personal attendant, accompanying him on most of his wanderings and taking the part of interlocutor in many of the recorded dialogues. He is the subject of a special panegyric delivered by the Buddha just before the Buddha's Parinibbana (the Mahaparinibbana Sutta (DN 16)); it is a panegyric for a man who is kindly, unselfish, popular, and thoughtful toward others.

Mukul Roy (Bengali: মুকুল রায়; born 17 April 1954) is an Indian politician and a member of the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Parliament of India, representing West Bengal. He also serves as the General Secretary of his party, the All India Trinamool Congress. He is the current Minister of Railways in the Council of Ministers of India. After Mamata Banerjee resigned as the Railway Minister she was to become the Chief Minister of West Bengal, Roy was handed additional charge of the Railway Ministry after Mamata didi expressed her desire that her party retain the Railway Ministry and personally recommended Mr. Roy to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. He served as a Minister of State in the Railway Ministry with Manmohan Singh serving as the Cabinet Minister (pro tem) till July 11, 2011. Mukul Roy's Railway ministry will run a special train called "DU Gyan Uday Express", which will take 1000 students of Delhi University to places like Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Goa and Bangalore during the summer break of 2012.

Mithun Chakraborty Miṭhun Chôkroborti, born as Gouranga Chakraborty on June 16, 1950) is an Indian film actor, social activist, and entrepreneur, who has won three National Film Awards. He made his acting debut with the arthouse drama Mrigayaa (1976), for which he won his first National Film Award for Best Actor.

He gained a fan following as a dancing star and went on to establish himself as one of the most popular actors of India, particularly recognized for his role as street dancer Jimmy in the 1982 Bollywood movie Disco Dancer. He also attracted worldwide audiences, particularly in the former Soviet Union where he became a household name for his role in Disco Dancer. He later won two more National Film Awards for his performances in Bengali film Tahader Katha (1992) and Hindi film Swami Vivekananda (1998).

Chakraborty has appeared in about 400 films including Bengali, Oriya and Bhojpuri pictures. He owns the Monarch Group, which has interests in the hospitality sector and educational sector.

Suchitra Sen (Pronounced: IPA: [ʃuːtʃiːraː ʃeːn]  listen (help·info)) or Rama Dasgupta (listen: Roma Dashgupto (help·info)) (born 6 April 1931) ,is an Indian actress who acted in several Bengali films. In particular, the movies in which she paired opposite another legend in Bengali films, Uttam Kumar, became classics in the history of Bengali cinema. She now lives a life of a recluse rarely making any public appearances. When she left movies, she was slowly but steadily losing the position of leading lady of Bengali silver screen.

She is the first Bengali actress to be awarded in an international film festival (Best Actress award for the movie Saat Paake Bandha in 1963 Moscow film festival). Her films with Uttam Kumar are still shown as re-runs on Bengali TV channels such as ETV Bangla, Aakash Bangla, DD7 Bangla and so forth; many of them are available on video CD. Notably, she allegedly refused the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 2005, preferring to live in seclusion out of the public eye.

Sen was born in Pabna. Her father Karunamoy Dasgupta was the head master of the local school and her mother Indira Devi was a homemaker. She was their fifth child and third daughter. She had her formal education in Pabna.