ITV

Category: Press Release

  • NDTV exclusive with Rahul Dravid

    NEW DELHI: In a candid interview with NDTV 24X7, Rahul Dravid, captain of the Indian cricket team, speaks to Dr Prannoy Roy about Saurav Ganguly’s grand come-back and how, in his opinion, Ganguly was the ‘best captain’ for the Indian cricket team. He also talks about his best World Cup team – Australia – and a lot more.

    Watch Rahul Dravid speak to Dr Prannoy Roy in a free-wheeling conversation on ‘India Questions’, on Sunday, March 11 , 2007, at 7.00 pm.

    Asked who he thinks has been the best captain of the Indian cricket team, Rahul Dravid maintained, “Yes, he (Saurav Ganguly) was, if you look at the numbers that were produced during the past five years and the games we played during his captaincy. In that sense he was the best captain and we had the best team….

    “We are happy that he’s come back and that he is playing well…At the end of the day the team wants players who are playing well and performing well,” he adds.

    When asked what his contribution to Sourav’s come-back has been, Dravid was categoric, “The credit for going through it and coming out of it goes to him…he’s worked hard…he’s leaner, meaner and fitter…he’s playing well. He’s been fielding well…and we hope he can repeat that performance in the World Cup…”

    On Australia, Rahul Dravid says, “I think there will be eight teams that will be looking to be in that final…I think Australia will start as favourites but not by much…that gap is closing….It’s going to be a tough World Cup…”

    Dravid is confident that India will win the World Cup this time and that India’s performance in the recent matches bears ample testimony to this fact.

  • It’s Time to “Bond” with Star Movies

    MUMBAI: Non- stop entertainment…Shaken, not stirred!!! Keeping in tradition with the Bond style, Star Movies is going to blow you off your seats, this March with the ULTIMATE BOND MARATHON! It’s celebration time for all Bond fans as Star Movies brings you the entire 007 collection to your living room! Starting Tuesday, March 6th treat your eyes to your favorite original Bond’s – Sean Connery, George Lazenby and Roger Moore and catch the best of action on all-time classic blockbusters like From Russia With Love, Diamonds Are Forever, Goldfinger and Thunderball from this Monday to Friday only on Star Movies!

    Tuesday, March 6 at 10:25 p.m.

    FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE

    The evil SPECTRE organization has hatched a plan to steal a decoder that will access Russian state secrets and irrevocably unbalance the world order. It is up to James Bond to seize the device first, but he must confront enemies that include Red Grant and the ruthless Rosa Klebb — a former KGB agent with poison-tipped shoes. Even as Bond romances a stunning Soviet defector, he realizes he is being lured into a deadly trap, and he will need all of his courage, ability and cutting-edge technology to triumph over the forces that seek to destroy him.

    Wednesday, March 7 at 10:20 p.m.

    DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER

    After traveling the world in his quest to kill Blofeld, Bond returns triumphant, only to discover a case waiting for him: a large amount of diamonds has been stolen from the South African mines and two offbeat assassins are killing everyone in the smuggling ring one-by-one. Bond goes undercover as Peter Franks, diamond smuggler. What he discovers shocks him: the head of the smuggling ring is none other than Ernst Stavros Blofeld! Now, Bond must resist the wiles of a beautiful smuggler and survive the machinations of Mr. Wint and Mr. Kidd, Blofeld’s two best assassins so that he can uncover Blofeld’s sinister plots.

    Thursday, March 8 at 10:45 p.m.

    GOLDFINGER

    The powerful tycoon Auric Goldfinger has initiated “Operation Grand Slam,” a cataclysmic scheme to raid Fort Knox and obliterate the world economy. James Bond, armed with his specially equipped Aston Martin (its accessory package includes built-in machine guns, a smoke screen and an ejector seat), must stop the plan by overcoming several outrageous adversaries. First there’s Oddjob, the mute servant who kills at the toss of a lethal hat; next, the beautiful Jill Masterson, who gives new meaning to the phrase “golden girl”; and finally, sexy pilot Pussy Galore, whose romantic feelings for Bond complicate her involvement in Goldfinger’s high-flying scheme.

    Friday, March 9 at 10:50 p.m.

    THUNDERBALL

    SPECTRE hatches its most audacious plot to date when its agents hijack a British Vulcan bomber armed with two atomic bombs and hold NATO to ransom for the sum of #100,000,000. The British send all their “00” agents, including James Bond, to recover the warheads before SPECTRE carries out its threat to detonate the devices on the UK and US mainlands.

    So, be part of the Bond Mania and enjoy the non-stop action and fun with ULTIMATE BOND MARATHON, from Monday to Friday only on Star Movies!

  • Watch ICC World Cup on Tata Sky with Hrithik Roshan

    MUMBAI: Tata Sky Ltd., the joint venture from TATA and STAR, today announced a special promotional offer across India. Consumers, who purchase Tata Sky by 15 th April, 2007 will get 3 months of free subscription on up to 4 televisions at their homes. In addition, 50 subscribers with their families will get a chance to watch the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007 Final with superstar Hrithik Roshan, on 28 th April, in Mumbai.

     

    Tata Sky’s ActveTM Sports makes watching cricket at home a unique experience. With this service, viewers can choose the camera angle from which they wish to watch their favourite cricketers. Highlights are also available on-demand, at any time during the match. Apart from this, ActveTM Sports offers viewers the option of listening to commentary in a language of their choice and the convenience of extracting player statistics and ball trajectory at the press of a button. Since Tata Sky is a satellite television service, viewers will be able to watch all matches in DVD quality picture and CD quality sound, enhancing the experience of watching cricket at home.

     

    Commenting on this promotional offer, Vikram Mehra, Head Consumer Marketing, Tata Sky Ltd. said, “In a country where cricket is nothing short of a religion, we are providing fans with a unique, economical and equally effective way of enjoying the stadium experience from the comfort of their homes. We expect phenomenal response during the World Cup which will further propel us to achieving our target of 1 million subscribers at the end of our first year of operations.”

     

    Tata Sky endeavours to become India’s largest entertainment platform by offering viewers a variety of programming choices and interactive features in DVD quality picture and CD quality sound. Tata Sky is already home to leading broadcasters in the country including STAR, Zee, Sony, Discovery, Disney, MTV, NDTV, ESPN STAR Sports, National Geographic, Eenadu, TV Today, Asianet and many more.

  • Percept, Group M will lock horns in the final

    MUMBAI: The stage was set for the clash of the titans in the semi finals between Vyas Giannetti Creative (VGC) vs. Group M and Percept vs. Adfactors at Bandra Kurla Complex ground & P.J. Hindu Gymkhana respectively.

    In the match between VGC & Group M, the latter won by 47 runs. After winning the toss VGC put Group M in to bat first. It looked like a wise decision initially as VGC snapped up 3 wickets in 5 overs giving away only 34 runs. But what followed was a great performance from the Group M middle order, with Ketan Karnik and Sandeep Bhattacharya remaining unbeaten on 115 and 113 runs respectively. Their partnership of 266 runs took the total score to 300. In reply, VGC did not have the start they wanted. The opening stand between Anand Yalvigi (28 runs) & Niket Karvir (36 runs) lasted only 37 runs. Amit Siddheshwar put up a tough fight, hitting 58 runs off 32 deliveries, but could not see VGC through to victory. For his match-winning innings, Sandeep Bhattacharya was adjudged man of the match.

    In the other semi final, Percept beat Adfactors comprehensively by 157 runs. Batting first, Percept scored 247 runs powered by scores of 73 and 59 from R. Mulam and S. Singh respectively. In reply, Adfactors were bowled out for a mere 90 runs, with P. Chavan top scoring with 36 runs. S. Rikame and R. Mulam of Percept ran through the Ad Factors batting line-up, with spells of 4/23 and 4/18. For his all-round performance with bat and ball, R. Mulam was adjudged man of the match.

    (The CAG Shield Cricket Tournament: Presenting Sponsor- Visage Images, Radio partner- Radio One, Print Partner- Mid Day, Web partner- Exchange4Media)

    Brief Scores

    VGC VS.GROUP M

    GROUP M WON BY 47 RUNS
    GROUP M: 300 FOR 3, K. KARNIK – 115*,
    S. BHATTACHARYA – 113*
    VGC: 253 ALL OUT
    A. SIDDHESHWAR 58 RUNS, N. KARVIR 36 RUNS
    A. YALVIGI 28 RUNS,
    MAN OF THE MATCH: SANDEEP BHATTACHARYA

    FURTHER INFORMATION: OP THOMAS: +91-98213-48253

    OR

    ANAND YALVIGI of VGC :+91-9867106644

     

     

    PERCEPT VS.ADFACTORS

    PERCEPT WON BY 157 RUNS
    PERCEPT: 247 FOR 6, R. MULAM – 73 RUNS,
    S. SINGH – 59 RUNS,
    ADFACTORS: 90 ALL OUT, P. CHAVAN – 36 RUNS
    R. MULAM – 4/18, S. RIKAME – 4/23,
    MAN OF THE MATCH: ROOPESH MULAM

    Final match between Percept & GroupM will be played on 10th March 2007 at Police Gymkhana.

  • Percept, Rediffusion & Vyas Giannetti Creative in quarter-finals of CAG Shield cricket tourney

    MUMBAI: Round two of the CAG cricket tournament saw some dramatic results, Defending Champions Adfactors crashed to a surprise defeat, Group M were bundled out for a mere 48 runs and three teams entered the quaterfinals with one round to spare.

    Vyas Giannetti Creative (VGC) crushed defending champions Adfactors by 7 wickets. Batting first, Adfactors were restricted to a paltry total of 112. Niket Karvir of VGC swept through the Ad factor batting line up, with fantastic bowling figures of 9-1-18-5.

    In another match, Rediffusion won by a huge margin of 166 runs against Interactive Avenues. Int. Avenues won the toss and put Rediffusion to bat first who went on to score 282 runs. Ganesh Panchal scored 57 runs and Dipesh Mulya scored 45 runs. Int. Avenues were bundled out for mere 116 runs. Dipesh Mulya took 2 wickets for 10 runs and walked away with the Man of the Match award.

    The match between R.K.Swamy and Network Advertising was a close one, with R.K.Swamy winning this nail biter by 2 wickets. Batting first Network made 205 runs in 40 overs. Innings of 58 runs by I. Nawaz and 52 runs by U. Chaukekar helped the total
    to go past 200. R.K. Swamy faltered in the beginning, losing the first wicket for 14 runs. But the partnership between Navin Sawant and S. Pawar of 114 runs got R.K. Swamy
    in to a winning position. Navin Sawant was adjudged the man of the match.

    One of the most eagerly awaited matches between Group M and Percept was a low-scoring affair. Perecpt put up a total of 135, with Devendra Naidu picking up 4 wickets and Ketan Karnik taking 3 wickets. But Percept kept their cool and bundled out Group M for a mere 48 runs. Subhash Rikame was the tormentor for Group M, taking 5 wickets for 24 runs. His performance earned him the Man of the Match award.

    (The CAG Shield Cricket Tournament: Presenting Sponsor- Visage Images,
    Radio partner- Radio One, Print Partner- Mid Day, Web partner- Exchange4Media)

    Brief Scores

    AD FACTORS: 112 ALL OUT,
    S. GAIKAR – 25 RUNS,
    V. SANE – 3/37, N. KARVIR – 5/18, A. HEGDE – 2/6
    VGC: 113 FOR 3, A. YALVIGI – 38 RUNS,
    V. SANE* – 32 RUNS, A. KAMBLE – 2/65,
    MAN OF THE MATCH: NIKET KARVIR

    BATES: 117 ALL OUT, S. CHATTERJEE – 22 RUNS,
    R. KULKARNI – 3/27, H. MISTRY – 3/24
    LAW & KENNETH: 120 FOR 3, J. MEHTA – 61 RUNS
    R. RAJA – 2/16
    MAN OF THE MATCH: JAY MEHTA

    REDIFFUSION: 282 ALL OUT, G. PANCHAL – 57 RUNS
    D. MULYA – 45 RUNS, S. PARSEKAR – 44 RUNS,
    S. MIRANDA – 4/40,
    INT. AVENUES – 116 ALL OUT, A. SINGH – 29 RUNS,
    MAN OF THE MATCH: D. MULYA

    NETWORK: 205 ALL OUT, I. NAWAZ – 58 RUNS,
    U. CHAUKEKAR – 52 RUNS, N. SAWANT – 3/38
    R. K .SWAMY: 206 FOR 8, N. SAWANT – 76 RUNS
    S. PAWAR – 34 RUNS, U. CHAUKEKAR – 3/38
    MAN OF THE MATCH: NAVIN SAWANT

    PERCEPT: 135 ALL OUT, S. MULLA – 45 RUNS,
    D. NAIDU – 4/27, K. KARNIK – 3/40
    GROUP M: 48 ALL OUT, P. JOGLEKAR – 13 RUNS,
    S. RIKAME – 5/24, R. MULAM – 3/13
    MAN OF THE MATCH: SUBHASH RIKAME

    EURO RSCG: 233 FOR 6, A. MORE – 120 RUNS,
    R. DORAISWAMY – 3/67, A. DAMANI – 2/62
    LINTAS: 178 FOR 5, K. RAMAKRISHANAN – 67 RUNS,
    A. DAMANI – 37 RUNS,
    A. MORE – 2/32, S. MORE – 2/26
    MAN OF THE MATCH: AJAY MORE

    CONTRACT: 124 ALL OUT, K. BORICHA – 42 RUNS,
    S. MOHAMMADULLAH – 3/15, A. YADAV – 3/24,
    O & M: 128 FOR 2,
    S. MOHAMMADULLAH* – 46 RUNS,
    H. PADMASHAI – 1/28,
    MAN OF THE MATCH: S. MOHAMMADULLAH

    Next Round of matches will be played on 17th February 2007

    ADFACTORS Vs. LAW & KENNETH at TIMES OF INDIA – AZAD
    BATES INDIA Vs. VGC at SASSANIAN – AZAD
    REDIFFUSION Vs. NETWORK at UNITED CRICKETERS – CROSS
    R.K. SWAMY Vs. INT. AVENUES at M.B. UNION – CROSS
    PERCEPT Vs. EURO RSCG at Y.O.U. – CROSS
    LINTAS Vs. GROUP M at PARSEE CYCLIST – AZAD
    AMBIENCE Vs. CONTRACT at ELPHINSTONE – AZAD

  • NDTV exclusive with Amitabh Bachchan

    MUMBAI: From Shah Rukh Khan…to Aishwarya Rai….Amitabh Bachchan tackles some tough topics in a first-of-its-kind interview: 50 young Big B fans grill him, relentlessly, in a special show, India Questions, anchored by NDTV’s Prannoy Roy, and scheduled to air on NDTV 24 X7 on Saturday, Feb 17 at 10 pm.

    Addressing a fan who asks him if Aishwarya Rai will be a working member of his family, Mr. Bachchan says:

    “I don’t see any problem in her wanting to continue her career and wanting to continue acting and if she is going to be acting better than Abhishek, then it’s their problem, it’s not my problem (laughs)….”

    On what he makes of Shah Rukh Khan’s new role on KBC, Amitabh Bachchan says, “Shah Rukh is fine. I hadn’t seen Shahrukh’s KBC, but recently I did and I thought that it was fine”, he comments, adding that the format of the show is more impressive than any host who it features.

    Mr. Bachchan would consider doing one of Shah Rukh’s roles as well: “…if ever I was of his age and if I wanted to do it, I would like to do Swadesh”

    About his controversial association with Amar Singh and the Samajwadi Party, Mr. Bachchan says the association is a personal rather than a political one: “Friendship… I don’t do politics and whatever my association is with Amar Singhji or Mulayam Singhji, it is on a personal…private level….”
     

  • Dainik Bhaskar top newspaper in Jalandhar and Amritsar

    MUMBAI: As per the IMRB readership report Dainik Bhaskar with a readership of 3.18 Lac is the largest read newspaper in Jallander and Amritsar. It has a lead of over 43% over Punjab Kesari which has 2.23 lac readers.

    Dainik Bhaskar was launched in Punjab in September last year with a subscription of 1.76 lac copies and now has 2.1 lac copies. It has in this short period of time expanded the market and created new standards. Bhaskar has more young adults readers in the age group of 20-34 years and also the mature reader’s subset of 45+ where the habits and the choices are tougher to break. In case of graduates too Bhaskar has 95 thousand readers compared to just 67 thousand of Punjab Kesari.

    Says Bhaskar Group DGM Peter Suresh, “Readership surveys are the benchmarks of the key deliverables of a newspaper. We decided to conduct a readership research – as IRS and NRS will have reported us at a far later stage. In this we have involved clients and agencies at every stage- providing opportunity for rider question, back-checks and validation. Some of the clients have added brand / category questions which has thrown some interesting brand ownerships insights – which help in further understand the market. Our readership profiles cover all spectrums of society.”

    Says Bhaskar Group GM Punjab Dharmendra Atri,” The taste of success is always felt best by the team that has been on the ground. For us it’s a great feeling to see quantified the growth. A huge team conducted the door-to-door contacts covering the entire area in the meticulous way. It just proves that the success is gained inch by inch, all effort have to work synergistic and more so that the Bhaskar Research an integral part if the market launch strategy process has been tested time and again and have borne results. Yes it’s true that for every market with time- we have modified / adapted and remodeled the same- but essentially finding what the reader is really looking for and providing that to him- was- is and will remain the foundation for any newspaper’s success.”

  • Discovery Travel & Living gives global cuisine the attention it deserves in its premiere series – Chic Eats

    MUMBAI: No doubt, technology has altered the world of food, making ingredients easier to produce and faster to distribute globally. But at what cost? Fortunately, there are artisans who are working to preserve the traditional methods of cooking that have shaped the world’s culinary history.

    Get prepared to investigate how ancient cooking techniques are being revived and sustained in the episode Hungry Luddite, part of Discovery Travel & Living’s premiere and on-going series Chic Eats.

    Hungry Luddite will air on Discovery Travel & Living on Tuesday, 6th February at 8:30 pm. The episode takes a look at food aficionados and food-obsessed communities who are preserving the culinary traditions of the past in today’s faceless, fast-paced and high-tech society.

    Nothing is perfect in here, because it is not made by machines. Like it or not, the food world is highly industrialised. But there remain a handful of dedicated people with their glasses raised all set to rage against the machine. These are culinary luddites who are keeping old traditions alive.

    Aditya Tripathi, Vice President – Lifestyle, Discovery Networks India, said, “Chic Eats will give viewers a comprehensive view about the latest food trends, must use ingredients, new kitchen gadgets and of course the must-visit food destinations.”

    Chic Eats explores the billion-dollar food industry, stretching its tentacles across the international and commercial landscape. With an access to gourmet magazine’s arsenal of trusted industry journalists and epicurean experts, Chic Eats is an engaging and authentic programme that gives viewers more of what they love most – food stories from all around the world.

    Chic Eats will air all through february uptil march 20th every tuesday at 8:30 PM.

  • More than 2 lakh lines per day added to the telecom network

    MUMBAI: The New Year started with the addition of about 6.78 million phones in the number of telecom subscribers during the month of January 2007 – an average daily addition of more than two lakh lines. As a result, the total number of telephones in the country, now has gone up to 196.7 million thereby registering a growth of 3.5%.

    Almost the entire growth registered during the month was in the wireless segment – with GSM contributing 4.99 million and CDMA contributing 1.79 million. With this, the overall teledensity now stands at 17.45%. However, it may be noted that there was a marginal decrease of about five thousand subscribers in the fixed line segment.

    Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat telecom circles added more than 3.7 lakh each in the GSM segment, followed by the Karnataka circle (3.5 lakh). In the CDMA segment, the total subscriber base registered a growth of 3.9% with a net addition of 1.73 million subscribers. Maharashtra telecom circle contributed the maximum to this addition. Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra circles added more than 5 lakh subscribers each during the month.

    The growth of broadband connections improved further and at the end of December 2006, about 2.03 million broadband connections were provided and coverage of broadband connectivity by public sector service providers has reached 762 cities. The total number of existing ISP licencees is 385.

    Under Bharat Nirman Programme, out of the 66,822 villages, so far 38795 villages have been provided with Village Public Telephones (VPTs). The remaining 28027 villages are to be covered by November, this year.

  • Alcatel-Lucent wins contract for 2 mn GSM lines with ITI for MTNL’s network expansion

    BANGALORE: Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) and ITI, India’s largest telecom equipment manufacturing company, today announced a contract to supply and install 2 million lines for MTNL (Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited) based on advanced wireless communications technology.

     

    This multi-million euro contract covers the expansion of MTNL’s radio access and next-generation core network in Mumbai, India, and is based on Alcatel-Lucent’s GSM/EDGE and W-CDMA/HSPA technologies. It further demonstrates Alcatel-Lucent’s leadership in high-growth economies such as India.

     

    Alcatel-Lucent and ITI have a long-term collaboration agreement for the production and deployment of Alcatel-Lucent’s latest generation GSM/EDGE and W-CDMA/HSPA solutions in India. The technology provided through this new contract will make it possible for MTNL to increase its customer base and deliver high-quality voice and other communications services to its subscribers in Mumbai. MTNL expects to begin commercially offering these services later this year.

     

    “We are proud of the fact that with the deployment of these 2 million mobile lines employing advanced wireless technologies from Alcatel-Lucent, we will enable MTNL to become the first telecom operator in India to provide third-generation services to its subscribers,” said ITI CMD, Mr. Pritam Singh.

     

    “With the deepest and broadest wireless portfolio in the industry, and being the long-standing partner of ITI in India, we are bringing the latest third-generation technology to India,” said Olivier Picard, President of Alcatel–Lucent’s Europe and South activities. “This advanced technology will provide the high quality of service that the people of India deserve. Our goal is to create long-term value for all our customers by addressing their most critical challenges.”

     

    Alcatel-Lucent has more than 170 GSM/EDGE customers in more than 90 countries, making it a leading player in providing mobile communications solutions. As a global leader in the development and deployment of third-generation (3G) networks, Alcatel-Lucent has deployed commercial 3G (CDMA2000 and W-CDMA/HSPA) systems for more than 70 operators worldwide.