MUMBAI: Kathayalla Ithu Jeevitham, Amrita TV?s progressive but atypical courtroom show that is giving a new interpretation to the concept of social commitment completes 150 consecutive episodes on March 2nd.

Kathayalla Ithu Jeevitham telecast Monday to Friday at 9.30 pm, is a legal counseling programme where actual disputes, real conflicts and authentic discords that tangle up family relationships are brought to the studio floors, unraveled and smoothened out.

Set in an atmosphere which promotes reconciliation and hosted by veteran actor Vidhubala along with an expert legal panel, the warring parties arrive at a mutually agreeable settlement of the problem through dialogue and discussion.

Through its moving delineation of familial imbroglios Kathayalla Ithu Jeevitham has quietly activated a revolution that conferred a hitherto unrealized dimension to television entertainment as raw, real life problems presented in unvarnished detail captivated prime time audiences everywhere.

Kathayalla, Ithu Jeevitham which handles cases ranging from marital disharmony, dowry harassments to ownership disputes and gender discrimination is basically an out-of-court settlement that offers a feasible alternative to traditional courts of justice.

It brings together siblings, spouses, relatives and neighbours who may have ruined their lives fighting prolonged legal battles and by effecting quick and effective redressal of their grievances achieves swift and practical dispensation of justice.

It is for the first time in television where slices of unclothed realism extracted from the chapters of feuding families is depicted by the very characters enmeshed in the problem, so that the viewer experiences the bare truth in all its savage starkness.

Its episodes are mirrors that reflect common familial disputes and as such the audience find echoes of their own disharmonies in them. Alerted against similar predicaments that may crop up in his life, he is equipped with ways to tackle such disasters if they should occur . Kathayalla, Ithu Jeevitham thus serves as a forewarning, a deterrent, a cautionary note or sometimes a wake-up call to many of its viewers.
 

MUMBAI: Ranjana Deshmukh, widely known as ?Ranjana? in Marathi entertainment world, is a name of well known versatile actress from Marathi films. Known for her power-packed performances in various films during 70?s & 80?s, Ranjana had a remarkable fan following at Marathi Silver Screens.

As a tribute to the legendary actress, Zee Talkies has decided to showcase her selective movies to pay homage to Ranjana, on 3rd March. The titles include her various movies such as ?Bin Kamacha Navra? starring Ashok Saraf at 12 noon; ?Gupchup Gupchup? with Ashok Saraf & Sriram Lagoo @ 3 pm; V Shantaram Production?s ?Zunj? @ 6.30 pm and ?Asla Navra Nako Ga Baai? with Raja Gosavi @ 9.30 pm.

In-between the movies, some of her co-stars will share their experiences like Ravindra Mankani, Kuldeep Pawar, Alka Kubal and Kishori Shahane along with some new actors such as Subodh Bhave, Sandeep Kulkarni who will express their views on Ranjana ? as an actress and their learning from her.

The films will be shown on Thursday, 3rd March from 12.00 pm onwards only on Zee Talkies.

MUMBAI: India will play against defending champions Serbia in the first set of matches in the Davis Cup World Group opening round 2011, live and exclusive only on NEO Sports. The matches will be played from 4th March to 6th March at Spens Sports Center, Novi Sad, Serbia. India entered the World Group by beating Brazil 3 -2 in a thrilling contest at the world group playoffs in September 2010. India will be facing the defending champions for the first time in Davis Cup history.

Speaking on the occasion Prasana Krishnan, COO, NEO Sports Broadcast Pvt Ltd., said, "We at NEO Sports are truly excited with this opportunity of bringing tennis lovers of the country an exciting tennis tournament ahead. India entered the world group for the second consecutive year this year and we look forward to an electrifying match."

India is able to boast experience in the doubles department, with serial Grand Slam winners Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi. Somdev Devvarman and Rohan Bopanna will showcase their mettle to play in the singles category.

The host team will be led by two time Australian open champion and current world number 3 Novak Djokovic. The Serbian team will comprise of players like Janko Tipsarevic, Viktor Troicki and Nenad Zimonjic to fight it out against the Indians.

The winners of this tie will go through to the quarter finals of the World group to be held in July later this year. The losing contingent will have to play a World Group play off to secure their spot in the 2012 World Group.

Indian Squad: Somdev Devvarman, Rohan Bopanna, Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi, Shiv Prakash Misra (Team captain)

Serbian Squad: Novak Djokovic, Viktor Troicki, Janko Tipsarevic, Nenad Zimonjic, Bogdan Obradovic (Team captain)

India competed in its first Davis Cup in 1921 and since then they have not qualified for the finals since 1987.
 

MUMBAI: I am proud to announce that News Corporation has reached its first major sustainability milestone: we have become carbon neutral across all of our global operations and we are the first company of our kind to do so.

We made a bold commitment in 2007 to embed the values of energy efficiency and environmental sustainability into all of our businesses - for the benefit of our communities and our bottom line.

But achieving net zero carbon emissions was never our only goal. Less than four years ago, I invited all of our employees, business partners and audiences to join us in this exciting initiative - and your response has been extraordinary. Today, I‘m pleased to share our some of our successes across the Company, as well as our long-term commitment to environmental sustainability.

Together, despite some of the toughest markets our industry has ever seen, we have saved millions of dollars by improving the energy efficiency of our day-to-day operations. Our efficiency projects pay for themselves in less than two years, on average, and span from simple solutions like lighting retrofits and automatic PC shut-down to systemic changes like installing telepresence and videoconferencing technology to reduce the need for air travel. The Company‘s global data center consolidation strategy alone will save approximately $20M per year and reduce data center emissions by almost 15% when completed later in 2011.

Our support of clean energy - through on-site projects, renewable energy certificates, and carbon credits - spans the globe, from Los Angeles to India. Our UK businesses now procure 100% of their electricity from renewable sources. Dow Jones is close to completing a 4.1MW solar power system on its campus in New Jersey, which will be the largest solar installation of its kind in the United States; at peak, it will provide 50% of the site‘s electricity needs.

We have provided leadership in our industry, across our supply chain, and among the global business community. Fox Entertainment developed robust carbon footprinting standards and tools for film, television, sports, and event production, as well as a sustainable vendor guide. The standards we set helped lead to a new industry-wide consortium and the online, open-source Green Production Guide. Our initiative has even prompted major suppliers, like paper manufacturer Norske Skog, to set their own ambitious environmental targets. We have collaborated with business partners who were already leading the way, including our DVD supply chain initiative with Wal-mart, which pioneered an eco-case that reduced emissions from raw materials alone by 13% and has become the industry standard. Most recently, we became founding members of the UK-India Business Leaders Climate Group.

Most important, throughout this endeavor we have continued to do what we do best: engage our audiences around the world with the most compelling content. Twentieth Century Fox‘s Ice Age franchise and the most successful film of all time, Avatar, prove that passionate environmental messages can be fodder for both blockbusters and real-world action, like the million trees planted in 2010 through the Avatar Home Tree initiative. National Geographic Channel offers scientifically rigorous programs, like Preserve Our Planet and Great Migrations, that are also visually stunning. The Times of London built on its long history of outstanding science coverage to launch Eureka, a monthly magazine supplement dedicated to science, innovation, and the environment. News Limited recently launched the public face of its award-winning employee-facing One Degree initiative. And The Wall Street Journal‘s fourth annual ECO:nomics conference, the leading forum for conversations at the intersection of business and the environment, kicks off tomorrow.

News Corp.‘s leadership in this area has been recognized by key independent parties, recently earning top marks in the Carbon Disclosure Project‘s leadership indices and winning big in the Environmental Media Association‘s 20th annual awards, with top honors going to Avatar and Bones.

We are well on our way to becoming the innovative, regenerative business we want to be. In the long term, we aim to grow our business without growing our carbon footprint, to power our operations with clean electricity, to minimize solid waste to landfill from our production operations, and to continue to engage our audiences on sustainability issues through partnerships and content of the highest caliber.

To help us realize this vision, I ask only that you apply the same creative thinking to sustainability that you already do to your jobs every day.

Congratulations and thank you for putting us on the right path. We have come a long way and we have much to do together.

MUMBAI: Applaud the creation and cherish the celebrations!! Stepping into the best of both worlds, STAR PARIVAAR AWARDS 2011 went international this year at The Venetian Macau on 24th February 2011. Creating a benchmark for the rest, STAR Plus, for the first time, brought to the fans, all the excitement and fun LIVE from Macau across all web properties & social media platforms.

With the LIVE feature on the official page of STAR PARIVAAR AWARDS 2011, viewers were provided with a continual update on event and surprisingly exclusive feeds on their favourite artists was updated real time. Be it Hrithik Roshan arriving at Macau or Harshad Chopra confessing about his romantic life, fans were kept updated about everything! This was highly appreciated by one and all thus creating a huge amount of excitement amongst fans who glorified the official web pages with their praise and applause.

Apart from various activities like polls, voting, predict-and-win contest among other things were done across the board, a discussion board on the STAR Plus website was abuzz with fans voicing their opinion on nominations, performances expected and their expectations from SPA going international!

As a result that SPA 2011 was among the most discussed topics in the social media space , and even featured among the top ten trending topics on Twitter on the day of the event, i.e., 24th of February!

Says Lalit Bhagia, VP (Digital) at STAR ?Viewers love our shows and characters and appreciate our effort to provide them with the most unparalleled entertainment in the country. With STAR PARIVAAR AWARDS reaching Macau, it is not just the performances and stars that provide for this unique entertainment but the spirit of the country and the fans who make it large and give an all time high to our efforts. Therefore, it is necessary to ensure that our viewers got all the updates, behind the scenes, spoofs, happenings, star rehearsals etc as the show happened while utilizing the maximum social media assets.?

MUMBAI: India?s leading media conglomerate, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZEEL) today received 3 awards at the ?2009/10 Vision Awards Annual Report Competition? organized by industry?s prestigious organization - League of American Communications Professionals LLC (LACP).

The ?ZEEL Annual Report 2009-10? excelled by winning three awards in the following categories:

The Platinum Award for excellence within its industry on the development of the organization?s Annual Report for the past fiscal year
Most Improved Platinum for developing the most improved Annual Report worldwide for the past year, and
Top 50 Annual Reports of the 2009/10 (Season Ranking No. 11) for featuring in Top 50 Annual Reports
Speaking on the achievement, Punit Goenka, MD & CEO, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZEEL) said, ?It is been in our constant endeavor to create a shareholder communication that is simple yet creative and at the same time reflect our values in the best possible manner. This year?s report has clearly created a benchmark for us and we shall continue to strive for even better reports in the future.?

Commenting on the ZEEL Annual Report, Christine Kennedy, LCAP Managing Director said, ?This year?s annual report for Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited proves to be remarkable in light of tremendous competition. Overall, we find this work outstanding, earning a total score of 98 out of a maximum 100 points awarded in the competition. The first impression provided by this annual report is superb while the cover and Letter to Shareholders are both outstanding. The work is supported by a robust financials section that we believe is superb. The level of creativity exhibited in the report judged for Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited is outstanding, which is supported by excellent clarity in communicating this year?s key messages. It should also be noted that accessibility to key information sought by readers is outstanding.?

?In summary, we congratulate the entire team involved with this year?s work. We classify this entry as being among the best annual reports within its industry this year?; Christine further added.

This year the ?2009/10 Vision Awards Annual Report Competition? drew an unprecedented number of submissions representing a broad range of industries and organizational sizes. More than 4400 entries were submitted representing 25+ countries. The awards have been declared online today on http://www.lacp.com/200910vision/competition.htm