MUMBAI: Ten Sports, the most watched sports channel of the sub-continent, will telecast live the second-leg matches from the first knockout stage of the UEFA Champions League.

After the upcoming matchday of the Champions League, only eight teams will remain in the fray for the Europe?s premier club title. And Ten Sports, which has the exclusive rights for the Champions League in the Sub-continent, will show four of these matches, including the most high-profile clash between English Premier League giants Arsenal and defending champions AC Milan.

Apart from the Arsenal-Milan match, which kicks off at 12:30 am IST on Wednesday, March 5, the other three matches to be shown are 2006 champions FC Barcelona against Celtic (3:15 am on Wednesday, March 5), followed by Chelsea vs Olympiakos and Porto vs FC Schalke on Thursday, March 6, at the same times.

Apart from the above matches, Ten Sports will also show live the match between Liverpool and Inter Milan, which is being played on Tuesday late night , March 11.

Arsenal, finalists in 2006 when they lost to Barca, will have their task cut out as they travel to San Siro Stadium after the Rossoneri held them to a goalless draw at the Emirates Stadium.

Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger appeared extremely satisfied with the draw at home in which they squandered several good chances to score, and reckons the Italian side will have to come out of their shell in an effort to score, thus giving his forwards a better chance to make inroads into the famed Milan defence.

Lionel Messi scored twice in Barcelona?s come-from-behind win against Celtic, and they will be the clear favourites in the second leg when the two teams square up in Camp Nou in Spain.

Chelsea will be favourites at home against Olympiakos after a goalless away draw. Porto were shocked 1-0 by Schalke, and will have to put up a good performance at home to keep their qualifying hopes alive.

The UEFA Champions League starts in September and continues till the champion club of Europe is determined in May. The tournament comprises a group stage features 32 teams in eight groups of four, followed by four knockout rounds.

MUMBAI: Get ready to win the biggest and most exciting prizes with the Vh1 Ticket to Ride Contest! Vh1, India‘s only international Music & lifestyle channel is giving 3 couples a chance to win an all expense paid trip to watch 3 of the biggest artists in the world, Bruce Springsteen, Celine Dion or Santana LIVE in London, Paris or Frankfurt! All you have to do is sms ‘TTR‘ to 56882 anytime between 1st March and 21st March to win tickets to the most electrifying concerts of 2008!

This year Vh1 has taken Vh1 Ticket to Ride CONTEST to the next level by sending fans to see not 1 out of 3 mind-blowing artists LIVE In concert! Don‘t miss a chance to watch Celine Dion the premier contemporary pop vocalist of the Nineties and winner of numerous Grammy and International Music Awards in Frankfurt. Get ready to Dance in the dark and swoon to the deep and sexy voice of multiple Grammy winner Bruce Sprinsteen in London. Groove to the perfect fusion of salsa, rock, blues and jazz with Grammy Award winning Mexican Latin Rock band - Santana in Paris!

Says Ferzad Palia, Associate General Manager, Vh1 India "We at Vh1 want to give our Indian viewers a chance to not just see their favourite international artistes on air but also experience them live! This year we are going a step further by offering three lucky winners and a friend each the chance to watch the world‘s greatest living exponents of music performing live. So whether you are pop or rock fan, satiate your hearts‘ desire of watching legendary artistes perform only with Vh1 Ticket to Ride!!"

In the past 3 years Vh1 Ticket to Ride has sent fans to watch legendary artists like U2, Coldplay, Eminem, Ricky Martin, Pearl Jam etc. So hold on tight, you might be one of the 3 lucky winners who get to fly to London, Paris or Frankfurt to watch an unforgettable performance by Celine Dion, Santana or Bruce Springsteen! Sms ‘TTR‘ to 56882 NOW!

This year, Vh1 Ticket 2 Ride is presented by Hewlett Packard.

MUMBAI: In recognition of NDTV Labs? development of superior media software, NAB International Broadcasting has announced NDTV as the winner of the prestigious NAB International Broadcasting Excellence Award, 2008.NDTV Labs will be awarded this honour for developing its product, the nX Paint software. Earlier this year, nX Paint software won accolades after bagging the Commonwealth Broadcasting Association‘s CBA-IBC Award for Innovative Engineering.

NAB is an international organization, based out of the United States. It was established in 1995 to recognize broadcast organizations world over that have demonstrated exceptional leadership in advancing the broadcast industry and the services they provide to their community and audiences.

On the award being declared, Rahul S Deshpande, CEO NDTV Labs, said ?This award is very encouraging for the team. I thank NAB for recognizing our efforts in creating top quality media software products and services for broadcasters world over. NDTV has again emerged as an undisputed leader, incubating world-class technology. nX Paint software adds another milestone to NDTV?s pioneering initiatives in superior quality innovation in the field of broadcasting.?

The Awards will be presented during the International Reception held at NAB‘s spring convention in Las Vegas in April, 2008. The award will be accepted by Kawaljit Singh Bedi, Software Architect, NDTV Labs Ltd.

MUMBAI: HT Media Limited, India‘s premier media house, and Kohinoor Foods Limited today marked a spectacular entry into the Guinness Book of World Records for creating the World‘s Largest Biryani weighing 14,060kgs.

The biryani cooking was flagged off by Honorable Chief Minister of the state of Delhi Smt.Sheila Dixit. ‘I feel this is a great activity explored by HT and Kohinoor to revive the feasting and celebration associated with biryani in India. I‘d say there‘s reason enough for Delhiites to rejoice - this is yet another platform for Delhi and moreover India to be noted and recognized throughout the world‘.

The elaborate vegetable biryani was created under the supervision of 60 executive chefs and a head chef at the Outer Grounds of the Jawahar Lal Nehru Stadium. The activity saw 3000kgs of Kohinoor basmati rice, 3000kgs of vegetables and 6000 liters of water being used to prepare the magnificent biryani. Moreover, the magnanimous 16-feet handi used for the cooking of the biryani was set over a 3-feet high furnace with a base diameter of xx-feet.

Speaking at the occasion, Mr.Anand Bhardwaj, Business Head, New Media initiatives, HT Media Limited said, ‘We are glad to be a partner for this event. Its truly a remarkable achievement to have carried off the task with extreme caution and finesse and I would like to congratulate all the people who have made this a success.‘

Mr.Gurnam Arora, Managing Director, Kohinoor Foods Limited added, ‘This event is a one-of-its-kind endeavour which is not only matchless with any other culinary activity ever done in the past but also truly magnified to the grandeur. We are very proud to be organizing an activity of such scale and magnificence‘.

The event was set in a rich and colorful ambiance of heritage, festivity and fun with the grounds decorated in traditional Rajasthani theme with folk performances throughout the day. The highlight of the day was the elaborate lunch spread which was a choice of varied rice delicacies. Also displayed were different varieties of rice.

The event saw a huge public turnout which added to the cheer and the festivities.

MUMBAI: In the reality of vastly increasing television universe with many channels and new genres, Zee Marathi has strengthen its power day by day and proved to be the King in Maharashtra market, as per TAM reports.Year 2008 is undoughtedly a successful year for Zee Marathi, which Zee Marathi garnered good GRPs from week 1 to week 8th consecutively. In the week 8, Zee Marathi gained in CS 4+ all Maharashtra market with highest GRPs of 336 and 9.9 market share in Marathi speaking market. In this year, Zee Marathi has clearly surpassed Star Plus in the overall GRPs with respect to almost all the target groups of television viewers continuously. In female 25+ ABC the overall GRPs of Zee Marathi are 547 and Star Plus 308 where as in female CS 15+ ABC GRPs of Star Plus are 296 and Zee Marathi is ahead of Star Plus by 209 points. Zee Marathi has successfully captured 505 GRPs in female CS 15+ ABC and in male CS 25+ ABC Zee Marathi is 401 and Star Plus is 238 whereas in CS 4+ Zee Marathi is 336 and Star Plus is 244 only.

Zee Gaurav Puraskar, a most glorious and glanderous award function in Marathi Industry, was the major contributor of this achievement. In week 8, in CS4+TG the Zee Gaurav Puraskar, garnered 8.3 TVRs whereas Star Plus got 1.5 and ETV Marathi got 0.6 from all Maharashtra. And in CS+25 female, Zee Gaurav gained 11.3 TVRs against Star Plus 2.3 and ETV Marathi 0.6 only. The Zee Gaurav, reached to approximately 48.3 lacs viewers (TAM cs 4+). During this slot, Zee Marathi pulled 33.9% absolute channel share among all channels as against Star Plus?s 6% and ETV?s 2.3 % in Marathi category. Among Marathi Channels this grand event garnered 85 % relative channel share for Zee Marathi. In top 50 programs from Marathi genre, there are 38 programs from Zee Marathi, 12 from ETV, but DD 10 and Mi Marathi could not hold a single.

Not only that, Zee Marathi?s dance based reality show Lux Ekapeksha Ek (Wed- Thurs) biweekly programme contributed good TRPs for the Zee Marathi. Lux Ekapeksha Ek has garnered excellent numbers for Zee Marathi from day one. And it has effectively captured the audience from Star Plus.

Among prime time dailies, Vahinisaheb, Avghachi Sansaar, Ya Sukhanno Ya, Kalat Nakalat and Asambhav are fetching higher ratings compared to competition.

MUMBAI: India‘s largest and most comprehensive business and consumer platform,CNBC Universe will offer a comprehensive lineup of dedicated programming on the budget day led by the nation‘s business news channels, CNBC-TV18 & CNBC AWAAZ.

Starting in the morning, CNBC-TV18 & CNBC AWAAZ will line up an array of experts, business leaders and corporate captains through the day as initial expectations and subsequent impact of the budgetary proposals of the FM are analyzed threadbare. Expert opinions, industry reactions, citizen demands, market implications and informative bulletins will comprise the main content focus of the 2 channels.

Speaking on this, Ajay Chacko, Director, TV18 Business Media added "We have had a month long intensive focus on the state of the Indian economy, growth agenda and policy imperatives faced by the government as a precursor to the budget. Budget day is an opportunity to provide a befitting finale to our loyal viewers with the best of perspective, information and insights. Our strong content lineup coupled with interactivity and analysis should ensure that even this year, CNBC channels will set a new benchmark in budget coverage"

Before the Budget speech, the CNBC channels will do a comprehensive policy & economy wrap including an analysis of sectoral expectations, industry demands, views from a cross section of consumers & institutions as well as an insightful update on the policy directions that the economic survey, presented the previous day, would have revealed. Post that, CNBC channels will telecast live and uninterrupted coverage of the FM‘s Budget Speech from 11 am -1 pm. During the speech, the channels will showcase on the minute implications and impact of budgetary proposals as they are presented in parliament.

CNBC Tv18 will have a battery of experts, sitting in the studio who will be analyzing the measures announced and its ramifications for the Indian economy. Post the speech, CNBC-TV18 will undertake a series of power packed Budget Bulletins, which shall delve into the fine print. Some of these bulletins will comprise of high power panel discussions broadcast live from India‘s leading trade chambers such as CII & FICCI, and will involve expert comments from the nation‘s top business leaders and policy minds. Towards the evening, CNBC-TV18 will roll out a special Personal Finance show that shall take a focused look on the individual taxation, saving and investment impact of Budget 2008 apart from special shows on Taxation implications from the fiscal policy announcements. CNBC-TV18‘s acclaimed primetime bulletins ‘Business Center‘ and ‘India Business Hour‘ will have special budget editions namely ‘Budget Center‘ and ‘India Budget Hour‘ which shall take a comprehensive review of the day events and reactions from various quarters.

On CNBC Awaaz, the budget speech will be relayed in Hindi, to ensure a better understanding by the common man. Post the speech, the CNBC AWAAZ Special Budget Jury comprising of the corporate heavyweights like Venugopal Dhoot--CMD--Videocon Industries Ltd-, Subhash Lakhotia--Tax Consultant, Ashvin Parekh- Partner- E&Y, Anand Rathi- Chairman- Anandrathi Securities, Kishor Biyani- CEO- Future Group, Mr. Anjanikumar Choudhari-President-Farm Equipment Sector -M&M will assess the budget on various parameters- that will have impact on the country‘s economy. The discussion by the expert panel of Juries will de-mystify and analyze the budget for the common man; there will also be special emphasis on the impact of the Budget on various sectors including markets and Personal Finance. Post the budget jury there will be 6 half hour power packed panel discussions by the top experts of the nation on the impact of the budget on - the tax and PF, families, corporate, markets, Small traders and SMEs.

At the end of budget day, to provide a holistic and comprehensive perspective on Budget 2008,a flagship Network18 show ‘FACE THE BUDGET‘, hosted by Raghav Bal, Editor-in- Chief, Network 18 will be telecast live on CNBC-TV18,CNBC Awaaz and CNN-IBN from 10.00 pm -10.30 pm.

CNBC-TV18 & CNBC AWAAZ will of course telecast a special FM interview, as in earlier years, that shall provide Indian business viewers, investors and market participants an opportunity to interpret fiscal policy measures directly from Mr. P.Chidambaram himself.

The CNBC Universe will focus strongly on adding value to the viewer experience and building interactivity on the day of India‘s most important economic event. Starting with budget updates and news on 52622 to benchmark contests, the universe will be a hub for user interactivity. As in earlier years, the most acclaimed Budget Bonanza Challenge will return on CNBC Channels. This most popular budget trivia contest rewards viewers for answering on the hour questions related to the budget. In this year‘s edition, viewers can stand to win Rs.1 lac every hour, on answering a simple budget question asked on air on CNBC-TV18 & CNBC AWAAZ. . Viewers would be able to participate in the Budget Bonanza Contest by sending in their answers via SMS BB to 52622. The contest will run from 10:00 am - 8:00 pm on the budget day only.

In addition to the Budget Bonanza Challenge, the highly successful online simulated stock market game, ‘Moneybhai‘ returns on budget day for a special edition Budget Moneybhai. The game will involve registered users starting with a notional portfolio value of 25 lacs, which they can invest in the stock market (Stock values linked to the actual prices).The game will run from 10:00 am to 3:30 pm (Market hours) on budget day. The top portfolio owner at the end of the budget day, stand to win holiday packages to Malaysia,1 lac in cash, while the other winners get exciting gifts like DVD players etc. To participate in the contest players can log on to www.moneybhai.com and register.

Post budget day, CNBC-TV18 has lined up special review and impact shows such as ‘Budget Breakfast‘ which shall comprise leading market experts in an engaging discussion on the way forward for the equity markets, policy impact in the short term and any long term implications if applicable. Moreover, CNBC-TV18 will be hosting a series of corporate taxation events, as in earlier years, called ‘Talking Taxes‘ which will comprise of India‘s leading corporate tax experts discussing the way forward from Budget 2008 for India Inc in terms of corporate taxation and levies.

The CNBC Universe will also ensure that viewers get a chance to review and understand key measures of Budget 2008 through a release of a special CD title on ‘Budget Highlights‘ under the Bestsellers brand of CD‘s and DVD‘s from Network18.