Date-wise News

India TV and its CEO Chintamani Rao have decided to part ways. When contacted, India TV Chairman, Rajat Sharma, thanked Rao for his contribution. On his part, Rao, an advertising veteran of more than three decades before he joined India TV, said that he had fond associations of his two years with Sharma and the news television genre.

exchange4media Staff Jan 25, 2008 6:20 PM

After empowering more than 55,000 students in 30 cities in North, West and East India, the NIS Academy is planning to expand its operations in South India. The Academy will open educational centres offering employability-linked programmes in key cities in South such as Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, and Thiruvananthapuram, etc., by March 2008.

exchange4media Chennai Bureau Jan 25, 2008 9:00 AM

Ashish N Soni has been appointed President of the Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI). He succeeds Ritu Kumar. Soni was elected by the new Board of Governors represented by David Abraham, Monisha Jaising, Rocky S, Anjana Bhargava, Bobby Grover, Jattin Kochhar, Karuna Khaitan, Manish Arora, Manoviraj Khosla, Niki Mahajan, Pali Sachdev, Paras Bairoliya, Payal Jain, Rina Dhaka and Varun Bahl.

exchange4media Staff Jan 25, 2008 7:31 AM

Big FM has got on board RJ Sandy to host its breakfast show, ‘BIG Chai’, between 7 am and 11 am, Monday to Saturday for Ajmer. RJ Sandy has hosted several on-ground events and road-shows as an emcee prior to joining Big FM. The jockey in his new ‘avtaar’ will host the breakfast show – ‘BIG Chai’, which would have various interesting sections, focusing on the vibe of the city and involving listeners with various day to day topics that could help them.

exchange4media Staff Jan 25, 2008 7:30 AM

Rajeev Saxena has been appointed Senior Vice-President, Sales and Marketing at Geneva Software Technologies Ltd. Saxena will be responsible for the strategy and execution of marketing and communication of Geneva Software Technologies to provide innovative technologies in the Indian language domain. He will spearhead the team strategising and facilitating pan-India sales across designated verticals and account sets. Prior to this assignment, Saxena was General Manager (Strategy) at Lenovo India Pvt Ltd. He has over 19 years’ experience in business unit, strategy, business development, sales and marketing and brand/product management in the electronics, and the IT sector. Saxena has headed IT Products Business Operations at LG Electronics and Sony India.

exchange4media Staff Jan 25, 2008 7:29 AM

Anil Fernandes, Senior General Manager, West & South, has put in his papers at India Today after a stint of seven years. He is joining INX Network as VP-Network (Ad Sales) All India. At INX, Fernandes will report to Probal Ganguly, Group Director, Revenue Management (Advertising Sales & New Media), INX Networks. Fernandes has an overall 15 years’ experience in sales. Prior to India Today, Fernandes had seven-year stint with the Indian Express Group.

exchange4media Staff Jan 25, 2008 7:28 AM

Charulata Ravikumar has quit JWT’s specialist new-media brand activation outfit, ‘New Life Xperience’ (NLX), as its business head. She is currently serving her notice period. Prior to this assignment, Ravikumar was with 141 Worldwide as Country Head, and EVP and General Manager at Bates India. She has over 17 years’ experience. She began her career with Sistas (now known as Saatchi & Saatchi), from Sistas she moved on to JWT, Clarion (now Bates) and Lowe while she was in India. Then she moved to the Middle East with an offer from Grey. Thereafter, she moved to Bates (Middle East) to launch 141 Worldwide. She also helped in setting up 141 Worldwide in Kolkata in 2003. In December 2004, she was given additional responsibility to head Bates Delhi.

exchange4media Staff Jan 25, 2008 7:27 AM

Alka Saxena has rejoined Zee News as Consultant. She would also host a prime time show. Saxena was the CEO and Editor-in-Chief of MH1 before she joined Zee News. Prior to MH1 news channel she had worked with Janmat (now Live India), where she was the anchor of the flagship show ‘Aap Ka Mat’. Saxena began her journalistic career with ‘Ravivar’, an ABP Group publication, in the mid-80s. She was one of the core founder members of Aaj Tak in 1995. She moved to Zee News in 2001 and soon became the face of the channel.

exchange4media Staff Jan 25, 2008 7:26 AM

Biscuit maker Britannia Industries is aiming to strengthen its international presence by entering new markets.

exchange4media Staff Jan 25, 2008 7:04 AM

Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), the country’s top utility vehicle maker, today announced the launch of Scorpio SUV and its Pik-Up range (single and double cab) in Brazil with Bramont-Montadora Industrial e Comercial de Veiculos.

exchange4media Staff Jan 25, 2008 7:02 AM

SKOAR 2008, a three-day interactive gaming expo, commences in Mumbai from January 25. Organised by 9.9 Media, SKOAR 2008 aims to go a long way in showcasing the acceptability and future of gaming in India.

exchange4media Staff Jan 25, 2008 6:57 AM

Entertainment group Pyramid Saimira has acquired a majority stake in Aurona Technologies, a video games and interactive entertainment software company headquartered in London.

exchange4media Chennai Bureau Jan 25, 2008 6:56 AM

Ogilvy Activation, the OOH unit of O&M, adopted an eye-catching outdoor initiative to emphasise on the immediacy of saving Earth from further environmental damage. The unique OOH innovation was carried in Mumbai to create awareness about HSBC Bank’s website, which is dedicated to educating people on minimising climate change.

exchange4media Staff Jan 25, 2008 6:55 AM

PepsiCo India Holdings FritoLay India division has roped in Mahendra Singh Dhoni, youth icon and ODI captain to team up with Saif Ali Khan and Juhi Chawla to launch a mega FritoLay portfolio promotion called ‘Chala Change Ka Chakkar’ in February 2008.

exchange4media Staff Jan 25, 2008 6:55 AM

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has sent a set of recommendations for mobile TV service to the I&B Ministry, which covers technology, spectrum and licensing issues. The Ministry had earlier sought TRAI’s recommendations on various issues relating to the proposed licensing policy for mobile television service.

exchange4media Staff Jan 25, 2008 6:53 AM

Cogito Consulting, the brand consulting division of DraftFCB Group, has unveiled its retail branding and marketing solutions. Cogito will also be utilising the insights and resources of the Shoppers’ Marketing division of DraftFCB.

exchange4media Staff Jan 25, 2008 6:52 AM

Fun Cinemas, part of Essel Group’s E-City Ventures, has appointed Ajay Mehra as CEO. At Fun Cinemas, Mehra will be spearheading the growth and consolidation strategy of the company’s exhibition business, in addition to the other small business units of E-City’s cinema exhibition business.

exchange4media Mumbai Bureau Jan 25, 2008 6:51 AM

The winning bidders for the eight teams of BCCI’s Indian Premier League have been announced. They include Vijay Mallya (Bangalore), Shah Rukh Khan (Kolkata), Mukesh Ambani (Mumbai), Preity Zinta and Ness Wadia (Mohali/Chandigarh), GMR Group (Delhi), Deccan Chronicle (Hyderabad), India Cement (Chennai), and Emerging Media (Jaipur).

exchange4media Mumbai Bureau Jan 25, 2008 6:49 AM

Rajesh Kochhar has joined TBWA\India as AVP, Account Management, for the agency’s Delhi operations. Kochchar moves from Lowe Delhi, where he steered the Maruti Suzuki team among other things.

exchange4media Staff Jan 25, 2008 6:47 AM

IBN Lokmat, the Marathi news channel from the GBN stable, is expected to launch by March 2008. Rajdeep Sardesai, Editor-in-Chief, CNN-IBN and IBN7, would be the Executive Editor of the 24-hour Marathi news and current affairs channel.

exchange4media Staff Jan 25, 2008 6:46 AM

NDTV Imagine Ltd has formed a joint venture with Manmohan Shetty and Sunil Doshi called Alliance Lumière Pvt. Ltd. This JV will distribute its content under the brand name NDTV Lumière, which would bring contemporary world cinema to Indian audiences. The offering would span multiple platforms from theatres and home videos to a TV channel, pay-per-view on DTH to Internet downloads.

exchange4media Mumbai Bureau Jan 25, 2008 6:46 AM

Mediaedge:cia has aggressive plans for APAC, and India is high on its agenda. The global chiefs of the agency – Charles Courtier, Global CEO, and Alistair Aird, Global COO – were in the country for two days taking stock of the operations here.

Noor Fathima Warsia Jan 25, 2008 6:45 AM

We do feel like a start-up agency sometimes, but we are big - we are the third largest in Asia in the WPP network. Once you are a Bates person, you are always a Bates person. The gratification of the freedom makes you come alive, that is what entrepreneurial skills are about.

exchange4media Staff Jan 25, 2008 12:00 AM