MUMBAI: One of the most popular international destinations for Indians, Australia has recognised India as a star performer. The Tourism Forecasting Council, Australia predicts an average annual growth rate of 17.4 per cent each year to 2016 for the Indian inbound market.

Of the total visitors from India in 2007, a high proportion were visiting Australia for a holiday and of these, approximately half visited Queensland - the Sunshine State of Australia. Queensland offers a relaxed, friendly lifestyle and a diverse range of exciting experiences and destinations that has to be visited to be believed.

To create awareness and visibility for Queensland, Australia and popular destinations like Gold Coast, Cairns and Islands of the Great Barrier Reef, Tourism Queensland will undertake its fourth road show in 2008 - Queensland on Tour- India 2008. This five-city road show will cover New Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Chennai and Bangalore will take place from January 14th to 25th 2008. Queensland on Tour 08 will create an ideal platform for tourism operators from the Gold Coast and Cairns & the Great Barrier Reef to offer updates and new experiences for the Indian consumer. The operators will also be able to negotiate contracts with the Indian trade. And Tourism Queensland will unveil its new campaign -Family, Fun, Queensland for the coming season.

Family, Fun, Queensland is about differentiation between the family segment and other segments; it adds new attractions to the existing Queensland range. The campaign aims to create both agent and consumer awareness. Many travel agents seek assistance in putting together new products and itineraries which go beyond the regular series. By offering a suite of new attractions, this campaign will offer value and allow trade to select Queensland products suitable for their customers. Today, with internet and electronic media showcasing destinations across the world, consumers have become extremely savvy and conscious of attractions in foreign destinations and are keen to explore foreign shores. By targeting the consumer and, at the same time, educating the trade, the campaign will be working on a pull-and-push strategy besides taking advantage of word-of-mouth advertising and testimonials that work well in such a market. While the global strategy of Tourism Queensland is the ‘five pillar‘ approach (consumer, trade, media, aviation and digital), Family, Fun, Queensland Campaign will be tying in the consumer, trade, and media components with plans of the digital component being executed during the year.

According to Mr. Paul Buggy, Regional Director (Korea, India, Middle East, South Africa and Inbound), Tourism Queensland, "No holiday to Australia is complete without a visit to the Sunshine State - Queensland. Destinations like Gold Coast, Cairns & the Great Barrier Reef and the Islands of Great Barrier Reef offer holidaymakers an exciting blend of experiences, and the locals love sharing their coastal lifestyle and natural delights with tourists. Queensland is fast becoming a popular and preferred holiday destination for Indians and we have identified India as a significant future tourism opportunity in our Emerging Markets Strategy. With our roadshow, we are aiming to develop a strong marketing presence in India, working together with local trade to introduce competitive tourism packages and create more awareness about the promising destinations within Queensland in Australia."

MUMBAI: CNBC Awaaz - India‘s first dedicated Business and Consumer Channel in association with Reliance Money is set to launch Sainik Investor Camp in Mumbai at US Club on 19th January, 2007.The investor camp, to be organized across several strategic bases of the armed forces, will be hosted by Vivek Law, Network 18‘s leading anchor and CNBC Awaaz‘s Consumer Affairs Editor.

Sainik Investor Camp series is a path breaking initiative that travels across India to various army camps and helps generate awareness, educating the defence personnel across all levels of seniority on the importance of financial investments.

The Indian armed forces have their own unique set of financial requirements. They are the guardians of the nation‘s borders and airspace, but like everyone else, they too, spend endless hours worrying about their families - to keep them secure in all respects, provide their children the best education and lead a satisfied retired life. And the angst is all the more compounded because of the physical distances between them and their loved ones coupled with the perils of their job of guarding our borders. Taking into consideration all these factors - The Sainik Investor Camp is an effort taken by CNBC Awaaz, which will assist and guide the Indian armed forces with the importance and significance of wise financial investments.

Network 18‘s leading anchor and CNBC Awaaz- Consumer Affairs Editor, Mr. Vivek Law along with India‘s top ranked financial experts in the field of mutual funds, insurance, education and home loans, explain to the former defence personnel, the intricacies of finance and investing at this event.

The CNBC Awaaz Sainik Investor Camp in Mumbai features the leading experts in the area of financial security and investments, like:

• Sudeep Bandopadyaya, Director and CEO, Reliance Money

• Anuj Puri, Country Head and CEO, Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj

CNBC Awaaz Sainik Investor Camp
Date: January 19, 2007
Registration Time: 6:30 pm
Venue: US Club, Mumbai

MUMBAI: Speaking out for the first time on joining politics, the elusive Tamil superstar Rajnikanth, said that God has given him an actor‘s role, but if he gives him a politician‘s role, he will accept it.

Rajnikanth was responding to questions at the NDTV Indian of the Year Awards in New Delhi last evening, where he accepted the award for Entertainer of the Year from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

The presence of Shah Rukh Khan at the venue also provided a rare interaction between two of Indian cinema‘s biggest stars.

NDTV Indian will be telecast tonight on 26 January, 2008 at 8:00 p.m. with a repeat on 27 January, 11:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. only on NDTV 24x7.

MUMBAI: Tact and diplomacy be damned when the ?Brooding Tiger of Bollywood? Ajay Devgan loses his cool. In a moment of brutal honesty, the actor told Taran Adarsh on the latter?s show ?B Biz? on Zee Muzic, ?Today I‘m the happiest person knowing Cash hasn‘t worked at the box office?. This, coming from an actor about his own film, is a SHOCKER!!! Rarely, if ever, has any actor spoken with complete disgust about his own film, regardless of any differences he may have had with its makers. Our surprise is doubled by the fact that it comes from the usually controlled Ajay Devgan. What went so awfully wrong with Cash that Ajay disowned the film? Did he have issues with Director Anubhav Sinha? Was he infuriated on seeing his scenes edited from the final cut of the film? Ajay Devgan Ko Gussa Kyu Aaya?

MUMBAI: When you think of women and action the first images that tend to flash our mind are those of Lara Croft or Kill Bill and with a slightly younger generation it would be one of the women super heroes.

MUMBAI: Viewers will get to see Bollywood‘s sexy siren, Mallika Sherawat respond to brain teasers in tomorrow‘s episode of Kaho Na Yaar Hai, which has Sonu Nigam as her competitor.

In a question-answer round, she was quizzed about the time taken for 3 eggs to boil, if one egg took 3 mins, and she promptly replied 9!!!

Her silly response had Sonu Nigam and all others present on the sets in splits?

Watch out for all this and much more fun in the first episode of ‘Reliance Mobile Kaho Na Yaar Hai‘, featuring Mallika Sherawat and Sonu Nigam on Star Plus, Friday, January 18 at 8 pm.