MUMBAI: Essel Propack continued to grow strongly during the second quarter, supported by a step-up in its US and European operations. The Net Sales for the first half year at Rs. 5,812 Million is 31% higher over sales for the corresponding period last year. Overseas operations for Essel Propack now contribute 66% of its net sales. Adjusted for the rupee appreciation versus the US dollar over the year, the sales growth will be higher at 39%, while the EBIDT for the half year at Rs. 1,172 million and the Net Profit at Rs. 401 Million would have grown by 14% and 1.3% respectively. The EBIDT growth during this period has been constrained by the start-up, customer development and capacity costs attributable to the new plant and additional capacities commissioned in USA which are in their start-up phase. Higher interest cost has further impacted the Net Profit. As the volumes are ramped up, the EBIDT and net profit should track the sales growth.

While announcing the First Half results in Mumbai, Ashok Goel, the Vice Chairman & Managing Director said, "The building blocks for our next phase of growth are now in place. We have entered the Medical Devices and the Specialty Packaging arena in order to de-risk and broad-base our business. These now already constitute 19% of our total sales and are growing well. Our new initiatives in the USA are ramping up and scale economies would follow. Having doubled our business in the last four years, we are committed to the next phase of our growth agenda. Jointly with a leading Business School, we have recently developed a strategic plan for our flagship Tubes business, focusing our customer-market-product portfolio to deliver a sustained profitable and competitive growth. As part of our new strategy, we have recently expanded our top management bandwidth by inducting fresh talent and establishing a new matrix structure consisting of business and functional leadership to better meet the challenges of our multinational operations. World class systems and processes and a robust IT platform, will be rolled out over the next one to two years enabling empowered cross-functional teams to exploit the market opportunities swiftly and competitively."

Essel Propack is promoted by Essel Group. Essel Propack, head quartered in India, manufacturers Laminated Tubes / Extruded Plastic Tubes, Medical Devices and Specialty Packaging Material. The Company provides tube packaging solutions to toothpaste, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, toiletries, food and industrial sectors all over the world. Essel Propack has 32% global market share in Laminated Tubes. In Medical Devices, the company manufactures cardio-vascular catheters and delivery systems. The Specialty Packaging Materials of the company currently caters to the Food and Pharma industry. The Company has state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities in 12 countries with 23 plants across the globe. Essel Propack‘s stock is listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange.

MUMBAI: Radio One 94.3 FM, will air an exclusive interview with the youngest minister of the parliament coming from the beautiful state of Kashmir.Omer Abdullah gets candid about films, songs, love and politics this Sunday, 22 July at 12 noon.

The chivalrous MBA from a well-known political background dwells on memories of movies made in Kashmir to his childhood days at the beautiful gardens at Gulmarg. "We would sit by the lake with the fruit basket. We made garlands of daisy flowers in the garden in Gulmarg. We cannot do these small things now. But I want our children to do this sometime."

Omer Abdullah talks about his alternative career (if not politics) in sports, his fondness for old-hindi songs and his comments on the new Bollywood films. The interview details on Omer Abdullah‘s style of politics and interesting insights on intelligent moves in one‘s profession.

Radio One 94.3 FM will be airing this exclusive one-hour interview
at 12 noon on Sunday 22 July 2007 in Mumbai and New Delhi.

MUMBAI: PIX is going to send shivers down your spine this Sunday, 22 July with its horror flicks one after the another.Starting at noon when the clock strikes 12, the one armed Candyman will appear on your screen creating havoc with his murders followed by Poltergeist III where demons are haunting a skyscraper. If that‘s not enough PIX brings to you underwater horrors with James Cameron‘s Piranha 2 which unveils mysteries of the marine world. At 6 pm, in Milla Jovovich, Michelle Rodriguez starrer Resident Evil, a memory affecting virus is unleashed in the city and must be curbed before it engulfs the entire world. Be careful to never stop at the ‘Needful Things‘ store as the owner makes one conduct devilish acts which also includes murder! The PIX horror marathon ends with Severed Ties where an experiment on limbs turn into horrific creatures.

Sunday, 22 July at 12pm

Candyman

Director: Bernard Rose
Cast: Virginia Madsen, Tony Todd, Xander Berkeley, Kasi Lemmons, Vanessa Williams

Dare You To Say His Name Five Times! Helen Lyle is a student who decides to write a thesis about local legends and myths. She visits a part of the town, where she learns about the legend of the Candyman, a one-armed man who appears when you say his name five times, in front of a mirror. Of course, Helen doesn‘t believe all this stuff, but the people of the area are really afraid. When she ignores their warnings and begins her investigation in the places that he is rumored to appear, a series of horrible murders begins. Could the legend be true?

Sunday, 22 July at 2pm

Poltergeist III

Director: Gary Sherman
Cast: Zelda Rubinstein Tom Skerrit Nancy Allen Heather O‘Rourke

In the climactic finale to the Poltergeist trilogy, those elusive demons are more frightening than ever as they follow Carol Anne (Heather O‘Rourke) to Chicago and inhabit an entire skyscraper.

Sunday, 22 July at 4pm

Piranha 2

Director: James Cameron
Cast: Tricia O‘neil, Steve Marachuck, Lance Henriksen

A sunken US supply ship off a Caribbean island resort is the focus for a series of mysterious piranha attacks. Investigating the death of one of her son‘s companions after a scuba-diving trip, Anne Kimbrough breaks into the morgue with holidaymaker Tyler Sherman, only to discover that the fish have wings and can fly. But the hotel manager refuses to call off the annual fish fry on the beach, with inevitable consequences

Sunday, 22 July at 6pm

Resident Evil

Director: Paul Andersen
Cast: Milla Jovovich, Michelle Rodriguez, Eric Mabius

A virus has escaped in a secret facility called ‘The hive‘ turning the staff into hungry zombies and releasing mutated lab animals that they were studying. The complex computer shuts down the base to prevent infection. The parent corporation sends in an elite military unit, where they meet Alice who is suffering from amnesia due to exposure to nerve gas. The military team must shut down the computer and get out, fighting their way past zombies, mutants, and the computer itself, before the virus escapes and infects the rest of the world. Alice must also come to terms with her slowly returning memories.

Sunday, 22 July at 8pm

Needful Things

Director: Fraser C. Heston
Cast: Max von Sydow, Ed Harris, Bonnie Bedelia, Amanda Plummer, J.T. Walsh

The devil in disguise comes to a quiet, peaceful town and opens a store called Needful Things. The store has an item for everyone in town. All the devil asks for in return is a few dirty pranks. Little do they know, that they‘ve sold their souls, and the pranks escalate to murder.

Sunday, 22 July at 11pm

Severed Ties

Director: Damen Santostefano
Cast: Johnny Legend, Garett Morris, Billy Morissette

A regeneration experiment on a severed arm goes awry, turning the limb into a murderous, reptilian creature.

MUMBAI: One day cricket returns to Sri Lanka as the home side takes on Bangladesh in the three game Laqshya series, which will be seen live on Ten Sports.A commentary team including Tony Grieg and Sanjay Manjrekar will bring ball by ball coverage from each game as the Sri Lankans play their first home series since the cricket world cup.

Sri Lanka have an excellent record at home to the Bangladeshis and have won all the previous 6 games between the 2 nations in Sri Lanka . The last time the two sides met was a remarkable success for the Sri Lankans. In the West Indies, during the group stages of the World Cup, Sri Lanka won by an amazing margin of 198 runs, destroying the confidence the Bangladeshis had gained from their victory over India . An 85 ball century from Sanath Jayasuriya proved the difference on that occasion, leading the star studded Sri Lankan batting line up in a demolition of the Bangladesh team.

Much has been made of the Bangladesh growth in international cricket, but the visitors have much to prove as they take on one of their most difficult opponents, as Bangladesh attempt to show that the gap between themselves and the Sri Lankans is narrowing.

The series marks the start of a great season of cricket on Ten Sports, including England in Sri Lanka , Australia , South Africa and Zimbabwe in Pakistan , Sri Lanka and Australia in the West Indies as well as regular magazine programmes on the sport.

Schedule:-

MUMBAI: It started with a call from Ms Seema Upadhaya to Radio Mirchi informing about a building collapse in Borivili, and Radio Mirchi turned it into a mission to which the citizens of Mumbai responded with open hearts. The entire team of Radio Mirchi got together and urged its listeners to offer their houses for free to the victims of the tragedy. Radio station was flooded with calls from listeners offering help in providing shelters as a stop-gap arrangement, until a permanent solution could be found. At last count, 20 people had called into Radio Mirchi and committed their houses for the affected families. The calls continue to come in and until all the 56 families find an alternative stay arrangement, Radio Mirchi promises to champion the cause.

Starting yesterday - 18 July 2007, Radio Mirchi has been giving non-stop LIVE updates about the mishap, responding to queries on the incident and also requesting alert citizens to share details about the incident. Simultaneously, Mirchi RJs were on air appealing to listeners across Mumbai to lend their support by any means, such as giving shelter, food & clothing or whatever they can for the affected victims and families. In addition, information relating to the incident and the injured was announced on air with details on the hospitals etc. Helpline numbers were also provided till late in the night with listeners calling in and talking about the incident.

The station further devoted today?s morning show ? Hello Mumbai where RJ Anmol spoke with the BMC commisionar - Mr Jairaj Pathak to find out the official explanation of the root cause of the building collapse and also appealed to the citizens of Mumbai to come forward and support the victims and families.

?It?s a big tragedy for Mumbai and we will do whatever it takes to help a Mumbai in need. The non-stop calls and sms from listeners across the city to support the affected families confirms the spirit of the city and how selflessly people respond in the hour of need.? said Ms. Sujata Bhatt, Station Director, Radio Mirchi ? Mumbai

Anybody who wants to contribute to this initiative by Radio Mirchi to help the affected families, can contact Mirchi on 40 983 983, or sms ?RADIO<space>msg? and send it to 8888.

MUMBAI: When it is all about song and dance can Govinda be far behind? Never. So Govinda it is on Indian Idol this week as a celebrity judge. The gala round of Indian Idol this week is full of high powered performances backed by electrifying dancing by none other than Govinda himself who set the stage on fire with his vintage moves. The one who enticed him to take the stage was none other than the spunky Ankita Mishra, the contestant who has the credit of making all the judges dance to her tune on stage.

Govinda?s moves could put many a youngster to shame. The ease with which he danced to the vintage hit? Babuji dheere chalna brought the house down. He followed it up with Babuji zara dheere chalo bijlee khadi deko? The audience wanted more and so did the judges. So the show continued with Alisha, Anu Malik and Udit Narayan all taking to the stage with the contestants for a mind-blowing performance.

Govinda?s career may have floundered for a while but he is back in the driver?s seat with Partner for which he gives full credit to his real life friend and buddy Salman Khan who stepped in to help Govinda in his hour of need. The two pals have surpassed their limits in comic timing to come up with the laugh riot that is Partner. "We only realized how funny the film has turned out to be when we saw the final result," confesses Govinda. He is keeping his fingers crossed that the film will put him back on the comeback trail. Govinda fans are hoping the same too. At the end of the day everybody knows Govinda delivers ? even if he is an actor come late.