Category: News Headline

The Kitchen scouts for Indian distribution companies

MUMBAI: The language services division of the Emmy Award Winning TM Systems, The Kitchen, is on the lookout for Indian distribution companies.

The Kitchen is the developer of the industry’s only “end to end” language translation, dubbing and subtitling technology.

“We are now working with a great many Hispanic producers of telenovelas, the multi episodic, larger than life, family oriented, dramatic, daily television shows that are now in demand in nearly every country in the world. It is very clear that there are many similiarities between the East Indian and Hispanic viewing audiences and their mutual need for more long form television programming of this kind. We have spoken to many of our current Hispanic content telenovela production clients and the wish to “sell” to the Indian marketplace is great. We’ve spoken to a number of Indian networks and the desire to obtain the Hispanic telenovela programming is immense,” said The Kitchen president and CEO Ken Lorber.

“Thus, through our international language services, we are able to easily make the introductions, enhance the package, and provide all translation and dubbing for the projects,” he added.

At the upcoming LA Screenings to be held between 18 to 26 May in Los Angeles, The Kitchen expects to close a number of deals between the Hispanic and Indian production firms.

May 2, 2006
Countdown begins for Dubai IIFA Weekend

MUMBAI: Tiara Residence, the AED 2.1 billion island lifestyle community developed by Zabeel Investments, will present the IIFA Weekend in Dubai from 14 June to 17 June, 2006, said the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA). The IIFA Weekend will feature a film festival, awards ceremony, charity fashion show and a bilateral business forum.

A media briefing, organised to explain the schedule, was addressed by his highness Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, president of the Dubai Department of Civil Aviation, chairman of the Emirates Group and chairman of the Supreme Committee of Dubai Shopping Festival and Dubai Summer Surprises; IIFA Brand ambassador and Indian superstar Amitabh Bachchan; and Mohammed Ali Al Hashimi, executive chairman of Zabeel Investments.

A glamorous traveling showcase of the best of Indian cinema, culture and business opportunities, the 7th Annual IIFA Weekend is being held in Dubai for the first time after debuting to spectacular effect at the Millennium Dome in London in 2000, and spending subsequent years in equally celebrated destinations including Sun City, Johannesburg; Genting Highlands, Malaysia; Singapore and Amsterdam, states an official release.

More than 450 delegates from India, including the crème de la crème of Indian cinema and international media, are expected in Dubai for the duration of the event and the show will be watched by a record global television audience of over 400 million people, the release adds.
“It is a great honour for Dubai to be chosen to host the prestigious IIFA Weekend and Awards for the first time in an Arab country,” HH Sheikh Ahmed said. “We see the hosting of this massive event as a giant stride ahead in further cementing the age-old ties between India and the UAE, and a celebration of the cultural and social harmony between the two countries.”

“IIFA in Dubai will not only be the last word in entertainment but one to herald stronger business relationships, and open new avenues of trade and commerce between India and the UAE,” he added. The Dubai government, Sheikh Ahmed said, is committed to making the 7th edition of IIFA Weekend and Awards the most successful ever.

The Tiara IIFA Weekend will be hosted under the patronage of HH Sheikh Ahmed and the auspices of Dubai Summer Surprises, and culminate with the glittering Idea IIFA Awards ceremony scheduled for 16 June, 2006.

Amitabh Bachchan also thanked Sheikh Ahmed, the Government of Dubai and Zabeel Investments for the opportunity and interest in bringing the global showcase of Indian cinema to Dubai. “The IIFA Awards have marked the beginning of a new era for recognizing and applauding the achievements of Indian cinema,” Bachchan said. “IIFA is one of the most credible award processes voted on by the Indian film industry professionals and audited by PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC), and I am proud to be associated with it.”

Bachchan, named BBC’s Superstar of the Millennium in 1999 and an entertainment icon who enjoys the largest fan following in the world, said he is looking forward to the celebrations in Dubai this summer.

Mohammed Ali Al Hashimi, executive chairman of Zabeel Investments, said the IIFA’s reputation for quality and excellence and its vision of uniting the cultures of the world made it the perfect choice for a partnership.

“Both IIFA and Zabeel Investments, the developer of Tiara Residence, are dedicated to providing distinctive services, exclusive quality, true elegance and style and the finest in Asian hospitality to the people of the world,” Al Hashimi said. ““The Indian community has established long-standing relationships here in Dubai, and our support of the IIFA Weekend is only the beginning of our commitment to this exciting and emerging market.”

Sabbas Joseph, director of IIFA organizers Wizcraft International Entertainment, said the five-day June extravaganza in Dubai will be unlike any event the city has seen before. “The IIFA Weekend 2006 is being planned on a grand scale and will feature a host of events designed to not only promote Indian cinema in the GCC and the wider Arab world but also internationally,” he said. “The Arab world has always been one of the strongest audiences of Indian cinema, and bringing IIFA here is our way of saying thank you.”

Star Network will broadcast the IIFA Weekend and Awards exclusively across the globe, said Star India EVP Marketing & Communication Ajay Vidyasagar, “It is fitting that IIFA, which celebrates the emergence of Indian cinema on a global platform, is partnering with STAR yet again,” he said. “Following the success of IIFA last year, millions of viewers across India, UAE, Pakistan, USA, UK and South East Asia who have chosen Star Plus to be their preferred choice of Indian entertainment are looking forward to IIFA in Dubai. We are proud to associate with IIFA and will work together to make this year’s event a truly memorable celebration of Indian cinema for all our viewers”.

The IIFA Weekend 2006 is spearheaded by Tiara Residence, the property development of Zabeel Investments, and supported by Grand Hyatt Dubai, Gulf News, Arabian Radio Network, Dubai International Film Festival, Dubai Studio City, Grand Cineplex, Dubai Chamber of Commerce, Emirates Airlines, Dreamhorizon, Mac, Indian Business Professional Council, City of Dubai, Dubai International Airport Expo, Idea Cellular from India and the Star Network.

May 2, 2006
Ficci regional council moves to a new premise in Mumbai

Mumbai, 5 May, 2006 – With a mission to accelerate industrial and economic growth of the western region manifold by acting as a catalyst in the process of progress, FICCI Western Regional Council – the regional arm of the FICCI – the largest and the oldest apex body for industries, moved on Thursday evening, to a bigger and modern office at Krishnamai Building, Pochkhanwala Road, Worli, Mumbai 400025. With this shifting, FICCI-Western Regional Council has become the largest regional office of FICCI in India. The new office has been designed to accommodate a big conference room, research center with space to accommodate future growth.

Inaugurating the new office of FICCI-WRC, Mr. Saroj Poddar, President, FICCI expressed confidence that the regional office of FICCI, which has been doing wonderful work, would serve the industry and the society with renewed vigour. He pointed out that the expansion of the regional office in Mumbai was in line with FICCI’s firm belief that strong regional offices would strengthen the apex body to maintain the position of leadership in serving trade, industry by offering excellent service. He assured all out support to its regional office in its developmental efforts for the region.

Mr. Habil Khorakiwala, Sr. Vice President, FICCI in his address said that the opening of the bigger and modern office in Mumbai showed the importance that FICCI attaches to this great city of Mumbai and the State of Maharashtra. He envisioned Mumbai becoming the knowledge capital of India, based on her strengths in IT, ITeS, Pharma, Biotechnology sectors. He called for a total transformation of Mumbai, Maharashtra and the entire western region, which have a great potential for unlimited growth. He expressed confidence that FICCI Regional Office could act as a catalyst in bringing about such a transformation.

Earlier Mr. Sushil Jiwarajka, Chairman, FICCI-WRC, gave an overview of the regional and national initiatives undertaken by the council. He elaborated on the achievements of the council in areas of regional core competence viz., Textiles, Chemicals, Pharmaceuticals, Petrochemicals, Entertainment, Energy – Oil, Gas, Power, Agriculture, Banking, Capital Markets and Medical Tourism. He also highlighted its Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives like curbing of cyber crime, flood relief, rainwater harvesting, and corporate governance. He stressed the role of the regional council in areas like trade facilitation, arbitration and conciliation, sold waste management, women empowerment and enterprise.

Underling the need for brand protection, Mr. Ashok Chhabra, Executive Director, Procter & Gamble, Member, FICCI, Brand Protection Committee said that fake products and counterfeits wee harming the interests of all the industries in general and FMCG & Pharmaceuticals in particular. He also said that FICCI was taking every effort to contain this menace. He called for total cooperation of all concerned to control this problem.

Highlighting the need to reduce transaction costs and improve market access in international trade, Mr.Ramu Deora, Chairman, FICCI Trade Facilitation Forum elaborated on the work being done by the Forum in providing a forum for effective interface with trade related agencies and the authorities concerned for creating a hassle free international trade environment.

Lauding the FICCI-Western Regional Council for setting up the excellent office in Mumbai, Dr. Amit Mitra, Secretary General, FICCI, envisioned that the regional office would provide more services to industry, bring about radical changes in the economy, and effect changes in policies to enlarge market opportunities for conducting easy and hassle free trade in the true spirit of globalization with liberalization as its foundation. He underlined the strengths of FICCI at the national level in terms of highly qualified manpower, economic database, wealth of research information, research facilities and the support of its regional and overseas office. He was confident that both FICCI and FICCI-WRC could bring about synergies in operations and be a strong force to reckon with.

Media Division,
FICCI, Mumbai

For further information please contact:
Neha Taleja/Shefali Virani
ntaleja@corvoshandwick.co.in
/shefalivirani@corvoshandwick.co.in
Corporate Voice I Weber Shandwick

May 2, 2006
Shah Rukh Khan, Rani Mukherjee win Star’s Sabsey Favourite Kaun Awards 2006

May 7, 2006 : The wait is finally over… The verdict is out…The journey that started over three months ago has reached a triumphant conclusion.. Over 9 lakh fans from India & 23 nations across the globe have declared their Sabsey Favourites. And 7 winners have walked away with the only true measure of their popularity with the masses: the unique gold brick trophy of the Schwarzkopf Palette Sabsey Favourite Kaun Awards.

The battles were close in practically every category, with leads changing hands practically, every day of the 30 day national voting period. But at the end, when the dust settled, this is how the picture looked:

The Sabsey Favourite Hero category surprised no one by boiling down to a battle between the Khans – Shahrukh & Salman, with Shahrukh Khan winning almost by a hair’s breadth. It just proved once again that while Shahrukh is truly King Khan, the masses adoration for Salman remains undiminished despite all his recent travails. Bengali beauty Rani Mukerji was crowned Sabsey Favourite Heroine with competition from Aishwarya Rai.and Rani’s cousin Kajol. The results are testimony to the enduring popularity of the Mukerji cousins Rani has had no releases since almost a year, and Kajol has had none after Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham in 2002. Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s BLACK laid to rest all arguments about it being the favourite of only the classes with the masses declaring it a clear winner in the Sabsey Favourite Film category. In the Sabsey Favourite Naya Hero category the fight was really close between Kunal Kapoor and Kunal Khemu, with Kunal Kapoor coming through in the end. Doe eyed Vidya Balan won the Sabsey Favourite Nayi Heroine , pipping Katrina Kaif to the post. The Sabsey Favourite Comic Hero saw a hat trick as Paresh Rawal bagged the award for the third year in a row. The Sabsey Tez Sitara Award – the only award not voted in by fans, but where film industry experts pick out the rising star who has made the most strides in the last one year- went to John Abraham. He followed in the footsteps of Abhishek Bachchan who had won last year.

Last but not the least, an award that holds a special meaning for the lakhs of fans who voted in: The Sabsey Bada Fan Award: Mrs. Madhuri M. Madekar from Kalyan had participated in the Sabsey Bada Fan contest was crowned the Sabsey Bada Fan: the fan who voted the most number of times for the eventual winner.

Of course, it was not just about the awards. The performances were stunning as well. The night was filled with excitement as Trickbaby from London performed their megahits from Bluffmaster. What’s more, the video of the song ‘Nine Parts of Desire’, featuring Abhishek Bachchan, was unveiled for the first time, at the awards ceremony. Udita Goswami & Kunal Khemu rocked the event as they performed a medley of Himesh Reshammiya songs – remixed to reflect the various musical forms of the country. So don’t be surprised if you hear “Jhalak Dikhla Jaa” in Bharatnatyam beats or “Laagi Laagi” in Bhangra style.

Tanushree Dutta with Vinay Pathak & Suresh Menon of the Great Indian Comedy Show showed viewers what it would be like in 2006 when the all-time classics of Hindi cinema – Sholay, Amar Akbar Anthony, Don & more are remade. Hilarious skits on the theme with classic numbers from those films remixed made for compelling viewing. Fardeen Khan performed on the theme “The Many Moods of Fardeen”. The show stopper was Hrithik Roshan; in a thrilling performance tracking his journey from ‘Koi Mil Gaya’ to ‘Krrish’. This was also his first ever stage performance based on ‘Krrish’. The whole performance was specially choreographed by ace choreographer Ganesh Hegde. The Host with the Most Arshad Warsi and his spunky wife Maria Goretti hosted the show and had the audience in splits with their one liners. Viewers will certainly have a treat when Star Gold telecasts the event on the 14th of May at 8 pm.

And it is the viewers themselves who have chosen the nominees as well as the winners of Star Gold’s Schwarzkopf Palette Sabsey Favourite Kaun 2006- the only awards show were winners are honoured for their popularity and not performances in a particular film. While the Sabsey Favourite Kaun Election Express covered 45 towns & 24,000 kms to collect almost 1 lakh votes from fans to create the nomination lists, more than 8 Lakh votes came in through sms, the internet ( indya.com ) and televoting to choose the final winners. In all, almost 9 lakh votes from India as well as countries as far flung as Afghanistan, Peru, Bahrain, Tanzania, Mozambique, Bangladesh , and of course, USA, UK & the Middle East were cast to choose the eventual winners. Today it all came together for the grand finale.

Get your popcorn ready for 8 pm this Sunday, 14 th May, when the spectacular ceremony will be telecast on Star Gold.

Inox were the Multiplex partners for the event, indya.com the official website and RED FM the official radio partner. All the trophies (the gold bricks) were crafted specially by Gilli.

May 2, 2006
Juniper Networks to host conference call webcast on IPTV

MUMBAI:Juniper Networks has announced it will host a conference call webcast to discuss ‘IPTV and Beyond’ on 8 May at 8 am Pacific Time. The conference call will be broadcasted live over the Internet.

Service Provider Business VP marketing and partnerships Shailesh Shukla will provide an overview of the company’s strategy on why service providers need to think beyond simply delivering IPTV as a single service and how to build multi-service networks for the future given today’s business imperatives. Shukla will begin with a brief presentation and then take questions.

The conference call will be broadcasted live over the Internet. To participate via telephone, the dial-in number is 866-567-4884, or 706-758-0058 for international callers. The web cast will be available at http://www.juniper.net/company/investor/announcement.html and a replay will be archived on the Juniper Networks website.

Juniper Networks enables in secure and assured communications over a single IP network.

May 2, 2006
Jessica Alba to host MTV Movie Awards

MUMBAI: US broadcaster MTV has announced that Jessica Alba will host the 2006 MTV Movie Awards.

The show will air in the US on 8 June and takes place in California on 3 June.

Alba is also a nominee for Fantastic Four. She is also competing in the sexiest perfomer category for Sin City.

Alba says, “The MTV Movie Awards is like a three-ring circus and I’m thrilled they asked me to be this year’s ringmaster”.

MTV US president Christina Norman says, “Talented, smart and funny, Jessica is one of Hollywood’s hottest and most sought-after actresses, and the perfect leading lady for the Movie Awards. This year’s show promises to be anything but traditional, and Jessica is just the person to help mix things up.”

May 2, 2006
Eutelsat reports marginal revenue growth

MUMBAI: Satellite operator Eutelsat has reported revenues for the third quarter ended 31 March 2006.

For the three months ended 31 March 2006, revenues rose to 195.1 million euros from 190.8 million euros in the same period last year representing a rise of 2.2 per cent. For nine months it rose to 590 million euros from 561.9 million euros representing a rise of five per cent.

Eutelsat CEO Giuliano Berretta said, “We are very satisfied with the continuing solid commercial progress of the Group across our core

activities of video, data and value-added services in Western Europe and emerging markets in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa, as well as the higher than expected revenues generated from multi-usage leases.

“As a consequence of the good performance over the first nine months, and the comfort given by the successful launch on 11 March of our Hot Bird 7A broadcast satellite for our premium video neighbourhood, we are in a position to raise our revenue growth guidance from 2.5 per cent to more than 3.5 per cent for the fiscal year 2006.”

During the third quarter, Eutelsat says that there was a healthy demand for video applications as well as for data and value added services. Video applications revenue was up 3.9 per cent year-over-year. This was mainly driven by lease of capacity for the XX Winter Olympic Games, including for the European Broadcasting Union and NHK, and contract wins, notably for NTV Plus in Russia.

Data and value added services revenue grew 5.8% year-over-year led by continuous growth in value added services (+33.9 per cent at 7.5 million euros). This was principally driven by the roll-out of the D-Star broadband service for schools, regional administrations and enterprises beyond access to terrestrial broadband networks, despite delay in take-up resulting from the technical incident experienced by the W1 satellite in August 2005.

Multi-usage leases rose 27.9 per cent year-over-year due to a high renewal rate of contracts for government services during the quarter and favourable US$/Euro exchange rates compared to the same quarter last year.

Eutelsat has raised its revenue growth objective for fiscal year 2005-2006 from 2.5 per cent to more than 3.5 per cent.

May 2, 2006
SC ruling gives FM lifeline to Millenium Broadcasting

MUMBAI: There’s hope yet for Millenium Broadcasting, one of the early entrants into the FM scene in Mumbai with its Win 94.6 station, but which has been off air since May 2004.

The Supreme Court has thrown a lifeline to the Gautam Radia promoted private radio venture in its long drawn battle with the government, initially fought through the Telecom Disputes Settlement Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT).

The apex court, which heard the case last week, has ruled in Millenium Broadcasting’s favour, concurring with TDSAT’s judgment in the matter. TDSAT had earlier ruled that the government shall not auction the frequency 94.6 MHz and that the company was entitled to broadcast FM radio within the territory of Mumbai.

In its ruling, TDSAT had also ordered that Millenium Broadcasting was entitled to the benefit of migration from fixed licence fee regime to revenue sharing regime under the second phase of the FM radio policy, which grants this benefit to the existing license holders.

For the record, the licence of Millenium Broadcast Pvt Ltd was revoked in May 2003 for non-payment of licence fee. Subsequently, in September 2005, the government had invited pre-qualification bids for 338 FM channels in 91 cities across the country, including five FM stations in Mumbai.

After hearing Millenium Broadcast’s plea in the matter, TDSAT issued an order in October 2005 stating that the frequency shall be excluded from the ambit of the five FM channels in Mumbai that were up for bidding.

May 2, 2006
Al Jazeera International gears for Kuala Lumpur broadcast centre

MUMBAI: Doha based — Al Jazeera International, the yet-to launch 24-hour English-language news and current affairs channel has roped in Divya Gopalan and Hamish MacDonald have joined the channel’s team of on-screen talent.

Divya and Hamish will be the channel’s weekend news anchors for Al Jazeera International’s Kuala Lumpur broadcast centre, one of four regional broadcast centres strategically placed around the world in Doha, Kuala Lumpur, London and Washington DC. They join the weekday news anchors Veronica Pedrosa and Teymoor Nabili, formerly of CNN International and CNBC Asia respectively.

Gopalan brings the channel over 10 year’s experience in international journalism including roles with BBC News, CNN and American networks NBC and CNBC. MacDonald meanwhile joins Al Jazeera International from the UK’s Channel 4 News where he built a career as a news producer and reporter covering a range of international stories.

Al Jazeera International MD Nigel Parsons said, “I am pleased to confirm our weekend presenters who bring a dynamic approach to news reporting in keeping with the channel’s aim of bringing a fresh perspective on world news while maintaining the highest journalistic standards.”

Already on the board, are name likes of Sir David Frost, Veronica Pedrosa and Riz Khan.

At the BBC Gopalan worked on daily news and current affairs programmes such as Hard Talk. Her portfolio included major news stories such as the Iraq war, the Asian Tsunami, the Bali and London bombings. She also covered the 1997 Hong Kong handover for NBC and at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival interviewed Palm D’or winner for best actress Maggie Cheung and best director nominee Wong Kar Wai. Gopalan was the first ethnic Indian newsreader on Hong Kong television.

Starting her on-air career as a sports reporter, Gopalan interviewed some of the biggest names in the sporting world like tennis stars Steffi Graf, the Williams sisters, Anna Kournikova, F1 star Jensen Button, and International soccer players including Gianfranco Zola and Andy Cole.

Gopalan has a truly global background, she is of Indian origin and was born in Hong Kong. She was also brought up in the Philippines, educated in North America and spent five years living and working in London and is fluent in four languages.

MacDonald has covered major stories at Channel 4 including the Asian Tsunami and the London bombings. He reported live for Channel 4 and ITV news and reported as an eyewitness for Australian Networks 9, 7 and ABC.

He began his TV career with WIN television in Canberra as a politics reporter and presenter. From there he moved to the UK and freelanced for a short period, before joining the Channel 4 news team as a producer.

MacDonald trained in journalism at Charles University in Australia and began his career as a Talk Radio presenter and newsreader on Radio 2BS Gold. He is the first Australian news anchor to join the Al Jazeera International news line-up of on-screen talent.

May 2, 2006
ESS kicks off a month of finals in May

MUMBAI: ESPN Star Sports (ESS) has declared the month of May as the “Month of Finals”. The action series begins with soccer when Liverpool meets West Ham on 13 May in the FA Cup final. The telecast will kick off at 9 55 pm (Singapore time) and 7 25 am (IST).

The FA Cup final follows the Champions League final, between Barcelona and Arsenal on 18 May. The final telecast is scheduled for 2 am and 11 30 pm (IST).

UEFA Cup action heats up on 10 May at Eindhoven, Netherlands, as Middlesbrough and Sevilla meet for their first European final, with both finals of UEFA’s cup competitions featuring England vs Spain. ESS will telecast the finals on 11 May at 2 30 am and 12 am (IST).

Another season of the Barclays English Premier League comes to an exciting conclusion in May. ESS will telecast the action starting 7 May from 9 55 pm and 7 25 pm (IST).

It is the business end of the NBA with the coveted ring awaiting the Champions. Post-season sees 16 teams, eight each from the Eastern and Western Conferences fighting out for the right to play in the NBA Finals. ESPN will telecast this on 25 May, 27 May, 29 May and 31 May at 8 am (Singapore Time) and 5 30 pm (IST).

May 2, 2006