Rajat Sharma, the founder & promoter of India TV and the media stalwart renowned for his show Aap Ki Adalat is all set to launch new television news channel after receiving consent from the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (I&B).

The channel slated for a launch soon will be under the umbrella of Independent News Service (INS) and has been titled 'India TV Wiz'. The channel as per Sharma would be bilingual; in both Hindi and English.

Rajat Sharma, Chairman and Group Editor-in-Chief of INS informed in a statement, "INS will position Wiz as a formidable twin to market-leader India TV. It will be up in six months, perhaps earlier in beta form. It will give premium advertisers a bouquet of screens that support true marketing innovation and it will power a world-class partner for international news.” The 24-hour channel will be available on analogue cable and all digital platforms.

INS initiated with the process of seeking approval from the government prior to the commencement of the Budget session of the Parliament.

Separately, Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific (DNAP) will be launching three new channels post receiving permission from I&B. The channels have been named Discovery Science, Discovery Turbo and Discovery HD which would increase the total offering by the company to six. It presently airs Discovery Channel, Discovery Travel & Living and Animal Planet in India which reach around 109 million subscribers.

Remarking on the announcement of the channels DNAP Executive Vice-President and Managing Director, Mr. Tom Keaveny said, “The launch of three new networks reflects the company's commitment and focus on India and furthers our strategy for increasing our reach and distribution in key markets around the world.”

Discovery Science and Discovery Turbo channels would be available on both analog and digital platforms and Discovery HD will be in 1080i along with 5.1 surrounds sound, will be launched on the digital platform. DNAP currently plans to launch all the three channels in English, though the launch date was not revealed.

Also, Simply Spice, a music and entertainment channel for the southern States and a Marathi music channel from the owners of Music India got the approval from I&B.