MUMBAI: BBC World News and BBC.com are to showcase a multi-platform series exploring the business world of the future, after signing a major new sponsorship deal with DuPont.

BBC World News will air a series of 30-minute programmes, to be called Horizons, which will transmit from late Spring 2011. Adam Shaw, familiar in the UK to listeners of the Today programme on BBC Radio 4 and viewers of Panorama on BBC television, will anchor the series.

The programmes will examine the future of business, looking at the companies around the world that are likely to be making the greatest impact in influencing the way mankind will live and work in the future. The series will be supported online, with a variety of content on the BBC?s international website, BBC.com, and with live events ? set to take place throughout the year.

Paul Gibbs, Senior Commissioner at BBC Global News, says: ?Horizons will offer a glimpse of what the future holds for us all, by looking at the businesses that are testing the boundaries of science and technology. It?s a global series and we?ll be visiting companies across the world to uncover the ones with the most interesting, intriguing and advanced products and ideas. The approach we?re taking is quite unique, so we?re excited about the possibilities.?

DuPont Executive Vice President, Mark Vergnano, adds: ?It?s going to take companies large and small, and ideas that are bigger than all of us, to solve the tough challenges facing our world. DuPont is proud to sponsor a series that highlights collaborative, business innovation from a global vantage point. The BBC has the reputation and integrity to tell these stories in a way that will educate, entertain, and maybe even inspire.?
 

MUMBAI: Anjali Rawat joins METAL Communications as Associate Creative Director from March. Her last stint was at Ogilvy, where she looked after and led brands like Cadbury, Bru, Huggies, Fullerton India, Parle Krackjack, Godrej Properties, and Kissan.

With a Masters in Fine Arts from the Academy of Art College in San Francisco and having worked across agencies like The Highway 1 in San Francisco, Euro RSCG, Lemon and Ogilvy, she has close to a decade?s experience in driving the creative thinking and visual language on brands across categories like FMCG, Banking, durable, media and real estate.

Trilokjit Sengupta, Creative Director, METAL says: ?Anjali has extensive experience across many brands such as Cadbury, Bru, Huggies, Parle, Kissan, Godrej, Annapurna, Standard Chartered and Sony Max among others. Incidentally, she was a part of the team that had launched zoOm when the channel started out 6 years back. I feel certain that the team will benefit from her experience and guidance.?

Anjali says: ?After working with creative powerhouses like Lemon and Ogilvy, I didn?t want to lower the momentum. Metal as an agency is perfectly aligned to what I was looking for. With the perfect balance of creative and strategy, so rare in agencies today, I am certain my innings at Metal will be a long and memorable one. ?

With a San Francisco silver award and 3 silver Abbys, Anjali is well feted in the industry as a Creative professional.
 

MUMBAI: zoOm, India‘s hottest Bollywood destination was joined by the who‘s who of the Bollywood, Television and Fashion industry as they celebrated Holi in true Rangeela style at the zoOm Annual Holi Party. This glamorous, vibrant and exciting party was held on 20th March at the Tulip Star and saw the most famous faces let their hair down and groove to the best Bollywood music spun by none other than DJ Akhtar, DJ Notorious and DJ Amann Nagpal. To name a few there was Gulshan Grover, Baba Sehgal, Varun Badola, Sailesh Lodha, Jay Soni, Sambhavna Seth, Juhi Parmar & Sachin Shroff, Claudia Ceisla, Saakshi Pradhan & Mohit Malhotra, Rohit Verma, Narayani Shastri, Nisha Harale, Shweta Salve & Hermit Singh, Shabbir Ahluwalia, Neha Marda, Pratyusha Banerjee, Nandish Sandhu & Rashmi Desai,Rupali Ganguly, Barkha Bisht & Indraneil Sengupta, Gaurav Chopra, Karan Wahi, Ali Merchant, Kavita Kaushik, Naman Shaw, Sushant Singh Rajput & Ankita Lokhande, Vivan Bathena and many more.

Speaking on the occasion, Avinash Kaul, CEO , zoOm said," We are proud to present the zoOm Holi party for the 6th year in a row where the Bollywood and Television fraternity enjoy the colours of Holi in true zoOm style. We thank all our guests and partners for supporting us year on year."

Being the 6th year, this one of a kind and most happening Holi bash is very popular in the industry. This year too, zoOm reiterated its position as a one-stop shop for everything Bollywood with its effort to bring all the artists together under one roof to celebrate the hues of Holi. The day was full of masti with Fanta. The celebs were seen relaxing at the spa, energizing at the XXX Energy drink lounge and enjoying scrumptious refreshments arranged by zoOm. The highlight of the event was the ‘Champi‘ stall to make sure their hair remains completely damage free and stunning, courtesy Parachute Advansed.

Tune in to the ‘zoOm Holi Party‘ for all the bytes, the highlights, the bloopers and wishes from your favourite stars, this Wednesday, 23rd March at 8 pm only on zoOm- your one and only Bollywood destination!

MUMBAI: In a first of its kind Tech Event in India, which would have a Conclave, an Experience Zone and Gadget Awards, NDTV Good Times presents Gadget Guru Conclave and Awards 2011 at the Kingdom of Dreams on Monday, March 21, 2011. These are the biggest awards that the country has seen so far in the field of Consumer Electronics, Gadgets and Technology to honour innovation. This unique event will be hosted by NDTV?s Technology gurus Rajiv Makhni and Vikram Chandra who have been at the forefront to bring the best of news and reviews for the Indian Consumers and the team behind India?s longest running tech show - Gadget Guru.

The event will provide a platform for companies and experts alike to share ideas, debate and discuss latest trends in the field of technology. It will showcase, celebrate and honour the best innovations that the world of technology has seen in the last one year. The awards comprise of 17 categories across gadget categories which include Audio Product of the Year Below Rs. 1 Lakh); Audiophile System of the Year (over Rs. 1 Lakh); Portable Audio Product of the Year; Computer Peripheral of the Year; Computing Device of the Year; Consumer Electronic of the Year; Design of the Year; Budget Phone of the Year; Smartphone of the Year; Imaging Device of the Year; TV of the Year; Brand Ambassador of the Year; Application of the Year; Gaming Hardware of the Year; and Innovation of the year.

Excited about the forthcoming awards, Smeeta Chakrabarti, Chief Executive Officer, NDTV Good Times said, "We aim to make Gadget Guru Awards a benchmark the field of Consumer Electronics, Gadgets and Technology. These awards are to honor those companies and brands who excel in both strike a perfect balance between the customer appeal and the innovation."

A very stringent, comprehensive and detailed process has been put into place for the Awards. The nominations for the awards have been received by a comprehensive 3 way process. Apart from companies who nominated products launched between 1st January 2010 & 31st January 2011, the nomination process was also open to consumers, so as to allow people to nominate products they feel should win an award.

Apart from the companies and people, an eminent Jury also had a chance to nominate FIVE products across all categories. The distinguished jury comprises of award winning actor Gul Panag, India?s best know technologist - Atul Chitnis, Techonolgy consultant - Kishore Bharagava , Nishanth Padiar, Ashish Bhatia - Independent technology writer and columnist, Prasanto Kumar Roy - President and Chief Editor of Cyber Media?s ICT Group besides Vikram Chandra & Rajiv Makhni. A special audio jury includes KJ Singh - National Award Winner for Sound Design in Omkara and Milinid Rane Rao - Electro-Acoustic Expert.

Speaking on NDTV?s deep-rooted relationship with technology, Vikram Chandra, CEO, NDTV Limited Networks said, "The biggest asset of the Gadget Guru awards is credibility. Not only is a rigorous system followed for nominations, but we have been able to assemble as a jury some of the most respected names in the field. That leads to heated moments in the jury room, but it ensures that the best gadgets win."

Rajiv Makhni, Managing Director, Technology, NDTV Limited added, "The recognition from the industry, the confidence of the consumer and the credibility with viewers - it?s all reflected in this extraordinary event. It is a great showcase of the best of gadgets and devices, the hottest debates and recognising the efforts of the technology world."

All nominations have been tested and rated by NDTV Good Times Knowledge Partner, Living Digital. The final winners will be shortlisted based on the test results and an extensive Jury Meet process and rating system qualified by Ernst & Young.

MUMBAI: LinOpinion, the PR division of Lowe Lintas India, has been appointed by Times Television Network as its Public Relations partner for ET NOW, TIMES NOW, MOVIES NOW and zoOm after an aggressive multi-agency pitch.Times Television Network is part of India?s largest media conglomerate, The Times Group.

Sunil Lulla, Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer, Times Television Network, said, "Times Television Network has integrated its communication services under LinOpinion, which has brought the necessary skills and experiences in building first class brands, which are under the Times Television Network. This is a choice which binds good partnership in reaching out to contemporary viewers, of a differentiated bouquet. The leadership and management of LinOpinion give us great confidence and comfort".

Mr. Ameer Ismail, Executive Director, Lowe Lintas said, "LinOpinion continues to grow very aggressively and this win a true testament to the excellent track record and quality of the bank of work executed in the area of broadcast, entertainment and lifestyle. We are delighted to win this large and prestigious mandate."

MOVIES NOW - Hollywood in HD, is India?s first High Definition English Movie Channel, with stunning pictures in 1080i and awesome 5.1 surround sound. zoOm is an Indian glamour and entertainment television channel covering Bollywood. TIMES NOW, a leading 24-hour English news channel, provides urban viewers a complete picture of relevant news, presented in a vivid and insightful manner, which enables them to widen their horizons and stay ahead. ET Now is Times Television Network?s business news channel and brings in the advantage of Economic Times India?s leading financial daily.

MUMBAI: Bollywood starlet Isha Koppikar will jive to popular Bollywood numbers, as Punjab will witness the most entertaining night of the year on 18th March 2011. PTC Punjabi will felicitate the best work accomplished by Punjabi Music Industry in the year 2010, at the PTC Punjabi Music Awards at PAP Grounds, Jalandhar. The Awards will be held from 6 pm onward and will be telecast LIVE on PTC Punjabi.

According to Ms. Rajiee M. Shinde, COO - PTC Network , "The show promises to be the biggest event ever witnessed by Punjabi Audiences and will showcase the best of Punjabi Music Industry in all its glory. The evening loaded with glitz and glamour and will be anchored by eminent Bollywood personalities Gurpreet Ghuggi and Upsasana Singh, along with acclaimed Television Anchor Manish Paul and hilarious Stand Up Artist Rajeev Thakur. While it will feature scintillating performances by Isha Koppikar, the Bollywood Starlet, the Singer and Bollywood Actor Hard Kaur will croon to engaging Rap Music. The biggest Punjabi Music Artists including Jazzy B, Manmohan Waris, Kamal Heer, Satinder Sartaj and Miss Pooja will perform LIVE at the event. PTC Punjabi gives a platform to the young budding talent of Punjab by making them perform together as the Young Brigade of Punjab every year. This year the brigade will feature Sharry Maan, Kulwinder Billa, Nishawn Bhullar, Rimz J, Pushpinder kaur, Mr. Cheema, Sarthi K, Teji Sandhu and Gurvinder Brar. Also performing Martial Arts at the Awards will be a Nihang Group from Amritsar, Bir Khalsa Group. "

"PTC Punjabi Music Awards is the flagship property on our channel. Each year nominations are finalised and voting received from over 1000 prominent members of the music industry. This forms 50% weight-age towards the final winner. The rest 50% comes from the compilation of the public voting received through web, SMS and physical voting forms. The members of the music industry also nominate veterans from the Punjabi Music Industry to be honored with "Life Time Achievement Awards . The winners in each award category are announced and honoured during the LIVE ceremony at the venue", said Mr. Rabindra Narayan, President - PTC Network.

In the 4th year since their conceptualization, PTC Punjabi Music Awards are both a celebration and a felicitation to the versatility and vibrancy of Punjabi Music genre. It showcases and recognizes the Best Punjabi Albums, Vocalists, Lyricists, Technicians, Choreographers, Videographers, Sound Recording Technicians, etc displaying the best of Punjab to the whole world.