MUMBAI: Mumbai, August 28, 2009: The season?s final slam event, the US Open, begins with Roger Federer the overwhelming favourite to win yet again at Flushing Meadows. The Swiss has a formidable record at the event having won it 5 times in a row. The defending champion has been in brilliant touch this season winning the Wimbledon and the French Open. Back from a break after the birth of twin daughters, the Swiss showed he well prepared for another assault with an impressive win in the Cincinnati Masters in Ohio.

Federer?s bid for his 16th Grand Slam title will be live on Ten Sport from 31 August 2009.

Despite Federer?s dominance, the men?s contest is expected to be keenly fought with top players peaking at just the right moment. In the Rogers Cup in Toronto, the top 8 seeds reached the quarterfinals. In the Cincinnati Masters the top four seeds were contesting in the last four stage.

Federer?s biggest challenge is likely to come from Andy Murray with most expecting the two to clash in the final yet again this year. Murray lost the final in 2008 in straight sets but is a much improved player since and his performance this year has seen him move up to number two in the ATP rankings. The Scot has won 5 tournaments this year, earning over $3 million dollars in prize money. Despite all his success Murray is yet to win a major and will go all out to make amends in the season?s last grand slam.

Third seed Raphael Nadal has won 6 majors in his career but the Spaniard is still working hard to regain the form that saw him dominating last season. Nadal?s season began well this season as he beat Federer at the Australian Open to win his first grand slam on hard-court but tendonitis in his knee has since hampered his progress. A semi-final appearance in Cincinnati has given indications that the Mallorcan may again be a big threat for Federer. Another player looking to end the year on a high is Croatian Novak Djokovic. The world number three has won two tournaments this year but he may well have reserved his best for the last.

In the women?s draw, Dinara Safina is seeded number one but not many will rate her as the favourite. The Russian is yet to win a grand slam event. The punters? favourite will be American Serena Williams who is looking for her fourth US Open title. Williams is known to lift her game in the grand slam events and is looking for her third major this year having already won the Australian Open and Wimbledon.

The return of Kim Clijsters and Maria Sharapova will also be keenly watched. Sharapova suffered from a shoulder injury which threatened to end her career prematurely. The Russian returned to action in May and is looking good after an appearance in the final of the Rogers Cup in Toronto. Clijsters had retired due to injury and impending marriage. The 2005 champion believes she has the ability to compete with the best.

Indian fans will be keenly watching the progress of Sania Mirza in the singles. There are more chances for success in the doubles with both Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi being serious contenders.

MUMBAI: Onam opens on an auspicious note on Uthradom, with a special episode of Udayamritham, Uthrada Polima at 6.30 am; Thumba Poove Poothirule at 7.30 am shows a glimpse of the multitude of elaborate Ona Kalikal that Kerala boasted of once- upon-a-time, but which are now slipping into oblivion & recreates a handful of them - for old time‘s sake; Uthradavattom at 8.30 am in which 4 doyens from the socio-cultural field Kaithapram, Mathusudhanan Nair, Janardhan Puthusseri and C.J. Kuttappan re-visit the rich traditional folk culture of Kerala that is but memory now; in Ona Sadya at 1.30pm , in order to do full justice to the most delicious part of Onam, the Onam lunch once relished never forgotten; Taste of Kerala approaches veteran traditional cooks from all over Kerala and persuades them to part with their practice- perfected secret recipes that cover the entire menu of the Onam sadya & teaches the ‘art of serving‘ the repast that follows a strict sequence, where each dish has a pre- ordered place ; Interview with Sadhana Sargam at 2.30 pm in which the South Indian Melody Queen discloses what brought her into the playback scene& her indebtedness to A.R.Rehman ; in Harimuraleeravam at 7.00 pm, Hariharan the Trivandrumite who strides the international music scene talks about his childhood Onams spent in Kerala; Movies for Television will bring the day‘s programme to a close.

Amrita TV greets the most important of all Onam days with Thiruvona Thirumathuram at 6.30 followed by Thumba Poove Poothirule at 7.30 am ; in Priyamulla Kazhchakal an interview with Priyadarshan at 9.30 am, the Malayalam film director who conquered Bollywood, holds forth on his directorial achievements and the special relationship he shares with Mohanlal his childhood buddy; in Ona Sadya at 1.30 am, as the whole of Kerala gets ready to tuck into a sumptuous banquet, Ona Sadya too joins in the feasting in the Ezhumatoor palace where Kalesh demonstrates the ‘knack‘ of eating from the plantain leaf; in Virunnu at 2.00pm, Suresh Gopi & family call at the Kavadiyar Palace, where His Royal Highness Uthradam Thirunal Marthanda Varma & Aswathy Thirunal Thampuratti recollect the glorious days when Travancore was still under royal reign and share anecdotes of the Onam of their youth ; followed by Malayalathinte Mahanithi in which one can listen to the reminiscences of megastar Mohanlal at 7.00pm.

Avittom dawns at 6.30 am with Avittaperuma , another Udayamritham Special ;at 9.00 am Onam at Paleri Manikyam. Location, on the location of Renjith‘s latest directorial venture ,this special programme traces the genesis of the movie - from an oral history of the incident that triggered off the novel to its translation into the visual medium; in Interview with Usha Uthup at 9.30am, she opens up on her initiation into the world of music, her early struggle as a singer and establishment as the Queen of Pop; after the strenuous exertions of the 1st and 2nd Onam, to prepare the most elaborate meal for any festival in any country, the women of the house take a break and serve avittakatta -an amalgam formed of mixing some dishes of the sadhya. Ona Sadhya at 1.30pm takes a look at making of the dish; Virunnu at 2.00pm , featuring M. Jayachandran, Priyanka, Manjeri, Sayanora etc is a music packed show, full of traditional melodies Vanchipattu, Onapattu, Kummattipattu, Nadanpattu ; Shobhanayodoppam at 8.00pm, in which the 3 judges of Vanita Ratnam-3 Shobhana, Kalpana & Murali chat informally with the contestants of Vanita Ratnam-3 in an impromptu t?te-?-t?te . They swap tongue twisters that finally leave have them in stitches, chip in to decorate a pookkalam, play referee as the competitors sway for supremacy in a tug-of-war and in the end instead of dishing out marks, serve them with a delectable sadhya.

Chatayam commences with Chataya Charutha at 6.30am; ‘Ullasayatra at 9.30 am in which some of the eliminated contestants of Super Star-1 and Super Star Junior-2, go on a pleasure trip on board a luxury house boat with Soumya Balan, who anchors the show. As they cruise over the placid waters of the Punnamada Kayal , they share their reality show experiences with each other and sing a few of their favourite songs rounding off the outing with a grand Onam feast; in Ona Sadhya at 1.30 pm, ending the 2 week long special series on a sweet note, the show moves to the Sree Krishna College in Guruvayoor, where the students conduct an unique ‘Payasam Mela‘ and gets a taste of the culinary skills of the competitors; Ona Thilakkom at 2.00pm in which t he winners of Amrita Tv‘s 4 musical reality shows , Super Star-1, Super Star Global , Super Star Junior-1 & Super Star Junior-2, share this Onam with young starlet Meera Nandan. They chat breezily about their Onam experiences, sing songs dear to their heart, pool their ideas to make a pookalam, take turns at the swing and end with the traditional banquet ; Ente Ormayile Balyam at 7.30 pm is a programme that travels back in time to the land of Nostalgia, full of pleasant remembrances, fond memories and the recollections from the past of Shasi Tharoor; Shobhanoyodoppam at 8.00pm is the second part of the programme featuring the judges & contestants of Vanita Ratnam-3.

MUMBAI: Known for his extra-ordinary capabilities in the game of Football, Baichung Bhutia the captain of Indian Football team, supports Zee News in their ‘India First‘ campaign.

Launched earlier this month, the India First initiative aims ‘To unite the nation, to forget all divisions by empowering human resources to make India first‘.

Motivating the fellow citizens, Mr. Bhutia appealed, "This is high time to unite. Let‘s forget all the differences like Caste, Language, Religion and Region. We are Indians & Nationalism is our religion? India First"

Conceptualised to live up to the vision of Mahatma Gandhi‘s ‘India of my dream‘, India First is yet another endeavour from Zee News stable; to encourage and inspire millions of Indians to believe in themselves and pledge to work towards the betterment of the country.

MUMBAI: Vizag, August 28, 2009: Countering the deadly perception of swine flu and to build in the awareness about its prevention, BIG 92.7 FM, leading station in Vizag initiated an awareness rally on ‘Swine flu‘. The rally was flagged-off by the city Mayor Pulusu Janaradhana Rao and was taken out from Ambedkar statue near LIC to the Governor‘s Bunglow.

BIG FM RJ‘s Hasini, Veeru and Seenu led the rally with thousands of Vizagites also joined by distinguished citizens of Vizag, Principal of AMC Shri. G Bhagya Rao, Superintendent of KGH Shri. MVRJ Somayajulu, Superintendent of Government Chest Hospital in Hyderabad SV Prasad, Coordinator of AP Vaidya Vidhana Parishad Shri. Ram Swaroop Reddy, Superintendent of Government Hospital for Chest and communicable Diseases Shri P Subba Rao and District medical and Health Officer J Sarojini actively participated in the rally and promoted the measures taken to prevent the new virus. The participants carried banners and placards with messages like use masks, prevent swine flu etc.

Commenting on the occasion Ms. Sirisha Krishna- Station Head- Vizag said, "As a responsible media brand it is our endeavor to positively impact society through the holistic offerings from the Station. We took this initiative with the support of people of vizag and our sponsors. The rally demonstrated unity to fight and take preventive measures to fight from swine flu. We have received overwhelming response from the local populace and are confident that this awareness rally will help people counter swine flu".

MUMBAI: Times Now, India‘s most watched news channel besides providing you with credible news round the clock will also spice up your weekends with its new shows. This weekend bollywood makes Times Now its home with Salman Khan, Hrithik Roshan, Quick Gun Murugun and Nana Patekar featuring on the channel.

Frankly Speaking: This week Arnab Goswami has a tete a tete with Bollywood rock star Salman Khan where they talk about stardom, Salman the role model besides other aspects of the actor‘s life.

Hrithik in his own words: Catch superstar Hrithik Roshan talk about life, love and bollywood while he shoots for the cover of GQ magazine.

Making of Quick Gun Murugun; Get behind the scenes of Quick Gun Murugun the South Indian Cowboy film that hit screens this Friday. Watch Rajendra Prasad, Rambha and director Shashanka Ghosh talk about their experiences while making this rib tickler.

Total Recall: Bollywoods On Screen Couples: Join us as we celebrate some of the best remembered silver screen love stories. Raj Kapoor and Nargis, Madhubala and Dilip Kumar, Amitabh Bachchan and Rekha and many more.

The Foodie: This weekend Kunal Vijaykar pays a visit to Nana Patekar and partakes in Ganapati celebrations at the actor‘s house while feasting on some delectable Maharashtrian fare.

Frankly Speaking: This week Arnab Goswami has a tete a tete with Bollywood rock star Salman Khan where they talk about stardom, Salman the role model besides other aspects of the actor‘s life.

Life‘s Like That; Hosted by Geetanjali Kirloskar, this chatty, humane and honest show is a no-holds barred look at urban lifestyle trends. With people from the urban scape who express their personal views and opinions to the topic under discussion, it offers a sounding board through a coffee table chat for the issues that our viewers face everyday. A platform to voice opinions and share experiences as candidly as with friends. Perhaps the only show to understand the fact that most of the times, to see the solution all we need is a good listener.

Watch all this! Only on TIMES NOW.

‘Hrithik in his own words‘
Saturday - 29th August - 02.30 pm and 10.30 pm
Sunday - 10.30 am, 06.30 pm.

‘Frankly Speaking with Arnab‘
Saturday - 29th August - 07.30 pm
Sunday - 02.30 pm and 09.30 pm

‘Making of Quick Gun Murugun‘
Saturday - 29th August - 11.30 am
Sunday - 9.30 am and 5.30 pm

‘Total Recall‘
Saturday - 29th August - 12.30 pm, 4.30 pm, 9.30 pm and 12.30 am
Sunday - 01.30 pm, 08.30pm

‘The Foodie Episode‘
Saturday - 29th August - 01.30 and 05.30 pm
Sunday - 11.30 am, 07.30 pm and 12.30 am

‘Lifes Like That‘
Saturday - 29th August - 08.00 pm
Sunday - 03.00 pm

MUMBAI: As the UPA Government completes 100 days in office, CNN-IBN, India?s No.1 English News channel brings a unique poll with India?s top 100 editors to rate the Government?s performance so far. The poll findings will be revealed in a special one hour show ?100 Days Verdict? anchored by Rajdeep Sardesai, Editor-in-Chief - IBN18 Network, with some of the prominent editors as panelists. The show will be telecast on CNN-IBN on August 29th at 8PM and Aug 30th at 12 Noon.

The poll focuses on the performance of Manmohan Singh?s government in the first 100 days of it?s second term. The poll talks about issues like Has the government managed to revive the economy, Are we now better prepared to tackle terror, Is the Indian diplomacy working better, How good is the Government?s Education Reform Agenda etc. The poll engages the preeminent editors from across the country and analysis if the government in power is living up to the expectation of the common man.

Rajdeep Sardesai, Editor-In-Chief, IBN18 Network said ?With the UPA government completing its first 100 days in power, CNN-IBN polls out with 100 of the finest editors to assess the government?s performance till date. It is infact an attempt to do a reality check on the promises made by the government to the common man.?