• MIT Award For Aid India
• Irish Want a Piece of Bollywood Action
• UK Gaming Industry Seeks Indian Synergies
• India's Animation Sales to Quadruple by 2009
• Animation-Gaming Industry Will Witness Huge Growth in India
• India Among Top Travel Destinations in The World
• India Among Top 5 World Travel Spots
• BPOs to Make H'wood Animation Films
• Patna to Host International Film Fest in February
• Indian-Origin Agriculturist in Israel to Get Pravasi Samman

• 3 of Indian Origin Among Intel STS Finalist
• Parineeta to be Screened at Berlin Fest
• US Animation Giant to make Indian Entry
• Indian Singer Nominated For BBC Award
• Goa World's Fifth-Must See Place
• Nipuna Bags $8-m Animation Deal
• West Revives Benarasi Saris as Curtains
• Indian Dispora a Rich Tourism Source For Southeast Asia
• Bollywood Glimpse Dazzles US B-School Students

Aid India's Tamil Nadu chapter has been given the `MIT Global Indus Innovators' award for its contribution towards community development. The award, instituted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was presented on Tuesday to the non-profit organisation, at Boston, in recognition of its services at the grass-root level. Four specific initiatives of Aid India have been appreciated. A low-cost science experiment lab box for students of primary school was developed. The equipment needed for over a hundred simple experiments and a manual were made available at Rs. 2,500. "Science is a subject a child learns by experimenting. That's the only way a student will understand concepts. We decided to develop simple tools that would help demonstrate concepts," said Balaji Sampath, Secretary, Aid India. Another interesting initiative was the `Village library bag' programme, in which bags with over 50 books were given to volunteers in about 1,300 villages. Children could borrow books from these volunteers. Besides the already existing stock of storybooks, eight story cards were added to the stock every month. These cards have small stories with attractive illustrations that would make a quick, interesting read.

Courtesy: The Hindu, January 28, 2006

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Three Indian-American students have made it to the list of 40 finalists of this year's Intel Science Talent Search competition, the oldest and prestigious pre-college science competition in the U.S. designed to find the most promising aspiring scientists between ages of 16 and 18. Sheela Krishnan, Sukrit Ranjan and Kiran Pendri were selected from a list of 300 semifinalists identified earlier this month by the Intel Corporation. Krishnan, 17, of Suffern in New York, researched the antimicrobial activity of over 1,000 bacterial isolates from the honey sacs of honeybees (Apis mellifera) against seven pathogens for her Intel Science Talent Search project in microbiology. Her two-year study included Paenibacillus larvae, which causes American Foulbrood Disease (AFB) - the most virulent and fatal bacterial disease that devastates bee farms worldwide. She identified the most effective bacterial isolates and combined them into a probiotic cocktail for preventative therapy against AFB. This novel research on antimicrobial compounds may lead to the production of a broad spectrum of new antibacterial and antifungal compounds for combating multidrug-resistant diseases. India-born Ranjan, 18, of Northbrook, Illinois, examined polar cloud formation on Mars in his earth and planetary science project for the Intel Science Talent Search competition, often dubbed as "Junior Nobel Prize".

Courtesy: The Hindu January 28, 2006

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Ireland has turned to Bollywood to boost its tourism sector by attracting Indian travellers visiting Europe to the Emerald Isles, which it seeks to position as a "quality destination." A high-level business delegation accompanying Prime Minister Bertie Ahern has lined up meetings with top bollywood producers during the Mumbai leg of their visit beginning Friday. "Over 75,000 Indians visit Switzerland, a favourite location with many a bollywood producer and a full length feature film shot in Ireland may work wonders for tourism in the country," minister for arts, Sports and tourism John O'Donaghue said. Mr O'Donaghue said his meetings with production houses in Mumbai would focus on shooting a full length feature film in Ireland. "We have exotic locales, landscapes and seascapes, and a very professional co-production crew. Eleven Indian films have been shot in Ireland since 2003 and my country is ready to offer tax benefits to the Indian producers shooting a full length feature film in Ireland," Mr O'donaghue said.

Courtesy: The Financial Express, January 20, 2006

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The Vidhu Vinod Chopra produced and Pradeep Sarkar directed film, Parineeta, has been selected for the prestigious Berlin Film Festival. The film is among four Indian films to get a special screening at the festival. The film, based on the novel of the same name by legendary Bengali writer Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay, is set in the Kolkata of 1960s and features stellar performances from its high-powered cast of Saif Ali Khan, Rekha and Sabyasachi Chakraborty. The film's highlight is the sensational debut of the stunning Vidya Balan, who has won accolades in her first film and also several awards as the best debutante. The film has also been sweeping various award ceremonies in India and is now set to woo international audiences. The Berlin film fest has another Indian touch to it. Renowned Bollywood filmmaker Yash Chopra will be on the jury of the 56th Berlin Film Festival starting February 9. British actress Charlotte Rampling will head the panel, which has eight judges including Oscar-winning cinematographer Janusz Kaminski, US artiste Matthew Barney, South Korean actress Lee Young Ae, Dutch director Marleen Gorris, German actor Armin Mueller-Stahl and Hollywood producer Fred Roos. Over the past five decades, Chopra has moved with the times and crafted hits like Dhool Ka Phool, Dharmputra, Waqt, Deewaar, Kabhi Kabhie, Chandni, Dil To Pagal Hai and Veer-Zaara. The 10-day festival will showcase 26 films, including movies that are not competing for the festival's top awards, the Golden and Silver Bears. These films include Colin Farrell's epic The New World and George Clooney's thriller Syriana. Snow Cake, starring Alan Rickman and Sigorney Weaver, will have its world premiere at the festival. The awards will be announced February 18.

Courtesy: Hindustan Times, January 19, 2006

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THE UK, which has the third largest gaming industry next to the US and Japan, is exploring opportunities to partner Indian companies through its gaming body, TIGA. TIGA or the Independent Games Developers Association, which now comprises 150 developer studios, believes that there is scope for synergies between the Indian developers and companies based in the UK. It is home to iconic products such as Lara Croft and Grand Theft Auto. Ms Nikkan Woodhouse, the International Trade Adviser of TIGA, said TIGA plans to hold parleys with iGITA, the Indian Game Industry Association, to see how this could be made into a meaningful interface to explore business opportunities. Ms Woodhouse said, "while the UK can serve as a hub for Indian companies to tap the large market out there, we believe that UK-based companies can make India their hub in their efforts to tap the market in the region." The global interactive leisure software retail market was worth $18.2 billion in 2003. It is predicted that this market will grow by 16 per cent to $21.1 billion.

Courtesy: www.thehindubusinessline.com, January 18, 2006

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"In the next 15 years, something will come out of the Indian animation industry that will take animation to the next level," said Mr Terry Thoren, the man behind animated hits such as The Simpsons and Rugrats and now the chief executive officer (CEO) and president of US-based Vibrant. Vibrant is a leading, diversified, global entertainment company that develops and produces high-quality feature films, television series, webisodes, mobile phone downloads and DVDs in all genres in animation. "We are exploring business opportunities in India and could work with animators to create pilots. There is definite talks with some firms to form a joint venture or JV in either Mumbai, Hyderabad or Bangalore. The JV will be announced in the next one year," said Mr Thoren, speaking exclusively to this newspaper on the sidelines of a seminar on 3D animation and visual FX organised by Maya Entertainment, in Mumbai on Saturday. Mr Thoren refused to divulge any other specific details on the JV. "I'm looking at creating animation that will combine rap music and Japanese Anime. There are also plans to create an animated horror film as a live action film," added the animation guru. The characters and trademark rights generated by Vibrant will be utilised to develop a wide range of entertainment and consumer product opportunities worldwide. According to animation experts, with modern tools and music, Indian studios are now creating animation programming, such as the likes of Hanuman, with strong Indian roots presented in modern formats and creating original shows for the audiences in the US and Europe. Additionally, the Indian animation industry involving comic books looks set to boom with books based on Indian storylines set to be launched this year.

Courtesy: The Asian Age, January 15, 2006

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India's animation and gaming market is expected to quadruple to US$ 1.3 billion by 2009, as companies tap the country's large pool of low-cost software professionals, the head of an industry body said on Thursday. The industry would employ about 30,000 animators by 2009, Kiran Karnik, president of the National Association of Software and Service Companies, told reporters on the sidelines of a conference on animation. In 2005, the industry generated revenues of $310 million, he said. The cost of production of a 30-minute animated programme is about twice that of India in Korea and Taiwan, and four to six times more in the United States, according to a report by consulting firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers. Several Indian firms, including Padmalaya Telefilms Ltd., Crest Animation Studios, Color Chips Ltd., UTV Software and Satyam Computer Services' Nipuna Services Ltd., have Western clients looking to cut costs on animation and co-production. Yet protection of intellectual property rights (IPR) in India, where piracy is rampant, is a concern. "Just making regulations for IPR is not enough. Its enforcement and conviction are also important to win the confidence of global companies," Karnik said.

Courtesy: The Financial Express: January 13, 2006

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Indian singer Susheela Raman has been nominated for the 2006 BBC Radio 3 Awards for World Music for her Music for Crocodiles. In On Love Trap, released in 2003, Susheela Raman sang in Sanskrit, Telugu and Tamil. But Music for Crocodiles is mostly performed in English. Born in London, the singer moved to Australia at the age of four. During her twenties her family moved to India, where Raman studies Hindustani music before returning to London in 1997, where she now lives with her long-term partner Sam Mills. In London she sang with the Asian dance floor duo Joi. They were signed to Peter Gabriel's Real World label. "I met Sam through the Real World dating agency," she laughs. "I was at the Real World 10th-anniversary party in '99. I fell madly in love with the Paban record..." Mills had collaborated with Paban Das Baul, from Bengal. "Sam made the Paban album in his bedroom," says Raman. Real World suggested collaboration. "I was in a rather confused state in my musicality, because I'd gone from full Carnatic singing to going around pubs in Sydney, playing blues, and having to really scream to get people's attention. I had a teacher from eight to 14, then rebelled," she told The Independent. Layered with Indian classical input, Music For Crocodiles has a very detailed production, featuring a strong cast of guest musicians, making it more accessible. "There was a lot of time to work on the development of the songs, and a lot of them we played at gigs," says Raman.

Courtesy: Hindustan Times, January 13, 2006

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The latest NASSCOM report on Animation and Gaming Industry in India, estimates that the global market size (demand perspective) of the industry will witness a CAGR of eight per cent and is expected to reach USD 75 billion by 2009. Based on this, the global animation market (from developers' perspective) is expected to increase to USD 35 billion by 2009 from USD 25 billion in 2005. Speaking at the inaugural session of a two-day conference `Animation India 2006, where NASSCOM's report on Animation and Gaming Industry in India was released, NASSCOM President Kiran Karnik said Animation and Gaming offer India potential growth, both as a global sourcing destination as well as a market. The report revealed a huge growth potential in both Animation and Gaming industry in India. The size of the Indian Animation market (from the developers' perspective) was estimated at USD 285 million in 2005. It was expected to witness a CAGR of 35 per cent from 2005-09 and increase to USD 950 million by 2009. Likewise, the market for gaming was expected to witness a CAGR of 78 per cent and reach USD 300 million by 2009 from USD 30 million in 2005, he added. Mr Kiran said India's IT expertise and creative skills, combined with the entreprenueurial drive of its companies, positioned it well to tap the potential of this growing global industry. The rapid growth of mobile telephony, increase in personal computers and greater use of animation content would fuel the growth of the domestic market too.

Courtesy: www.uniindia.com, January 12, 2006

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Goa has been ranked among the top five destinations in a list of must-see places compiled by Frommer's Guide, a leading travel publisher. The Frommer's list is said to include 'interesting, affordable destinations' and is aimed at travellers looking for a different holiday experience. Amador County in California, Belem in Brazil, Charleston in South Carolina and Glasgow in Scotland comprise the top four. Glasgow is the only European city in the list of the world's top 10 holiday destinations for this year. The Hawaiian island of Molokai and Kenya's wildlife reserves have also found a place on the list. Goa has long been a favoured holiday destination of people in the West, starting from the hippie generation of the 1970s. It was the most favoured destination of thousands of British tourists during the Christmas holidays last year. According to a survey carried out in December, Goa had overtaken America as the top long-haul Christmas holiday destination. It jumped from third to the first spot in 2005. John Bevan, a flights director, said, "Trips to India have outsold those to the United States this Christmas, which we believe is indicative of the country's booming tourism. "It's no longer just the preserve of backpackers, India is now a mainstream holidays choice." The guide also described Glasgow as "more cosmopolitan and modern" than Edinburgh and said that it was due to a more "happening" nightlife. It praised the city's "radiant" Victorian architecture, public parks and art galleries and described the Burrell Art Collection in Pollok Park as a "must see" attraction.

Courtesy: Hindustan Times, January 11, 2006

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India figures among the top ten world travel destinations and is the fifth choicest place to visit. According to the latest list of the Top Travel Destinations by iExplore, an online seller of adventure and experiential travel, India ranks amongst the fifth choicest place to visit in the world in 2004 and 2005. Egypt, Peru, Galapagos and China are the first four top travel destinations. Other destinations preferred after India are South Africa, France, Italy, New Zealand and Alaska. Destinations that showed strong growth in 2005 included Morocco (12th), Argentina (14th) and Jordan (16th). Bumped from last year's top ten were Chile (20th) and Costa Rica (40th). The list is compiled and determined on the basis of the vacation purchases of its adventure and experiential travelers. "There was no material shift in our best selling destinations in 2005, with our top five destinations largely unchanged. That said, both South Africa and New Zealand saw strong growth to move into our annual top ten list for the first time ever," iExplore founder and CEO, George Deeb, said.

Courtesy: The Financial Express: January 11, 2006

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NIPUNA Services Ltd, the business process outsourcing arm of Satyam Computer Services Ltd, has signed an estimated $8-million animation deal with 4K Animation GmbH, a German animation company. This covers development and production of digital special effects and 3D character animation, computer generated images for film and TV production. Nipuna and 4K Animation will work for a Hollywood film directed by Paul Nicholas. The Chief Executive Officer of Nipuna, Mr Venkatesh Roddam said the company would pool resources from its centres based in Hyderabad, Chennai and Bangalore, and engage about 80 experts for the projects. The Managing Director of 4K Animation, Mr Jan Schmidtgen said, "Nipuna has the potential and skilled resources to grow in the animation industry and together we will develop content for the film. This is part of the $ 25-million film project." The project is to be executed in 10-12 months and is the first major international animation project for Nipuna. The movie would be partly shot in India, Mr Roddam said.

Courtesy: www.thehindubusinessline.com, January 11, 2006

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India figures among the top ten world travel destinations and is the fifth choicest place to visit. According to the latest list of the Top Travel Destinations by iExplore, an online seller of adventure and experiential travel, India ranks amongst the fifth choicest place to visit in the world in 2004 and 2005. Egypt, Peru, Galapagos and China are the first four top travel destinations. Other destinations preferred after India are South Africa, France, Italy, New Zealand and Alaska. Destinations that showed strong growth in 2005 included Morocco (12th), Argentina (14th) and Jordan (16th). Bumped from last year's top ten were Chile (20th) and Costa Rica (40th). The list is compiled and determined on the basis of the vacation purchases of its adventure and experiential travellers. "There was no material shift in our best-selling destinations in 2005, with our top five destinations largely unchanged. That said, both South Africa and New Zealand saw strong growth to move into our annual top ten list for the first time ever," iExplore founder and CEO, George Deeb, said.

Courtesy: in.rediff.com, January 10, 2006

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Old Benarasi and other Indian saris, reincarnated as curtains, bedspreads, quilts and what not, are adding a dash of colour to homes in the West in contrast to the traditionally minimalist decor there. At Bloomingdales, the Christmas sale comprised saris made into spectacular pairs of organza tissue and silk curtains/drapes in shimmering shades of maroon, ruby reds, sage greens, purple and lavender with exquisite swirling hand embroidered motifs in silver and soft gold and elephant motifs hand woven on the border. It said Made in India, and for size 90L" X 41W", was priced at $182 from its original price of $354. "We have a lot of queries about these, and the old saris in their new incarnations are a rage here," says interior designer Rachel Adams, who sources a whole lot of them for what she calls the "vintage collection". "Lots of stores in the West are stocking these ethnic creations made from old saris as they add a hint of exotica with our pale colours and minimalist furniture," Rachel said. "In the West, people are tired of plain pastels and soft sombre shadings. They want something to liven up things a little and ethnic fashion is quite a revolution. That is why furnishings get an extra edge of winsome vintage when the old Benarasi sari gets reincarnated." For the West, India is the land of glorious flamboyance. It integrates influences from various cultures into eclectic decorative styles. The awesome breadth of designs, colours and textures provide a seductive visual treat. Sari borders are also finding buyers. They are used on belts, jackets and other apparel.

Courtesy: The Economic Times, January 10, 2006

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The outsourcing wave, which struck Indian shores in the late '90s, was mainly in the form of call centres . Over the years, call centers have evolved into BPOs, performing different types of operations such as healthcare, pharma and F&A. There is now a new emerging opportunity in the BPO space - animation outsourcing. Hollywood studios are outsourcing work to vendors here to make animation films. Ideally, there are three stages in the making of an animation - pre-production, production and post-production. Pre-production is mainly concerned with creating characters and story boarding, which is done by studios abroad and the production is outsourced to Indian animators because it is cost effective. The cost difference is about five to six times. Ficci assistant director Sumeet Gupta says that a 30-minute animated series cost $2,50,000-4,00,000 in US, while the same would cost $1,10, 000-1,30,000 in Korea and China and $80,000-1,10,000 in India. The major outsourcing countries are the US, Canada and Europe. According to Nasscom report, the animation market here is worth $1.5bn,. Of this, about 80% of the work comes from outsourcing. Currently, most of the animation work is concentrated in Chennai, but Mumbai, Gurgaon, Bangalore and Hyderabad are other emerging destinations, says Raman Madan, regional sales manager-animation and desktop video, South-East Asia and India, Autodesk Media and Entertainment. India will have to face competition from its Asian counterparts, Korea, Taiwan, Philippines, Singapore and China. Of these countries, Singapore is the biggest threat as the government there, is taking initiatives to pitch for animation outsourcing in global markets, says Mr Gupta. Currently, Indian animation outsourcing industry is growing at the rate of 30%, but the growth rate can improve if better infrastructure is provided to animators like high-speed and bandwidth, says Ronald D'Mello, director-operations and finance, UTV.

Courtesy: The Economic Times, January 09, 2006

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India's drive to tap the vast resources of its rich overseas diaspora is set to generate massive spinoff travel and tourism benefits for Thailand and Southeast Asia. Hundreds of expatriate Indians (known as Non-Resident Indians, NRIs, or Persons of Indian Origin, PIOs) are either returning to India or becoming part-time residents there, enticed by government measures to attract their money, skills and expertise as part of plans to create an economic powerhouse in the next few years. "To my mind, the most important aspect of reconnecting with the world is for us to reach out to People of Indian Origin. The NRIs and PIOs are the most important elements of our globalisation," Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said at a convention of the Indian diaspora in Hyderabad last week. There are 22-25 million NRIs and PIOs in 110 countries. They range from millions of overseas workers in the Middle East to famous cricketers in the West Indies to politicians in the UK and doctors, engineers and other white-collar professionals in North America. According to the World Bank, their remittances in 2004 totalled just under US billion, the largest portion of all. Reflecting India's ethnic, cultural and historic diversity, the diaspora comprises of many different associations which will generate huge business for regional meetings, especially in countries with expatriate Indian communities.

Courtesy: Bangkokpost.com: January 09, 2006

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Bihar will host a weeklong international film festival in February 2006. The successful hosting of the festival will also drive home the point that the Nitish Kumar Government is bent on changing the image of the state - which is known more for lawlessness and backwardness, said Arjun Rai, State Minister for Information and Public Relations. Rai, one of the younger ministers in Nitish Kumar Government, said that the National Film Development Corporation has initiated the move to organise the festival after the central government approval. Rai said several Hollywood and Bollywood actors would participate in the fest. The state government is already in the process of selecting cinema halls for the purpose. "We will come out with a full plan and programme soon," Rai said. The Government is keen to promote the Bhojpuri film industry in the state and is planning to invite private investors to open multiplex cinema halls in Patna and Muzaffarpur.

Courtesy: Hindustan Times, January 07, 2006

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Half-hour long programme about the evolution of India's entertainment industry, presented by award-winning filmmaker Romesh Sharma, was held in Gurgaon on Thursday. It was attended by the students and faculty of the Darden Business School, University of Virginia. The school is looking at opportunities of opening shop in the country either through tie-ups with The Indian Institutes of Management or the Institutes of Information Technology, or on its own. Sharma's crisp documentary on Bollywood, in which he travelled the road from the early 1900s to the present day, packing within 30 minutes the romantic heroes of the 1970s, the larger than life Amitabh Bachchan, and the cinematic grandeur of blockbusters like Lagaan and Devdas, was highly responsible for making the show click. Marc Modica, a faculty member, said, "I've learnt how you turn a creative endeavour into a business endeavour and we've learnt much about how we might turn a business endeavour into a creative endeavour. I definitely am going to delve into the mysteries of Bollywood." "You made 900 movies last year?" asked an incredulous Jonathan England. "Did all of them make money?" "It's like this: maybe one in six movies made instant money. The others made money over time. Then, a lot of money comes in by marketing the music, explained Sharma. "Don't also forget that in a country of a billion plus, it's not only Bollywood where movies are being made. There's a huge regional market and it's doing pretty well. Overall, everyone is happy," added Sharma, who has made the critically admired "New Delhi Times". "What makes bollywood click is a question of aesthetics. Western cinema largely goes by Aristotleian aesthetics where everything has a beginning, middle and end. Then there is the Bollywood aesthetics where you are dealing with nine different emotions like anger, humour, fear and jealousy in one work," Sharma maintained. He also painted a rosy picture of the future, contending that Bollywood was poised to go global thanks to the vast Indian diaspora and that satellite TV, Internet broadband and digital technologies would push the process.

Courtesy: Hindustan Times, January 06, 2006

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Indian-origin entrepreneur Eliyahu Bezalel, who started as a shepherd in Israel and went on to become an award-winning agriculturist, has been selected to receive the prestigious Pravasi Bharatiya Samman for 2006. Bezalel, who in 1955 left his village of Chendamangalam in Kerala for Israel at the age of 25 maintains strong sentimental links with his motherland, which he says, "taught him the spirit of co-existence." "I am proud to be an Indian. My children and grandchildren call themselves Cochinis and Indians with pride saying they come from a culture which is tolerant to all faiths and where their forefathers did not feel any kind of anti-Semitism," Bezalel said. The highest civilian honour bestowed by India on non-resident Indians took him by surprise. Bezalel, who made the Negev desert in Israel bloom and won the best exporter award from former Prime Minister Levi Eshkhol in 1964, has also taken pains to share his expertise in the area of horticulture with Indian farmers who have been trying to replicate it in recent years. The Israeli parliament (Knesset) rewarded him with the Kaplan prize in 1994 for his contribution. Bezalel's farm is a major attraction among Indian agriculturists and politicians with former Prime Minister HD Devegowda, agriculture minister Sharad Pawar and agriculturist MS Swaminathan being some of the key figures who visited it during their trips to Israel. He has also been to several places in India to give lectures and to teach techniques in horticulture since 1971.

Courtesy: Hindustan Times, January 06, 2006

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