MUMBAI: As a part of the celebrations of the Diamond jubilee celebrations of the National Defence Academy, Desert Safari showcases a unique journey undertaken by the NDA as their team of 20 men braved 7 days in the Thar desert covering 1200 kilometers with minimal resources.

It was a training for the Cadets for them to learn to brave the situation in the desert, when man and machine are pushed to the limits. The NDA team started their journey from Pune and came to Rajasthan via Ahmedabad. IBN7 joined them In Badmer and covered the entire desert stretch with the NDA team of 8 officers, 10 cadets and 2 crew members.

The one hour exclusive show will go on air on 2nd May at 7 PM with a repeat on 3rd May at 2 PM only on IBN7

Sharing his views, Ashutosh, Managing Editor, IBN7 said, "It is indeed an honour for IBN7 to associate with NDA for their diamond jubilee celebrations and be a part of this unique journey that will showcase to our viewers the extraordinary journey that the NDA group undertook covering the 1200 kms of desert over 7 days."

MUMBAI: After two shocking eliminations in Friday?s episode of Jo Jeeta Wohi Superstar, the mood lifts in the Saturday?s episode as the CHAMPIONS entertain both, the crowds and the judges, singing hit retro numbers complete in appropriate retro attire.

Covering most of her face with her white jumbo shades, Prajakta Shukre is accompanied by Debojeet Saha and Abhijeet Sawant as they open the episode with the hit retro number, ?Nayenon se nayen milaoon sajna? from Om Shanti Om. Priyani Vani, Toshi Sabri, Amit Sana and Vineet Singh are the top four performers from the CHALLENGERS squad and one among them will be the cross over contestant filling up the vacant CHAMPIONS seat today.

Harshit completes a hatrick, winning a perfect 30 score from the judges for the third consecutive time for his flawless performance on ?Yeh Jawani?. Following him with outstanding feedback from the judges are Debojeet Saha and Abhijeet Sawant with the songs, ?Tum Jo Mil Gaye Ho? and ?Yari Hai Imaan Mera? respectively.

The otherwise reticent Ishmeet Singh surprises the judges with his moves and grooves while performing the song ?Gulabi Ankhen? while Prajakta sings the song ?Dum Maro Dum? among roars and cheers from the audience.

Rahul Vaidya flings a rose at Farah Khan, while singing the song ?Parda Hai Parda? leaving her flummoxed at his attempt at impressing her, after already having announced his crush for the anchor Mandira Bedi.

To watch a CHALLENGER wear the CHAMPION badge tune in to the retro special episode of Clinic All Clear Jo Jeeta Wohi Superstar, Saturday, May 3, 2008 at 10 pm only on STAR Plus.

MUMBAI: Reliance Industries Limited today announced that the company has signed a letter of intent with NOVA Chemicals to form a joint venture in the area of building and construction.

This proposed new joint venture between RIL and NOVA Chemicals, with RIL having 51% shareholding and NOVA Chemicals 49%, would be a technological partnership for deploying green building and construction technologies to design, engineer, fabricate and build a range of high-efficiency structures for the Indian sub-continent.

The LOI between RIL and NOVA envisages providing turnkey facilities to build structures for RIL needs as per its requirements, and for other customers initially within the Indian Subcontinent. ?India has a $60 billion construction market that is growing at about 20% per year. The potential for energy efficient buildings in India is very exciting and these systems are an excellent fit for Reliance Retail?s strategy.? said Mr. Kamal Nanavaty, President. Reliance Industries Limited.

?This new venture will enable us to work with Reliance to build a large, profitable business based on our proprietary Performance Styrenics building and construction systems,? said Chris Pappas, NOVA Chemicals President and COO.

These unique building and construction systems and component parts, based on expandable polystyrene, minimize resource consumption while decreasing on-going energy demand by as much as a third. The components of the system include structural and non-structural roof, decking and wall panels.

The new venture is expected to be operational soon following finalization of formal agreements. Initial steps necessary to fabricate components in India are underway. The first activity of the venture will be the construction of buildings for Reliance Retail in India.

MUMBAI: This Friday, Idea Dhoom Macha De moves into the semi-final round, with the three remaining artists battling it out for the title of ‘Best Live Performer‘.Joining the judges Shankar Mahadevan and Sharmila Tagore is actor Arbaaz Khan. The competition has intensified with each performance bettering the last, making the audiences‘ job more difficult. Tune-in for some mind-blowing performances by the semi-finalists Devang, Richa and Jaspinder, this Friday, 2 May at 8:30 pm only on NDTV Imagine!

This week‘s episode is a complete ‘Jukebox‘ entertainer, with a wide variety of music from all of the performers. The episode begins with a superb performance by Shankar of different moods of music namely, Main Hoon Don from the film Don, Nach Baliye from Bunty aur Babli and Maa from Taarein Zameen Par.

The artists perform on a variety of songs, presenting audiences with a hugely entertaining show! Richa shows her naughty side with a performance of tracks like Piya Tu Ab To Aaja, Aa Jaane Jaan and Namak Isk Ka before moving on to some soul stirring songs like Pal and Damadam Mast Kalandar! Devang presents a complete contrast act by singing a few Patel Scope tracks and then going on to sing Jaane Kahan Gaye Woh Din. Jaspinder has the audience captivated by some romantic ballads like My Heart Will Go On, Aao Na and Saawariyaan before stepping up the tempo with songs like It‘s Rocking, Kala Sha Kala, Ude Jab jab Zulfein Teri and Kajra Mohabbat Wala. Arbaaz is spellbound, given the brilliance of all the performances.

India has short listed the final three! Who do you think will win the title of "BEST LIVE PERFORMER"? Watch this mega entertaining episode and vote for your favorite singing superstar! Tune in to the Semi-Final on Friday, May 2nd at 8:30 pm only on Idea Dhoom Macha De on NDTV Imagine!

MUMBAI: Nandita Das has been called a film star ?with a social conscience?, more keen to talk about women?s empowerment and human rights than participate in the glamour of Bollywood. CNN?s Anjali Rao catches up with Das in a sound studio as she is post-producing her directorial movie debut ?In Such Times?. She tells Rao about her new film project, her controversial choice of film roles in ?Fire? and ?Bawandar?, an emotional visit to Sri Lanka in the aftermath of the Tsunami, and the honor of being a juror at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival.

For an actress who ?kind of stumbled upon acting? and ?didn?t ever want to be an actor to begin with?, Das? talents are well-recognised, most recently winning the French award of ?Ordre Des Arts Et Des Lettres? for her contribution to cinema. Das tells Rao that she acts because ?there are stories to tell?wonderful stories?, and she explains how the lack of realism in typical Bollywood fare never attracted her: ?There?s a certain kind of cinema that I don?t relate to?I didn?t even grow up watching them.?

Das brushes off the controversy stirred up by her role in the film ?Fire?: ?The bigger evil was that how can you talk about homosexuality in a society that would rather not talk about it.? And of her role in ?Bawandar? playing a woman who is gang raped: ?I often tell women that you?ve got to be strong, why do you feel humiliated when you go through sexual abuse.? but she feels: ?I don?t think women?s empowerment is ever going to be possible without a society overall wanting to change things.?

Das tells Rao about her new role behind the camera, directing ?In Such Times?, a movie about how acts of violence affects its characters? lives: ?I think it?s a universal story, I think we are all concerned about violence?at some level, there is a collective desire for peace and it?s good to examine yourself.?

Besides telling stories on screen, Das also shares with Rao the experience of visiting Sri Lanka and seeing the children in the aftermath of the Tsunami, she says: ?they subconsciously get stored somewhere in your mind and form your overall thinking, or they help you to be a little more sensitive than one was.?

She also tells Rao about a very special experience, being selected to be a member of the Cannes Film Festival jury: ?The best part of being in Cannes was not just to see great films or to walk the red carpet and all the hype that is around it, but to have those sessions with 8 other brilliant mind.

MUMBAI: With a total of 5 Stations in Rajasthan, 94.3 MY FM Dil Se! has given the Rajasthan Royals a huge playing field quite literally! Bringing the team and its fans closer, 94.3 MY FM has all the match updates, contests and interesting information on air for its cricket crazy listeners. As the IPL fever burns through Rajasthan, 94.3 MY FM has also brought in entertainment fundas in the form of "Halla Bol", a big shout out to the Rajasthan Royals. With on-air contests and on-ground activities like a ‘Halla Bol‘ Bikers Troupe and The Loyals of Rajasthan Royals floats, 94.3 MY FM has gone all out in the Mega War of the Indian Premier League.

The on-ground floats have contests and interesting displays along with nets for fans to try out their cricketing and the ‘Halla Bol‘ Bikers take the excitement of the cricket to the nook and corner of the Pink City! Every MY FM city in Rajasthan (Jaipur, Ajmer, Kota, Jodhpur and Udaipur), also has cricket driven contests for selecting their own Loyals of Rajasthan Royals - a Team of 11 lucky winners gets free tickets to watch the home matches of the Rajasthan Royals. They also get 10 tickets each at discounted rates so they can bring their friends along.

Commenting on the Campaign, Mr Harrish M. Bhatia, COO, Synergy Media Entertainment Ltd. said "Cricket is undoubtedly the flavour of the season and with IPL coming in, the fever has caught up everywhere. 94.3 MY FM has stations in almost every part of Rajasthan, so we wanted to be closely associated with the Rajasthan Royals, bringing the entire state together as a team to support them and march into the cricketing warfare with ‘Halla Bol!‘ - our shout out as The Loyals of Rajasthan Royals"