Press Release

NDTV Good Times, India’s leading English travel and lifestyle channel today announced its launch on Singapore Telecommunications Limited (SingTel) - mio TV platform.

Commenting on the launch Smeeta Chakrabarti, CEO, NDTV Good Times, said, "NDTV Good Times is very happy to launch in Singapore in collaboration with mio TV. I firmly believe that Good Times programming will strike a chord with Singapore’s multicultural citizens who appreciate the best the world has to offer."

“NDTV 24x7 is already present on mio TV and we are very happy to extend our relationship with Singtel. The launch of Good Times on mio TV is a testimony to our effort to providing world-class programming to audiences not just in India but across other parts of the world as well,” added Rahul Sood, Head – Affiliate Sales & Network Distribution, NDTV.

"We are very pleased to collaborate with NDTV to add on this exciting and very entertaining channel to our pay TV platform,” said Mr. Low Ka Hoe, Director, IPTV Business, SingTel. “Travel and lifestyle programming is very popular among Singaporeans, and we are sure that our audiences will quickly form a connection with the informative and engaging content on this channel”, he added.

Targeting travellers with a love for the Asian sub-continent as well as a cosmopolitan, socially upbeat audience who enjoys every moment of life, the channel features a wide range of aspirational lifestyle programming on health, fashion, food, travel, luxury and more.

About NDTV Good Times:

Launched in September 2007, NDTV Good Times is a lifestyle channel that targets a largely cosmopolitan, socially upbeat audience who lives in style and enjoys every moment of life. This channel brings in world-class, aspirational lifestyle programming from health, fashion and food to travel, luxury and more. NDTV Good Times is a brand tie-up between NDTV and the UB Group-owned Kingfisher brand. Content offered on the channel is original and its lively presentation draws viewers looking for an entertaining experience. The channel has a promising line up of shows that cover every aspect of the lifestyle genre to portray the essence of an increasingly global India.

About mio TV:

mio TV is the innovative digital pay TV service offering from SingTel. Launched in July 2007, the service offers customers value and full flexibility to watch what they want, when they want.

Currently, mio TV offers a total of 60 channels, of which 15 are on-demand channels. Content on mio TV covers a wide range of genres and features Singapore’s largest range of video-on-demand titles and High Definition content.

SingTel is Asia’s leading communications group providing a comprehensive portfolio of services including voice and data solutions over fixed, wireless and Internet platforms, as well as infocomm technology and pay TV.  Together with its regional partners, it serves over 232 million mobile customers in eight markets.

Bharti Airtel, Asia's leading integrated telecom services provider today introduced an innovative service - My Airtel My Offer, that empowers its Prepaid mobile users to choose a product or service most suited to them.

My Airtel My Offer is an informative service platform that will assist the Airtel Prepaid user to choose the best available product/service across tariff packages, recharge denominations, validity periods, value-added service and any other local promotional offer currently available on the Airtel network. The products and offers have been customised to meet the requirements of Airtel customers basis their past usage behaviors.

Today mobile customers are presented with multiple packages and offers, each having their own value propositions. Hence this facility allows the customer to choose from the best of offers from Airtel, cutting away from the clutter of offers/services available in the market.

To avail this service, Airtel Prepaid customers can dial a toll free number - 12131 from their mobile. The IVR also has the capability to provide the caller with the option of choosing their local language while interacting with the IVR. This facility is not available while a customer is roaming. The service is currently launched on IVR and soon will be available through SMS & USSD as well.
"At Airtel, we believe that every customer of ours is unique and valuable. We also understand that our customers have their own preferences and usage needs”. Said, Raghunath Mandava, Chief Marketing Officer, Mobile Services, Airtel. “Based on an understanding of customers' usage behavior and further aided by technology & systems, My Airtel My Offer service has been developed with a unique ability to suggest the right product / offer to each customer within Airtel’s network. With My Airtel My Offer, we firmly believe that we are taking a major step towards empowering and transforming the user experience of all Airtel customers."

About Bharti Airtel Limited

Bharti Airtel Limited, a group company of Bharti Enterprises, is Asia’s leading integrated telecom services provider with operations in India and Sri Lanka and an aggregate of over 96.6 million customers as of end of March 2009, consisting of 93.92 million mobile customers. Bharti Airtel Limited has been voted as India's most innovative company, in a survey conducted by The Wall Street Journal.

Bharti Airtel is structured into three strategic business units - Mobile services, Telemedia services and Enterprise services. The mobile business offers services in India and Sri Lanka. The Telemedia business provides broadband and telephone services in 95 cities, DTH services and has recently forayed into the IPTV services. The Enterprise business provides end-to-end telecom solutions to corporate customers and national and international long distance services to carriers. All these services are provided under the Airtel brand. Airtel’s high-speed optic fibre network currently spans over 90,205 kms covering all the major cities in the country. The company has two international landing stations in Chennai that connects two submarine cable systems - i2i to Singapore and SEA-ME-WE-4 to Europe. For more information, visit www.bhartiairtel.in

The Old Students’ Association (OSA) of the prestigious Hindu College presented its Distinguished Alumni Awards at The Lalit Hotel in New Delhi today. The OSA Awards, presented every year since 2001, recognize the achievements and contributions made by Hindu college alumni in various fields, including media, films, sports, business and law. Mr. Yash Chopra, the legendary film personality, was the chief guest at the esteemed ceremony.

The event also witnessed the presence of the eminent lawyer Mr. Lalit Bhasin, who is the President of OSA, Dr. D.N. Gupta, Acting Principal, and Mr. K. C. Mehra, Chairman of the Events Committee of OSA.

Dr. B.M Bhatia and Prof. Bipin Chandra both received Lifetime Achievement Awards for their remarkable contribution in the fields of agriculture and education, respectively.

The award winners in different categories included:

• Mr. Arjun Rampal, for his contribution as an actor to the film industry.
• Ms. Loveleen Tandon, for her contribution as an excellent Casting Director and Co- Director of the Oscar winning film, ‘Slumdog Millionaire’.
• Mr. Imtiaz Ali as the Young Achiever in films.
• Ms. Tisca Chopra, for her work in films and television.
• Mr. Jayant Kapoor, SAP developer for his achievements in business.
• Hon’ble Mr. Justice G. S. Sistani, for his stellar role in India’s law and justice system.
• Mr. Hardeep Puri and Ms. Asha Swarup, for their accomplishments in the Civil Services.
• Mr. V.P Chaudhury, for his contribution in the area of Legal Services.
• Mr. Vinod Rai, for his role in Constitutional law.
• Mr. Sreenivasan Jain, for his contribution to media.
• Mr. Saba Karim and Mr. Sunil Valson for their successes in sports.

Speaking ahead of the event, Mr Lalit Bhasin, President of OSA said: “Hindu College has always stood for the highest standards of education, development and values. We at the OSA aim to encourage talent across a number of areas crucial for the development of the society as a whole. The Alumni Awards are one of the steps in this direction and we heartily congratulate the winners for their remarkable contribution to their respective fields. We also wish them luck for all their future endeavors.”

Hindu College has contributed to the nation by producing luminaries in various fields. The college has produced academicians like Professor Sarup Singh, noted industrialists like K. K. Birla and Mr Modi, cinema personalities like Manoj Kumar, the famous singer Mukesh, Vishal Bhardwaj, and sportspersons like Ajay Jadeja, Saba Karim, Gautam Gambhir, Akash Chopra, Murali Karthik and Prakash Bhandari. Former Chief Justice of India Y. K. Sabharwal, Mr. B. P. Singh, Justice Mukul Mudgul, Justice R. Bhat, Justice G. S. Sistani, Justice Manmohan, Justice Siddharth Mridul and distinguished academicians like Dr. Kavita Sharma, Shri Zoravar Singh and late Shri Amba Prasad are also the college’s alumni. The alumni also include some of the leading lawyers in the country - Late Shri Tara Chand Mathur, Shri Dinesh Mathur, Shri Ranjit Kumar, Shri Lalit Bhasin, parliamentarians like Shri Subramaniam Swamy and journalists like Shri  H. K. Dua.

Established in 1899, Hindu College is one of the most distinguished post-graduate educational institutions in the country, with an outstanding record in teaching, research and public services. The Hindu College OSA is actively looking for opportunities to enhance facilities at this institution. The Association plans to establish a Braille library in the college and upgrade the college auditorium to meet world-class standards.

About Old Students’ Association (OSA)

The OSA was formed in 1959 and is celebrating its Golden Jubilee this year. Over the years, OSA has conducted several activities for the benefit of the college. In recent years, following the centenary of Hindu College, the OSA has made exemplary efforts to raise funds for the institution, including Distinguished Alumni Awards, Annual OSA Meets, and much more.

ITC’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Fortune Park Hotels Ltd., today announced the opening of its property, ‘Fortune Inn Grazia’, in the centrally located Sector 27 of Noida. Fortune Inn Grazia is the second operational Fortune Hotels property in the NCR region after Gurgaon and there are five more to open in the near future. The Fortune Inn Grazia is located next to the commercial and shopping hub of Sector 18. With the Fortune Inn in Noida, the total number of Fortune Inn category hotels in the country now stands at four with Jammu, Pune and Visakhapatnam hotels already operational.

Targeted at businesses travelers, the hotel offers a choice of 42 well appointed rooms including 30 standard rooms and 12 Fortune Club Rooms, equipped with all modern amenities to ensure pleasant stay for travelers. Other offerings at Fortune Inn Grazia include a gym, spa, swimming pool and two restaurants, Earthern Oven and Fortune Deli for the perfect dining experience. It offers free Wi-Fi connectivity in the lobby, restaurant areas and also in the rooms.

Dining experience at Fortune Inn Grazia

Earthen Oven - The restaurant serves delicious North Indian cuisine straight out of the oven from mouth watering kebabs, spicy curries, tasty Indian breads to many more delectable dishes.

Fortune Deli - The Deli gives you the perfect blend of a contemporary setting and great delicacies to relish with variety of fast food choices like sandwiches, pizza, chocolates, etc.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Pawan Verma, Senior Executive Vice President, ITC Ltd.-Hotels Division, said, “We currently have 26 operational Fortune Hotels in India and 52 alliances across the country and our Noida property is placed to strategically serve the NCR region. We will be expanding our presence in key markets with our different brands of Fortune Hotels in accordance to market demand. We are all set to launch our new properties in Mussoorie, Jaipur, Bangalore and Manipal in the next two months.” 

Mr.Suresh Kumar, President, Fortune

The Bar Association of India (BAI) will launch the celebrations of its Golden Jubilee year at an impressive commencement ceremony in New Delhi on April 09, 2009.

The Bar Association of India was established in April 1959. The inauguration was made by President of India, Dr. Rajendra Prasad in the presence of Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, Chief Justice of India and many stalwarts of the profession. The commencement of Golden Jubilee celebrations this year will also take place in distinguished presence of , Hon’ble Mr. Somnath Chatterjee, Speaker at the 14th Lok Sabha, Hon’ble Chief Justice of India, Mr. K.G Balakrishnan and BAI President Mr. Fali S Nariman.

BAI Associate President Mr. Anil Divan, will welcome the participants at the inaugural celebration followed by Mr Fali S Nariman. The inaugural address will be made by Hon’ble Mr K G Balakrishnan, followed by an address by Hon’ble Mr. Somnath Cheterjee. Mr Lalit Bhasin, Hony. General Secretary, BAI, will present the concluding remarks.

“The Association is keeping to its tradition of developing sound conventions for the legal profession to follow. To remain relevant, the legal profession must constantly meet the challenges of current realities.” said Mr Lalit Bhasin.

The ceremony marking the commencement of BAI’s Golden Jubilee celebrations will be followed with a seminar on ‘Rethinking Indian Legal Profession and Justice System’ on April 10, 2009. The interactive seminar will initiate a path-breaking endeavour by the Bar Association of India in its 50th year to create a body of knowledge through research and deliberations on the current challenges and issues concerning the legal profession and the justice delivery system in India. The seminar will address issues like ‘Human Rights and the Rules of Law’, ‘Electoral Reforms’, ‘Right to Protest by the Legal Profession’, ‘Fostering Relations with International Legal Associations’ and ‘National Professions and Liberalisation of the Legal Profession in India’.

As a part of the Golden Jubilee celebrations, BAI proposes to hold an International Conference later this year. It will also co-host, with the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) a Conference on ‘Cities – the Legal Issues in Urban Development, Transport, Environment and Security’.

About Bar Association Of India:

The Bar Association of India is a voluntary organisation of lawyers, which was established in April 1959, shortly before the enactment of the Indian Advocates Act, 1961, which fused the legal profession in India and introduced a common roll of Advocates in each state. The inauguration of the Association by the President of India, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, in Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi, took place in the presence of Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, the Chief Justice of India and many stalwarts of the profession whose names are held in high esteem today in the profession throughout the country. Shri M.C. Setalvad, the first Attorney-General of India, was also the President of the Association who together with the illustrious Dr K. M Munshi and Mr C.KDaphtary and others framed the constitution of the Association. The principal aim of the Association is to achieve, through bar associations and individual lawyers all over India.