The News Minute| February 18, 2015| 9.00 pm ISTFilm-maker Priyadarshan on Wednesday said Janam TV, a Malayalam channel to be launched April 19, is not being backed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) or its parent organisation Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS).The noted filmmaker told reporters that the objective of the channel, which will have news and programmes, is to promote nationalism and culture.Priyadarshan's comments are on the lines of what has been earlier said by others associated with the channel, though it has been widely reported by that Janam TV was a BJP backed channel. "Neither the RSS or the BJP nor any other political party is backing this channel... instead there are 5,000 share holders who have contributed to this new channel," he said.Janam TV's licenses were not cleared by the previous UPA government for around two years, and was sanctioned after the BJP came to power in 2015. Already the state has more than a dozen TV channels, of which two have recently gone off the air following a financial crunch, while another two are facing serious financial crisis. U.S. Krishnakumar, Janam TV channel's director, said that at the moment they are having a strong financial backing as the paid-up capital of the company has reached close to Rs.50 crore, which is the authorised capital of the company."Around 5,000 share holders have taken shares varying from Rs.25,000 to a maximum of Rs.five lakh. We are getting numerous people from various walks of life eager to support us," said Krishnakumar, a chartered accountant by profession and working in the UAE. P. Vishwarupan, managing director of Janam TV, said that though they were the youngest among all TV channels, their channel would have the most state-of-the-art equipment."We are the first Malayalam channel which will be relaying in high-definition mode," said Vishwarupan, a non-resident Indian who has been in the UAE for nearly four decades. TweetInputs IANS