MUMBAI: A plethora of brilliant cinema will be served on the platter for cinema buffs at the Kala Ghoda Fest this year. The line up includes Amu and NDTV Lumiere World cinema titles like Mind The Gap, Shiver and That Day.

The movies to be screened at the festival are:-
Amu (2005):- Writer-Director Shonali Bose?s sensational National Award Winning debut venture, ?Amu?- a controversial film based on the 1984 Sikh Riots was the official selection at the Toronto Film Festival 2005 and Berlin Film Festival and has won numerous awards and accolades including two National Film Awards - Best Feature Film, Best Director (English language), FIPRESCI Critics Award, Gollapudi Srinivasa Award ? Best Debut Director (India), Star Screen Award ? Best English Film (India), Teenage Choice Award, Jury Award, Italy (Cine Donne Film Festival) and Audience Choice Award (Indian Film Festival, Washington DC).

Amu is the story of Kaju (Konkana Sensharma), a 21 year old Indian American woman who returns to India to visit her family. In wandering around Delhi she is overcome by d?j? vu and stumbles upon secrets and lies from her past. Aided by Kabir, a young man who is deeply attracted to her and her quest, she embarks on an unstoppable journey to seek the truth. She soon starts discovering that the genocide against the Sikhs in Delhi 1984 might hold the key to her mysterious origins.

Mind The Gap! (2007):- Mind The Gap, which screened at the 2007 G?teborg International Film Festival is a charming romantic-comedy set against the backdrop of racial tension in modern day Sweden. Mind the Gap concerns two young women (from different backgrounds) Turkish-born Yasmin and Swedish Elin who become friends while training at the Swedish Police Academy .Together, they learn to mind the gaps along the path toward independence and self-discovery.

Shiver (2008):- Directed by multiple-award winner Isidro Ortiz, Shiver screened at the 2008 Berlin International Film Festival. Shiver revolves around Santi (Junio Valverde), a 16-year-old suffering from XP, a disease that makes him acutely sensitive to sunlight. Life in Barcelona becomes difficult for him and he longs to leave. Best of all would be to move to Laponia, because the sun seldom shines on this northern Swedish town, and so life there, he is convinced, would be more bearable. His mother Julia (Mar Sodupe) has different plans as she can?t afford moving to another country. She decides to move to Arrozas de Valdeon, a remote village in northern Spain, rarely penetrated by the sun?s rays on account of the high mountains that surround it. Instead of the mountain idyll they so longed for, the two soon encounter an odd series of events. At first, animals begin to disappear ? apparently by the influence of something unknown lurking in the nearby woods. And then one day a young boy is killed. Santi, who witnesses the boy?s death, soon becomes the prime suspect in the eyes of the villagers. Antonio, the local policeman, asks Julia to keep an eye on her son in order to avoid any more trouble. In the meantime, Santi begins to make friends. In order to prove his innocence, he and Angela (Blanca Su?rez) decide to get to the bottom of the mystery that lies buried in the woods. They discover a wild girl whose parents died long before in tragic circumstances. And it turns out that some of the inhabitants of Arrozas de Valdeon are not as blameless as they would like to believe.

That Day (2007):- Swiss helmer Jacob Berger?s intense, insular (French) drama which won the Best Director Award at the 2007 Montr?al World Film Festival unfolds over a single eventful day and is told from three different perspectives - a cheating husband, a betrayed wife and their baffled son.

MUMBAI: The regional body of the national frequency spectrum regulators in the Asia-Pacific, the Asia Pacific Telecomunity (APT) and the professional association of free-to-air broadcasters in the Asia-Pacific, the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU), have agreed to cooperate with each other on frequency spectrum issues that affect users of the radio frequency spectrum for broadcasting services in the Asia-Pacific region.

To this effect an MOU was signed on 22 January 2009 by the respective Secretaries-General of the two organisations.

Both these industry bodies have been working together on broadcasting spectrum issues since 1995. The ABU has been contributing to the work of the APT on these issues. This cooperation has already been productive in relation to the studies that are carried out in preparation for the International Telecommunication Union?s World Radiocommunication Conferences.

The decisions taken at these conferences play an important role in ongoing radio communication operations as well as their future development. The cooperation between the APT and the ABU on broadcasting spectrum issues has provided several dividends, including the planning procedure for shortwave radiofrequency spectrum (in 1997), replanning of broadcasting satellite services (2000), protection of terrestrial TV broadcasting (2007) and inclusion of two important broadcasting related agenda items for the next conference in [year].

The MOU will help to put the relationship between the two organisations on a firm footing. The MOU will facilitate participation in meetings and exchange of information and documents between two organisations. It also provides for an exchange of memberships between the two organisations wherein the APT will be admitted to the ABU as an Institutional Member and the ABU will be admitted to the APT as an international organisation.

Referring to the MOU, the ABU Secretary-General, David Astley said, ?The MOU builds upon the ongoing relationship that the ABU has with the APT on matters of mutual interest. Both organisations will now be able to work more productively to address spectrum issues that relate to the broadcasting industry in this region. This will benefit the broadcasters and help their efforts at the ITU. We are happy to have the APT as an Institutional Member of the ABU.

MUMBAI: NDS Group Limited ("NDS"), News Corporation and Permira Advisers LLP ("Permira") are pleased to announce that the scheme of arrangement to effect the going private transaction of NDS has now become fully effective. The effectiveness of the scheme results in two subsidiaries of funds advised by Permira (the "Permira Newcos") and News Corporation owning approximately 51% and 49% of NDS, respectively, in each case subject to dilution by shares to be subscribed for by members of management and shares to be issued as part of the option scheme to be established by NDS.

The last day for trading in ADSs was February 4, 2009. The per share consideration of $63.00 in cash is scheduled to be sent to NDS shareholders and holders of ADSs shortly.

The independent committee of the board of directors of NDS was advised by Citigroup Global Markets Limited and Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP. NDS was advised by Morgan Stanley & Co. Limited and Allen & Overy LLP. News Corporation was advised by J.P. Morgan Securities Inc., Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and Hogan & Hartson LLP. The Permira Newcos and Permira were advised by Goldman Sachs International, Clifford Chance LLP and Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP.

NEW DELHI: Valentine‘s Day is just round the corner and everyone is pondering over what to gift their loved ones. This Valentine‘s day, you don‘t have to worry about what to buy, where to buy or timely delivery of your gifts. HomeShop18, India‘s first 24 hour home shopping channel from the Network18 group has a plethora of gifting options with their exclusive Valentine‘s Day gifting solution for everyone. The gamut of gifting options includes Flowers, Chocolates, Soft Toys, Perfumes, Watches, Mobiles, MP3 players etc. For those who are planning surprises, HomeShop18 is definitely the perfect destination as it offers express delivery and special midnight delivery offers of flowers and attractive combos of roses, chocolates and teddy bears.

HomeShop18 has also launched an assured 50 Per cent value back offer this February, providing unmatched value to the shoppers. Not just that, HomeShop18 makes sure that gifts are delivered on time, that too free of cost. HomeShop18‘s extensive distribution platform ensures the timely delivery of gifts to over 2200 cities across India. All express delivery orders will be delivered the same day without any extra charges.

Sharing his views on the occasion, Sundeep Malhotra, CEO, HomeShop18 said, "Valentine‘s Day is becoming very popular every year and everyone wants to make this day memorable and special. HomeShop18‘s aim is to bridge all distances and ensure that everyone is able to send and receive gifts from anywhere in the country".

Ever since its launch, HomeShop18 has been a popular shopping destination for gifting and keeping that in mind, HomeShop18 has specially designed the Valentine‘s Day catalogue. For men, there are a variety of electronic gadgets like DVD Boom Box Players, 4 GB Video MP3 Players, Mobile Phones, Digital Cameras, Camcorders and a lot more. This catalogue also offers a popular collection for women, which includes Silver Pendants and Earrings, Diamond Jewellery, Watches, Cosmetics, Handbags etc

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MUMBAI: TIMES DRIVE was ranked the number 1 show across Auto shows in the month of January with a TVR of 0.36 (CS M25+ AB ALL 1MN+ Markets) beating all the well established shows by a huge margin. The ratings received for this show are far higher than those garnered by older shows in the auto category.

TIMES DRIVE profiles individuals whose passion and zeal for cars surpasses mechanical and technical knowledge. These individuals include car lovers of all shapes and sizes, including celebrities, sports people, racers (legal and otherwise) and auto-enthusiasts. This new platform purports to be a 360 degree auto show where they showcase different segments which include Geek Review, City drives, Best of the web, Pop Cars and The celebrity interview.

It will be an action-packed episode of Times Drive this weekend. The show that gained major viewership in the initial weeks of its launch will start off with a look at Fiat‘s most important car for India yet; the Linea. Now there‘s a lot riding on this quintessentially Italian car, and TimesDrive will roll up to Dilip Chhabria‘s front door to talk to him about his cars, designs and his world. All that plus a dose of extraordinary features, including second-hand buying advice, news from the auto world, and the best of cars on the web.

TIMES DRIVE mirrors TIMES NOW‘s success post establishing itself as the undisputed leader in the English news channel space. TIMES NOW has over the last few weeks increased its grip over the category. TIMES NOW has hit the No.1 spot consistently for the 11 weeks. In 2009 TIMES NOW dwarfs its competitors with a channel share of 32% as compared to NDTV 19% and CNN-IBN‘s 21% thereby making strong stride towards its goal of ‘Clear Domination‘ in 2009.