MUMBAI: CNBC-TV18, India?s No. 1 business medium in association with CNN-IBN launched Raghav Bahl?s - ?Superpower? : The Amazing Race between China?s Hare and India?s Tortoise?, a debut and non-fiction book which provides excellent insights into two of the most evolving global economies, India and China, undergoing a transformational shift in the race of becoming the next global superpower. This book reiterates whether India is ready for the superpower status or not and are we irretrievably behind in the game of catching-up with China. The book was launched by the hands of Union Cabinet Minister of Road Transport and Highways, Shri Kamal Nath, at Taj Mahal Palace Hotel in New Delhi on August 17, 2010.

In his career as one of India?s top entrepreneurs, Raghav Bahl, Founder and Editor, Network18, has often faced a barrage of questions from visiting business people bewildered by India: Why are Indian regulations so weak and confusing? Why is your foreign investment policy so restrictive? How come your hotels are world-class, when the roads leading to them are so pot-holed? Why don?t you lower your voice when you make fun of your politicians? Why do you control the price of oil and cable TV? How is it that you speak such good English? Inevitably, the questions are followed by the observation: But, you know, that?s not the way it is in China.

Indeed, even as the dragon and elephant economies are together projected to dominate the world in a matter of decades, there is a palpable difference in the way China and India work on the ground. China is spectacularly effective in building infrastructure and is currently investing almost half it?s GDP; it is crafting a new economic idiom that has stood textbook wisdom on its head. Meanwhile, India is the classic example of a ?promising? economy: more than half its GDP is consumed by its billion-plus population; half its population is younger than twenty-five, giving it a unique demographic advantage; 350 million Indians understand English, making it the largest English-using country in the world; and it is, of course, the world?s largest democracy.

In the race to superpower status, who is likely to breast the tape?China?s hare or India?s tortoise? China?s awe-inspiring sweep, compared to India?s relatively mild rise, could tempt an easy answer. But Bahl argues that the winner of the race with the biggest stakes ever might not be determined by who is investing more and growing faster today, but by something slightly more intangible?who has superior innovative skills and more entrepreneurial savvy and is grappling with and expanding in the most intensely competitive conditions. In the end, it might come down to just one deciding factor: Can India fix its governance before China repairs its politics?

Providing informative insights into the two Asian powers? histories, polities, economies and cultures- Superpower? : The Amazing Race between China?s Hare and India?s Tortoise is a brilliantly written, superbly documented, rich and comprehensive account of the race to dominance between the two neighbours. For anyone looking to understand China and India and the ways in which these two nations are about to change the history of the world, this is the book to read.

Speaking at the launch of his debut book, Mr. Raghav Bahl, Founder and Editor, Network18, said, ?The moral ? Slow and Steady wins the race of the famous story of the Hare and a Tortoise righteously has been interpreted in my debut book - Superpower? : The Amazing Race between China?s Hare and India?s Tortoisei. It is indeed a critical commentary on the political economy of India challenged by China to race her. I would recommend this book to all aspiring citizens of our nation to gain a new perspective of the future global power. ?

Raghav Bahl?s - Superpower? : The Amazing Race between China?s Hare and India?s Tortoise is published by Allen Lane, Pengiums Books India and is available for Rs. 699/-.

The book launch witnessed the presence of luminaries such as Mr. Nandan Nilekani, Chairman, Unique Identification Authority of India; Mr. M Damodaran, Former Chairman, SEBI; Mr. Bimal Jalan, Former Governor, RBI and Mr. Shekhar Gupta, Editor-in-Chief, The Indian Express. These luminaries and India?s biggest Economic thought leaders explored the most crucial aspects of the socio-economic and political framework of both the nations through an interactive discussion with Mr. Bahl at the launch of his book.

MUMBAI: This week ET NOW, get the big bull of Indian equity markets, Rakesh Jhunjhunwala to discuss his portfolio, share his outlook on the markets, and his love for trading in an exclusive interview with Senior Editor, Nikunj Dalmia.

Rakesh Jhunjhunwala is one of the most famous and respected equity investors in India and manages his own portfolio as a partner in his asset management firm, Rare Enterprises.

In this exclusive interview Rakesh Jhunjhunwala amongst other things also discusses how he has shifted his focus from the fitness of his portfolio to his personal fitness and his desire to learn swimming. Talking about his love and passion for the markets, he goes on to say that ‘Given an option I would like to trade on my death bed‘. He remained bullish on Indian equity markets and said that he won‘t be surprised to see the Sensex cross 21,000 by next year.

So tune in to ET NOW on Wednesday at 10:30pm, to catch the witty Rakesh Jhunjhunwala talk about his portfolio.

MUMBAI: The first ever online fiction show( webisode) launched by Balaji Telefilm?s Youth Content Brand Alt Entertainment is the perfect example of the fact that alternate forms of entertainment have come of age.

Bol Niti Bol is the story of Niti, an average young girl who chronicles her daily life through each episode of the show .Each episode shot on webcam is Niti?s video diary about her crushes, her friends , her teachers and challenges. Niti Dua, who uses YouTube, Rediff, Mid-day and Facebook as her platform to present her thoughts and views, has the gen next completely involved and engrossed in her personal life.

With a new fan in every 7 minutes and a fast growing fan base of almost 10,000 followers on social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, Rediff Pages and Youtube, Niti enjoys a tremendous fan following amongst the youth making it a highly effective model for the advertisers targeting the youth. Bol Niti Bol has crossed total video views of 650,000 across Youtube, Mid-day and Rediff in close to one month.

This makes Bol Niti Bol one of the fastest growing and biggest fictional web series in India. The Youtube Channel of Bol Niti Bol is among the most popular partner Channels watched on the website. Youtube is India?s leading Video Sharing Site.

The success of Bol Niti Bol has already excited youth advertising brands to tie with up Mid- Day and YouTube to reach out to the young viewers who make up the target market for any new age consumer product.

Niti has maximum connect with the Metro audience with Mumbai(31.63%) New Delhi (38.2%)and Chennai(3.2%) and Hyderabad(2.45%) being the top 4 cities which makes the proposition more lucrative due to high cost of advertising in these cities .The fact that new media content is not time bound, it is accessible all the time and is definitely more interactive, people are free to write comments on the show, interact with the protagonists on social media networking sites like facebook etc.

?Balaji?s Atl Entertainment has been pioneers in digital content innovation,the success of Bol Niti Bol proved our conviction that broadband is the next big broadcast medium. Going forward we would like to appropriate this space and offer more to the audience in terms of variety and interactivity. ?said Puneet Kinra, Group CEO, Balaji Telefilms
 

MUMBAI: Continuing the unique association, television channels Zing and ETC has once again partnered pop sensation Raghav Sachar in his latest music video Vande Mataram, the launch of which is scheduled in Delhi on 17th August 2010. Shri. Kamal Nath, Union Cabinet Minister of Road Transport and Highways will be the Chief Guest for the occasion.

This latest version of the Indian National Song Vande Mataram is a multi-instrumental and local rendition in 2 and half minutes. The song starts with Ragahav playing the suprano saxophone after the first line (Vande Mataram) the same line is replaced by Raghav as a student on the harmonica. Then the third line is played on suprano saxophone (sujalam sufalam) and finally the last line (malayaj shitalaam) is played by all 3 Raghav?s in one frame. This triggers the arrangement of which gives a very patriotic feels and with a symphonic rendition the vocals start (Vande Mataram).

The antara of Vande Mataram has frequent shadowed lines by a female vocalist. Returning back to Vande Mataram in the end the arrangement picks up and has a bigger drum and clap sounds which makes it sound very grand. The treatment of the track is using lot of harmonies and extended chord techniques. Overall, by the end of the song Vande Mataram by Raghav Sachar leaves you with a patriotic and positive feel about our country India.

Zing and ETC had earlier partnered Raghav in his previous two endeavors too ? Charming Lootera and Om Jai Jagdish.
 

MUMBAI: LinOpinion has been appointed by Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE: HOT), as its communications partner for Aloft Hotels and Four Points by Sheraton Hotels in India.

Starwood currently has 26 hotels in its India portfolio under the Aloft, Westin, Sheraton, Four Points by Sheraton, Luxury Collection and Le M?ridien brands. Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. is one of the leading hotel and leisure companies in the world with 1000 properties in 100 countries and approximately 145,000 employees at its owned and managed properties. Starwood? Hotels is a fully integrated owner, operator and franchisor of hotels and resorts with the following internationally renowned brands: St. Regis?, The Luxury Collection?, Sheraton?, Westin?, Four Points? by Sheraton, W?, Le M?ridien? and the recently announced Aloft and Element.

Aimed at Generation Y, Aloft is Starwood?s design-led, social-experience hotel brand that offers guests a twist in travel with its hip and urban space at affordable prices. Aloft has made its debut in India this year with two properties - Aloft Chennai OMR ? IT Expressway and Aloft Bengaluru Whitefield.

Four Points by Sheraton, offers the self-sufficient traveler a new kind of style and comfort combined with a spirited ?can-do? service ? all at an honest value. Starwood already has 2 properties operational in India - Four Points by Sheraton Navi Mumbai, Vashi and Four Points by Sheraton Jaipur, City Square. Plans include the launch of 2 more properties in Pune and Vishakhapatnam in October this year.

Commenting on the appointment, Kavita Lakhani, President, LinOpinion says, ?The Starwood group is known to set benchmarks in the hospitality industry. We are extremely pleased to be working with world renowned brands such as Aloft Hotels and Four Points by Sheraton. Our hospitality domain experts in 6 Indian cities will align closely with the Asia Pacific Starwood Corporate Communications Team based in Singapore to devise a customised strategy for both brands, using conventional PR and social media tools. We are confident that we will successfully drive visibility for Aloft Hotels and Four Points by Sheraton in India and support the brands in taking a leadership position in their category.?
 

MUMBAI: Percept Out of Home, a division of Precept Limited, bagged DLF‘s latest retail campaign account. The Great Shopping Extravaganza from the DLF‘S Retail stable was launched in mid-July 2010 and ran through August 2010. Percept Out-of-Home was appointed as the OOH agency to execute their outdoor activities around the posh locales in Delhi.

In order to offer an exciting shopping experience to shopping enthusiasts across Delhi, Percept-OOH designed and created an innovative campaign. The campaign used gigantic cut-outs of shopping bags and stiletto shoes to capture the wide attention of its target audience. The campaign had a strong impact on its TG which translated into increased awareness for the campaign and escalated sales for DLF‘S Retail.

Commenting on the success of the campaign, Sanjay Pareek, President, Percept Out-of-Home said, "We are happy to be associated with DLF‘S Retail. The client brief was to create a buzz around their highly popular shopping festival. They wanted a presence around niche market locations in Delhi where their Target Group resides and also around the shopping venue. We conceptualized the campaign and used innovation at all the landmark sites to spread awareness for the festival thereby creating a strong impact with all shopping enthusiasts."

"The thought behind the visual was to create a larger than life imagery, as is evident in the disproportionately large bag and shoe which only serves to convey the range and variety one can get at the shopping festival. The same was amplified in the OOH space by making cut-outs of these bags and shoes", he added.

Though the campaign seemed easy, the execution was complex at many locations and involved instant out-of-the-box thinking by Percept-OOH. At many locations the beading stroke frame needed to be removed and reinstalled to adjust the cut-out.

Added Sanjay, "At Percept, any and every outdoor campaign, no matter what scale and volume, is given uniform treatment. We pride ourselves on our innovative thinking and flawless execution".

Percept Out-of-Home won the DLF Retail account after a stringent process of selection amongst multiple agencies. The agency‘s lateral thinking and seamless execution translated into heightened levels of awareness and incremental sales for DLF Retail in Delhi.