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  • Sony announces ‘Indian Idol 2’ series; six sponsors signed on

    Sony announces ‘Indian Idol 2’ series; six sponsors signed on

    MUMBAI: March 2005 saw Abhijeet Sawant becoming a household name in India when the Mumbai boy was crowned the first ever Indian Idol on Sony Entertainment Television (SET). Riding on the success saga of the first series of the show, Sony has now announced the second series.

     

    The channel has signed on Airtel, Asian Paints, Nokia, Marico, Maruti and Pepsi as the sponsors for the show, which would involve promotions on various conventional and unconventional media vehicles as well as innovations.

     

    The second Indian Idol will be produced jointly by Miditech and Fremantle. The judges (Farah Khan, Sonu Nigam and Anu Malik) and the hosts (Aman Yatan Verma and Mini Mathur) of the show remain the same as the previous series.

     

    Like last time, Sony will yet again unleash another wave of innovations as part of its 360-degree marketing and communication campaign.

     

    SET India CEO Kunal Dasgupta says, “Indian Idol’s internationally successful format has not only hooked millions of viewers the world over but has also proved itself as a credible to be the platform for that catapulting true talent in India to unparalleled stardom. As witnessed last year, Indian Idol truly holds the potential to deliver a massive ratings success and create national frenzy. We are certain that this year, Indian Idol will only get bigger and better, taking Sony to greater heights.”

     

    In addition to a recording contract with Sony BMG, the Indian Idol will be awarded a contract with Sony worth Rs 100 million.

     

    Registrations for the second season of Indian Idol begins this month. Contestants can dial 646 from their Airtel phone or register via their landlines. The Indian Idol crew will travel to 13 cities including Jaipur, Ajmer, Jodhpur, Baroda, Ahmedabad, Indore, Bhopal, Chandigarh, Karnal, Mumbai, Delhi, Lucknow and Kolkata, inviting registrations from participants. The eligible ones will receive the audition details.

     

    In October, auditions will be held in Mumbai, Delhi, Lucknow and Kolkata where the show producers will first shortlist contestants. The contestants will then be auditioned and short listed by producers of the show. Thereafter, the panel of judges will undertake the task of choosing 150 Indian Idol aspirants from those who register.

     

    The judges will further whittle these 150 down to 28 in November. From hereon, viewers will be able to cast their votes for the 12 finalists.

     

    SET India executive vice president and business head Tarun Katial said, “As witnessed last year, Indian Idol took viewer engagement and interactivity to new heights and catapulted its finalists to ultimate stardom. This year too, the channel will give its viewers the platform to realise their dreams and put fame and fortune within their reach while offering distinctive, breakthrough entertainment. This year too, Indian Idol will be packed with all the elements of reality, scale, emotion and the journey itself, that will make the Indian audiences connect with it, leading to extreme interactivity involvement and mass frenzy.”

  • ISRO developed AWS – Agreement signed for production

    BANGALORE: ISRO’s INSAT-3A and KALPANA-1 satellites in alliance with Automatic Weather Stations (AWS) have signed an agreement with Antrix Corporation, the commercial arm of the Department of Space with a private company, Astra Microwave Products , Hyderabad, for production and supply of AWS to be deployed in various parts of the country.

    ISRO’s satellites carry data relay transponders, which can receive data from remote platforms deployed on ground, water bodies or sea.
     

    Meteorological application of this satellite based data relay is one of the important applications. With data collection from local levels and remote and inaccessible areas through AWS, weather forecasts and services can be improved significantly. The weather information collected through AWS could also be disseminated through the village resources centres, being set up by ISRO in cooperation with NGOs and other agencies.

    Development of an Automatic Weather Stations (AWS) was taken up by ISRO with the participation of Indian industry and the prototype has been successfully demonstrated. An agreement signed on 18 march by Antrix Corporation, the commercial arm of the Department of Space with a private company, Astra Microwave Products , Hyderabad, for the production and supply of AWS to be deployed in various parts of the country.

    ISRO chairman G Madhavan Nair was present during the brief signing ceremony held at Antariksh Bhavan, Bangalore, the headquarters of ISRO and Antrix Corporation.
     
     

    The low-cost AWS is compact, modular, rugged and capable of operating with minimum power from battery and solar panel for extended periods in the field conditions even in remote areas where power supply and communication are not available. AWS can continuously record weather data like temperature, atmospheric pressure, wind speed and direction, rainfall, relative humidity, solar radiation, etc. The data from a large number of Automatic Weather Stations located across the country could be collected through the data relay transponder on board the ISRO’s INSAT satellites. AWS features include easy programming of sensors, front panel display, archival of one-year data and communication options — via INSAT, telephone, modem, cellular telephone, etc. A GPS integrated with AWS provides accurate time for transmission of data.

    As per the agreement signed today, Astra Microwave Products Ltd, will produce and deploy AWS in the country based on the requirement of the user agencies.