MUMBAI: While it is said that Indians are enamoured by the western culture the converse is also true. The biggest evidence of the reverse inspiration is seen in the Epic trilogy The Lord Of The Rings. Glimpses of India?s biggest epic ?The Mahabharata? can be traced in The Lord Of The Rings. Backed up with never seen before promotions, viewers can watch the visual extravaganza starting 6th September every Thursday @ 9 pm. The movies revolve around a similar theme of Good Vs Evil with all the races of earth pitted against each other in the final battle between life and death. The story has references of the lower, middle and upper earth familiar in the Indian context as Aakash, Bhumi and Patal. The story of a lost ring will also remind us of the story of Shakuntala and Dushyanta. The characters in the trilogy also have a marked similarity to the characters of the Mahabharata. While Legolas the archer is equivalent to Arjun, the mighty Bheema is played out as Boromir, the royal conspirator Grima has undeniable resemblance to Shakuni and the chief protagonist Aragorn resembles the brave and virtuous Yudishtir.

The Lord of The Rings Trilogy on MOVIES NOW is presented by Flipkart.com. On the Hollywood chart it is amongst the top 10 franchisees in the world. The movie inspired from the book is credited to have single-handedly expanded the popularity of the fantasy genre. Hollywood?s greatest director George Lucas has publically acknowledged the fact that The Lord Of The Rings has been the inspiration for the Star Wars blockbusters. One of the world?s most popular computer games the World Of Warcraft also borrows heavily from The Lord Of The Rings.

Shot extensively in the picturesque backdrop of New Zealand the movie showcases some of the most spectacular battle sequences and a host of characters that has gripped audiences worldwide. The movie has an unbelievable 17 Oscar wins to its credit tying it only with giant
blockbusters Ben Hur and Titanic

Description: Description:
C:UsersSneha.NegandhiDesktopimages.jpgThe visually stunning and spectacular trilogy is initiated with the ?Fellowship of the Ring? leading into the next two parts viz ? The Lord Of The Rings: Two Towers and The Lord of The Rings: The Return of The King.

The trilogy gyrates around an assuming Hobbit - Frodo Baggins who inherits a ring - that would give a dark and powerful lord the power to enslave the world. With a loyal fellowship of elves, dwarves, men and a wizard, Frodo embarks on the heroic quest to destroy the one ring and save the way for the emergence of mankind.

The ultimate battle between these characters will find a spectacular end with the screening of the trilogy every Thursday from September 6th ? 20th at 9 pm only on MOVIES NOW.

Mumbai: In a first-of-its-kind initiative, Vodafone India will speed up India by offering motor-racing enthusiasts their first street racing experience. Motor racing fans and loyal customers of Vodafone will witness Lewis Hamilton burn rubber in his Vodafone McLaren Mercedes MP4-27 car on Sunday, September 16, 2012 (evening), just a week before the Singapore Grand Prix 2012 night race. The venue for this unique and exciting initiative will be the historic and breath-taking landscape of Marine Drive in South Mumbai.

Lewis will enthrall the crowd driving in his Vodafone McLaren Mercedes MP4-27 car along the curves of the brilliantly illuminated Queen?s necklace (Marine Drive) that will be made to look like a Formula 1 race track complete with grand stand and pit garage. The ambience, the driving skills of Lewis and lightning fast speeds of the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes car is sure to leave the audience spellbound. Some lucky customers will have the privilege of riding with Lewis Hamilton and a chance of visiting the pit garage to see the technology behind the team, powered by Vodafone.

Vodafone is the ?Title sponsor? and ?Official Total Communications Partner? of the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team since 2007. This partnership is Vodafone?s major global sponsorship and is part of an ongoing commitment to the Formula 1 World Championship, a sport which continues to deliver massive global television coverage and which has significant appeal for Vodafone?s consumer and business customers and racing fans around the world.

Says, Marten Pieters, MD & CEO, Vodafone India, ?Vodafone shares an exclusive relationship with McLaren Mercedes which gives us access to the team, the drivers and other assets which enables us to provide our customers unique content and enjoy great experiential events and promotions.?

?Our activities in India are an extension of this association. I am very excited that we can bring world known megastars like Lewis Hamilton to India. The street race experience in Mumbai is an exclusive event that happens so far only in Monaco and Singapore. We are very happy to bring our customers to get closer to this action?, adds Marten.

An excited Lewis Hamilton, who is no stranger to India and enjoys a tremendous fan following said, ?I always love coming to India and I am really excited to be coming to the city of Mumbai this time. I would like to thank Vodafone for their continued support to the team. I am simply overwhelmed by the incredible excitement shown by the people of this country. I had a wonderful experience in Bangalore last year and this year I am hoping that the excitement will be faster, smarter and better in Mumbai?, adds Lewis.

The excitement around this initiative is already building up on Twitter with a #speedupmumbai requesting people to tweet their opinions on what it takes to speed up the city. Over 500 people have already tweeted about what they would love to do to speed up the city. This activity around the drive will peak into Vodafone Speedfest from Sept 11-16, 2012 at malls and high-footfall locations across Mumbai.

Motor racing enthusiasts and speed lovers will enjoy a full-scale speed experience with helmet simulators, car simulators and also an opportunity to get up close and personal with the exact replica of the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes car.

All through August 2012, Vodafone has also been engaging with its customers and motor racing fans across the country through a roadshow showcasing the exact replica of Vodafone McLaren Mercedes car at business parks and malls. This initiative has seen tremendous response from die-hard fans and motor sport enthusiasts all over as they engaged in interactive games and clicked pictures with the speed machine.

Additionally, in order to make significant in-roads into the small and medium business community and to give then a platform for easier path of growth, Vodafone India, launched the second season of Vodafone Drive into the Big League. This initiative gives one lucky SME the opportunity to take center stage with their logo on the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes cars at the second season of the formula one motor racing event in Delhi. Vodafone received a phenomenal response of over 270,000 entries for the contest vying for the coveted spot. The winner of this unique initiative will be announced days before the start of the Indian Grand Prix weekend (Oct 26-28., 2012) in Delhi.

Vodafone and Speed go hand in hand and today in a survey undertaken by German-based engineering services provider P3 Group, it?s the fastest data network in the country.

New Delhi: iCubes, a dedicated E mail Marketing solution provider, is organizing the upcoming ?Email Vidya? session and certification at Le Meridien Delhi on 14th September, 2012. The session will explore the nuances of Email marketing, its adoption and strategy formulation for effective and quantifiable ROI generation. Brand Advertisers and Digital Marketers from around the country can now register for the upcoming session online.

Email Vidya has been founded by industry veterans who come with hands-on experience and global exposure in Email Marketing Training. Email Vidya offers a platform for brand advertisers & email marketers to share their email marketing experiences and get trained with the best practices and strategies to achieve the optimum ROI from their Email Marketing. The previous workshops have been organized in Mumbai, New Delhi and Bangalore and successful participants in these sessions represented executives from leading companies like Mydala.com, Snapdeal.com, ING, naaptol, ebay, indiatimes, Club Mahindra, hungama.com, HSBC among others. These sessions provide excellent tutoring about the latest trends and techniques of email marketing through hands on interactive exercises.

?Email Marketing tops the list in terms of being most effective, in terms of penetration and personalization tools for reaching the masses. Yet, it is at a very nascent stage in India. Email Vidya has taken up the responsibility of torch bearing the literacy through our interactive sessions and take e mail marketing to the next level. These tutorials are also meant to provide a cost effective way for brands to market themselves,? opined Mr. Sahil Chopra, Co-Founder, iCubes.

?With the industry‘s best practice examples and hands-on interactive exercises, we address the opportunities and challenges of seamlessly integrating email into your overall marketing strategy. We educate the participant on how to optimize their email programs and offer a systematic structure for planning and execution of their email campaigns,? explained Mr. Jacob George, Co- Founder, iCubes.

iCubes assists organizations with their email marketing requirements. Its services mainly include Email campaign management, lead generation, Email marketing consulting, trainings & workshops. iCubes empowers you to connect with customers and achieve true ROI, with award winning in-the-cloud Email Marketing Solutions. Its educational initiative, E mail Vidya is a golden opportunity to get certified as an E mail Marketing Professional!

Besides Email Vidya, iCubes plans to help various brands and advertisers further by getting into another related segment called Affiliate AD Network, to be known as iCubeswire in the market.

Speakers of the session:

Sahil Chopra, Co- Founder, iCube
Jacob George, Co ? Founder, iCubes

iCubes ? Company Profile

Incepted in May 2010, iCubes.in is the biggest Email Marketing solution provider that assists organizations with all their e-marketing requirements. With services that cater to every requirement of an organization, campaign management and consulting to lead generation, training, workshops, concept, design and implementation even self service solutions. iCubes enables brands to connect and engage with the customer to achieve maximum ROI for each rupee spent as compared to any other online Marketing channel. Its award winning e mail marketing solutions are driven by experts with global exposure to achieving and maintaining success in this field.

New Delhi: The much acclaimed CNBC TV18 - Young Turks Conclave was hosted in the national capital. Titled ?Guts to Glory?, this year?s Young Turks conclave profiled young entrepreneurs who have challenged the conventional and achieved success by going beyond clich?s. This annual conclave is a platform designed to celebrate the accomplishment and admiration that ?CNBC TV18 Young Turks? has achieved over the years.

Shereen Bhan, Executive Editor, CNBC TV18, moderated the conclave, which saw some of the intrepid achievers share their experiences and stories of grit and determination. Mr. Karun Chandhok, Formula 1 racer and commentator, Mr. Ruchir Sharma, Managing Director of Morgan Stanley and the Author of the best selling "Breakout Nations", Mr. Y C Deveshwar, Chairman, ITC Ltd. and Mr. Abhay Pandey, Managing Director with Sequoia Capital India , shared their distinctive ?Guts to Glory? stories.

CNBC-TV18?s ?Young Turks? is one of India?s first dedicated & longest-running shows focusing on young entrepreneurs. It serves as a platform which brings young achievers who are poised to become tomorrow?s leaders into the forefront thereby recognizing those who have successfully attained their ambition with perseverance and by defying challenges in their respective fields.

Speaking on the occasion of The Young Turks Conclave, Shereen Bhan, Executive Editor,CNBC-TV18 & Series Editor, Young Turks said, ?Besides being one of the fastest emerging countries of the world, India is also a nation of opportunities and new trends. Currently India is poised as a ripe zone for promising young entrepreneurs aiming to implement innovative marketing strategies and dynamic business models. Since its inception, Young Turks aim to recognize these successful young entrepreneurs and encourage many more young minds to convert their dreams into successful ventures.?

The partners associated with CNBC TV18 ?Young Turks Conclave ?Guts to Glory? are; Luxury Partner- Rado, Associate Sponsor- Land Rover and Geoffrey Beene and Partner Exchange ?NSE EMERGE.

Mumbai: Fast food retail chain McDonald?s recently launched a new burger ?McEGG?. McEGG is McDonald?s new way to enjoy your everyday egg. Steamed to perfection in a specialized steamer and made tasty with a sprinkling of magic masala, onion and creamy Mayo. It?s egg like never before. It is a one of its kind product launched across McDonald?s outlets in India & is aimed at targeting ?eggetarians?. The new burger is part of the McDonald?s happy price menu & will be available for just Rs.25 starting 11am. This economically priced burger is full of egg nutrients.

McDonalds launched a marketing campaign to introduce the new McEGG burger across India. The 360 degree campaign comprised varied media vehicles for its communications. Outdoor was one of the important vehicles among their media mix. The out of home campaign that rolled out on 14th August was spread across 350 touchpoints & covered over 1,32,000 sqft of vinyl in 9 cities. The media mix was spread across mass media touch points varying from billboards, bus shelters, gantries, unipoles & kiosks to branding at railway stations.

Senior Director Marketing, McDonald?s India, Rameet Arora said, "We have come up with a campaign that embodies the fun and freshness of eggs to extend our I?m Lovin It? experience to our customers. We at McDonald?s aim to be our customer?s first choice and we are taking brand McDonald?s to the next level by providing our customers with products and campaigns that are new fresh, exciting and innovative. To the value seekers, the McEGG Burger will assure plenty of protein content at an appealing price point and at the same time it will help McDonald?s deliver the brand promise of good products at great prices.?

?This new delightful offering needed an equally impactful messaging to the customers to lure them to try out the new and eggciting McEGG burger. We devised a robust media plan to target the audiences on the go & ensured a dominating presence across all main arterial routes, transit junctions & major congregation points around McDonald?s outlets. The visual appeal of the creative clubbed with our elaborate media spread ensured the message was delivered to the right audiences?, said Hanoz Patel, Founder Member & Managing Partner, Milestone Brandcom.

MUMBAI: 9X Tashan the No#1 Punjabi Music channel from 9X Media Group, will celebrate its first anniversary on 31st August 2012. The channel has created a series of special programming to mark 9X Tashan?s super successful association with Punjabi music fans and viewers.

Speaking on this momentous occasion Mr. Sandip Bansal, Managing Director 9X Tashan, said, "We are grateful to our viewers and partners for their undying love and support towards 9X Tashan in the past one year. We promise to keep delivering on the entertainment quotient offering our viewers with the best of Punjabi Music. We hope our ?Tashan ki Baadshahat? continues in the coming year."

9X Tashan created television history registering an unprecedented growth of over 100 GRPs in the opening week of its launch across the PHCHP Markets. The Channel has achieved many milestones in the past one year. 9X Tashan is also the first regional music channel to have a LIVE streaming facility on the channel?s website ? www.9xtashan.in and on various Mobile platforms.

Speaking on the anniversary Mr. Punit Pandey, EVP & Business Head - 9X Media Group said "9X Tashan our first regional offering has received a phenomenal response from the Punjabi music lovers. The channel has not only marked its leadership status in the last one year but has expanded the genre to well over 200 GRPs and that?s an achievement. We intend to keep growing the channel at this pace and ensure to keep our viewers entertained with much more of our action packed programming."

As a part of the anniversary celebrations, 9X Tashan has planned a great entertainment line-up to keep the Punjabi music lovers dancing to the super hit Tashan beats.

Speaking on the programming line-up, Mr. Baljinder S. Mahant, Programming Head, 9X Tashan, said, "The first anniversary will be celebrated on 9X Tashan with a 2-hour special program called Music De Baadshah showcasing the Best of 9X Tashan music, on 31st August, 2012. Besides, there will also be a special celebration by the 9X Tashan Gang comprising of Babhi, Bade-Chote, Falli-Balli and Ullu Da Patha, in their own unique way."

Watch out for the Music De Baadshah on August 31, 2012 from 7 pm to 9 pm only on 9X Tashan. 9X Tashan is widely available across Cable and Satellite homes and also on leading DTH platforms.