A new news portal, The Malaysian Times ( TMT ), has ventured into a market with a population of 1.2 billion people by tying up with a local partner, New Vision Brand Solutions, to set up TMT-India .

Unlike other portals, which are more into politics, TMT and TMT-India would give more focus on lifestyle and business news.

“There will be stories on politics but our focus is on the younger generation, therefore more stories will be on lifestyle, travel and business,” said TMT chief executive officer Ambumani Balan.

In India, Bollywood and Tollywood news would be the key under the lifestyle segment, he told Bernama after the launch of the website.

TMT-India is not a separate website but a link in the main page http://www.themalaysiantimes.com.my .

“ TMT is the first online media from Malaysia to have a global tie-up.

“The website gave priority to India as the country’s relationship with Malaysia went a long way and my aim is to further enhance the bilateral relationship between the two countries, beyond trade and investment,” he said.

Film maker Pankaj Malhotra, who was present at the launch, said India there was a huge demand for such web-based news portals.

“There are already 200 over news portals in India but with a population of over 1.2 billion people, there is huge demand for such news channels,” he said.

TMT was launched on March 5, 2012, and is run by a team of experienced journalists, political analysts and writers.

TMT news is also sourced from Bernama , Reuters and European Photo Agency .

- Bernama