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.

Narendra Damodardas Modi (Gujarati: નરેન્દ્ર મોદી; born 17 September 1950) is the current Chief Minister of the Indian state of Gujarat. Born in a middle class family in Vadnagar, he was the third of six children born to Damodardas Mulchand Modi and his wife Heeraben. He has been a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) since childhood also having interest in politics since adolescence. He holds a master's degree in political science. In 1998, he was chosen by L. K. Advani, the leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), to direct the election campaign in Gujarat as well as Himachal Pradesh.

He became Chief Minister of Gujarat in October 2001, promoted to the office at a time when his predecessor Keshubhai Patel had resigned, following the defeat of BJP in the by-elections. His tenure as chief minister of Gujarat began on 7 October 2001, and he is the longest serving Chief Minister of the state of Gujarat. In July 2007 he became the longest serving Chief Minister in Gujarat's history when he had been in power for 2063 days continuously. He was elected again for a third term on 23 December 2007 in the state elections, which he had cast as a "referendum on his rule".

Kabir Suman (Bengali: কবীর সুমন, née Suman Chatyapadhyay; born 16 March 1949) is a Kolkata-based modern Bengali singer-songwriter, musician, poet, journalist, political activist, TV presenter, and occasional actor. Since May 2009, he is a member of parliament of India in the 15th Lok Sabha, having been elected from the Jadavpur constituency in Kolkata on an All India Trinamool Congress ticket.

He changed his name from Suman Chattopadhyay to 'Kabir Suman' (Bengali: কবীর সুমন) when he converted to Islam. He shot to fame in the 1990s with albums such as Tomake Chai (Bengali: তোমাকে চাই I Want You) and Boshe Anko (Bengali: বসে আঁকো Sit-and-Draw).

Suman was born on March 16, 1949 to Sudhindranath and Uma Chattopadhyay at Cuttack, Orissa. He was trained in classical music in his childhood, under the tutelage of this father. He graduated from Jadavpur University with an honours in English Literature and a diploma in French language. He then worked briefly in All India Radio and the United Bank of India. Suman left for Europe in the mid seventies, and worked as a radio journalist in the Voice of Germany (Bengali Dept.) from 1975-79. It is during this period that he heard the music of Bob Dylan in France, which became one of his most defining musical experiences.

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.