MUMBAI: Thousands of aspirants, weeks of auditions across the country and finally the center stage in Mumbai.The contestants of Amul Star Voice of India have come a long way and their journey has just begun. Beginning 27 July Friday, 10.00pm on Star Plus; the show will enter yet another interesting phase- Bemisaal Barah (or the final 12). The competition from here on will only get tougher as these 12 contestants are all set to strive harder to become the Amul Star Voice of India.

The Bemisaal Barah contestants of Amul Star Voice of India -Sumitra Iyer (Jaipur), Ishmeet Singh (Delhi), Abhilasha V (Jaipur), Prantik Sur (Kolkata), Abhaas Joshi (Indore), Priyani Vani (Indore), Mohd Irfan (Jaipur), Arshpreet Kaur (Delhi), Harshit Saxena (Lucknow), Mirande Shah (Jaipur), Toshi Sabri (Jaipur) & Prantika Mukherjee (Mumbai) will soon find themselves trained & groomed under two groups viz: Mentors Aadesh Shrivastava-Lalit Pandit‘s AGNI team & Alka Yagnik-Abhijeet Bhattacharya‘s Prithvi team, which will have 6 contestants each in their teams while the fifth Judge of the show, Music Director Jatin remains the neutral judge.

"We have received an overwhelming response for the quality of contestants on Amul Star Voice of India . Viewers are really liking the contestants and they have already become stars in their own right with a huge fan following"says Gajendrra Siingh, Director & Producer of the show. "What makes the show even more interesting going forward, will be the team formation under the guidance of their mentors. It is not going to be easy either for the mentors or the viewers to make a decision as the contestants are really outstanding and one would not like any of them to be voted out" he further adds.

"Amul Star Voice of India has reached a stage from where the whole nation will have to vote to choose their favorite voice who will be crowned the ‘ Star Voice of India‘. It will be a Herculean task for all as the talent is the best in the Bemisaal Barah. The stage is set for a nail biting experience for the mentors as well as for the viewers at home" adds, Ajay Vidyasagar, President, Content and New Media, Star India Pvt. Ltd.

Mentors of Agni team are music directors while mentors of Prithvi team are the singing sensations of India. But Amul Star Voice of India is one ground where both the team mentors are equally nervous. For them, getting the best of the best contestants from among these Bemisaal Barah will be a very difficult. Their wish list may have all the names but they can have only 6 of them in their team.

What is Agni and Prithvi team mentor‘s wish list Will Priyani get Alka Yagnik as her mentor Which team would the hot favorite of girls , Toshi be in Will the cinematic voice of Harshit help him become the Amul Star Voice of India Will the wonder child Aabhas get the support of the Nation Will Amul Star Voice of India be from the Agni team or will it be from the Prithvi Team.

Many questions but just one stop to get the answers.

MUMBAI: Reliance Communications (RCOM), India‘s largest integrated telecom service provider, today announced the launch of the Passport Outroamer calling cards ? a voice product catering to the communication requirements of Indian tourists and travellers going abroad. This innovative product will allow Indians travelling abroad to make calls to any international destination from any mobile, landline, or payphone at highly affordable rates, enabling savings upto 90% as compared to international roaming.

Mr. V.K. Aggarwal, President ? Global Voice Business, Reliance Communications said, "Reliance Passport Outroamer calling card is the beginning of a series of initiatives to offer cost effective solutions for outbound travelers to stay in touch with family, friends and business associates. The Passport Outroamer calling card is a product that is in line with the global focus of Reliance Communications and is an effective way for us to tap the international voice market, in order to further enhance our leadership position."

The Reliance Passport Outroamer calling card offers a number of mobility benefits for customers. To begin with, the service can be used by travelers to USA, Canada, UK, Singapore, Australia and Malaysia to call India and over 200 other countries, across the globe. The Passport Ouroamer calling card offers cost-effective mobility and simplified single point communication package at affordable rates and exclusive never before value adds such as Voice Portal that allows the users to stay updated to the latest happenings in India. This further enhances the value proposition of the package over other vanilla products. In the future several innovative features would be added to further enhance the value proposition and customer experience.

The Passport Outroamer calling cards are targeted at Indians travelling abroad, including businessmen, tourists, students, pilgrims, especially for those who travel to more than one country. Making a phone call using this card is simple and user-friendly and involves dialing an access number that leads the customer to an IVR which then guides the customer to make the call.

The Outroamer Calling Card is truly global in terms of its reach as the card can be used to make calls from USA, Canada, UK, Singapore, Australia and Malaysia at attractive tariff plans with rates starting as low as Rs. 5.50 per minute. It offers the customers unmatched advantage of convenience and economy and will redefine the way overseas travellers make telephone calls from abroad.

Also for the traveller coming into the country Reliance Communications has launched the unique inroamer service, Reliance Passport Advantage. By following 3 simple steps the traveller can forward his/her local contacts to any designated number in India or anywhere else in the world and receive calls seamlessly. By using this service the traveller can save upto 75 per cent over other international roaming services. Apart from the savings aspect, the service offers complete flexibility and convenience whereby one can change the local destination number via the Reliance India Call website as many times as desired. Presently the service is available for travellers coming into the country from the US. Consequently it would be extended to other countries in which Reliance India Call operates too.

MUMBAI: ‘Parents‘ Day‘, a day of appreciation, respect and love for our parents, would clearly be remembered by an orphan school, Bal Niketan as BIG 92.7 FM, India‘s No.1 FM Station geared up to celebrate and spend the day with 100 odd kids from the school along with BIG 92.7 FM listeners. It was extremely heartening to see these listeners come forward to support this noble cause.

True to the Station‘s motto of ‘Suno Sunao, Life Banao‘ , BIG 92.7 FM‘s BIG RJ Yachna, Kittu & Seema brought some cheer and gave a rollicking time to these otherwise lonely kids. The evening was filled with tons of mauj-n-masti, exciting music & games like paper toy making, singing competition etc. The kids displayed their singing abilities and showed keen interest as the BIG RJ‘s involved them in a singing competition, they were divided into groups which were led by a BIG 92.7 FM listener. The most energetic group who emerged as the winner walked away with lots of exciting prizes.

Further that followed was the very high-spirited cricket match between BIG RJ Yachna and BIG RJ Kittu which was the highlight of the evening! The 6 over match kick-started with RJ Kittu electing to bat first and scored a total of 28 runs as against RJ Yachna‘s team with 24 runs only. The kids enjoyed their day out with us to the fullest and was extremely inspirational to watch them engrossed in their fun & games with our BIG 92.7 FM listeners.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Jagmeet Singh Bahri - Station Head, BIG 92.7 FM, "At BIG 92.7 FM we believe in impacting lives of people positively, in addition to providing a wholesome entertainment mix. We were overwhelmed with the response from the gathering; the kids thoroughly enjoyed themselves and filled the entire place with laughter & fun throughout the evening. It is these little things in life that help make a BIG difference. We will always be true to what we as a Station stand for, we are very glad that we managed to make it a ‘day to remember‘ for both them and us".

"It transported me back to my childhood days and I wish I could spend more time with them. It was truly a great experience and a very memorable one, they were adorable and I had a blast with them. These kids hold a very special place in my heart now" added RJ Yachna.

MUMBAI: Essel Propack continued to grow strongly during the second quarter, supported by a step-up in its US and European operations. The Net Sales for the first half year at Rs. 5,812 Million is 31% higher over sales for the corresponding period last year. Overseas operations for Essel Propack now contribute 66% of its net sales. Adjusted for the rupee appreciation versus the US dollar over the year, the sales growth will be higher at 39%, while the EBIDT for the half year at Rs. 1,172 million and the Net Profit at Rs. 401 Million would have grown by 14% and 1.3% respectively. The EBIDT growth during this period has been constrained by the start-up, customer development and capacity costs attributable to the new plant and additional capacities commissioned in USA which are in their start-up phase. Higher interest cost has further impacted the Net Profit. As the volumes are ramped up, the EBIDT and net profit should track the sales growth.

While announcing the First Half results in Mumbai, Ashok Goel, the Vice Chairman & Managing Director said, "The building blocks for our next phase of growth are now in place. We have entered the Medical Devices and the Specialty Packaging arena in order to de-risk and broad-base our business. These now already constitute 19% of our total sales and are growing well. Our new initiatives in the USA are ramping up and scale economies would follow. Having doubled our business in the last four years, we are committed to the next phase of our growth agenda. Jointly with a leading Business School, we have recently developed a strategic plan for our flagship Tubes business, focusing our customer-market-product portfolio to deliver a sustained profitable and competitive growth. As part of our new strategy, we have recently expanded our top management bandwidth by inducting fresh talent and establishing a new matrix structure consisting of business and functional leadership to better meet the challenges of our multinational operations. World class systems and processes and a robust IT platform, will be rolled out over the next one to two years enabling empowered cross-functional teams to exploit the market opportunities swiftly and competitively."

Essel Propack is promoted by Essel Group. Essel Propack, head quartered in India, manufacturers Laminated Tubes / Extruded Plastic Tubes, Medical Devices and Specialty Packaging Material. The Company provides tube packaging solutions to toothpaste, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, toiletries, food and industrial sectors all over the world. Essel Propack has 32% global market share in Laminated Tubes. In Medical Devices, the company manufactures cardio-vascular catheters and delivery systems. The Specialty Packaging Materials of the company currently caters to the Food and Pharma industry. The Company has state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities in 12 countries with 23 plants across the globe. Essel Propack‘s stock is listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange.

MUMBAI: Radio One 94.3 FM, will air an exclusive interview with the youngest minister of the parliament coming from the beautiful state of Kashmir.Omer Abdullah gets candid about films, songs, love and politics this Sunday, 22 July at 12 noon.

The chivalrous MBA from a well-known political background dwells on memories of movies made in Kashmir to his childhood days at the beautiful gardens at Gulmarg. "We would sit by the lake with the fruit basket. We made garlands of daisy flowers in the garden in Gulmarg. We cannot do these small things now. But I want our children to do this sometime."

Omer Abdullah talks about his alternative career (if not politics) in sports, his fondness for old-hindi songs and his comments on the new Bollywood films. The interview details on Omer Abdullah‘s style of politics and interesting insights on intelligent moves in one‘s profession.

Radio One 94.3 FM will be airing this exclusive one-hour interview
at 12 noon on Sunday 22 July 2007 in Mumbai and New Delhi.

MUMBAI: PIX is going to send shivers down your spine this Sunday, 22 July with its horror flicks one after the another.Starting at noon when the clock strikes 12, the one armed Candyman will appear on your screen creating havoc with his murders followed by Poltergeist III where demons are haunting a skyscraper. If that‘s not enough PIX brings to you underwater horrors with James Cameron‘s Piranha 2 which unveils mysteries of the marine world. At 6 pm, in Milla Jovovich, Michelle Rodriguez starrer Resident Evil, a memory affecting virus is unleashed in the city and must be curbed before it engulfs the entire world. Be careful to never stop at the ‘Needful Things‘ store as the owner makes one conduct devilish acts which also includes murder! The PIX horror marathon ends with Severed Ties where an experiment on limbs turn into horrific creatures.

Sunday, 22 July at 12pm

Candyman

Director: Bernard Rose
Cast: Virginia Madsen, Tony Todd, Xander Berkeley, Kasi Lemmons, Vanessa Williams

Dare You To Say His Name Five Times! Helen Lyle is a student who decides to write a thesis about local legends and myths. She visits a part of the town, where she learns about the legend of the Candyman, a one-armed man who appears when you say his name five times, in front of a mirror. Of course, Helen doesn‘t believe all this stuff, but the people of the area are really afraid. When she ignores their warnings and begins her investigation in the places that he is rumored to appear, a series of horrible murders begins. Could the legend be true?

Sunday, 22 July at 2pm

Poltergeist III

Director: Gary Sherman
Cast: Zelda Rubinstein Tom Skerrit Nancy Allen Heather O‘Rourke

In the climactic finale to the Poltergeist trilogy, those elusive demons are more frightening than ever as they follow Carol Anne (Heather O‘Rourke) to Chicago and inhabit an entire skyscraper.

Sunday, 22 July at 4pm

Piranha 2

Director: James Cameron
Cast: Tricia O‘neil, Steve Marachuck, Lance Henriksen

A sunken US supply ship off a Caribbean island resort is the focus for a series of mysterious piranha attacks. Investigating the death of one of her son‘s companions after a scuba-diving trip, Anne Kimbrough breaks into the morgue with holidaymaker Tyler Sherman, only to discover that the fish have wings and can fly. But the hotel manager refuses to call off the annual fish fry on the beach, with inevitable consequences

Sunday, 22 July at 6pm

Resident Evil

Director: Paul Andersen
Cast: Milla Jovovich, Michelle Rodriguez, Eric Mabius

A virus has escaped in a secret facility called ‘The hive‘ turning the staff into hungry zombies and releasing mutated lab animals that they were studying. The complex computer shuts down the base to prevent infection. The parent corporation sends in an elite military unit, where they meet Alice who is suffering from amnesia due to exposure to nerve gas. The military team must shut down the computer and get out, fighting their way past zombies, mutants, and the computer itself, before the virus escapes and infects the rest of the world. Alice must also come to terms with her slowly returning memories.

Sunday, 22 July at 8pm

Needful Things

Director: Fraser C. Heston
Cast: Max von Sydow, Ed Harris, Bonnie Bedelia, Amanda Plummer, J.T. Walsh

The devil in disguise comes to a quiet, peaceful town and opens a store called Needful Things. The store has an item for everyone in town. All the devil asks for in return is a few dirty pranks. Little do they know, that they‘ve sold their souls, and the pranks escalate to murder.

Sunday, 22 July at 11pm

Severed Ties

Director: Damen Santostefano
Cast: Johnny Legend, Garett Morris, Billy Morissette

A regeneration experiment on a severed arm goes awry, turning the limb into a murderous, reptilian creature.