Advanced Television

Cut ‘Baba and Guru’ shows, rules India regulator

June 19, 2013

By Chris Forrester

Indian TV contains very many shows where the ‘anchor’ is a holy man, or guru, and who claim a special ability to make mystical forecasts. Baba Ramdev is one such figure with his own regular TV shows and the ability to draw thousands of devotees to public appearances.

His TV ratings measure as high as 26 million to his daily show where recent advice to viewers was to eat four basil leaves a day to prevent cancer, and that adopting a few yoga positions will eliminate blood pressure and asthma problems.

But Baba Ramdev is far from alone, and now the India TV regulator has stepped in, ordering that channels cut these shows and anything that carries advertising of a superstitious nature, including astrology and numerology shows and anything that relates to unverified healing.  The channels have 15 days to comply.

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