MUMBAI: 84 dazzling beauties, 12 internationally acclaimed judges and one crown! Once again, the world?s most gorgeous beauties compete for the coveted title of ?Miss Universe?. Watched by millions of fans in almost 170 countries, the Miss Universe 2009 competition will be televised live from Paradise Island in the Bahamas on 24th August at 6.30am IST only on STAR World!

Before the live event, viewers get a chance to get up close and personal with Miss India contestant Ekta Chaudhary. On Sun, 23 Aug at 8:30pm, STAR WORLD presents Miss India Universe Special Episode, ?Romancing the Crown?. This half an hour episode encapsulates Ekta?s Journey from being a girl-next-door to a style diva on an international platform. Ekta talks about the various people on the expert panel like Shiamak Davar, Ritu Kumar, Ashley Rebello and Marc Robinson who groomed her to participate in a pageant like this. That?s not all, the show also has a special appearance; bollywood diva Priyanka Chopra gives grooming tips to Ekta and every girl who aspires to be on a beauty contest!

During the two-hour show on Mon, 24 Aug, a panel of 12 renowned judges will select one winner from the 84 contestants. Each entrant will be judged on their grace, intelligence and poise. Venezuelan beauty Dayana Mendoza, Miss Universe 2008, will crown her successor at the conclusion of the telecast. While the LIVE telecast will air at 6.30am IST on the 24th, you could catch a repeat of the pageant at 9pm on 24th August.

Tune in to STAR WORLD on 24th August at 6.30am to find out who will be the Miss Universe this year.

MUMBAI: Piroune Balachandran from The Doon School has won the inaugural edition of Spelling Champs 2009, a national school level spelling championship by ESPN STAR Sports. A resident of Noida, Piroune, all of 14 years, has also been short listed by the London Academy of Music, Arts and Drama. As the winner of Spelling Champs 2009, he walked away with the coveted Trophy along with a grand prize of a dream trip to South Africa for the ICC Champions Trophy 2009.

Speaking on the occasion, Piroune Balachandran, winner of Spelling Champs 2009 said, ?It was a wonderful learning experience for me as I got a chance to compete at a national level which was televised across the country. Spelling Champs gave me an opportunity to be a part of a show that is distinctly different from any other show in the country. Winning the title gives me immense confidence in my abilities which will surely stand me in good stead for the future.?

The championship format of seven engrossing episodes ended yesterday with a Grand Finale which saw four finalists fighting to win the title of Spelling Champion 2009 in a riveting contest of words and vocabulary. Other than Piroune, the other three finalists include first runners up Rohan Bhatia from The Mother?s International School, Delhi, Ananya Das from Springdale?s School, Delhi and Shubhangi Sinha from Wellham Girls School, Dehradun. The Runners-up received a Nintendo Wii Sports while the final 4 contestants got a series of books from publisher Harper Collins

The first show of the show started on July 08, 2009 with 52 participants from across the country, with each round more gruelling than the earlier one. Mr Rajat Kapoor, the famous television personality, hosted and pronounced the show. The show also had a panel of Word Commissioners, noted novelist Mr Rana Dasgupta and English Language Experts from British Council who gave invaluable inputs to the ever inquiring contestants.

MUMBAI: Munna rides back to town this week for another fun filled episode of Bindass Cash Cab and is stopped by an airhostess who is in a complete hurry.

Quite irritated about missing her pick up, Munna‘s latest passenger is in no mood to play the Cash Cab quiz till she realizes there‘s a lot of money to be won here. Completely forgetting about her next flight and work, the Airhostess is all set to have some fun the Cash Cab way!!!

While playing the Cash Cab quiz, the airhostess asks for a lifeline and then we get to see Munna‘s whacko ideas come to play. Munna asks her to scare people with a doll in her hand and pretend that the doll is extremely sick and needs immediate help.

Don‘t miss the action as Munna gets the pretty airhostess to dress like a woman who performs Voodoo and scare people on the road.

MUMBAI: Broadband

Total Broadband subscriber base has increased to 6.80 million in July-09 from 6.62 million in June-09, thereby showing a growth rate of 2.7 %.

• Total Telephone subscriber base reaches 479.04 Million
  > Wireless subscription reaches 441.66 Million
  > Wireline subscription declines to 37.41 Million
  
• 14.38 Million new additions in wireless
  
• Wireline subscription declines by 0.13 Million
  
• Overall Tele-density reaches 41.08
  
• Broadband subscription is 6.80 million
  

The number of telephone subscribers in India increased to 479.07 Million at the end of July-09 from a level of 464.82 Million in June-2009, thereby registering a growth rate of 3.06%. With this, the overall Tele-density in India reaches 41.08

Wireless Segment (GSM, CDMA & FWP)

Wireless subscriber base increased from 427.28 Million in June-2009 to 441.66 Million at the end of July-09 at a monthly growth rate of 3.36%. Wireless Tele-density stands at 37.87.

Wireline Segment

Wireline subscriber base declined from 37.54 Million in June-2009 to 37.41 Million at the end of July-09. BSNL/MTNL, the PSU operators own 85.99% of the Market share. While major Private Wireline service providers have increased their subscriber base, BSNL/MTNL lost 0.17 Million subscribers in the month of July-09. Wireline teledensity is 3.21 . Detailed statistics is at Annexure-II.

MUMBAI: The World Television Premi?re of Slumdog Crorepati on MAX on August 15 at 8 PM has garnered a rating of 4.3 according to Television Audience Measurement (TAM). Not surprisingly MAX has surpassed all competing channels to emerge as the number one channel in its genre. Slumdog Crorepati is the top rated movie amongst all Hindi movie channels since Jan 2007.

According to TAM, a staggering 21.3 million people watched Slumdog Crorepati on MAX firming up the channel?s weekly reach at 62.77% and taking the GRP?s to 200 in the C&S 4+ HSM markets.

Speaking on the astounding success of Slumdog Crorepati on the channel, Sneha Rajani, Executive Vice President and Business Head, MAX commented ?We have always strived to touch lives and entertain audiences through our films. MAX arguably has the best reservoir of movies of all genres for wholesome entertainment. This Independence Day we thought it appropriate to premier Slumdog Crorepati, a film which has had stupendous critical acclaim and commercial success all over the world. With this telecast we have been able to showcase this wonderful story to the masses all over India.?

Slumdog Crorepati on MAX was pitted against Star Plus?s premier movie Billu Barber and Ghajini on NDTV Imagine which got ratings of 1.9 and 0.8 respectively. Slumdog Crorepati has also achieved an astounding rating of 10.4 in Chattisgarh, 10.2 in Rajasthan 1mn+ and 6.4 in Mumbai.