India TV anchor sacked after naming China's President Xi 'Eleven'

An Indian TV news anchor has been sacked after she referred to Chinese President Xi Jinping as 'Eleven' Jinping, apparently confusing Xi's name with the Roman numerals XI, a senior official at the state television channel said on Friday. -- PHOTO: RE
An Indian TV news anchor has been sacked after she referred to Chinese President Xi Jinping as 'Eleven' Jinping, apparently confusing Xi's name with the Roman numerals XI, a senior official at the state television channel said on Friday. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

NEW DELHI (REUTERS) - An Indian TV news anchor has been sacked after she referred to Chinese President Xi Jinping as 'Eleven' Jinping, apparently confusing Xi's name with the Roman numerals XI, a senior official at the state television channel said on Friday, .

Xi left India on Friday after a visit to boost trade and economic ties that have been marred by a long-standing border dispute.

The blooper occurred on a show on Doordarshan news on Wednesday. "It is an unpardonable mistake," the official told Reuters on the condition of anonymity, saying the anchor was employed on a casual basis. "We have debarred her from news reading for a few months." The official said a shortage of news readers had forced the channel to run some news bulletins with casuals.

The incident comes at a time when Doordarshan news is trying to reinvent itself to compete with private broadcasters. Its programmes are often a matter of public ridicule for their poor production quality.

The gaffe led to a wave of sarcastic comments on social media. "The silver lining: at least the anchor knows Roman numerals," kanikagahlaut posted on Twitter.

Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.