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Tag: Nita Ambani

  • FC Goa announces Virat Kohli as its new co-owner cum ambassador

    FC Goa announces Virat Kohli as its new co-owner cum ambassador

    MUMBAI: The Hero Indian Super League (ISL) franchise of Goa, FC Goa today unveiled its new co-owner, celebrity cricketer Virat Kohli. With Kohli coming on board, the team now is composed of four owners. The other three are Venugopal Dhoot of Videocon, Shrinivas Dempo and Dattaraj Salgaocar, both businessmen from Goa. Videocon d2h was named as the principal sponsor for the team.

     

    FC Goa also introduced its marquee coach, Brazilian football legend Zico and its marquee player, Robert Pires. Bollywood actor Varun Dhawan has been named as the team’s ‘first friend’.

     

    Present at the ceremony were Football Sports Development founding chairperson Nita Ambani who said that one of the main goals of the ISL was to promote the game at the grassroots levels by involving millions of kids through various programmes of the eight franchises.

     

    The Adidas team kit consisting of the jersey was also unveiled at the ceremony. Talking about the team kit Adidas India brand director, Tushar Goculdas says that the Goa team represented one of the ‘most passionate centres’ of football in India. He adds, “The team is supported by a strong backbone with owners having great footballing heritage, Virat- a world class athlete and Zico, one of the greatest artists of the beautiful game.” The team jersey will be available to FC Goa fans to purchase in a few weeks time.

     

    Speaking about his new venture, Kohli comments, “The experience of stalwarts like Zico and Pires will further strengthen the already strong DNA that the team possesses, thanks to the Salgaocar, Dempo and Videocon Groups’ involvement.”  According to sources from the team  it was Kohli  himself who approached the team owners to gain a stake in FC Goa.

     

     Videocon Industries chairman of the board Venugopal Dhoot says that the four partners shared a common dream which was to make a valuable contribution to Indian football and elevate the standards of the sport in the country.

     

    FC Goa is also the first Indian sports club to launch a satellite TV channel  called  the FC Goa TV which will be telecast on Videocon d2h with exclusive and innovative programming. The shows will also include specials such as on field programmes.  In addition to this, a special magazine dedicated to the team’s fans was also revealed.

     

    Dempo Group of Companies chairman and managing director Shrinivas Dempo while speaking to indiantelevision.com says that the ISL has come at the right time just after the FIFA World Cup fever. Speaking on the role of the four owners, he says, “We will look after the administration and management side of the game while the technical aspect and strategies of play will be looked by Zico and the players. Together we will work for the team’s overall success.”

     

    V M Salgaocar and Company managing director Dattaraj Salgaocar too agrees and says, “The Dempo group and we share decades of support towards football through our local football clubs.” In terms of sponsorship he says they are still looking at getting brands on board and are also looking at local brands for tie ups.

     

    FC Goa will kick off the first game of the Hero Indian Super League against Chennaiyin FC at home ground on 16 October. The team was launched on 26 august 2014.

  • Ranbir Kapoor officially launches Mumbai City Football Club

    Ranbir Kapoor officially launches Mumbai City Football Club

    MUMBAI: India’s metropolitan city Mumbai which is home to some of India’s greatest sporting talents has finally got its own football club for the upcoming Hero Indian Super League-Mumbai City Football Club.

     

    Team owners Ranbir Kapoor and Bimal Parekh along with IMG-Reliance chairperson Nita Ambani and yesteryear actor Rishi Kapoor unveiled the logo of the new team and spoke about the teams’ grassroots programme. Mumbai’s D.Y Patil Stadium has been declared as the team’s home stadium.

     

    Explaining the new blue and white designed logo for the team, Ranbir Kapoor, who is the co-owner of the Club said, “A resilient fortress surrounding the logo signifies the determined spirit of the city. The seven stars symbolise the islands that form Mumbai. The trains meanwhile stand for the pulsating, beating a staccato rhythm and the vast distance these trains connect. They are the lifeline of the city.”

     

    He further added, “I couldn’t have asked for a better franchise to co-own.  It is the city I have grown up in and the city I love. This team will celebrate our unwavering spirit and like the city, fulfill the dreams of players and football fans.”

     

    When questioned if he will just be a face for the team or an active participant, the self proclaimed Barcelona fan said that he had financially invested in the team and was very passionate about football since he was 10-11 years old.

     

    Chartered Accountant and co-owner Bimal Parekh while speaking to indiantelevision.com said that he will be looking after the financial and administration aspect of the team, while his other co-owner Kapoor, would help in developing and promoting the team. “Our roles are clear cut and well defined,” he added.

     

    Parekh promises that his team will play a possession based free flowing brand of football while being technically sound, fast and tactically aware.

     

    The team has already devised its plan to reach out to the young fans at the grassroots level. Said the team’s technical director Nishant Mehra, “We have roped in around 100 schools to be a part of the developmental programme where we plan to target the age group of six to 10 years.”

     

     Commenting on the grassroots activation, IMG-Reliance chairperson Nita Ambani said, “The real excitement for the Hero ISL is the Young Champs programme, through which we will reach out to a number of schools.”

     

     A lot of emphasis is being laid on the grassroots programme, as it is understood that each of the teams are contractually bound to shell out approximately Rs 2 crore annually as part of developing the game in their respective team areas.

     

     

  • Hero Indian Super League ushers in football revolution

    Hero Indian Super League ushers in football revolution

    MUMBAI: The most anxiously awaited Hero Indian Super League (ISL) finally unveiled its official emblem at a grand event attended by the organisers and franchise team owners. The league also saw the unveiling of its official line- ‘Let’s Football.’

     

    At the beginning, IMG Reliance chairperson Nita Ambani said, “ISL hopes to act as a foundation in creating an ecosystem to nurture talent and make our own national football heroes.” She also added that the Reliance Foundation plans to reach out to 10 lakh kids in India for the first year to help them play the game of football at the micro level.

     

    ‘Let’s Football’ – is an apt fit to its ambition in connecting with today’s youth and creating interest in millions to play the sport professionally. The emblem with hexagons combined to form a football symbolises collaboration of passion, energy and enthusiasm among its stakeholders. Colours chosen to represent the league conveys the values and emotions, with red signifying the energy, passion and action, while blue exudes confidence, trust and responsibility; both seamlessly combining to represent the league’s values.

     

    Star India COO Sanjay Gupta commented, “This is the birth of a footballing nation. This is something that has never been attempted before and marks a historic turning point for the future of football in India. What you will experience is a world class spectacle-in stadium, on television, on your mobile screen and across all digital devices.”

     

    “We plan to attract and nurture the best of Indian talent to play with marquee players selected from 20 countries, spanning five continents,” added Gupta.

     

    The event began with Nita Ambani leading the eight league partners to sign a pledge- committing to the vision of ISL, which is to bring a football revolution across the country.

     

    IMG football vice president Andy Knee said, “The potential for football in India is truly immense and the ambition for the league is to spark a revolution for the game so as to encourage teenagers, even hundreds of millions of Indians to start playing, following and watching the sport.”

     

    Bollywood actor Abhishek Bachchan was declared as the new team owner of the Chennai franchise. Joining him were other owners like Sachin Tendulkar, John Abraham, Ranbir Kapoor, Sameer Manchanda, Utsav Parekh, Kapil Wadhawan, Team Goa ambassador Varun Dhawan among others like AIFF president Praful Patel.

     

    Each of the teams said that they would help develop football at the grass root level, the announcements of which will be made in the weeks to come.

     

    Scheduled to kick off on 12 October 2014, the Hero Indian Super League will see some of the greatest players in action from the world of football.

  • Indian Super League signs partnership with English Premier League

    Indian Super League signs partnership with English Premier League

    MUMBAI: The Indian Super League (ISL) has entered into a strategic partnership with the English Premier League (EPL) – the world’s most popular and successful football league, to bring its best practices to India under the exchange programme.

     

    The Co-operation Agreement between the Indian Super League, co-promoted by IMG-Reliance, the joint venture between IMG and Reliance Industries, Star India with support from All India Football Federation (AIFF) – and the English Premier League will allow ISL to leverage the league’s expertise in nurturing and growing a high quality football competition.

     

    The recently appointed Board of Director at RIL Nita M. Ambani said, “Partnering with Premier League brings credence to Indian Super League and to our vision of popularising the sport in India. I am confident that the tie-up will immensely help in nurturing and establishing Indian Super League with good governance and best practices. The alliance also presents a great opportunity of partnership and cross promotions between the ISL League Partners and Premier League Clubs.” 

     

    England’s Premier League is the most watched continuous annual global sporting event in the world. Last season, 13.9 million fans attended matches with record average stadium occupancy of 95.9 per cent. Across nine months, 380 matches are viewed in 175 countries with coverage available in more than 650 million homes.

     

    Star India CEO Uday Shankar added, “The partnership puts belief in Stars Sports philosophy of `Believe’. From a game that hobbled about on the fringes of Indian sports, there’s promise that this partnership will lift and reinvigorate football. Star strongly believes in creating local heroes, inspiring Indians to believe greatness is possible through sport and together we can create a world where sports comes first. The partnership with PL is going to help us achieve just that. Through this tie-up Star India will cross promote coverage of the Indian Super League and the Premier League to the growing base of Indian football followers.”
     

    The Indian Super League, set to kick off in September 2014, will receive strategic support, advice and assistance from the Premier League to further the development of the league and its clubs. The EPL will also assist in establishing club governance, shaping the brand, fan engagement, defining anti-corruption and anti-doping policies for the ISL, as well as joint promotion of the ISL and Premier League football in India.

     

    EPL chief executive officer Richard Scudamore said, “Having earlier this year signed a mutual co-operation agreement with the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), we are very pleased to also enter into this partnership with the ISL. This will see both organisations work together and share knowledge in several key areas including player development, refereeing, marketing and promotion.”

     

    He added, “We know from our broadcast partner Star India, and our work with the AIFF on our long-established grassroots football project Premier Skills that we run in several locations across India, that the popularity of football, and the Premier League, is growing. There is a further opportunity to develop the sport as a result of that increased interest and we hope to continue to make a real contribution to all levels of Indian football.”
     

    The co-operation between the Indian Super League and the Premier League lends credence to the Indian Super League’s mission to engage the 200 million-plus Indian football fan base by showcasing a quality football offering with international standards of governance and an unparalleled viewing experience.

     

    ISL is an unrivalled football championship, aiming to foster local talent and feature international stars, making the game one of the country’s flagship sports and India, a name to reckon within the global arena. ISL will feature eight franchises from Bangalore, Delhi, Goa, Guwahati, Kochi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Pune.
    India is the Premier League’s number one market in terms of social media engagement, with an average reach of 1.48m Indian fans every week.

     

    IMG, Global Football Development senior vice president Jeff Slack informed, “Pairing the Premier League, an established best-in-class football organisation, with the Indian Super League is a dream arrangement for football fans in India.  The ability to leverage the Premier League’s experience in creating a successful league model for both players and fans will be a tremendous value to the Indian Super League as it continues to grow the sport in India.”
     

    Through the alliance, Indian Super League will help Premier League and its clubs in staging football matches and assist in other business development initiatives in India. This will encourage exchange programmes and partnership building between clubs of the two leagues. Indian Super League and the Premier League will also cross-promote football coverage on Star India’s platform to the growing Indian fan base.

     

    “The AIFF is extremely pleased to be a part of the strategic partnership between the English Premier League and the Indian Super League. This is an outstanding opportunity for the Indian Super League to build from the very best in the business when it comes to running a highly successful league. The EPL is revered around the world and by learning from the practitioners who have made it so successful; the Indian Super League will develop and grow in the right way, ensuring benefits not only for the league itself but also for the wider Indian football ecosystem in the longer term,” concluded AIFF president Praful Patel.

  • Nita Ambani Joins RIL Board as Director

    Nita Ambani Joins RIL Board as Director

    MUMBAI: The shareholders of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) have approved the appointment of Nita M. Ambani who is the chairperson of Reliance Foundation (RF), as director on the board of Reliance Industries at an AGM held on 18 July 2014.

     

    On behalf of the board, RIL chairman Mukesh Ambani welcomed his spouse and said, “Nita has been engaged in several initiatives that have strengthened Reliance, right from building the world-class township and the ecological development at Jamnagar, next­ generation office campuses, designing customer touch paints of Reliance Retail, healthcare initiatives, successfully setting up and running institutions such as Dhirubhai Ambani International School and Mumbai Indians to, most importantly, managing Reliance Foundation. We are delighted to welcome her to the Board of Reliance Industries as an accomplished individual who will add significant value to Reliance’s journey of growth.”

     

    While accepting her new role with a sense of humility and responsibility she said, “RIL has always aimed to better millions of lives and my mission will be to bring speed, scale and social contract to RIL.’s larger mission. I accept this responsibility as a tribute to millions of RIL stakeholders, as well as to my tireless colleagues at Reliance foundation.”

     

    Nita Ambani, the wife of India’s richest man was at the forefront of the ecological development of RlL’s Jamnagar refinery site where a biodiversity plan covering 3.2 million trees over 2000 acres was implemented.

     

    She developed the world-class township in Jamnagar from scratch, setting new standards in quality of life. Nita has also led initiatives spanning education, health, rural transformation, environmental protection and sports over the past two decades. She has also built institutions in fields such as education, sports and healthcare in India, through Reliance Foundation and Mumbai Indians from scratch. She also leads 13 schools in the Reliance fold, including 1 international school- Dhirubhai Ambani International School- which is a testament to her commitment to excellence in education. These schools are striving to provide quality education to more than 15,000 students.

     

    With RIL acquiring Network 18 and now announcing Nita as one of the directors in the board, it will be interesting to see the developments shaping up in the company.

  • Mumbai Indians gets McCann on creative roster

    MUMBAI: Nita Ambani’s IPL franchise Mumbai Indians has decided to rope in IPG’s McCann Erickson on the creative agency roster.

    WPP’s Ogilvy and Mather was servicing the account.

    A source close to the development revealed that both the agencies will work on different aspects of the campaign. According to the source, O&M will be handling the CSR part of Mumbai Indians’ campaign while McCann will focus on the engagement part.

    It has also been learnt the IPL franchise plans to have more agencies on the roster this year in order to have a more efficient campaign. Red Digital has been the team‘s digital agency for the past two years.

  • Zee Astitva Awards 2006 hails work of women in diverse fields

    Zee Astitva Awards 2006 hails work of women in diverse fields

    MUMBAI: Zee Telefilms Ltd and the Archana Trust Suburban hosted the Zee Astitva Awards on 5 August 2006 to honour the achievements of women in diverse fields. Specific to our country, where every girl has to struggle to make her mark, here are some inspirational stories that truly deserve to be honoured.

    The show was kicked off with the lighting of the inaugural lamp by Zee Telefilms Ltd chairman Subhash Chandra Goel and chairperson Archana Suburban Trust Rajashree Birla along with other trustees.

    The Chief Guest for the evening was (politician) Praful Patel setting the mood for the evening saying, “In an era where women’s achievements have equalled or surpassed that of men, it is truly a remarkable moment in our country that women are being able to overcome that hurdle. It is time for us to work together collectively for the betterment of our country.”

    In an award show where the ladies ruled, performances included three of Zee’s Lil Champs, Sa Re Ga Ma Pa’s Twinkle and Sanchali, the Kasam Se sisters, Koena Mitra and Rimi Sen. There was also a special performance by lyricist, instrumentalist and ‘wonder tabla girl’ Tina Sugandh, but before the night was over the sizzling Bipasha Basu got the crowd grooving to her latest item number “Beedi” from Omkara.

    Awards were given out to women achievers in categories including social sciences, business, science and technology, health care, music fine arts, dance, sports and theatre among others. The hosts for the evening were Roshini Chopra and Ram Kapoor. However, chief guest Delhi chief minister Sheila Dixit was not present.

    Chess grandmaster Koneru Humpi accepts her award
    Each awardee has performed exemplary work in their respective fields, some of which goes unnoticed and therefore, the awards provided a platform to not only reward these courageous souls but also to inspire others. Starting the show, Nita Ambani presented the award for classical dance to Vyjayanthi Kashi while the awards for contemporary dance went to Tilottamma Koshy, who could not be present. In recognition of her contribution to drama, Veenapani Chawla was honoured in the area of theatre, while Pandit Hari Prasad Chaurasia stepped on to stage to give away to the award to Arpana Kaur for fine arts.

    Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma presents Shubha Mudghal with her award for music This was followed by awards given to Mini Menon for constructive journalism, Hasina Khan for social services, Dr Shobha R. Arole for healthcare, Dr Amrita Patel for business, Dr Firuza Parikh for science and technology. The authors award was given to Sivashankari and for sports, to chess champ Koneru Humpi. Of course in the music category, Shubha Mudghal was delighted on receiving the award from Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma.

    Dr Vishakha Desai and Zerbanoo Gifford were honoured with the International Women of the Year award. The Lifetime Achievement awards were presented by Karisma Kapoor and Kumar Mangalam Birla to Mahasweta Devi, Ela Ramesh Bhatt and Dhondutai Kulkarni.

    All the awardees stand tall
    In addition, the Stellar Achievement Award was presented to three awardees, while awards for Outstanding Contribution to television, fashion and cinema were given to veteran TV actor Nina Gupta, model Dipika Padukone and Bollywood star Aishwarya Rai respectively. Aishwarya however was not present to receive it due to her father’s illness.

    The jury for the Awards included Rajashree Birla, Nita Ambani, Chanda Kochhar, Shreyashi Goenka, Sangita Jindal, Satya Saran, Anaya Goenka and Pheroza Godrej.

    Besides representatives from Zee, like Zee CEO Pradeep Guha, Zee executive VP network sales Joy Chakraborthy and the Kasam Se and Sath Phere cast members, also present were FCB Ulka’s Parameswaran, Anil Kapoor and Kishan Premnarayan.

    The Zee Astitva Awards will be telecast on 19 August.