• Taj to be in New 7 Wonders List
• Santoor Maestro Pt Shiv Kumar Sharma Honour
• Health Tourism to Take Off
• PARIS: Dance, Music and Humour
• Indian Art Finds a Place Abroad as Collector's Item
• Sami Labs gets US Award
• The Self-Discovery of Indian Animation Industry

• Chowta to Compose Music for 2008 Olympics
• Indian Film Wins Grand Prize at Tehran Festival
• Karnataka Bets Big on Healthcare Tourism
• IndusInd Media to Provide More than 135 Digital Channels
• NRI Bilimoria Takes Shot at London Business Awards
• Indian-Origin Youths to be Honoured for Social Work
• India Emerging as Global Hub for Animation

The Taj Mahal, the mausoleum Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan built for his wife Mumtaz Mahal, will be named among the seven new wonders of the world on January 1, 2006. This announcement will be made by actors Amitabh Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai at the Taj Mahal on December 1, 2004. The other three monuments that will definitely figure in the list are the Great Wall of China, the Coliseum in Rome and France's Versailles Palace. The search for the new Seven Wonders of the World has been undertaken by Swiss explorer Bernard Weber through www.new7wonders.com. Over 17 million votes have already been cast. Speaking to The Asian Age, Sarah Yeun of N7W said, "The original Seven Wonders were picked way back by Philon of Byzantium, who chose sites only around the Mediterranean basin. Today, only the pyramids exist. So Mr Weber thought it was time for the new wonders to be selected. And this time it will not be chosen by one man, but by millions of people all over the world."

Courtesy: The Asian Age, November 30, 2004

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Renowned santoor maestro Pt Shiv Kumar Sharma would be honoured with the prestigious Tansen Award, 2004 for his outstanding contribution in the field of Hindustani classical music. The award, comprising Rs 1 lakh in cash and a citation, would be presented to him by Mr Babulal Gaur.

Courtesy: The Statesman, November 27, 2004

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Composing music for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing is just the beginning, believes Sandeep Chowta. He has joined up with two musicians from the US - Ricky Gannaway and Jay Oliver - and together they call themselves AO after an ancient Polynesian word. "AO is not only beautiful to the ear, but also to the heart. Even more profoundly, it appeals to the heart within the heart...that sacred and playful refuge within everyone," Chowta said. The international reputation of his co-musicians is vast, spanning a list of writing and production credits that reportedly include the likes of Sheryl Crow and The Eagles. Their music is a fusion of the West and East. Vocal performances by AO are backed by the voices of children from every land.

Courtesy: Hindustan Times, November 27, 2004

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The country's march towards billion dollar annual revenues from health tourism will gain momentum after an official protocol is laid out on standards for hospitals and healthcare institutions next year. Healthcare, which has the potential to create 40m jobs, will see spends double in the next 10 years, with private institutions garnering a large share of this action, according to Vishal Bali, vice-president, Wockhardt Hospitals. While the opportunities in this service sector are as exciting as the IT industry, there are challenges which must be overcome quickly before India can be positioned as a global healthcare hub. At CII's quality summit on health tourism here, speakers like Utkarsh Palnitkar, partner, E&Y, and Mohan Thomas, CEO, Cosmetic Surgery Institute, underscored the need for an accreditation agency. Mr Bali said the bulk of the 1,30,000 international patients who visited India last year, had come from South Asia, Africa and the Gulf nations. India has yet to see significant numbers from the developed world, he added.

Courtesy: The Economic Times, November 26, 2004

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Dubai, Nov. 26. (PTI): Indian entry 'Little Terrorist" by Ashvin Kumar has won the Grand Prize at the just concluded Tehran 9th International Short Film Festival. The prize, comprising a certificate, a memento with the logo of the Festival and prize money of USD 4,000, was presented by Iranian Minister of Culture and Guidance Ahmad Masjad Jamei at ceremony attended by prominent film makers, a release from the Indian embassy in Tehran said. Many countries, including the UK, Germany and Denmark, participated in the event which concluded on November 22.

Courtesy: The Hindu, November 26, 2004

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After biting deep into the IT pie, Karnataka says it is set to do another Bangalore on the world, this time with healthcare tourism. Bangalore and Mysore, together with their super-specialty hospitals and a range of good hotels - even a few ISO certified government hospitals - are being pitched at global tourists and businesspeople. Still flush from the limelight it got from hosting little Noor Fatima, Pakistani heart patient, Karnataka is now looking at snaring at least 20 per cent of the 3.2 lakh total international inflow as healthcare tourists, according to Mr Mahendra Jain, State Tourism Commissioner. In a first-of-its kind concerted action from a State Government, it will showcase its top-class corporate and government hospitals and star hotels as the new business opportunity offering the best mix of cost-effective medical treatment and tourist proposition. The State Government, along with CII, the hospitality and hospital sector is also hosting a two-day `Quality summit - health tourism' here on November 25 and 26 as part of CII's annual Quality Summit. Driven by health insurance cover, healthcare spending is set to double in 10 years to Rs 1,56,000 crore, especially in private institutions.

Courtesy: www.thehindubusinessline.com, November 24, 2004

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Bollywood ishtyle - set in the heart of Paris, makes for a colourful world film premiere on Wednesday. The season is proving hot for all things Indian. One Dollar Curry by France-based Indian filmmaker, journalist and writer Vijay Singh takes a comic look at tolerance, while lifting the curtain on an exotic side of the French capital unknown to many visitors. The film is a joint French-Indian production and was filmed in English but is making its world premiere in France three weeks before it shows for the first time in India. Its release coincides with that of a new album by 'Pascal of Bollywood', or Pascal Heni, an extravagant Paris native, who wears colourful shirts and made a name for himself in India by singing hits from musicals in Hindi, Tamil and Bengali. India is trendy at the moment in Paris - look out for 'Coffee India' in the hip district of Bastille, or 'Punjabi Night' at the Hard Rock Cafe or all things Indian on the Internet through radiomasala.net.

Courtesy: The Times of India, November 24, 2004

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IndusInd Media & Communications has become the first multi-system operator in the country to provide more than 135 digital channels through digital set top box 'INDigi Box.' IMCL's digital cable TV service branded INDigital provides several unique new channels including Al Jazeera News, Trace music and Cine World, the company said in a release here. INCableNet has become the first cable MSO to provide four Pakistani free-to-air channels including both news and entertainment, it added.

Courtesy: The Economic Times, November 20, 2004

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Two NRI entrepreneurs Mayank Patel and Karan Bilimoria have won two prestigious London Business Awards for commercial enterprise and excellence. Patel, Chairman and CEO of Currencies Direct has been named Entrepreneur of the Year 2004 while Bilimoria, CEO of Cobra Beer, was crowned Business Person of the Year at the Awards ceremony jointly organised by the London Chamber of Commerce and sponsored by KPMG on Monday night. "Successful entrepreneurship is often based on a mixture of inspiration and sheer hard work and Mayank Patel has harnessed these to establish his own niche market, achieving outstanding commercial performance," said Sir Peter Davis, Former Chairman of J Sainsbury Plc who was on the judging panel. Commenting on the award, Mayank said, "I'm very pleased as an award such as this recognises Currencies Direct's growth from a two-man operation with start-up capital of just 8,500 pounds to today employing over 70 people in four countries with a turnover of 700 million pounds."

Courtesy: The Times of India, November 17, 2004

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A large body of Indian contemporary paintings are circulating overseas. These are mainly works by artists who have lived abroad. Predominantly, these include creations from the 'progressive group' - FN Souza, SH Raza, Akbar Padamsee, MF Husain and Ram Kumar. "Among Indian contemporary master artists, Souza probably has the largest number of works in the overseas market. This is because he spent the better period of his life in Europe and the US. There were also exhibitions of his paintings in these places. Thus, both NRIs and non-Indians are familiar with his works," art market sources in Mumbai and Kolkata told ET. Living in and working out of Paris, big-league contemporary artist SH Raza could have done some 5,000 paintings. Of these, 500-600 are with art collectors abroad. This, according to sources, is a relatively low proportion. "The majority of Raza's shows were staged in India where he enjoys a strong market. Thus, the bulk of his works are with Indian collectors," sources said. The prolific Husain may not have resided abroad like Souza and Raza, but is widely travelled, having spent long stretches, painting in Europe, UK, US and Dubai among other places. Till now, the cult artist is believed to have churned out over 30,000 paintings. "Interestingly, 30-40% of Husain's works have made their way into collections across the world. While Akbar Padamsee could have created 2,000-3,000 paintings and drawings, Ram Kumar's repertoire of oil on canvas and paperworks, is probably on par with Raza's. While Padamsee has 10-15% of his ouvre in overseas countries, Ram Kumar finds 8-10% of his abstract works with NRI/non-Indian collectors. Well-known artists from Bengal who stayed in Paris for an extended period are Paritosh Sen, Sunil Das and Prakash Karmakar. In addition, works of Ganesh Pyne, Bikash Bhattacharjee and Sunil Das have been picked up by collectors in Germany. Many major works of Pyne, in fact, are also in the archives of collectors in London, Dubai and Japan. "The presence of major Indian works overseas helps the market to grow. This phenomenon sees a spillover effect and expands the base of Indian paintings in circulation abroad. Of late, the trend internationally has been very positive for Indian artists," sources said.

Courtesy: The Economic Times, November 17, 2004

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The Bangalore-based pharmaceutical company Sami Labs Ltd, along with its associate company Sabinsa Corporation, USA, has been awarded the Thomas Alva Edison Patent Award for the year 2004 at the Liberty Science Centre in New Jersey. The award has been instituted by the Research and Development Council of New Jersey, USA, for the best patent of the year. The award was given for its invention, which involves developing ForsLean, a drug made out of the extract from the roots of the Coleus Forskohlii plant. ForsLean is a product that naturally and safely promotes lean body mass by increasing the body's thermogenic response to food, which improves the absorption of nutrients and their incorporation into lean body mass. It also helps to regulate metabolism for long-term weight loss and treats mood disorders in overweight individuals without any adverse side effects. ForsLean was also voted as the "Best New Product" of the year 2001 by the industry association "Nutracon" in the US.

Courtesy: www.thehindubusinessline.com, November 13, 2004

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Animation around the world is being used for all kinds of advertising, documentary film production and even online campaigns. Recently, the international animation organisation, also known as Association Internationale du Film d'Animation (ASIFA), declared October 28 as International Animation Day. ASIFA's Indian wing celebrated the event in Mumbai. Over 200 films were submitted for consideration in a one-of-a-kind competition. From the initial entries, 50 were selected for the international jury, who short-listed 12 finalists. These 12 films were then screened for an audience in California who voted for their favourite. The film with the most votes was selected to receive the ASIFA-India Award of Excellence. Mr Karl Cohen, president of ASIA-San Francisco and a noted author on animation headed the international jury. The winning movies presented with the ASIFA-India award of excellence were titled 'Raju & I' and 'Dhak-The Drum'. This is the first time that the country has honoured the best in animation on such a large scale. Mr William Dennis, the president of the Indian chapter of ASIFA and Mr K Chandrashekhar, general manager, Visual Computing Labs, handed out the awards.The winning films were then screened to a delighted audience.

Courtesy: The Asian Age, November 11, 2004

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Nineteen youngsters of Indian origin will be honoured by Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi at a special ceremony Sunday for their voluntary work in India. The Gujarat Garima (Pride of Gujarat) awards, organised by Gujarat Times, a weekly Gujarati language news magazine published from New York, will be given to the North American youngsters doing social work in India for the past year under fellowships from the US-based Indiacorps voluntary organisation. The award ceremony will also mark the launch of Indicorps' "Ahmedabad Volunteer Project", under which selected youngsters will work to improve civic conditions in the city. Indiacorps was started by 27-year-old Anand Shah and his two sisters Sonal and Rupal to help North American youngsters of Indian origin visit India for social work. "The idea was to provide a platform to those in North America who wish to spare time for social work in India," Anand said. "Many youngsters of Indian origin in the US want to help their motherland. There are many agencies collecting donations and channelling funds to various projects in India, but we wanted to help those who were ready to devote their own time."

Courtesy: Hindustan Times, November 09, 2004

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The entertainment and media industry is now on an upswing after three years of sluggish growth due to economic slowdown. India is increasingly presenting itself as a favourable destination for post-production and 3D content development activity. Animation in India had its genesis in the advertising industry. Television channels and broadcasters such as Zee, Sun, Sony and Star have also started experimenting with animation for creating promotions. Today, most global companies are outsourcing their work to niche firms such as Pentamedia, JadooWorks, UTV and Digital Art Media. The potential has even spurred industry associations such as the National Association of Software Services Companies (Nasscom) to push India's case as a global animation hub. A report released by Andersen Consulting states that the Indian multimedia and graphics industry is expected to reach $15 billion by 2008. The study further says that over the next three years, the animation industry (domestic and exports) would reach $2 billion. The Nasscom further estimates that India could use three lakh professionals in content development and animation by the year 2008. While it is known that Indian firms have been looking to cash in on global opportunities, there could be a bigger opportunity waiting to be tapped. Industry players say that a strong domestic market is the key to attract more companies to outsource animation-related works to India. A mature domestic market will go a long way in projecting India as a talent hub. Companies in the U.S. and the U.K. are less wary of outsourcing work to mature markets such as China, South Korea, Phillipines and Taiwan compared to a nascent market like India.

Courtesy: The Hindu, November 07, 2004

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