ITV

Tag: Sri Lanka

  • Sharjah looking to host Twenty20 event next year

    Sharjah looking to host Twenty20 event next year

    MUMBAI: The Cricketers Benefit Fund Series (CBFS) is looking to relaunch Sharjah as an international venue with a Twenty20 club championships early next year.

    Media reports indicate that the Twenty20 competition, involving top teams like Australia and India will take place before the World Cup next year. CBFS had not been able to hold matches for the last three years due to a hectic international calendar and problems with dates while inviting teams to participate.

    Pakistan, Sri Lanka, England and South Africa all hold annual domestic Twenty20 Cup tournaments. The West Indies recently completed its inaugural competition. As yet, India does not have a Twenty20 event but there are plans in this arena.

  • Former SA opener Gary Kirsten replaces Dean Jones on Ten Sports’ ‘Straight Drive’ team

    Former SA opener Gary Kirsten replaces Dean Jones on Ten Sports’ ‘Straight Drive’ team

    MUMBAI: The Unitech Cup, the tri-series between India, Sri Lanka and South Africa, gets underway on Ten Sports on Monday, 14 August 2006. The channel has announced that former South African opener Gary Kirsten will be a member of its ‘straight Drive’ team.

    This announcement comes a few days after the channel terminated the contract of Dean Jones after the former Australian batsman inadvertently let out a remark calling a South African bowler a terrorist. In an official release the channel said, “The highly offensive nature of the comments has no place in cricket, sport and society as a whole and we deeply regret that such comments were broadcast.

    “Ten Sports is owned by a citizen of the United Arab Emirates and the company employs a staff drawn from a diverse cross section of nationalities, cultures and religions. We have a zero tolerance policy for any expression of racial stereotyping and prejudice and condemn in the strongest possible terms the comments made by Mr Jones.”

    Kirsten says, “I am very excited to be joining the team. It will be my first time on Straight Drive and I couldn’t have asked for a better series to be involved in.”

    One major activity the channel conducted around this series was the Eleven To Lanka Contest. Basically, anybody could participate. All one had to do was take a picture of oneself along with 10 other people. They could be friends, family or total strangers. It then had to be sent to Ten Sports’ site along with a slogan that explained why your team should be chosen. The channel claims to have received 2,000 entries. The winners will be announced shortly.

  • BBC News appoints Sanjoy Majumder as India correspondent

    BBC News appoints Sanjoy Majumder as India correspondent

    MUMBAI: BBC News has appointed Sanjoy Majumder as its India correspondent. He will be based in Delhi and report for various outputs of BBC including BBC World television, BBC World Service radio and the BBC News website.

    Majumder, who started his career joining BBC’s online operations in London in 1999, was posted to the BBC’s south-Asia bureau in Delhi in 2001 as the first overseas correspondent for the BBC News website. Since then he has been heading the BBC’s online operations in the region, informs an official statement.

    During this time he has reported extensively for the BBC online, radio and television outlets from India as well as Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka. Some of the events he has covered include general elections in India and Sri Lanka, Afghanistan’s first presidential elections, the tsunami in Sri Lanka, the Kashmir issue, the anti-king protests in Nepal, and most recently, the Mumbai blasts.

    He was born in London and grew up in Africa, the Middle East and India. He graduated with a degree in English from St Stephen’s College, Delhi and then went on to do his master’s in radio/TV/film from Northwestern University in the United States. Prior to joining the BBC, he taught at several colleges in the US and also worked for the American television networks, NBC and PBS.

    BBC south-Asia bureau editor Paul Danahar says: “As the world’s leading international broadcaster and trusted news source, the BBC is committed to bring its audiences credible and impartial journalism. Sanjoy Majumder is an experienced journalist with a background of reporting across platforms such as radio, television and online. I am confident that he will add to the depth and breadth of the BBC’s coverage from this region.”

    Commenting on his new role, Majumder adds: “I am excited at the opportunity to report from India at a time when the country’s presence on the global stage is growing. With the world increasingly looking at India and China over the next decade, the BBC’s role, and that of the India correspondent, in understanding and analysing complex events in this dynamic country and presenting it to an international audience is particularly significant.”

  • Sri Lanka amends levy on foreign television content

    Sri Lanka amends levy on foreign television content

    MUMBAI: Sri Lanka government has amended the commercial levy imposed on foreign television content, including teledramas, films and advertisements. The government has also decided to form a national media policy to regulate content aired on local television channels.

    As per the new rate card, the tax for 30 minutes or less block of English language imported teledramas and films have been reduced to Rs 10,000 from Rs 75,000. The tax for the programmes of the other languages of 30 minutes will be Rs 75,000. The levy for the imported programmes dubbed into a local language is Rs 90,000 per a 30 minute or less block. The tax reductions have come into effect from 24 July.

    The tax amendment was reached in a meeting held between the president of Sri Lanka and the heads of private television channels, heads of the advertising firms, artistes and the officials of the treasury and the ministry of media and information.

  • India to host 2011 Cricket World Cup final

    India to host 2011 Cricket World Cup final

    MUMBAI: The International Cricket Council conference held in London has reached a final decision on certain key points pertaining to the 2011 Cricket World Cup venue distribition between India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

    While India will stage the final match, Pakistan and Sri Lanka will stage semi-finals. The opening ceremony has gone to Bangladesh.

    “It has been decided that all four should evenly play a part in hosting the major events of the tournament,” Pakistan Cricket Board director Abbas Zaidi has been quoted in media reports as saying. Pakistan hosted the final of the World Cup, last played in Asia 10 years ago.

    “Traffic will come to a stop in the four countries in 2011. There will be more than a billion television viewers in the sub-continent, and another billion in the rest of the world,” adds Inderjit Singh Bindra of India.

    The 2011 World Cup will see India staging 22 matches, Pakistan 16, Sri Lanka nine and Bangladesh six. The venues being considered for the final include Eden Gardens in Calcutta, the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore and the Feroz Shaha Kotla in Delhi.

  • India takes on Sri Lanka in the final of the Women’s Asia Cup

    MUMBAI: Neo Sports Broadcast Pvt Ltd., today announced the live telecast of the finals of the Women’s Asia Cup to be played between India & Sri Lanka at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur. India beat arch rivals Pakistan to enter the finals.

    Mr. Shashi Kalathil, CEO, Neo Sports Broadcast Pvt Ltd commented, “Women’s cricket hasn’t received the requisite focus & attention till date. Now with the game under the auspices of the BCCI, we will look at leveraging our robust international & domestic cricketing calendar as a platform to build a following for the game”.

    Positioned as ” The home of Indian cricket on TV”, Neo Sports holds the rights to all the international & domestic cricket played in India. It holds the rights to 67% of all confirmed international cricket series featuring the Indian cricket team till March 2010.

    Neo Sports Broadcast Pvt Ltd has entered into an exclusive distribution tie-up with Star India, to take Neo Sports & Neo Sports Plus across the length and breadth of this country. The channel is available on Cable, DTH and new media platforms.

  • Celcom and NSS launch SecretSMS

    Celcom and NSS launch SecretSMS

    BANGALORE: Celcom (Malaysia) Berhad and NSS MSC Sdn Bhd today launched a revolutionary product called SecretSMS. SecretSMS is a simple software that encrypts SMS messages thereby offering security and privacy.

    Starting today, over 2 million Celcom subscribers with smart phones will be able to enjoy a whole new SMS experience, especially those seeking to keep their text life private, states an official release.

    SecretSMS is derived from a backbone technology called XMS (Xecure Message Service) that was developed by NSS. NSS is proud to partner with Celcom to introduce the SecretSMS to the market. Research statistics reveal that this product will appeal to the youth population who use messaging as their primary means of communications, the release adds.

    Text messages that are stored in the phones are readily accessible. Anyone can have access to your phone if it is left unattended. Some personal or sensitive messages might even get read by the wrong person without prior permission, which could eventually lead to unnecessary misunderstandings or even mishaps.

    SecretSMS transmits and stores sensitive messages that are accessible with a password known only to the mobile owners. SecretSMS is powered by 128-bit encryption that encrypts incoming and outgoing SMS’s in the transmission process. To read the encrypted messages, users have to key in the valid password. Hence, mobile users have complete control over their privacy in the SMS communications.

    XMS technology is set to penetrate the global market particularly in the US, UK, Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, Sri Lanka where NSS is already in talks with the local mobile operators and financial institutions, as per the official release.

     

  • SAARC nations to evolve strategy to exchange information during calamities

    SAARC nations to evolve strategy to exchange information during calamities

    MUMBAI: The Press Information Bureau additional principal information officer B S Chauhan will be heading the Indian delegation at the Third Conference of Editors and Working Journalists of SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) countries at Male. On the agenda is SAARC countries evolving a strategy to exchange information on media usage during calamities

    The prime criteria is that reaching out is a must in disseminating critical information for those in the concerned affected areas.

    India has reiterated that SAARC Nations should make special efforts through media so that the people, especially women and children of these areas can be brought closer to the mainstream.

    With a view to reach out to people affected by terrorist acts and hilly terrain in India, Chauhan emphasised that radio coverage should be strengthened to reach the affected zone, informs an official release.

    Sharing the experience of India on media management during Tsunami crisis, he said, all stations of All India Radio in southern states of India and East Coast including the Andaman and Nicobar Islands where continuously broadcasting information on the developing situations in the affected areas are based on live inputs by districts and State authorities from different locations.

    Radio and TV stations also broadcast information about relief measures like helplines and measures to combat epidemics. He said that, the media must be involved as a participatory agency which combines the media, government officials, government multimedia implementing agencies, NGOs, public opinion representatives and the beneficiaries.

    Apprising the member countries of transparency measures being taken by India, Chauhan said India had recently adopted a legislation in Parliament relating to the Right to Information (RTI). The RTI Act is a major stride in further increasing transparency in the country and is expected to go a long way towards making officials more responsive to people’s urges articulated through the media. This is an idea, which the other countries in SAARC region may like to emulate.

    SAARC is an association of eight countries of South Asia including India, Bangladesh, Bhutan,Afghanistan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The two-day conference is being attended by the representatives of the SAARC countries except Nepal.

  • ECB launches broadband TV channel

    ECB launches broadband TV channel

    MUMBAI: The Indian cricket board may be making noises about launching its own television channel but it is its British counterpart that has gone ahead and “walked the talk”. The England and Wales Cricket Board today launched its official broadband TV service, ECBtv, coinciding with the start of the first npower Test against Sri Lanka at Lord’s.

    The ECB has signed a three-year deal with digital rights company, Premium TV, to produce the broadband channel – as an addition to ecb.co.uk, according to the board website.

    In addition to exclusive interviews, the ECBtv console will stream live video coverage of all home npower Test matches and NatWest one-day internationals to identified territories in Europe, South and Central America, Japan and Africa, which are not covered by current ECB television deals.

    ECBtv users can also access live audio commentary on all England’s home internationals, with BBC Radio’s Test Match Special being relayed through the channel.

    The ECBtv console is a key development for the ECB, which sees broadband as a crucial platform for cricket in England and Wales to build on the popularity enjoyed by the sport during the npower Ashes series in 2005.

    The ECB will also be encouraging England players to create their own content for the website.

    Also embedded in the ECBtv channel will be a searchable video archive (SVA) that allows fans to view extended highlights of England’s classic moments on home soil, such as great matches, innings and wickets from as far back as 1970 – meaning classic moments such as Botham’s Ashes in 1981 can also be included.

    Another feature of ECBtv will be the ‘Active Zone’, where fans will be able watch tutorials on all key aspects of the game from England players past and present, and see video clips of key grassroots initiatives such as NatWest CricketForce 2006.

    It will also house ecb.co.uk’s own multimedia archive of video and audio clips, bringing continuing coverage of all aspects of the game outside of the international arena.

    Premium TV will work alongside the ECB’s broadcast partners to ensure that the online broadcasts are geo-blocked in areas where any conflict with TV broadcast deals exists.

    Oliver Slipper, CEO of Premium TV, said: “The ECB signing is yet another example of how PTV can help sports organisations exploit their digital rights by creating a unique service for a very popular platform.

    “It also demonstrates how digital rights deals complement rather than compromise TV deals.”

  • Adhikari Brothers enters into deal with Sirasa TV

    Adhikari Brothers enters into deal with Sirasa TV

    MUMBAI : Sri Adhikari Brothers Television Network Ltd has entered into an agreement with Sirasa TV, Sri Lanka’s leading Channel, owned by Maharaja Group.

    The company will be providing concepts and technical expertise and produce the programmes jointly with Sirasa TV, according to Bombay Stock Exchange.

    The terrestrial television network — Sirasa’s most popular television programme in its brief history, may probably be the reputed musical reality show named Sirasa Superstar.