Text 100 Public Relations today announced the launch of its Global Resource Optimization

Text 100 Public Relations today announced the launch of its Global Resource Optimization (GRO) service, based in Mumbai, India. The new service allows clients worldwide to tap into round-the-clock services and gives them opportunities for enhanced communications capabilities while lowering the cost of performing time-intensive activities.

GRO’s globally integrated communications and campaign management infrastructure allows clients to create 24/7 virtual account teams to manage time-sensitive projects. As the cost of business in India is considerably lower than most markets, clients will be able to leverage the world-class skills of Text 100’s award-winning team in India while extending their resources.

“GRO is able to significantly improve Text 100’s efficiency and quality of delivery,” said Aedhmar Hynes, CEO, Text 100. “We are offering clients a way to optimize their budgets and receive even better service by moving time intensive activity that can be done anywhere in the world to lower cost markets. The advantage to our clients is that our local teams can then devote a greater part of a budget in the high cost markets to PR tactics that require local knowledge and insight of the client’s industry, market and media.”

The first GRO center in Mumbai, led by Madhuri Sen, Managing Director – GRO, is currently focused on three categories of services that have been identified as best adaptable to virtual teamwork: a) account administration (e.g., online campaign management, analysis, report generation, information management, etc.), b) content (e.g., case studies, opinion articles, spokesperson bios; general editing, proofing and formatting) and c) secondary research to support client campaigns, reviews, pitches, messaging workshops etc.

The Indian team has the benefit of over a decade of experience with global leaders such as Cisco, Gartner, Lenovo, Microsoft, Nokia and Philips. Text 100 is the leader in technology PR across India and the first such PR agency to be CMS II (Competence Management Systems) certified by Det Norske Veritas, a globally recognized standards organization. This year it was also ranked as one of the 25 best employers in India across industries in a survey conducted by Hewitt: the only one in the PR industry to make it to that list. In addition to this list of achievements, Text 100’s track record in virtual teamwork made India a natural choice for the company’s first GRO location.

“Our industry must innovate to survive and GRO is an example of this as it challenges traditional notions about what a PR budget can buy,” said Ava Lawler, regional director, Asia Pacific. “PR campaigns are increasingly integrated worldwide andas the corresponding level of complexity rises, clients want to maximize their budgets as much as they possibly can.With GRO, we offer clients an enhanced service and greater flexibility without an increase in budget.”

Since the time the service was internally launched for testing early this year, several Text 100 clients have successfully adopted the GRO model.

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About Text 100

Text 100 is a global PR agency serving companies that use technology for competitive advantage. Built organically from the ground up, Text 100 uniquely offers the dedication of local agencies and the power and reach of a global agency, Text 100 represents leading brands in 31 offices around the world. Clients of the company include Fujifilm, IBM, Philips, Cisco, Sony and Xerox. Named New Media Agency of the Year by The Holmes Report and winner of PRWeek 's PR Innovation of the Year, Text 100 is at the cutting edge of emerging media technologies and public relations techniques. In August 2006, Text 100 became the first public relations consultancy to establish a presence inside Second Life. For more information about Text 100, please visit www.text100.com

The company announced today that the new user-friendly website have gone live to a worldwide audience.

The company announced today that the new user-friendly website have gone live to a worldwide audience. The new intuitive and intelligent navigation methods will allow customers to gain more information and insights effortlessly. Customers can now compare each and every feature of the product with its competitor products and prices before making a purchase decision. The website has been completely overhauled in terms of menus, ajax features, information architecture, functionalities etc. A list of new brands and product categories has also been added.

According to Arun Kapur, CEO of GadgetsGuru, "With this comprehensive top-to-bottom renewal of our company website, we have focused on consumer website experience, usability and product placement in an entertaining and interactive manner. I am sure it will be compelling enough for our customers to visit it again and again. I am grateful to the web development team for their hard work on this project."

He also added that “The Company has been giving away one Sony PSP for one lucky customer every month. We also have a profit sharing program, where we share a percentage of profit to the customer who refers his friends. We will be coming up with more interesting offers soon.”

The products listed in Gadgets Guru website include Digital Cameras and camcorders, Laptops, Mobile Phones, Technology accessories and peripherals, Car Stuff, Spy Gadgets, and Corporate Gadgets. Gadget Guru’s portfolio of well-known brands includes Apple, Nokia, Sony, Canon, IBM, Palm and Vertu.

The Santoor Legend and Music Composer Pandit Bhajan Sopori has been honoured with the highest civilian

The Santoor Legend and Music Composer Pandit Bhajan Sopori has been honoured with the highest civilian award of the State of Jammu and Kashmir by the Hon’ble Governor S.K. Sinha and Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad for his lifetime dedication and contribution to the Jammu and Kashmir State at a function organized at SKICC Auditorium, Srinagar by Govt. of J&K.

Pandit Bhajan Sopori's has single handedly carried the culture and music of the State of Jammu and Kashmir on his shoulders, in not just taking it to international heights but even providing a respectable status in the Valley, due to his diligent and untiring efforts in nurturing the spirit across generations. The honour is in recognition of his lifetime service.

Pandit Bhajan Sopori is heralded as not just the 'pride of the State of Jammu and Kashmir' and also the 'pride of the country'. The mystic master has been the pioneer in establishing the Santoor on national and international platforms and has come long way since he created history by being the first person to play the Indian Classical music on the Santoor way back in the early 1950s. In his five decades of dedicated work he has explored various dimensions of the Santoor, carrying out many path-breaking innovations for which he is hailed as the ‘Saint of Santoor’ and the ‘King of Strings’. He has formally established the only authentic style of playing the classical Santoor known as the ‘Sopori Baaj’.

A composer of almost 5000 songs in various languages, Pandit Bhajan Sopori has used his Santoor and his compositions to highlight the concept of oneness and foster unity enshrining the idea of national integration, humanism and peace. His recitals and compositions bear the distinctive stamp of his virtuosity and erudition.

The quiet and unassuming maestro is the bearer of the rich musical legacy of the fabled ‘Sufiana Gharana’ of Kashmir, the exclusive Santoor family of the country. In fact what Sopori family has given to the world of music is the instrument Santoor.

For his contribution, he has received numerous awards and honours. Some of the honours conferred on him include Padmashri, Sangeet Natak Academy Award, Shiromani Award, Delhi Ratan Award, Delhi Telugu Academy Award, Shardha Samman, Kala Yogi Award, Golden Jubilee Celebrations Award (AIR-Srinagar) and other lifetime achievement awards like Sangeet Vibhuti, Raag Sagar, Pt. Gama Maharaj Samman, etc. He has also been honoured with the National Flag of the Arab Republic of Egypt.

Publicis Groupe has agreed to acquire leading Indian public relations consultancy Hanmer & Partners

Publicis Groupe has agreed to acquire leading Indian public relations consultancy Hanmer & Partners. Hanmer & Partners employs some 350 professionals in 42 cities across India. This strategic acquisition, subject to the approval of the Indian government’s Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB), is in line with Publicis Groupe’s commitment to expand its offering in high-growth emerging markets. Following this acquisition, Hanmer will be aligned with Manning Selvage & Lee (MS&L), one of the world’s most important public relations firms, and the Indian agency will be renamed Hanmer MS&L. This acquisition significantly strengthens MS&L’s presence and capabilities in India, while offering Hanmer & Partners’ clients access to a global network.

The consultancy specializes in public relations for a wide range of industries including consumer; lifestyle and hospitality; financial services; IT and telecom; media and entertainment; auto, aviation, engineering and infrastructure; and healthcare communications. It works in tandem with its specialized division Hanmer Reach, a unit that helps clients reach audiences across different geographies and diverse cultures. The firm also has several divisions including Hanmer Interactive, a multimedia division that focuses on web-based solutions; Hanmer Events and Hanmer Advertising. Its clients include ACC, Network 18 (CNBC), Bharti Axa, Emirates, Enam, General Motors, ICICI Bank, ICICI Prudential, ING Vysya, LG, Religare, Tata Sky, BPL Mobile, Henkel and Discovery Networks, among others.

Mark Hass, Global CEO of MS&L, said: “We’ve worked with Hanmer & Partners for several years, and we have a very successful history of collaboration. Sunil Gautam and his team will add significant new expertise and resources to the MS&L family in a region that is of growing importance to the public relations industry and MS&L’s global clients. This acquisition is an important component of MS&L’s aggressive growth plans for Asia, where the firm already enjoys a significant presence in China, Japan and Southern Asia.”

Sunil Gautam, managing director of Hanmer & Partners, said: “Partnering with MS&L gives us the opportunity to build our client relationships both inside and outside of India. We are thrilled to have the opportunity to join MS&L, and I think this will be a very fruitful and successful partnership for many years to come.”

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Hanmer & Partners

Hanmer & Partners, with a presence in 42 cities in India, offers a bouquet of services including strategic counseling, corporate image management, brand support, financial public relations, events and promotions, outreach, creative services, interactive services and crisis communications, apart from media relations. Hanmer & Partners employs nearly 350 communications professionals across 10 practice and vertical specializations bringing some of the most creative, yet robust campaigns to life everyday. The firm works with 150 businesses with an even mix of multinational and Indian corporations.

Web site: www.hanmergroup.com

Manning Selvage & Lee

MS&L is one of the world's leading global public relations firms. Headquartered in New York, MS&L has 60 offices throughout North America, Latin America, EMEA and Asia Pacific, as well as an extensive global affiliate network. The agency meets the needs of global and local clients by providing bestinclass services in consumer marketing PR, healthcare PR, corporate communications and technology communications, as well as industry-leading work in digital communications. MS&L won PRWeek's Best Use of Internet/New Media Award in both 2006 and 2007.

Web site: www.mslpr.com

Publicis Groupe (Euronext Paris: FR0000130577) is the world’s fourth largest communications group. In addition, it is ranked as the world’s second largest media counsel and buying group, and is a global leader in digital and healthcare communications. With activities spanning 104 countries on five continents, the Groupe employs approximately 44,000 professionals.

The Groupe offers local and international clients a complete range of communication services, from advertising, through three autonomous global advertising networks, Leo Burnett, Publicis, Saatchi & Saatchi and two multi-hub networks,Fallon and 49%-owned Bartle Bogle Hegarty; to media consultancy and buying, through two worldwide networks, Starcom MediaVest Group and ZenithOptimedia; interactive and digital marketing led by Digitas; Specialized Agencies

and Marketing Services (SAMS) offering healthcare communications, corporate and financial communications, public relations, CRM and direct marketing, event communications, sports marketing and multicultural communications.

Web site: www.publicisgroupe.com

The relentless activist-actor Vani Tripathi has done it again

She is at it again. The relentless activist-actor Vani Tripathi has done it again. She is now making a film on one of the most gruesome truths facing the country i.e. "Farmer Suicides".

Speaking passionately about it as she always does about most things, Vani says that the farmer suicide situation is a "BURDEN ON HER SOUL". Speaking on the topic at length she said I have been going to Maharashtra and its interior belts for number of years by now. I have seen the heart rending conditions that the farmers are facing and the incompetence of the present govt. Which has not been able to do anything about it.

More than a lakh of farmers have committed suicide in the past one year itself only in Maharashtra so you can well imagine what the condition would be all over the country.

Vani says she has nightmares about the farmer suicide situation and says that it is giving her sleepless nights. The entireshooting will happen in the interiors ofthe state and will be there for a month both in the vidarbha and the marathwada region of Maharashtra. Vani says its right time "The truth needs to be told ". And she has decided to take up this very strongly.

Her work with the Bhartiya Janta Yuva Morcha is also in focus as she's addressing "Woman Issues" very convincingly all across the country.

She saysbeing a young national secretary of the youth wing of the party is a huge responsibility and she wants to do more advocacy for the issues relating to young women all across the country.

Talking about her acting work, she said more wants to be on a path which sheconnects to and also talk about the those truths also which we ignore. "My work has to reflect my ideas".

On being asked how she feels about being on aggressive speaker and a "star campaigner" for the BJP She says over "she feels passionate about the political path that she's on". She rejects the word "Star" and says we are all "Karyakartas" of the party and we have to do so much more as every activity has social accountability and she is very aware about it.

Way to go Girl! Hail Girl Power!

Diwali, Arzoo.com, India’s leading travel portal, today announced a special offer

On the festive occasion of Diwali, Arzoo.com, India’s leading travel portal, today announced a special offer where customers can avail guaranteed 10% discount on domestic airfare bookings on Go Air, Spicejet, Indigo, & Indian for travel anywhere within India. Similarly customers can also avail guaranteed 7% discount on International airline bookings to US, Europe and Gulf.

Commenting on this special offer, Mr. Sameer Patil, Head-Marketing of Arzoo.com said, “Diwali is one of the most Grand festival of India and therefore we have announced this special offer to provide 10% discount on 4 domestic airlines to our customers to celebrate, rejoice & travel more by taking benefit of this special offer”. This offer is valid for bookings done via any bank credit card or even by paying cash on delivery between 2nd Nov to 15th November, 2007 for travel on any date till 31st March 08.

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About Arzoo.com:

Through Arzoo.com, customers can book Domestic and International Flights, make Hotel Reservations, buy Domestic & International Holiday Packages, and find Exciting Weekend Gateways and also Service Apartments. Apart from offering amongst the best rates in all categories, the unique value proposition of Arzoo.com is that customers have a choice of multiple ways of making travel reservations via the Internet or Mobile Phones or by calling a Toll Free Number (1-800-22 21 20) for 24x7 assistance, or by simply sending an SMS to 567 67 55 mentioning brief travel requirements.

Arzoo also specializes in handling regular travel requirements of corporate customers, including group bookings. Through special deals with major hotels in all categories across India and overseas, Arzoo suits the budget and tastes of all types of customers.

Tagit, a Singapore based mobile commerce company, with its development base in India,

Tagit, a Singapore based mobile commerce company, with its development base in India, announced that Mobile phone users in India will now be able to book movie tickets in all Cinema Halls owned by AdLabs, the country’s largest chain of screens, using a unique solution called Mobile Box Office which enables users to book tickets, make payment and even select seats using their mobile phones!

All you need to do to block your seats for the latest releases like JAB WE MET and NO SMOKING, is to send an SMS to a predetermined number, download an application which guides you through the whole process, right up to blocking your seats. The system runs on GPRS, giving users a seamless and effortless way of navigating content which is being dynamically updated in real time from Adlab’s website. The confirmation of the booking is sent directly to the user’s phone in text form. Thus no more standing in queue, no more multiple trips to the cinema, and no more buying tickets in the black.

The Indian movie business is experiencing annualised growth rates of about 30 per cent. In 2006, Indian films grossed about USD 2 billion, up from USD 1.5 billion in 2004. A Price Waterhouse Coopers forecast expects revenues will leap to more than USD 4 billion over the next five years. About 30 to 40% of these revenues are from multiplexes, which makes mobile ticketing an attractive proposition.

“With the largest film industry and the largest number of mobile users, India is the ideal place to roll-out this solution,” says Shankar Narayanan, co-founder & president of Tagit. “The mobile phone is probably the one product that has successfully bridged the digital divide and solutions like ours, help the mobile users benefit from internet services, which were till now the preserve of only PC users”. Elaborating, he mentioned that the service has found ready acceptance among cinemagoers of another major cinema chain which has introduced the service. “Our solution enjoys over 55% market share in the burgeoning Mobile e-ticketing market”, he added.

Adlabs Cinemas, well known for its strategic deployment of technology to enhance customers’ cinematic experience, will make this service available across its 110 screens spread across 26 cities. “At Adlabs, we believe in innovation and customer convenience. The Mobile Box Office solution from Tagit empowers our customers and saves them time, effort and money, thus adding to the quality of the cinema-going experience. The response in the first week of its launch has been extremely encouraging”, says Tushar Dhingra, COO, Adlabs Cinemas.

"Adlabs is a premier brand and we are proud to be associated with them for their mobile ticketing platform. This is yet another milestone in our global thrust to be the leading service platform for entertainment, travel, hospitality, commerce and finance", informed Ranjan Kapur, Country Head, WPP India and Chairman of Tagit India.

Commenting on the future plans of the company in India, Narayanan says, 'Mobile internet usage in India will grow at a rapid pace and need-based services such as ticketing, bill payments and mobile government services will become the drivers for this growth, which will in turn lead to the growth of mobile advertising”. According to the latest figures released by TRAI, India has already crossed the 250 million user mark last year, much ahead of schedule. Of this, 25 million subscribers are in the city of Mumbai alone. Given the increasing adoption and ease of usage of GPRS, the community of mobile service users is bound to grow. Conservative estimates place the number close to 20 million in the next few years.

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About Tagit (India) Private Limited

Tagit is a mobile commerce company with a Development and Marketing office in Noida, India. It has innovated the ATM (Advanced Transactional Mobility) platform for mobile commerce which enables secure and seamless payments on mobile phones, and is able to adapt, transform and project online content onto hundreds of different mobile phone models rapidly and at low cost without the need for extensive reconfiguration of operating systems. Tagit has developed a suite of advanced mobile commerce applications for the entertainment , travel, financial and government sectors, and major international companies have already signed up for this unique solution.

About Adlabs Films

Adlabs, a member of the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, is one of the leading movie and entertainment companies in India with a dominant presence across the value chain: production of films and TV content, film processing and services, domestic and international distribution of content and a nationwide cinema chain. Adlabs currently has a market capitalization of over Rs. 2300 crores.

For more information, please contact:
Rohit Srivastava, MelCole PR Shankar Narayanan, Tagit
Phone: +91-11-29834428, 29833118 Phone: +91-9892853310.

The company is founded by Rajendra Khare, ex MD Broadcom India and the founder chairman of Indian Semiconductor Association

The company is founded by Rajendra Khare, ex MD Broadcom India and the founder chairman of Indian Semiconductor Association (ISA), along with Ravi Bhatt, ex Head of Nokia’s R&D center and co-founder of Amber Networks, Anant Kansal and Tapan Datta. The technology foundation has been layered with top quality talent from the media and creative world. CVL Srinivas, ex CEO Asia Pacific, MAXUS (a GroupM media agency) is the CEO of SureWaves. Tushar Vyas, who was Head of GroupM India’s Digital Division has joined as VP Business Solutions. A few more senior persons from the media industry have joined the company including Sanchit Sanga, Rajendra Dwivedi and Prabhvir Sahmey, all from GroupM.

SureWaves has cutting edge technology developed in partnership with Plasmanet of the UK, to distribute content and advertising onto a range of remote Display screens, in real time. The content can be any combination of live or recorded TV, internet feeds, flash files, powerpoint or any internal communication material of an organization. SureWaves plans to create communication channels customised to the client organization, in terms of the content and screen design. The communication channel has easy to use tools that can help manage the content and advertising in real time. Says Chairman and Managing Director Rajendra Khare “SureWaves enables an advertiser or brand owner to better target consumers, ensuring that advertising using this visual medium is not only more effective in attracting the attention of the right people at the right time, but is also more cost-effective”.

Another very unique feature is the ability of customers to interact with the screens via their mobile phones. Using Bluetooth technology, SureWaves screens not only educate the customers but engage them as well by allowing a two-way interaction with the screen. CVL Srinivas, CEO of SureWaves adds “Digital Out of Home screens have already become a blindspot. We are trying to build engagement not only through our contextual and real time content, but through interactivity as well”. A retailer for example can not only promote his products on screen, but can allow his customers to download information from it, onto their mobile phones. This information can be acted upon then and there via Bluetooth or can even be acted upon over a normal GPRS connection later on. SureWaves has been in the market for the past few months and is today piloting its systems with a few lead organizations.

SureWaves is also looking to provide its content management and interactivity solutions to existing Out of Home Display networks both in India and abroad. Srinivas adds “This is a nascent medium around the world. Like in any medium, driving viewer engagement is the key to success. We believe that we have the right technology combined with a good understanding of how such media get consumed. We are open to partnering existing networks to help them realize higher revenues via our more engaging solution.” SureWaves is processing a few enquiries from existing screen networks both from India and abroad.

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SureWaves, a group company of Bangalore based IndusEdge Innovations is introducing revolutionary media convergence solutions, aimed at driving customer engagement. SureWaves has the ability to combine TV content with Web, Out of Home Displays and Mobile phones in a unique manner. These solutions are being targeted at organizations in Retail, Retail Banking, Transport, Hospitality, Health Care, Expos and Government projects where a customized communication channel to drive customer or viewer engagement is beneficial. SureWaves is also positioned to partner existing Out of Home Display networks by creating a network of networks using its unique solutions, and driving higher levels of viewer engagement.

CellSerf (www.cellserf.com) and Candid Marketing (www.candidmarketing.com) joined hands today to enter the mobile advertising space.

CellSerf (www.cellserf.com) and Candid Marketing (www.candidmarketing.com) joined hands today to enter the mobile advertising space.

CellSerf, a mobile media and technology company based out of New Delhi, India and Sunnyvale, CA, has partnered with Candid Marketing, a leading marketing services company, for developing the mobile advertising market and business in India. Candid Marketing is a division of IMSG Plc. (www.imsg.co.uk) with a presence in many of the high growth markets worldwide. In India, Candid Marketing is a leading marketing services company and is widely regarded as the pioneer in innovative below-the-line marketing solutions. With its offices in six major cities, Candid executes marketing and sales programs across more than 120 cities for most major international brands with a presence in India.

CellSerf’s founder Vishal Batra said, "As a highly innovative and leading promotional marketing services company in India, we see Candid Marketing as the ideal media partner for our Mobile VAS offerings. Their reach and reputation is unmatched and we would be able to leverage their experience in taking CellSerf's first-of-kind mobile media application to advertisers for non-intrusive custom-built sniper target solutions."

The recently launched CellSerf mobile application optimizes advertising spends by offering a variety of options for the advertisers to connect with the end users. It offers the advertisers better return for their money by offering targeted advertising on a pay-per-view basis on the very intimate mobile medium.

The advertisers can choose their target viewers based on the user's demographic information, and current interests. The advertiser can present video, audio, picture and text advertisements served on the mobile handset along with a surety that the user has viewed the ad. Further advertisers may choose the pricing models, between CPC (cost-per-click) and CPM (cost-per-million), depending on the nature of its business and marketing campaign.

Batra added, “With CellSerf mobile application, we are presenting advertisers a TV like advertising channel that is many times more personal and captive and importantly non intrusive.”

To add more teeth to the application CellSerf combines Multimedia Instant Messaging, Global Multimedia Mobile Messaging and Multimedia Email that allows mobile users to go beyond the traditional style of communicating in Text and leverage the mobile phone's multimedia capabilities to exchange Video, Pictures and Voice messages. The application and service is free to use. The mobile advertising solution is integrated with mobile IM, Messaging and Email applications to offer targeted multimedia advertisements to end users.

Candid Marketing’s founder and CEO Atul S Nath said, “CellSerf has all the applications to keep young mobile users engaged and connected with their friends and family. This presents itself as an outstanding opportunity for advertisers to interact with customers. To the advertiser we are offering a novel, cost-effective and most importantly interactive medium to communicate with customers.”

Candid Marketing’s Vice President Harsh Sisodia said, “CellSerf is the Swiss-knife of mobile applications as it offers connectivity through Instant Messaging, Email and Mobile Messaging all-in-one”. In between a user sending and receiving messages and emails, advertisements, intuitive communication and response-oriented interaction is facilitated with the user in a non-intrusive way.

With its incomparable penetration in India, the mobile phone as a medium is bigger than any other. There are more mobile phone users than TV viewers and newspaper readers today. The mobile has replaced traditional cameras as the preferred way to capture pictures and record videos. Mobile handsets are preferred for listening to music today and have become a truly personal medium to reach out to customers.

"With the CellSerf mobile application we are offering our clients a new and exciting medium for reaching out to customers. Today the penetration of mobiles in India is tremendous and with CellSerf we are allowing our clients an opportunity to touch each and every one of them in a way that will bring them maximum returns for advertising money", said Harsh.

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About CellSerf

CellSerf is a Mobile Media and Technology company (www.cellserf.com) based out of New Delhi and Sunnyvale, California. CellSerf has developed the next generation mobile messaging and IM service that elevates the user's experience beyond text to take full advantage of the mobile phone's multimedia capability. CellSerf offer’s an integrated application for Multimedia IM, Email and Mobile Messaging for free. Further it also integrates multimedia advertising on the mobile handset. CellSerf offers advertisers a focused and non-intrusive mobile marketing tool to reach customers.

About Candid Marketing

Candid Marketing (www.candidmarketing.com) is a division of IMSG (www.imsg.co.uk) an AIM (London Stock Exchange) listed company with presence in many of the high growth emerging markets of the world. Candid Marketing is India's leading promotional marketing services company and is widely regarded as the pioneer of below-the-line marketing services industry in the country. From its offices in six major cities, Candid manages marketing and sales programs across 100+ cities for most major international brands with a presence in India. Having pioneered promotional marketing in India, Candid is known to be one of the most innovative and experienced companies in the business.

Candid Marketing has offices in New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Kochi, Kolkata, and Hyderabad. In the last 12 years, Candid has managed over 15000 promotions and events across more than 120 cities and 30000 locations nationwide, and is known to be one of the most innovative and experienced companies in the business. Widely regarded amongst clients as the 'execution' specialist, Candid boasts the highest quality promotion execution and management in the industry. Having pioneered promotional marketing in India, Candid owns most resources and equipment, allowing economies of scale to translate into better value for client.

In line with Percept’s continuing evolution as a contemporary integrated communication Consultancy Company

In line with Percept’s continuing evolution as a contemporary integrated communication Consultancy Company, Percept Profile Pvt. Ltd., the Public Relations arm of Percept Holdings Pvt. Ltd. today announced the array of clients bagged nationally in the last quarter. The new accounts acquired range across various categories like Hospitality, Lifestyle/Fashion, Corporate and Media/Entertainment. This gain of 13 new businesses has resulted in a 30% growth in the last quarter of 2007 for the agency.

Speaking on this meteoric rise, Rahat Beri, Chief Operating Officer, Percept Profile evinces, “In the last quarter, we have notched up an impressive list of clients across various practices. Our bottom-up approach to outstanding strategic & research capabilities coupled by project execution, across India, allows us to deliver consistent superior corporate communications transversely a whole range of categories. The Media & Entertainment domain in the last year has grown exponentially in its own space. “

The new accounts gained across Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore are Lucera – A brand of Renaissance Jewellery Ltd., Donear Industries Ltd. – leading Shirtings & Suitings brand, Brioni – Elite designer formals from Italy, s.Oliver – A German apparel brand, ItzCash Card Limited, MDLR Airlines, Amaltas (brands – Lush & Storm), ESP Consultants, Venetian Macao Resort Hotel – Asia’s largest integrated resort destination, Ajmal Perfumes – leading Gulf perfumier, Sai Baba Production’s - Amul Star Voice of India, Paramount Films of India for Transformers, The Bourne Ultimatum, Mighty Heart, Elizabeth-The Golden Age and ASA Film’s - Mumbai Salsa.

“We have strengthened our various domains by consolidating & specializing in 360 degree Communication across spectrum. We have always added value by being a marketing communication partner to all our businesses and going forward we recognize that as a key differentiator in the service we offer “; Ms. Beri added.

The agency will service these accounts on a national basis across Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad & Pune. These new accounts in Percept Profile’s kitty will further consolidate its endeavor in specializing in corporate communication across the spectrum and various fraternities.

Percept Profile’s existing clientele includes Nissan Motor Company, Playwin, TCL, Asia MotorWorks Ltd., Shapoorji Palonji, Tao Art Gallery, Universal Music, BigAdda, Areva T&D India, Percept Picture Company and many other reputed brands.

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About Percept Profile:

Percept Profile is part of Percept Holdings Ltd., which is a strategic holding company that promotes, owns and manages a spectrum of marketing communication companies. Percept Profile takes a 360-degree view of client’s businesses to build powerful and distinct communications programs that resonate with the stakeholders who are critical to their success. For more information please visit http://www.perceptprofile.com

Italian actress Maria Grazia Cucinotta, Ambassador Against Hunger for the United Nations World Food Programme

Italian actress Maria Grazia Cucinotta, Ambassador Against Hunger for the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), has returned from a field visit to projects that the UN agency is supporting in India, urging the international community to strongly commit to support WFP programmes so as to provide education and food to millions of hungry poor children.

The Italian actress strongly appealed for contributions during the press conference that took place today in New Delhi.

“Working side by side with WFP has taught me that each one can make a difference in the fight against hunger. Food can serve as a magnet to bring children to school and change their life”, said Cucinotta, who chose India as her first field visit in her role as WFP Ambassador Against Hunger.

Cucinotta visited WFP-assisted primary schools, mother-and-child health and nutrition centers, and food-for-work activities in the predominantly tribal districts of Jhabua and Dhar in central state of Madhya Pradesh. She was very impressed with the functioning of WFP-supported projects. She learnt first-hand that as a result of the WFP’s support to national school feeding programme, the enrolment in the schools have increased substantially, the attendance rates were higher than in other schools and moreover, the children looked healthy.

“While India is making tremendous progress on the economic front, more efforts are needed in the social arena, in terms of better nutrition, education and health services for the poor. The commitment of the Government of India for hunger and poverty alleviation is commendable. I have been impressed by WFP’s work in India that focuses on strengthening the national food-based schemes by developing better models, including formulation and local production of micronutrients fortified special foods. Every dollar WFP spends leverages several more dollars from existing schemes. This is what external support and capacity development are needed for in India”, said Cucinotta.

Maria Grazia Cucinotta, Oscar nominated in 1994 for the film “Il Postino”, has been appointed WFP Ambassador Against Hunger in 2006 after having produced the Italian film “All the Invisible Children”, that focus the attention on the millions of children and teenagers whose rights are denied by hunger, exploitation and war. The film was realized by eight top directors: John Woo, Emir Kusturica, Spike Lee and others.

WFP is the world's largest humanitarian agency. Last year we gave food to 88 million people in 78 of the world's poorest countries and provided school meals to about 20 million children in 71 countries; almost half of whom were girls. Starting in 1963 and continuing as the largest multilateral conduit for external food assistance to India, WFP has worked with the Government of India to fight against hunger, malnutrition and illiteracy. In 2006, WFP assisted approximately 2.9 million people in India, including 2 million women and children.

India, Jammu & Kashmir and Delhi were in groove together at the ongoing India-International Trade Fair

Recently the heavenly state of India, Jammu & Kashmir and Delhi were in groove together at the ongoing India-International Trade Fair.

Every day IITF is having an evening fulfilled with cultural extravaganza of different cities, in this chain it was the time for artists from J&K to create the waves with the sheer magic of their scintillating performances. And they didn't upset the delhiites on getting the opportunity during the cultural evening organised by J&K Akademi for Art, Culture and Language.

During the cultural programme artists from small towns of Kashmir presented various aspects of Folk Music and Dance in colourful dresses featuring Dogri, Pahadi & Kashmiri Folk Music & Dance, Rough, Mask Dance of Laddakh and folk music from Kargil & Kudd.

The evening was commenced by non other than the CM of Jammu & Kashmir Sh. Gulam Nabi Azad, who was specially invited for this programme. He first applauded the efforts of all the artists and J&K Akademi for making their presence felt through various ways and programmes. He said the art & cultural activities from different states of the country are the main source to show unity and these artists are doing wonderful work in keeping it alive as the monuments amongst the masses.

During the programme, along with Sh. Gulam Nabi Azad, Mangat Ram Sharma (State Minister for Health and Medical, J&K), Ramesh Chandra Sharma (State Min. for PHE, J&K), Abdul Rashiddar, Sh. Kadri, O.P. Sharma (Special Officer, Art & Culture, J&K Akademi) and many others were present there.

India catapulting to the 15 position in 2007 (from the 21st rank) in the coveted Gunn Report

India catapulting to the 15 position in 2007 (from the 21st rank) in the coveted Gunn Report is by no means a small feat. A significant role in which was played by McCann India.

With its celebrated Happydent palace commercial making it to the Top 10 list of the Most Awarded Commercials Worldwide, McCann has helped Indian billing move up the ranks.

This is the first time in Advertising history that an Indian ad has made it to the top 10 most awarded list of the Gunn Report.

Gunn Report is an annual rating of creative work based on awards won by Advertising agencies worldwide in nearly 60 varied award shows and is the prestigious list which agency professional’s across the globe eagerly await.

The Gunn Report positions McCann India at no 22 worldwide and O&M India at no 45 with its adoption campaign garnering the 12th spot.

According to Prasoon Joshi, McCann’s Chairman & Regional Creative Director, APAC, “I am happy that apart from making a more than positive impact on the sales of the product, the happydent commercial has gone on to not only to raise the bar on creativity and win awards for McCann but also boost up India’s ranking as a whole.”

Recently Vasant Vihar based Studio Vasant organised a exhibition of paintings by new and emerging talent from Hyderabad

Recently Vasant Vihar based Studio Vasant organised a exhibition of paintings by new and emerging talent from Hyderabad Bhawandla Narhari and Sunirmal Maiti. The exhibition will continue till 25th November, 2007.

On the occasion of opening, painter Bahwandla Narhari, Baljeet Chaddha (Director, Studio Vasant), Ronita Chatterjee (Gallery Manager, Studio Vasant), Art Curator Victor Vijay Kumar, painters Umesh, Pankaj Mohan Aggarwal and many others were present there.

Bhawandla Narahari's paintings depict scenes from the Telangana region of Andhra Pradesh. The artist is a Gold Medallist from Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University’s College of Fine Arts, Hyderabad, and is employed at the National Institute of Nutrition as a Technical Officer (Artist). He has participated in many solo shows in Hyderabad, Madras, Bombay and Delhi apart from group shows and art camps at many places for the past many years. His art works find place in many national and international prestigious institutions in Hyderabad, Delhi and many art collectors abroad. The artist’s specializes in scenes depicting village scenes, the village atmosphere, life-styles, and festivals.

On the occasion Baljeet Chaddha said, both the artists are very talented. I watched and like their work, their work has intensity to attract an normal human being and are able to present the village / towns' life-style, atmosphere, art and drawings amongst them. Our aim is to appreciate the talents of various artists between the people as well as to present their skills, imagination and the cultural monuments of the country.

CSA announces the opening of its Bulgaria Associate office in Sofia

CSA announces the opening of its Bulgaria Associate office in Sofia, Bulgaria. CSA is Europe’s leading speakers’ bureau. For twenty years, its wide ranging portfolio of motivational, business, keynote and guest celebrity speakers has been instrumental in providing inspirational speeches, rekindling vision and transferring skills to virtually every sector of the world’s economy.

Commenting on the recent expansion, CSA Global Business Development Manager, Emilia Knight, states:

“With Bulgaria’s recent entry into the European Union, CSA sees this as an opportune moment to expand its business practices in the area. As the area has been rather untapped by us in the past, this is an ideal time to get involved by offering our services to companies in order to implement the concepts presented by our experts to boost the Balkan economy. The European Union entry will offer many benefits to the vicinity, and CSA wants to be present to help accelerate the region’s progress.”

CSA Bulgaria will be headed by Christina Vlahova who is the founder of “Intellecta Srl” – strategic marketing consultancy. The operations of the company spread across the whole of the Balkan region. Christina Vlahova brings 13 years of international strategic marketing experience to the CSA family.

“Bulgarian professionals have always been keen on gaining more expert knowledge and adopting the latest business practices. That is why training courses have for decades been one of the best benefits corporations can offer their employees, one of the strongest loyalty building incentives. And now, what we are witnessing is that the whole region is opening up to organizing events both in-house and open for the public, where established international experts are invited to share their knowledge.” – says Christina Vlahova. “While monitoring this trend, the choice of our collaboration with CSA came as a natural business solution – the market itself pointed to it.”

When asked how Bulgaria can benefit from the services and experiences of CSA, Christina Vlahova explains:

“With the opening of CSA Bulgaria, the question changes from ‘Where to find the speakers to invite to our event?’ - a challenge we have all been having during the past 1-2 years to ‘Who from this extensive portfolio of experts and speakers best fits the needs of our event?’ We are switching the dialogue from a logistics-based into a content-based one. Because at the end of the day, all of these bright professionals deserve the best access to information they can get, the best out-of-the-box thinking. If we can utilize the experience of CSA in working with speakers from around the world, then let us tap into it.”

For more information, please visit www.intellectasrl.com/wordpress or contact the CSA Bulgaria PR office directly at csabulgaria@intellectasrl.com

To download a copy of the CSA Speakers brochure go to: http://www.intellectasrl.com/wordpress/csa-celebrity-speakers/

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About:

Celebrity Speakers Associates (CSA), grown from nearly 25 years of experience as Celebrity Speakers Ltd. in the UK, is Europe’s leading speaker bureau. CSA is entrusted with the management of speakers' services, who are among the world’s most outstanding personalities from the field of professional business, academia, politics, sport, entertainment and the arts. There are more than 7,000 speakers and experts in the CSA portfolio.

Intellecta Srl was created in June 2004. Positioned as a Strategic Marketing Consultancy, the operations of the company spread across the whole of the Balkan region and it offers innovative marketing strategies to lager corporations, as well as to small and medium enterprises. For the territory of the Balkans the company operated from Sofia, Bulgaria.

For media inquiries on potential speaker’s interview please write to: csabulgaria@intellectasrl.com or call +359888308180

NYSE listed enterprise management solutions leader, BMC Software

NYSE listed enterprise management solutions leader, BMC Software (NYSE:BMC) has appointed Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide to handle its public relation activities in India.

Emerging the winner from among top names in PR in India, Ogilvy PR will develop communications strategies and programs to raise the profile of BMC Software to attract and recruit talent for the company’s fast growing development centre in Pune. In addition, the comprehensive communications program will include elements of traditional media and industry analyst relations to raise customer and channel partner awareness of BMC’s enterprise management solutions that enable companies to manage IT from a business perspective.

“We are looking forward to doing some result driven work for BMC Software in India. Though Ogilvy PR works with BMC Software in other Asian markets, for India, we had to demonstrate that we are the right agency for them. Our proven expertise in brand building, strong understanding of technology business in the Indian milieu and our contemporary approach to both traditional media and the fast emerging digital media proved to be the differentiators,” commented Ms. Meenakshi Bhalla, President, Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide, India.

“Also, our specialist units in digital influence, CSR and crisis management provide our clients a globally attuned, fully ready agency which can effectively partner them in all their brand building plans,” she added.

“India is a critical and strategic market for BMC, employing more than 750 research and development staff and expanding rapidly. It is critical we have the right partner on board to manage our communications programs and Ogilvy PR demonstrated throughout the evaluation process that they understand our business, the market and what we are trying to achieve,” said Mark Stouse, BMC’s global corporate communications leader.

“Given our effective partnerships with Ogilvy PR companies in other key markets within Asia Pacific, adding India to Ogilvy’s footprint with BMC is a natural evolution,” said Pip Livingstone, senior manager of field marketing and communications for BMC’s Asia-Pacific region. “The agency review for India was hotly contested by a number of top firms, but Ogilvy was a definite stand-out and we’re pleased to be working with them in such an important market.”

Luca Penati, managing director of Ogilvy PR’s Global Technology Practice, said: “For several years, Ogilvy PR has been a strategic partner for BMC Software in the Asia Pacific region. BMC requires a team that is familiar with the complexity of the enterprise management software industry, yet is able to go beyond traditional tech PR with a team that knows how to create thought leadership campaigns and link those campaigns to concrete business results.”

Ogilvy PR is currently BMC Software’s agency of record in a number of countries in Asia-Pacific. This includes H-Line in China, Taiwan and Hong Kong; PRAP in Japan; and Howorth Communications in Australia.

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About Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide

Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide (Ogilvy PR) is a leading global marketing communications firm, with offices in more than 60 cities around the world. For more than 25 years, Ogilvy PR has provided strategic public relations counsel to a variety of clients across its consumer marketing, corporate, healthcare, technology, public affairs, social marketing and entertainment practices. The agency also offers biotechnology and government affairs expertise through its subsidiaries Feinstein Kean Healthcare and Ogilvy Government Relations, respectively. Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide is part of the WPP Group, one of the world's largest communications services organizations (NASDAQ: WPPGY, www.wpp.com). For more information, visit our Web site at www.ogilvypr.com.

"Sliver of Time" is the name of exhibition of paintings by painter Kota Neelima and photographs of Anuj Parti.

"Sliver of Time" is the name of exhibition of paintings by painter Kota Neelima and photographs of Anuj Parti. Organised at The Travencore Place, the exhibition was inaugurated by Smt. Shiela Dixit (Hon'ble Chief Minister, Delhi) recently. On the opening ceremony along with Shiela Dixit, Kota Neelima, Anuj Parti & his mother, Shikha Sharma, K.V.S. Rama Sharma, Rajeev Sethi, Raja Reddy, Kaushalya Reddy, Yashodhraraje Sindhiya, Latika Dixit and Pawan Khera were also present there.

SLIVER OF TIME

It is a thin layer of memory. Out of place in present. Too early for future. Too late for past. It is easy to confuse the past with the future because both meet for a moment in the present. But how is one to know that this moment is indeed the present, if it is already passing on into the past? The synapse of memory in the brain is already forming for this passing moment. But what if the moment is frozen now, before it turns future into past?

It will be a very thin layer of memory. Of clouds before they become waves. Of lotuses before they return to the depth. Of waters resting before they turn into rain. Of that layer of time which exists only for one heart beat. In the next beat, it would have formed a memory, unchangeable, forever.

But for now, it belongs neither to present, past nor future. It does not even belong to time. In time, however, it will be finally lost. Here is that precious layer of memory in paintings and photographs, colours and pigments, the only means pure enough to qualify for this momentary mischief. For, it is a moment stolen from time. A moment that the future gave up and the past has not yet claimed.

LIGHT AND ITS MYRIAD FORMATIONS

Each of these recent paintings explores and dives into a separate wavelength of colour…yet the patterns of her poetic voice reign. For the moments incarnate which decipher her metaphors of fecund flora, still life-scapes, and the abstract of the natural realm, hang as one as the symphony unfolds. Nonetheless, it is important to step back and absorb this raga with space, as the juxtaposition of each piece could confuse the novitiate.

The artist speaks of kaala, the timelessness of her work. In each unfolds a conscious exploration from the clouds to myriad dimensions of that which she names ‘depth’. Such that strong, albeit discursive spectrums range from the highest to the lowest reign. To manage within a single series to embrace that which a single being aims to sense, both as a creative and vital force. Like a 19th century photographer (John Thomson) who first captured simultaneously the clouds and the land in a single glass plate negative frame, paralleling a dancer whose arms sweep in an arc of 360 degrees, the expanse of a panoramic lens. She lives surrounded by a natural dimension, which she has nurtured. So, in her work do these sensibilities come alive through other than pure green tonalities? One sees fuchsias, blues of the sea and sky. …Small interstices within larger compositions glean this idea of slivers of time. For as the metaphors of moonlight (unable to be possessed, ephemeral) are inherent to essential creativity and atomistic prowess so does her exploration carry one from the land-locked to the mountain range to the limitless lands of one’s sensorial lexicon.

Stillness, at once vibrancy, the artist’s strokes defy categorization. In one work, there is exuberance, with spans of realms of eternity. However, in another, she addresses the superficies of shallowness of the so-called surface. This work embraces at once, no matter what stage, this shadowing stretch of vision. An extreme burst, from tonal hues within one semi-abstract work, towards another in pure chromatic exploration – blues, reds, greens (very few, albeit ironically that she lives surrounded by the myriad caprices of the verdure kingdom to burgeon with such a force), ochre, creams and gilded tangerine, browns of earth and bark, shades of turmeric and goldenrod and yellow, pinks and purples complete the equations.

What is expressed in Liquid Glass or Corridors of Light - the depths of the silence of the stroke of the brush, which at another moment can be as vibrant as the rush of white water running. Metaphors of time are at work within and betwixt these canvases, such as Order and Claims of Water. Her earlier series in 2006, entitled the echoing life of nature, bring to mind this incessant searching to meld the nature-scape, the nature morte, and the ethereal/surreal landscape, cum transcendent imagery. There speaks a desire to render the intangible, what has concrete natural life, but passes through our existence in seasonal unfolding. To consider – the abstract and figurative as one and the same, as life purports to do. Conscious and unconscious, the perceived and the intuitive, touched and felt. Five senses swell to multifarious renditions like chords and octaves congeal as crescendo. From the minute to the immense, the pattern of a leaf echoes with the ripple of water, the vein of a tree.

These works conjure a momentary pause, as if between breaths, placing one foot before another, a step from nature’s sunsets to sunrises, when the pastels and flames fuse at once. Just as for those who sail who understand, as do cinematographers, the meaning of the phrase ‘sweet light’ when the sea and land meet in one hue and vanishing perspective. What shall follow as this artist hones her craft and vision in the future shall be a pleasure to encounter, as her brushes focus more contently on the pulse of energy, and she find her voice.

The heart perceives and experiences, the mind soaks them up and stores, and an artful metamorphosis happens

The heart perceives and experiences, the mind soaks them up and stores, and an artful metamorphosis happens. The soulful journey of the artist is through the highway of such experiences that overflow spontaneously onto the canvas, their true essence recalled and reflected in flashes of paints and colour. The artist captures the ethereal, the sublime, which is the portrayal of life itself. This is what we get to watch in "EYES SEES – HEART PERCEIVES" an exhibition of paintings by Delhi based artist SHUCHI KHANNA at Studio Vasant, Vasant Vihar, New Delhi.

On the occasion of opening ceremony artist Shuchi Khanna, Shamshad Hussain (Sr. artist & son of renowned artist M.F. Hussain), Soniya Jaitly (Fashion Designer), Ashwin Aishwarya (Founder Director – Global Art Village), Probir Sikdar (Sr. Artist), Dr. Mukesh Jaitly (Dentist – Orthodontist), Baljit Chaddha (Director – Studio Vasant), Victor Vijay Kumar (Art curator & painter), Ronita Chatterjee (Gallery Manager – Studio Vasant) were present there.

The artist is exposed to various facets of life, as a daughter, wife, mother, and teacher and above all as a Woman in this Man’s World. She seeks to express as it were the day & night of life.

While the artist is aware, even if she does not endorse Shakespeare’s view that “This life is a tale told by an idiot full of sound and fury, signifying nothing”, she believes in the Wordsworthian sensitivity to the greener side of life -- “In small proportions we just beauties see and in short measures life may perfect be”. This series is, in such short proportions, an amalgamation of a cascading medley of feelings emerging from inner space as agony and ecstasy and much else that the viewer too may see, imagine or conjure!

THE THOUGHT BEHIND SHUCHI KHANNA’S PAINTINGS

Drawing from the core of her femininity, guided by the soul of spiritual quests, Shuchi Khanna is a multi dimensional Artist in the real sense of the term. The young artist steps out from the universal patterns to articulate a life through her canvas and colors. She stimulates her brush mainly to convey relations among Men, Women, and the Nature, beyond boundaries of thought. She dexterously conveys that women are the Creators & they glue the world together. She uses extra splashes of pastel colors in her works. But let the placid shades not beguile. She subtly brandishes the brush as a plume, which could well be a hard sell reminder of the chaos of the times. Her paintings speak a lot about Women Empowerment without harsh & obvious confrontation with the nature. Her paintings are an effective mix of Divinity, Hope and Inspiration. The essence of her work is not lost into the labyrinths of ingenious strokes. If she gives a chorus of the protagonist, she supports the thought of her piece with strong colors. This lends her intellect a quality that directs towards a curiosity. Her fields are anywhere, from Ceramic surfaces, Cement Walls to Clay pots & Wooden Doors. From Hand Made/Art Papers to Canvas & Wooden Boards. Apart from women, she inculcates the presence of mysticism in her works, as evidenced in her ‘Gayatri Mantra series ... The ‘OM’ touching sacred beads only gives out the message of the presence of the Lord and the Almighty. These symbols, nonchalantly cast into the background of a blush of colors, artistically convey the blueprints of existence and suggest, quietly, the insignia of life.

She is Delhi University graduate & a qualified Commercial Artist who underwent further training in the Creative Arts at the Academy of Fine Arts and Literature, New Delhi. She qualified for the degree of Bachelor of Education from the Allahabad University.She accredits herself for being a free-lance graphic designer and counselor for reputed advertising agencies. Presently SHUCHI heads the Department of Fine arts at the Sanskriti School, a prestigious School in Delhi. She teaches Applied Art to classes Eleven and Twelve.

TSOTSI– an Academy Award Winner in the Best Foreign Language Film Category in the year 2006

Adding another feather to its teeming cap, Percept Profile has bagged the highly acclaimed foreign language flick Tsotsi. TSOTSI– an Academy Award Winner in the Best Foreign Language Film Category in the year 2006, was screened at the much-anticipated IFFI on the 24th of November 2007 in Goa amidst much fanfare. Directed by Gavin Hood and Produced by Peter Fudakowski - TSOTSI, a movie that has strong screenplay backing and intense display of emoting skills - is proudly being presented by Percept Profile at the esteemed IFFI this year in Goa.

TSOTSI had been awarded the Oscar in the Best Foreign Language Category in the year 2006.

Starring Presley Chweneyagae – a gifted actor in the title role, TSOTSI is an endearing tale of a teenage boy who has repressed the memories of his past and lives his life in the present. Seemingly indifferent to emotions and hence uncaring towards the world and its beautiful forms of life, the story revolves around various incidents which helps him transcend into a different mindset slowly. How the story transcends into an emotional plot; when Tsotsi carjacks and accidentally chances upon a little baby inside the car. From there onwards, various incidents he comes across changes his life - forming the crux of the movie.

Making its grand release in India in the month of December, TSOTSI promises to be a movie that captivates Indian audiences with its unique tale of ‘Innocence lost!’ Percept Profile, the PR agency that is promoting media activities for this tale of sheer brilliance in India, ensures that the movie captivates the minds of the Indian audiences and thus viewed by audiences of all age groups across the country.

Percept Profile, a brand name by itself has to its credits movies such as Traffic Signal, Aap Ka Surroor, Mera Pehla Pehla Pyaar, Phir Milenge, Mumbai Salsa, Bong Connection and My Friend Ganesha…. The PR agency has been instrumental in the success of the popular animated flick Hanuman and now is all set to ensure that Hanuman Returns achieves global recognition. Amongst International films, Profile has handled production houses including the likes of Paramount Pictures and their movies namely Transformers, Disturbia, The Bourne Ultimatum and The Mighty Heart. Apart from these, Elizabeth – The Golden Age an Oscar winning classic by Shekhar Kapur has now made its successful entry in India.

When asked, Rahat Beri - COO of Percept Profile, mentioned….”We indeed feel very very proud of being associated with such an acclaimed movie. Percept Profile has been focused relentlessly over the past few years in growing the Media & Entertainment vertical of its business. And has taken some very serious initiatives in this vertical, which has only enriched its domain expertise. TSOTSI is one such example

VIPs in hundreds from across India descended on the mammoth well-decked Garware Stadium

The sleepy town of Aurangabad in Maharashtra woke up to the biggest wedding of all times whilst Karan Darda, son of political bigwig Rajendra Darda & nephew of popular MP & Chairman Lokmat Group Vijay Darda, tied the knot with Ruchira Aggarwal, an advocate by profession.

VIPs in hundreds from across India descended on the mammoth well-decked Garware Stadium. Undoubtedly the wedding of the year, this event had the crème Dela crème of India in attendance, drawn from Bollywood, corporate world, politics & media.

The celebrity list included big names from the realm of politics, including Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, Civial Aviation Minister Praful Patel, Railway Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav, Ram Vilas Paswan, Amar Singh, Farooq Abdullah, Rajiv Shukla, Jaya Pradha & Jaya Bachhan. The corporate world was well-represented too- Gautam Singhania & Vijay Mallaya being the notable ones. A battery of Bollywood stars like Anil Kapoor, Ritesh Deshmuhk, Tulip Joshi, Yukta Mukhi, Asrani & ace director Madhur Bhandarkar spent the entire evening congratulating the Dardas. The media fraternity came in large numbers to cover one of the biggest weddings of Maharashtra, including senior editors of print & electronic media and Rahul Mittra, CEO Brandsmith.

The bridegroom’s father Rajendra Darda & uncle Vijay Darda were seen patiently welcoming the guests at the massive stage erected to accommodate the celebrities & VIP,s. “We are elated to see the turnout today,” said MP & Chairman Lokmat Vijay Darda. “This is a result of the love that the Darda family has earned over the decades.”

More than 20 chartered flights brought the VIP guests to and fro from Aurangabad and nearly 20,000 people attended this mega wedding.

News is nothing but information floating form North East West South

News is nothing but information floating form North East West South. We do get all the information about all the incidents happening across the globe through newspapers and magazines, as they are the trustworthy source of all type of information. But what if somebody intends to collect the information about newspapers and magazines itself? The question in no longer an unanswered one! Information of all publications is now just a click away. Thanks to www.printnpublications.com

Mumbai based company Prime Info (India) has launched a new portal www.printnpublications.com to target communications, marketing, media and PR professionals who sometimes find it difficult to find information on local newspapers and magazines of a particular city. Printnpublications offers a solution to the problem as it has a directory consisting list of newspapers and magazines being published from various metros be it Mumbai, Delhi or cities like Lucknow, Patna, Indore or Pune. Even the publications from the small towns of the country, have been listed on the portal for the advertising and PR people to reach out to hinterland preparing the best media plan.

“The website has been promoted by the people from the field of Advertising and Media having more than 25 years of experience and it aims to become a valid reference source for information of print media to media buyers, media planners, advertising agencies, retails clients and all. It is a good platform to display relevant information including, advertisement tariff, circulation, demographics, communications and edition details,” Mr. Upendra Vaidya, director of the project infomed.

“We have also tied up with google and with the help of google maps, it would be possible for our viewrs to tarce the exact location of the newspapers office. This would be more helpful while searching the information of newspapers based at rural level.Currently we are preparing a list of only ‘INS accredated’ newspapers but the ‘non-accredated’ ones would also be added soon, Vaidya said.

The website already been operational, shows the information of various newspapers from more than 1200 cities among 28 states and the number is continuesly increasing. Various publications from Andhra Pradesh, Aassam, Bihar, Chandigarh, Chattisgarh, Delhi, Goa, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Jharkhand, J&K, Karnataka, Kerala, Meghalaya, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Punjab, Pondicherry, Rajsthan, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttaranchal, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal have already been listed on the website.

There are two types of listing the newspapers on this website viz. Basic Listing and Premium Listing.

Basic Listing

Basic Listing is maintained by our editorial team. List containes only name of publication and city of publication. Charges for basic listing is Nil. If you want to add your name, please send email with details to info@printnpublications.com. Our editorial team will add the name after receipt of details.

Premium Listing

Premium listing offers facility to display various information about the publication. Details such as communication address, telephone, editor, admanager, rate tariff, circulation, language, periodicity etc are provided. This data helps advertising agencies, media planner to plan their advertising budget.

One can update tariff from own side. For this one will get username and password, which will help him / her to update all the information on the fly. One can just register the information by visiting http://www.printnpublications.com/contact.

“Various Ad-agencies, PR agencies would find this website very useful while preparing their annual ad-budget. We will ensure that the information made available on this website will be accurate and will be updated from time to time,” Mr. Vaidya said.

Sopori Academy of Music and Performing Arts (SaMaPa) as the name itself suggests that it's an institution

Sopori Academy of Music and Performing Arts (SaMaPa) as the name itself suggests that it's an institution of music and performing arts. SaMaPa is not merely an academy but a cultural movement aimed at propagating and popularizing Indian classical and traditional music with a focus on Jammu and Kashmir State for which it has been recognized on a global level. SaMaPa serves as a cultural bridge between the State of Jammu and Kashmir and rest of the country representing the heartbeat of J&K people and its culture.

SaMaPa, under the aegis of its Chairman and President - the Santoor Legend and Composer Pandit Bhajan Sopori, has raised the level of music in J&K bringing it in the world music scenario. Pandit Sopori, hailed as the ‘Pride of the State and Nation’, has through his music highlighted the concept of oneness and foster unity enshrining the idea of national integration, humanism and peace amongst the common man and the youth in particular.

Alike day & night, grief & happiness, loss & win are incomplete without each other, art & culture, literature & music too are also incomplete without each other or it makes the perfect combination, keeping this perfect combination in mind SaMaPa have done great work in the field of arts, creativity and literature alongside music. And the example of the same can be seen in their annual music festival "SaMaPa Sangeet Sammelan", which was entered into 3rd year recently with two days Festival at Kamani Auditorium at Copernicus Marg, New Delhi.

During the two days festival an art exhibition by artists of J&K Akademi of Art, Culture & Language was also organised and two legendary personalities from the music industry; Tabla Maestro Padma Vibhushan Pt. Kishan Maharaj and the veteran music composer Sh. Khayyam were honoured with prestigious 'SaMaPa Vitasta Award 2007' and Ustad Gulam Mohammed was honoured with 'SaMaPa Sher-E-Kashmir Sheikh Mohd. Abdullah Award' for Dogri Folk Music. Pandit Kishan Maharaj & Sh. Khayyam were awarded for their lifetime contribution in the field of Indian Classical Instrumental Music (Tabla) & Music Direction respectively, whereas Ustad Gulam Mohd. was awarded for his contribution to Dogri Folk Music.

The first day of the festival belonged to the Santoor of Santoor maestro & music composer Abhay Rustum Sopori, Vocal of Harish Tiwari and Tabla recital by Pandit Kishan Maharaj and his grandson. The second day commenced in the morning with Santoor Ensemble by the Students of Salvan Public School, Gurgaon which was coordinated by Roshan Ali (disciple of Pt. Bhajan Sopori), followed by Swar-Laya Samvad (Feat. female Musicians) by Su. Maitree Majumdar, Su. Veena Sawale (Vocal), Su. Preeti Sinha (Pakhawaj), Dr. Vasudha Saxena, Dr. Neelu Sharma, Su Khushboo (Tabla) and ended with Vocal Recital by Pt. Madhup Mudgal. Second evening of the two days musical festival consisted of Sitar-Sarod Duet by Kedia Bandhu (Sh. Manoj & Sh. Mormukut Kedia), Vocal Recital by pt. Samresh Chawdhury and Odissi Dance by Guru Kiran Segal and troupe. Painting exhibition by artists of J&K Akademi was also the point of attraction for guests and all the delhiites.

The festival was a huge success for all the artists as more than thousands of people came to enjoy and the sizzling performances of the artists left them mesmerised. During the festival many distinguished guests including Zohra Sehgal, Pt. Rajan-Sajan Misra, Dr. Shanno Khurana, Gurcharan Singh Chadak (Min. of PWD, J&K), Sh. Shambhu Nath Sopori, Pt. Bhajan Sopori, Aparna Sopori, Pakistani Urdu poet Farhat Shehzad, Dr. Farooq Abdullah (Hon'ble Member Parliament, Rajya Sabha), Jugal Kishore (Hon'ble Min. for Rural Development, J&K), Dr. Rafeeq Masoodi (Commissioner Secretary, J&K Academy, J&K), Pt. Mangat Ram Sharma (Hon'ble Min. for Health, Medical Education, Employment & Ladakh Affairs, J&K), A.R. Shaheen (Hon'ble Member Parliament, Lok Sabha), Lov Verma (Jt. Secretary, Deptt of Culture, Govt. of India) were also present there.

SaMaPa Sangeet Sammelan is acknowledged as one of the top festivals of music in India. With its motive - jan jan tak sangeet (Music to the masses), SaMaPa serves as a cultural bridge between Jammu and Kashmir State and rest of the country representing the heartbeat of J&K people and its culture.

Pixelkraft has launched the first ever interactive site dedicated to brand videos

Pixelkraft has launched the first ever interactive site dedicated to brand videos. Indibiz.tv is designed to meet three simple objectives – recall, compare and respond.

Convergence is driving the evolution of various forms of interactive media, resulting in information/content that is not limited by geography or time. Interactive advertising presents fresh challenges for advertisers who have hitherto adopted an interruptive strategy.

Indibiz.tv is an online video directory for brands, targeted primarily at the tech-savvy Indian, both home and abroad. But with product and service categories that make for easy accessibility and a simple-to-use interface, www.indibiz.tv appeals to practically everyone.

As a complement to television advertising, www.indibiz.tv allows the viewer to view the videos of a number of brands for a particular product or service. Post which if the advertiser has opted for a response feature, the viewer may choose to visit the brand’s website, or interact with the advertiser through any of the other touch points - email, chat or phone. Response to brand communication is instantaneous, and conversion to business is very high, because the viewer has actually opted to visit Indibiz.tv and see the commercial.

The response from Media buying houses, Advertising agencies and Corporates has been good, and videos from Airtel, Amararaja Batteries, Ford, Hindustan Unilever, Himalaya, ING Vysya, Mahindra Holidays, MK Electric, Nokia, Parryware, Saint Gobain, Titan Watches, Wipro, Yamaha, etc are already featured on the site.

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www.indibiz.tv is brought to you by PixelKraft, a 4-year-old media solutions company based in Chennai who recently launched RamandRia.tv – India’s First English Micro Sitcom for the web. Pixelkraft is into Content Creation, Online Distribution, Online Exhibition, Advertising – Brand Development & marketing communication solutions.

The ABVP and All Jharkhand Student's Union (AJSU) combination are all set not to repeat the flaws

The ABVP and All Jharkhand Student's Union (AJSU) combination are all set not to repeat the flaws at the Vinoba Bhave University Election. The coalition that supposedly had a majority at VBU could not achieve expected success. The coalition this time is putting in extra effort to safeguard its candidates against the threats and horse trading.

Karunanidhi, State Office Secretary (ABVP) said that the results of the VBU are pointing towards the ill trends entering the field of the student elections. He said, "Horse trading and threatens to the candidates has resulted in the victory of the opposition on the two seats at the VBU."

Karunanidhi added that the university seems to be working to make National Students Union of India (NSUI) victorious in the election. "The step of the Vice chancellor where in he used his special rights to approve the candidature of a candidate with criminal background totally clears his intention."

Besides, the coalition is thinking of ways by which the candidates can be safeguarded. A higher source of the coalition said that a workshop for the candidates would be conducted, “We will keep our candidate at some location and bring them back on the day of poll, this would save them from all shorts of harassments and in those couple of days they would also learn more about the organization and the student’s rights,” he added.

The coalition is still fighting for the winners from the Ghagra College whose names are not enrolled in the electoral list. Rajeev Shadeo, District coordinator, ABVP said that it is a matter of shame if the university authority does not have the list of colleges that have gone into elections, “The university authority are doing as guided by there masters, we would take the matter in court now,” he added.

Harish Kumar from AJSU said that the coalition has about 120 members, “Our coalition is all set to win the five seats, and the only condition is that the university authority remains unbiased,” he added.

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THE first Public Relation Firm in Jharkhand. We provide the bestest of the press coverage and bring you closest to the target audience. Apart we make small motin pictures. A complete package of publicity in Jharkhand is here.

Eureka Communication is all about young people, who who are determined to give Public relation a new dimension. Based in Ranchi, Jharkhand, we have group of 12 hard working professionals.

Grand Kerala Shopping Festival” scheduled to take place across 14 districts of Kerala starts from 1st December

Grand Kerala Shopping Festival” scheduled to take place across 14 districts of Kerala starts from 1st December 2007 to January 15th 2008. The festival will cater to the local populace, the NRIs and the foreign tourists.

Positioned as the largest ever shopping festival in India, with a participation of over 1500 establishments across the state of Kerala, the festival will be accompanied by a huge marketing campaign, estimated to be around 18 crores.

141Sercon – part of the WPP group and one of the largest specialised Below the Line has bagged the prestigious Unique initiative to leverage state tourism and position as the shopping haven.

This joint initiative will extend across all retail, entertainment and tourism related touchpoints across the state which would include establishments which focus on handicrafts & handlooms, hotels & restaurants, spas & resorts, jewellery & lifestyle, electronics & home products, spices & coir products.

The festival offers a great opportunity to brands and sponsors to be part of the largest ever festival in India. The festival offers opportunities for brands to create brand awareness and association while also ensuring experiential connect in the last mile.

The Grand Kerala Shopping Festival promises to offer numerous opportunities for brand exposure, on-site signage and displays, cross-promotions, contests, naming rights, and destination marketing activities associated with tour packaging – plus official status with promotional opportunities in print, web, and broadcast media, and high visibility to large, targeted audiences at the lifestyle level.

This festival is an endeavour to equal the popular annual shopping carnivals in Hong Kong and Dubai.

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About 141Sercon:

141Sercon has been the outcome of the coming together of two of the largest activation networks in Asia, SERCON and 141 Worldwide. The combined entity is one of the largest specialized “below-the-line” marketing services agencies which cater to the emerging markets in Asia. 141Sercon is part of the WPP Group.

Recently 141Sercon launched 1010, the group’s comprehensive digital initiative. Embarking on the philosophy of ripples of change, 1010 provides its clients and partners a unique approach of thinking beyond the obvious and translating the fundamentals into the strongest possible interactive communication solutions.

141Sercon conceptualizes and executes effective business events and below the line marketing initiatives to help clients access markets and engages their channel and customers. 141Sercon currently provides this value offering to more than 70 leading brands and organization, across FMCG, Consumer Durable, Services and Information Technology verticals across the geographies of Asia. The team at 141Sercon endeavors to understand the brand’s marketing challenges, its environs, it’s customer behavior and channel response, and addresses them by using Below The Line Marketing techniques, in both the offline and online formats. The absolute focus on core competencies and deliverables for the clients has helped 141Sercon become one of the largest experiential marketing solutions provider across Asia.

"The Caral – SUPE Civilization 5,000 Years Of Cultural Identity In Peru may change the world historys,"

"The Caral – SUPE Civilization 5,000 Years Of Cultural Identity In Peru may change the world historys,": RUTH SHADY SOLIS

Recently a press conference was held at the Press Council Of India, New Delhi, organized by the Embassy of Peru in India & Brandsmith, a leading brand management, events, promotions & business advisory company.

Addressing the conference, His Excellency Carlos A Yrigoyen Forno,the Acting Ambassador of Peru in India & World-renowned archeologist Ruth Shady shared their startling revelations on the discovery of one of the oldest urban civilizations in the world & the oldest civilization of the Americas-the ancient city of Caral in Peru.Ruth Shady Solís is a Peruvian anthropologist and archeologist. She is also founder and director of the Archeological project Caral. Throughout her career, she directed many different projects of archeological investigation on the coast, the highlands and the rain forests of Peru, placing emphasis on the study of the development of the complex socio-political organizations. She was director of the Museo Nacional de Arqueología y Antropología del Perú (Nacional museum of Arqueology and Antropology of Peru), and director of the Museum of Archeology and Anthropology of National University of San Marcos.

She has worked at the Caral site from 1994 onwards and is credited with the discovery of the first known civilization of Peru; Shady has named the civilization after Caral, while the term Norte Chico has been adopted in English.She holds the offices of President of ICOMOS-PERU, principal professor and co-ordinator of the master of archeology graduate program faculty of social sciences of the UNMSM and director of the special archeological project Caral-Supe/INC.India is holding for the first time the XII International Conference of the National Trustees and Ms Ruth Shady has been invited by INTACH (India National Trust for Art & Cultural Heritage) to share her discoveries with everybody.

The discovery of Caral reshapes the history of Peru as well as the history of the world. From now on besides Mesopotamia, Egypt, India and China, Peru will have to be included with the exceptional testimony of such an old culture of peace..Also present at this important press conference was Rahul Mittra, CEO Brandsmith & brand advisor to the Peruvian Embassy in India .

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Brandsmith provides business advisory and positioning services to business globally. We specialize in integrated marketing and corporate communications, including strategic planning, events, business advisory, graphic design, advertising, direct mail, web services & media management services.

Above-the-line
TV, print advertising, in-film advertising, radio, billboard, cinema.

Below-the-line
Point of sale, POP, promotion, direct mail, e-mail marketing

Branding
Brand Strategy, Market Research, Brand Implementation, Corporate Identity, Logo Design, Product Development, Evaluation and Testing, Multilingual Branding, Brand Simplification, Brand Architecture, Brand Management.

Consulting/Training
Business Advisory, Search Optimization, Media Training, International Consulting, Corporate Training, External and Internal Training.

Design
Graphic Design, Print Literature, Brochures, Packaging, Product Design, Prototypes, Exhibits, Signage, Annual Reports, Trade-Shows, Up-Front Events.

Multimedia
Interactive Design, Web Design, Content Development, CD/DVD Design, Musical Scores and Jingles, Broadband, Video ads.

Media
Media Planning, Co-ordination, Buying, Optimization.

Public Relations
Media Relations, Structured Public Relations, Product Publicity

A point-of-purchase display for 24 Carat Fish Food designed by UAE based advertising agency Inca Tanvir Advertising

A point-of-purchase display for 24 Carat Fish Food designed by UAE based advertising agency Inca Tanvir Advertising, won the coveted Silver Statue at the prestigious London International Awards (LIA) held at The Hippodrome on November 12, 2007, in London. The entry was one of a record 17,660 entries from 81countries.

The LIA , now in its 22nd year, honours preeminent work in Advertising, Design and Digital media. The highly coveted and difficult to attain statue has become an international icon of creative excellence. The distinguished international jury comprised of the most talented, recognized and awarded professionals.Inca Tanvir was established in the United Arab Emirates in 1976 and has a portfolio of local, regional and international brands.The agency prides itself in 'communicative advertising to a multi-racial audience'.

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Additional information on the London International Awards -- www.liaawards.com
Additional information on Inca Tanvir Advertising -- www.incatanvir.com

In the chain of organising paintings exhibition by different artists from all over the country, recently Studio Vasant

In the chain of organising paintings exhibition by different artists from all over the country, recently Studio Vasant organised 'Blooming Joy' a solo exhibition of paintings by Madhu Jain. On the inauguration ceremony, painter Madhu Jain, Shigeyuki Shimamori (Counsellor, Japan Information Centre, Embassy of Japan), Victor Vijay Kumar, Baljeet Chaddha, Ronita Chatterjee, Ashok Jain and many other guests were present there.

BLOOMING JOY -

The biggest lessons for life come from Nature. Nature is the mentor of life, living and rejuvenation. The expanse of human ego now is extending beyond what is basic and necessary for living. We define good living in terms of increasing quantities of resources we can consume irrespective of our needs. The result is in front of us. Depleting resources, polluted rivers, toxic air, holes in ozone, vanishing forests, diseased soil all are a pointer to a dark future for humanity. Can our greed for profit make us myopic and we will bequeath to future generations of earth a landscape of death and disease. All the environmental groups are fighting a losing battle to save our beautiful earth.

It is said all good things come free. You never pay for the fragrant air you breathe in as you walk in a forest. What can be more joyous than to watch flowers blooming in Spring. Madhu Jain the artist exhibiting in Studio Vasant New Delhi has spent considerable time learning Japanese painting style. She paints blooming flowers, swaying bamboos and Nature in general. She also has learnt the language which helped her to understand the cultural and artistic nuances better. She paints Nature as it offers vignette of the eternal joys. Samuel Taylor Coleridge is nearer the truth of Nature when he says—

So will I build my altar in the fields,
And the blue sky my fretted dome shall be,
And the sweet fragrance that the wild flower yields
Shall be the incense I will yield to Thee

Madhu Jain is in search of the spirit of Romantics through her Japanese art inspired oeuvre. A journey into joyous beauty!

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UK’s leading Intangible Assets Valuation Company, Intangible Businesses Limited (IBL)

UK’s leading Intangible Assets Valuation Company, Intangible Businesses Limited (IBL) is to sign a deal with MTI in London this week, as part of which Intangible Business’s proprietary valuation models and solutions will be rolled out across Asia and Middle East under the MTI Consulting banner. MTI Consulting having recently increased its offerings in 6 specialized business units to become a full services consulting company, now offers Brand Valuation as part of its increased bouquet of services in Branding Solutions. This strategic alliance between the two companies seeks to offer Sri Lankan Corporate Clients globally acclaimed Intangible Asset Valuation services, which is still in its infancy in the Asian region.

Intangible Business which commenced operations in 2001, is the world’s largest independent brand valuation consultancy, servicing clients in four sectors; marketing, finance, legal and banking. Having built an enviable international reputation for producing objective evaluations and insight for some of the world’s biggest brands, the company draws on its experience from working amongst many sectors, such as telecom, FMCG, pharmaceuticals, financial services, consumer goods, retail, fashion, not-for-profit and leisure. Following are some of the key clients of Intangible Business, Vodafone, Fortune Brands,Laura Ashley,Roche, Aventis, Cable & Wireless, KBC Bank, Angostura Group, Beam Global, Cosworth Engineering and Thorn.

“Asia is a fantastic market with tremendous forecast growth across all sectors of the economy. MTI’s excellent team, range of services and practical, market-led solutions complements Intangible Business’s rigorous and insightful approach to technical and strategic intangible asset valuation services. In MTI, we have found the right strategic partner to commit to developing this exciting market.’ We look forward to working with our partners for innovative growing businesses from Asia who are looking for our combined expertise to assist them in leveraging their brands to drive value and growth” said Stuart Whitwell, Joint Managing Director of Intangible Business Limited.

“Most companies in the South Asian region undervalue the importance of Intangible Asset Valuation and by our alliance with UK’s leading Intangible Asset Valuator we seek to add to a businesses bottom line, ” said Hilmy Cader, CEO, MTI Consulting.

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MTI Consulting is a fast growing international strategy consultancy with operations in Dubai, Bahrain, Malaysia, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Pakistan, having worked with leading multi-national and regional clients across 33 countries in 5 continents, offering the full bouquet of management and marketing consulting and research solutions.

In addition to their mainstream strategy consulting, MTI recently set-up 6 specialized business units for Corporate Finance, Legal and Governance, Technology, HRM, Supply Chain Management and Branding. For more information please visit www.mtiworldwide.com.

India Media Exchange (IMX) the consolidated media buying unit of Starcom MediaVest Group

India Media Exchange (IMX) the consolidated media buying unit of Starcom MediaVest Group and Zenith Optimedia, announced the appointment of Sujata Dwibedy as Director-Strategy & Buying, Mumbai and Ritesh Dutt as Media Director ,Delhi. IMX is a division of Publicis Groupe Media in India, created to manage the combined buying of traditional media, for existing & new clients of Starcom MediaVest Group & Zenith Optimedia in India.

Ritesh Dutt brings on board almost a decade’s experience, which comprises of 5 years in Traditional media and more than 4 years in activation. His last stint prior to joining India Media Exchange was as a buying Group Head in Mediaedge CIA (Group M ) where he worked on prestigious brands such as So.ny Ericsson, Honda Motorcycle and Scooters, Time Business Solutions, Xerox

Sujata Dwibedy has more than 8 yrs of experience in Media Planning & Buying. Prior to joining IMX, Sujata spent the last 2 and a half years with Nielsen India, Mumbai as Senior Manager, Media – Customized Research. During her stint there, she headed the Marketing Team of the National Readership Survey (NRS), for two years .

Commenting on the new appointment, Mr. Shyam Shanker, President, IMX said, “Ritesh and Sujata bring in with them extensive experience in media, buying and planning and it’s always a pleasure to work with such a talented group of people. Both have worked on some good brands and their experience will give an added motion to deliver the best to our clients. ”

On his appointment as the Media Director IMX, Ritesh Dutt stated, “I am looking forward to being a part of IMX. It has ambitious plans and has managed some great brands with an excellent group of people. I am ready to take on the challenges this prestigious assignment brings forth”

On her appointment as Director- Strategy & Buying, Sujata Dwibedy said, “I am delighted to be part of the IMX team and look forward to explore new avenues. My mandate straddles my experience in traditional media buying & media research, which I will integrate & leverage to bring value to IMX clients”

About Sujata Dwibedy:

Sujata Dwibedy spent the last 2 and a half years with Nielsen India, Mumbai as Senior Manager, Media – Customized Research, some of her clients include top notch publication houses such as The Times of India, ABP, Sakal , Dainik Bhaskar, Living Media amongst others. Prior to that she worked as Group Manager - Planning and Buying, for Lodestar Media (Division of FCB Ulka Advertising. Mumbai). She also worked for O& M (Delhi) as a Media Planner earlier in her career

About Ritesh Dutt:

Ritesh Dutt’s last stint before he joined IMX was as a Buying Group Head in Mediaedge CIA (Group M) where he had a business responsibility of over 175 crores. His key Clients were prestigious Brands such as Sony Ericsson, Honda Motorcycle and Scooters, Time Business Solutions, Xerox amongst many others. Prior to that, he marked his career as a Senior Manager – Planning (Accounts/Research) in The India Today Group. His resume also reads of names such as Group M / Ogilvy activation as Business Manager – Planning & Buying, and as Manager- Ogilvy & Mather Pvt. Ltd (Ogilvy Outreach) prior to that.

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About IMX:

IMX is a division of Publicis Groupe Media in India, created to manage the combined buying of traditional media, for existing & new clients of Starcom MediaVest Group & Zenith Optimedia in India. The primary vision of IMX is to support and improve the media buying, business acquisition & profitability strategy of both the entities. Media assets of the Publicis Groupe in India – represented by Starcom MediaVest and Zenith Optimedia – will be leveraged to create scale, and this scale will translate into an approach that creates a unique competitive advantage for clients. IMX will have office presence in Mumbai, Delhi & Bangalore and will retain their physical identity in a demarked manner. IMX will commence in 2007 with strength of 15 members and thereafter review additional strength basis business acquisition and growth of Zenith Optimedia & Starcom MediaVest Group.

Genesis Burson-Marsteller today announced strategic alliances with WPP group companies BKSH & Associates Worldwide

Genesis Burson-Marsteller today announced strategic alliances with WPP group companies BKSH & Associates Worldwide and Quinn Gillespie & Associates to offer global public affairs capability to Indian companies. The practice draws upon an international network of public affairs professionals to offer integrated multi-market public affairs campaigns across Washington, Brussels, Hong Kong, China and India.

The alliances were announced in New Delhi by Howard Paster, Executive Vice President, Public Relations/Public Affairs, at WPP Group. Emphasizing the importance of these partnerships, Mr Paster stated, “It will act as a two way bridge to help our international clients ably navigate regulatory environment and policy developments seamlessly across international markets.”

“Our public affairs practice has a team of experts, who have decades of experience of working with the government, to help companies understand the emerging and often complex regulatory and policy issues that impact their business,” said Prema Sagar, Principal & Founder, Genesis Burson-Marsteller. “As Indian companies compete in international markets, our principal partnership with BKSH and alliance with QGA will further strengthen our ability to provide valuable counsel and reach.”

“We help companies find business solutions for a range of issues including foreign direct investment, policy and regulatory affairs through our campaign framework methodology. Using ConstellationTM, our proprietary tool, we also help companies engage with a complex set of stakeholders.” said Ashwani Singla, Chief Executive, Genesis Burson-Marsteller.

The Genesis Burson-Marsteller Public Affairs practice is focused on key vertical segments such as retail, healthcare, energy, aviation, financial services, infrastructure and ICT.

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About BKSH & Associates Worldwide

BKSH & Associates Worldwide is one of Washington’s premier public policy and government affairs firms. It is ranked by Fortune as one of Washington, D.C.’s leading government relations companies. Collectively, the company offers decades of experience in public affairs to both domestic and international businesses. Through its offices in Europe and with its affiliate, Burson-Marsteller Public Affairs Practice, the company, when necessary, can call on leading consultants and advocates across Europe and more than 2,000 public affairs professionals worldwide.

About Quinn Gillespie & Associates (QGA)

Quinn Gillespie & Associates (QGA) is one of Washington, D.C.’s top public affairs firms, providing strategic counsel, government relations and communication services to a diverse group of leading corporations, coalitions and trade associations.

The firm brings a bipartisan, multi-disciplinary approach to helping clients tackle public affairs challenges. QGA was formed by Democratic White House veteran Jack Quinn and Former Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Ed Gillespie.

About Genesis Burson-Marsteller

Genesis Burson-Marsteller is India's most respected public relations and public affairs firm. The firm has 7 offices and a domestic affiliate network that reaches over 100 cities across the country. Genesis B-M is known for its insight-based strategies, innovative execution and strong focus on measurement of results.

Genesis Burson-Marsteller is the India operation of Burson-Marsteller (www.burson-marsteller.com), a leading global public relations and public affairs firm. Burson-Marsteller provides clients with strategic thinking and program execution across a full range of public relations, public affairs, advertising, and Web-related services. The firm’s seamless worldwide network consists of 57 wholly-owned offices and 46 affiliate offices, together operating in 59 countries across six continents. Burson-Marsteller is a part of Young & Rubicam Brands, a subsidiary of WPP (NASDQ: WPPGY), one of the world’s leading communications services networks.

First established in Hong Kong, Singapore and Tokyo in 1973, the Burson-Marsteller network in Asia Pacific includes offices in Bangalore, Beijing, Chengdu, Chennai, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Hyderabad, Jakarta, Kolkata, Melbourne, Mumbai, New Delhi, Pune, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore, Sydney and Tokyo; with affiliates in Auckland, Bangkok, Dubai, Islamabad, Karachi, Manila, Taipei and Wellington. For more information please visit www.asiaperspective.com.

For more information visit www.genesisbm.in; www.bm.com, www.asiaperspective.com