MUMBAI: Expanding its national footprint, IDEA Cellular, one of the leading telecom operators in the country has now entered Tamil Nadu, with the launch of its GSM mobile services in 130 towns across the state. IDEA?s 2.75G EDGE enabled network will progressively cover Chennai and over 500 towns and villages by the end of current financial year. The warm yellow of IDEA logo, symbolizing strength, vibrancy and vitality, will now be seen across the rural and urban landscape of the state.

Tamil Nadu, with a population of 67 million and teledensity of over 50% has been identified by IDEA as a key growth market in southern India. IDEA is a strong player in the region, with 25% of its overall subscriber base coming from three service areas of Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. IDEA plans to set up a network of 2,400 cell sites by the end of March ?10.

With this launch, IDEA Cellular, an Aditya Birla Group Company will now cover nearly 90% of the telephony potential of the country, and is the 3rd largest private GSM player with over 44 million subscribers across 17 telecom circles.

Speaking on the occasion of launch of services in Tamil Nadu, Mr. Himanshu Kapania, Director - Operations, IDEA Cellular Ltd., said, ?We are happy to announce our entry into Tamil Nadu, as we expand across the country. We welcome the people of this state to join IDEA?s pan-India network. IDEA?s commitment to offer the best telephony experience for our customers will usher in a new dimension in mobile telephony experience for the people of the state.?

IDEA Cellular has launched its services in most of the main towns of Tamil Nadu including Coimbatore, Madurai, Trichy, Salem, Tirupur, Erode and Vellore. IDEA?s services in Chennai Metro will be launched soon.

IDEA aims to provide the citizens of Tamil Nadu superior connectivity, whisper clear audio quality, zero call congestion and high capacity, ahead of time. IDEA?s 2.75G capable & 3G ready core network provides for all future technological enhancements.

IDEA will develop customer service with a robust retail network comprising of exclusive ?My Idea Stores?, ?Idea Points? and other outlets. The service network will be expanded to over 25,000 retail outlets and 60 Idea showrooms, shortly. Aimed at achieving visibility and real time experience, these customer touch points will significantly enhance IDEA?s distribution network and help reach out to its discerning customers across all segments.

IDEA is the leader in the introduction of value added services in the Indian mobile telephony market. With the launch of IDEA in Tamil Nadu, mobile users in the state will now have a rich experience while watching movie previews on IDEA TV, Voice chats, Instant Messenger, multimedia messages with video attachments, web-infotainment, high-speed video downloads, Java game downloads and other Internet-based multi-media experiences on their EDGE-enabled mobile phones.

As part of the inaugural offer, IDEA will introduce multiple tariff plans ranging from competitive special tariff vouchers, to variable talk time and validity offerings, based on the consumption and usage patterns of customers in Tamil Nadu.

Special Value Added Services being made available for IDEA subscribers in the state include ? Idea Vanavil, Tamil Ullagam, Thirukural Alerts on SMS, Rahu Kalam, Background Music, and Ring Back Tunes. ?Say Idea?, an exclusive product offering wide range of services like Dialer Tones, Star Special, Music Directors? Special, Song & Dance, Latest Movies, Jokes & Comedy Special and Devotional will also be introduced in Tamil Nadu.

MUMBAI: Carlton Palmer believes Manchester United have an extra trick up their sleeve, and will start as the favourites against Barcelona on Wednesday. The two sides go head-to-head on the biggest night of this football season, as the UEFA Champions League draws to an exciting climax with the eagerly-awaited Final in Rome?s Stadio Olimpico.

And all the action will be Live on TEN Sports (see schedule below), with Palmer among the panelists on the studio show. He will be joined by a special surprise guest, as they preview and analyze the match at half-time and full-time.

Barcelona did well to get past Chelsea in the Semi-Finals; but Palmer, a former England international, believes they?ll find it hard to repeat their exploits against an upbeat United. Without their natural back four, the Catalans won?t be able to start their attacking moves from their own half as easily, according to Palmer, who made a name for himself playing for Sheffield Wednesday. What?s more, the Red Devils will certainly do what Chelsea didn?t ? squeeze the game and not allow any space to midfielders Xavi and Iniesta, who can run amok given the slightest chance.

United, on the other hand, will hold the aces in the form of Cristiano Ronaldo?s pace and Wayne Rooney?s finishing quality up front. Ronaldo, the 2008 World Player of the Year, has scored some exceptional goals already in their campaign, most notably against Porto in the second leg of their quarter-final. And with Sir Alex Ferguson most likely to bench Carlos Tevez and Dimitar Berbatov, it seems as though the goal-scoring onus will once again be on him and Rooney. Palmer predicts they will deliver, helping Sir Alex?s side win 2-1 and become the first team to defend its UEFA Champions League title. If United do indeed manage that, they?ll also become only the second side since AC Milan?s late-80s outfit to become the undisputed champions of Europe for a second successive year. To commemorate the event, United?s fans are planning to display a huge image of Sir Matt Busby, under whom the team won its first European Cup in 1968.

Barcelona, meanwhile, will be hoping to ride on their Argentine striker Lionel Messi, who?s being touted by many as this year?s player of the year. Sir Alex has already said he?ll be captivated by the duel between Ronaldo and Messi, and the tie could well be decided by who comes out on top in that battle. Barcelona, for all the talk of Lionel Messi‘s brilliance, could badly miss the influence of Thierry Henry, who‘ll be short of match fitness following a knee ligament injury. Coach Pep Guardiola must also make do without suspended defenders Dani Alves and Eric Abidal for the most important game of the season. However, the Barca manager has warned his counterpart, Sir Alex, that his side knows how to exploit United?s weaknesses. So the battle between the two managers could well turn out to be the highlight of the most eagerly anticipated clash of the season.

MUMBAI: With the conclusion of the much anticipated elections, UTVi presents a list of programmes for the week which will drop the temperature by a few notches. These programmes ?Techtree, Autocar Show, Cracking Careers, Life & Style, Real Estate and Logo will be aired over the weekend (May 23rd, 2009 and May 24, 2009).

This week on Techtree, (Saturday, 23rd May at 6.30 PM & Sunday and 24th May at 11.30 AM) Malaika Shenoy gets an audio tour from Stuff Magazine?s editor Nishant Padhiar. Techtree takes a look at the best Home Theater systems in town, hi-fi speakers, subwoofers etc ? and tell you how to shop intelligently for audio equipment. The show also feature?s a review of the latest iPod ? the 3rd generation Shuffle.

Your browser may not support display of this image. This week on The Autocar Show (Saturday, 23rd May at 10.30 AM PM & Sunday and 24th May at 10.30 PM), the show has lined up not one but two exclusive drives for you! The show tests the latest car to roll out of the Maruti Suzuki stable, the Ritz, and also finds out what‘s new with the face-lifted Skoda Laura. Of course, as always Renuka Kripalani and Hormazd Sorabjee will shoot your car buying blues down!

On Cracking Careers (Saturday, 23rd May at 8.00 AM PM & Sunday and 24th May at 5.00 PM) this week, the focus is on technology aided MBA programs, who should be enrolling for them and what value do they hold in the market? The show will also be continuing the series on Upgrading Your Skills. This week Cracking Careers tells you all about 3D Max and Maya.

Watch Life & Style on Saturday, 23rd May at 10.30 PM & Sunday and 24th May at 1.00 PM. When you‘re feeling hot, the show looks around for drinks to cool you off! This week learn about healthy mocktails which are your perfect summer coolers. In health and fitness it‘s time to hit the dance floor but with a twist! Life & Style tells you how Indian classical dance forms like Odissi could be your road to fitness.

Your browser may not support display of this image.This week Real Estate (Saturday, 23rd May at 12.30 PM & Sunday and 24th May at 11.30 PM) looks at the trend of retirement homes for the elderly. The show takes you to some of the best properties in this niche segment and tells you how they are able to provide an independent and plush living option to senior citizens

On Logo (Saturday, 23rd May at 2.00 PM & Sunday and 24th May at 9.30 PM) this week, the show takes a look at the emergence of brand Congress with little or no help from its advertising campaigns. Logo analyses the future of political advertising in India to see if it can prove more effective than just a piece of communication that makes noise.

MUMBAI: History Rocks, the most popular rock music show on FOX History & Entertainment

(every Friday night at 10:30pm), opened to a full house with a thrilling performance by the young rock band, One Track Mind, at Hard Rock Caf? on Thursday night.

The highlight of the evening was the riff dripping performance by the young and energetic band as they belted one classic number after another to a roaring audience.

A sixteen-part series, History Rocks III is dedicated to the definitive sound of legendary rockers. This May, FOX History & Entertainment allows music lovers a peek into the lives of rock legends and devour their biggest concerts. Featuring this season is Jimi Hendrix?s legendary performance at the Woodstock festival; Queen?s live performance to a jam-packed Wembley Stadium; Pink Floyd?s electrifying do of what is considered their best album ever amongst others. Sudha Sadhanand, Vice-President, Programming, FOX History & Entertainment agress, ?In its third season, fans of History Rocks are going to see a very different show ? combining the trivia and stories of their days of classic rock with entertaining concerts of their favourite rock legends. You will see what makes these rock legends the gods of rock. From the heaviest riff drippers to the most beautiful ballads - every episode here has those thrills.?

History Rocks III which has already toured Delhi and Mumbai will hit Bangalore next with Galeej Guru. Apart from the concerts, exclusive History Rocks quizzes are being held across Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore. Also, up for grabs for a lucky winner of the Truest Bhakt contest is an exclusive Epiphone Les Paul Custom Guitar.

MUMBAI: Hello Americas, Amrita TV?s new travelogue, that incorporates some elements of the lifestyle show, chronicles the travels of the crew as they globe-trot across the breadth of the American Continent; telecast every Sunday at 8.30 pm, it weaves together colorful individual strands - of sights seen, stories heard, realities understood - picked along the way, to create a complete pattern of the American way of life .

The team started out on their exploratory expedition on a blistering cold day in early January to record the Winter Edition of Hello Americas. It was an America muffled to the ears in snow, with the barometer hovering around a bone-numbing cold ? 30 degrees.

The crew captured scenes and sights along the route ? of Ice Fishing, snowmobiling, what it feels to be inside an igloo - wending their way from coast to coast ? from New York the Global City, melting pot of all the Nationalities of the world; the City of Columbia in California where Cowboy towns are still preserved in their pristine state, as it was 150 years ago ; Detroit, synonym of the American Automobile Industry ; Los Angeles, the home base of Hollywood, the world?s most thickly populated celebrity neighborhood; the Golden Gym on the ?Muscle Beach? stretch of Venice Beach where Arnold Schwarzenegger, the film icon comes for his work out .

They halted every now and then to have first hand encounters with the citizens both American and Indian American , that threw up surprising insights of the Other Side of The United States ? of rock solid family ties that rival those of the East; of sacrifices undertaken by a devoted wife who moved to successive smaller and smaller homes to put her husband through Medical school ; of the Central Kitchen that feeds over 5000 homeless poor a day in Washington D.C, the Capital of the richest nation in the world.

During the course of their travel, Amrita TV saw an America that bore little similarity to the one portrayed in the slick soap operas and the blockbusters of Hollywood, which focuses only the world of the rich and the glamorous and of life in the fast lane. Hello Americas presents glimpses of a different America - one built on principled value systems and strong familial bonds that revealed the warm, inner, real self throbbing beneath the surface glitter and glitz.

A montage of diverse, unconnected images of ways, traditions and customs which splice themselves together to form a complete film of the American life and culture, Hello Americas is in effect a journey of re-discovery of a continent .

MUMBAI: Commemorating 25 years of its release, Anupam Kher will host the re-release premiere of his debut film Saaransh at Big Cinemas Metro on 24 May, in association with his acting school Actor Prepares and Metro Big Cinemas.
Though the film will not play in regular shows, Kher will host the film for a single-screening. Incidentally, the film was premiered on 24 May 1984 at Metro theatre, now re-branded as Metro Big Cinemas.

Kher is expected to relive this moment with his co-stars Rohini Hattangadi and Soni Razdan and director Mahesh Bhatt.

Commented Kher, "On 25th May 1984 my first film Saaransh released. I was a newcomer then. Now, 25 years later I still feel like I am a newcomer. To celebrate my highs and lows of these years, I thought it would be great to relive the moments and the audience reaction for my first film Saaransh. In 1984, the film released in Metro, so we thought it would be nice to premiere it here only."

Saaransh that was India‘s official entry to the Oscars in 1984, established Kher as a great actor. Ironically, he played a stubborn old man in his very first movie.

Saaransh is the story of an old couple living in Bombay, coming to terms with the death of their only son who is killed in a mugging incident in New York.