Deepak Shourie, whose last posting as CEO of Zee Publishing ended rather abruptly, will be taking charge of Discovery India on 7 May, putting to rest all speculation over who would fill managing director Kiran Karnik's shoes.
 

Karnik had announced on 13 December last year that he would be leaving Discovery in May after a successful stint where he provided the lead in establishing the channel in India. Karnik was at the helm when Discovery Communication India was launched in in 1995.

Shourie was formerly publisher of the weekly news magazine 'Outlook', belonging to the Raheja group, before becoming executive president of the 'Hindustan Times' newspaper in January 1999.

His last stint as CEO Zee Publishing ended on a controversial note last November when, according to company sources, he was asked to go by the top brass when he failed to agree to management consulting firm, AT Kearney's recommendation that Zee's news television division be merged with the entertainment television division.

Shourie's appointment comes as something of a surprise as market speculation was that Ambika Srivastava, vice-president advertising sales & marketing, would be taking over from Karnik.