MUMBAI: Global market research company Synovate has announced key senior level appointments for its Indian operations in Mumbai, starting with former ACNielsen Org Marg director finance Mulraj Gala who has been roped in as the finance head.
Synovate India managing director, Alok Shanker said, "Synovate India has doubled its turnover in two years; Gala‘s foremost task is to ensure that we achieve our global targets with a keen eye on the profitability of the company."

Synovate has appointed Sanskrati Sail to head the human resources division. Additioanlly, Pranay Dankedar has re-joined Synovate a year after moving to WNS global services - a BPO major and has been appointed as a senior project director in the quantitative research division and will primarily be responsible for FMCG sector research, states an official release.

Filled with intense action, Annapolis is an inspirational tale of courage and honor that will keep you riveted. Starring James Franco, Jordana Brewster and Tyrese Gibson, this Friday night at 9 p.m. Star Movies presents the exclusive premier of ‘Annapolis‘.

When he won a coveted admission spot to the Naval Academy at Annapolis, local kid Jake Huard (James Franco) thought all his dreams had come true - but his battle to become the man he wants to be is only just the beginning.

Now, uncertain if a regular kid from a poor blue collar family can fit into the Academy‘s pressure-cooker atmosphere, and barely making the grade as a Freshman "plebe," Jake has one last shot at proving he has what it takes to become an officer in an institution that boasts a venerable 137-year history of focused discipline and determined excellence. With nothing left to lose, Jake decides to enter the notoriously fierce Navy boxing competition known as the Brigade Championships -- and face off against his arch-nemesis, Midshipman Lt. Cole (Tyrese Gibson). Everything Jake has ever hoped for stands in the balance: the chance to make his father proud, to validate his Lieutenant‘s faith in him, to stand up for his fellow plebes, and most of all, to forge a different future.

Thrilling and exhilarating, ‘Annapolis‘ reaffirms the power of believing in your dreams. Make sure you tune-in to exclusive premiere of ‘Annapolis‘ this Friday night, 13 July at 9 p.m. only on Star Movies.

MUMBAI: Lux Style Awards, Unilever‘s premier show in Pakistan is ready for a third, consecutive, mega-show with direction and creative supervision from MILK, India‘s premier production house.Lux Style Awards 2007 looks set to break all previous records in LIVE entertainment in Pakistan and the excitement at MILK is palpable.

Lux Style Awards was instituted to honour the best in fashion, music, television and films in Pakistan and will go truly-international this year with an awe-inspiring evening at Genting Highland, Malaysia. The final ceremony, scheduled to take place on the 20th of July will see some sparkling performances from Pakistani superstars like Fareeda Khanum, Atif Aslam, Ali Zafar, Reema, Javed Sheikh, Meera and more. A whopping 3000 people are expected to grace the occasion with their presence.

The cr?me de la cr?me of the Pakistani Media and Entertainment industry will attend the show, perform to blockbuster tunes and pay homage to entertainment-Lollywood style! Talking about MILK‘s association with Lux Style Awards, Ashim Sen, Partner, MILK said, ‘Three months of frantic planning and immaculate strategy have gone into creating arguably the largest LIVE entertainment property in Pakistan. 68 MILK professionals will work closely with 400 professionals from South East Asia and Pakistan to capture a ceremony that will see 12 mega performances and awards in 29 categories. A winning combination indeed!‘

Amidst all the excitement around the event, Shazia Syed, Director-Marketing, Unilever, said "By partnering with Citigold and Pond‘s in Pakistan, MILK and Hungama in India and working closely with Malaysian Tourism, the Citigold LUX Style Awards in 2007 aims to go global and present Pakistani Music, Fashion and Film talent on the world stage."

Commenting further, Reshma Malhotra, Partner, MILK said, ‘The Lux Style Awards this year is a fine example of what advertiser funding can do to the industry. The property has successfully managed to present itself as content that can be seamlessly woven across various media platforms and deliver outstandingly on all. The very fact that we could rope in a mobile content partner, technical partner and performers for the show this year vouches for the strength of our proposition. We at MILK are thrilled to see this development and take pride in being associated with this pioneering effort in Pakistan.‘

This year‘s Lux Style Awards will see a jump in distribution with Mobile Content Partner-Hungama Mobile. Neeraj Roy, Managing Director & CEO, Hungama Mobile said, ‘We are delighted to be associated with the Lux Style Awards. Hungama Mobile will leverage its Global Digital Distribution network across 32 countries to introduce the show on the mobile platform as also networks such as iTunes etc, a first for an Asian show. Lux Style Awards is a logical extension to be offered to consumers across the world‘.

To take this show a notch higher, all the equipment will be provided by Prime Focus Ltd, India. Commenting on the same Naresh Malhotra, Chairman, Prime Focus Ltd said, ‘For the Lux Style Awards 2007, Prime focus is providing an event coverage technology setup which would help the show to be produced online using 12 cameras. Advanced setup including a plethora of high-end digital production tools would be used on site to produce and package the show instantaneously.‘

Ace Indian choreographer Terence Lewis and his troupe are also slotted to perform before the august gathering. Terence Lewis said ‘This is the second year that we are choreographing Lux Style Awards and I am delighted! My act with Atif Aslam and Ali Zafar is definitely going to be the show stealer. Atif‘s passion and pain, combined with Ali‘s zest and youthfulness is going to be a killer combination and I‘m proud to be the one orchestrating all of it! So, watch out! It‘s going to get more vibrant, glamorous and mind-blasting this year!‘

Catwalk Productions, Pakistan, are the event managers and creative directors of this show and have worked in tandem with the MILK team to ensure clockwork precision on D-Day.

MUMBAI: One moment it was a city of dreams. The next it was a city of shattered lives. 7/11, the horror still echoes in every Mumbaikar‘s mind, however expectedly, the courageous and insuperable Mumbaikar was back in action the very next day.On the first anniversary of the bomb blasts, CNN-IBN and IBN 7 have tied-up with Radio City 91.1FM to present a very special musical ode to pay tribute to the people affected. Written by Piyush Mishra and composed and sung by Shankar Mahadevan, the bhajan is a hard-hitting message to terrorists who target and claim innocent lives. Available on CNN-IBN, IBN 7 and Radio City 91.1FM, the bhajan will be played at various points during the day on July 11th. The bhajan is a part of CNN-IBNs special programming, "Lest we forget", that looks back on the events and aftermath of 7/11 and analyses where we stand a year later.

CNN-IBN was there to report to the country the crippling event that took place in Mumbai on July 11, 2006. CNN-IBN was the first channel to bring LIVE visuals from ground zero and these visuals were also shown LIVE across 212 countries through its sister network, CNN International. A year later, the wounds and memories of the blasts are still fresh in the minds of not only Mumbaikkars but the rest of the country as well. "Lest we forget" is a tribute to those who lost their lives and loved ones to this terrorist attack and the progress, if any, that has been made in the government?s inquiry regarding the same. On July 11th, CNN-IBN will have LIVE coverage through the day from various Mumbai train stations; showcase the exclusive bhajan along with Radio City 91.1FM. CNN-IBN will also present prayers for Mumbai at 6 pm, reveal heart-wrenching accounts of survivors on 30
Minutes: Survivor Tales at 7:30 pm, share stories of first-hand witnesses on the Citizen Journalist Special at 8:30 pm and finally a one-hour special programme at, "Lest we forget" at 10 pm reconstructing the events of 7/11 and draw comparisons between then-and-now.

The tremors of the Mumbai train bomb blasts of July 11 shook the entire nation."Lest we forget" is a tribute to and an analytical look at those ill-fated events and their far-reaching and long lasting social, political and economic repercussions on the Maximum city. Said, Rajdeep Sardesai, Editor-in-Chief, CNN-IBN and IBN 7.

Speaking on the tie-up, Dilip Venkatraman, Director Marketing and Online Projects, CNN-IBN and IBN 7 said, It is a pleasure to have joined hands with Radio City 91.1FM for the initiative and I am confident that this alliance between us will prove most fruitful.

As pioneers to private FM in India, Radio City is not only an innovative infotainer but also an organization sensitized to the needs to the society we live in. The repercussions of 7/11 are still fresh in the minds of many. Combining the synergies and the magnified reach of Radio City 91.1FM and CNN-IBN through the healing power of music, we are certain that we will be able to celebrate the unrelenting spirit of Mumbai and we look forward to working with CNN-IBN again the future, said Mr. Rana Barua, National Head Marketing, Radio City 91.1FM.

MUMBAI: If believing in love at first sight, and being confident of charming your way into a complete stranger‘s heart is all that one needs to find the perfect date, then this principle seems to have worked wonders for Ashish Gaur and Poornima Pandit from Pune who after charming the judges with their dating skills, were announced as the proud winners of the Coca Speed Jamming Contest at the grand finale organised by Zoom, India‘s premier lifestyle and entertainment news channel on July 7th, 2007. The event enthralled everyone with thrilling performances and witnessed the ten finalists put their best foot forward to impress not only the judges but also each other with their attitude, humor and presence of mind. This is not the end yet! The lucky Pune couple is now geared up for their gala dinner date with Bollywood youth icon, Hrithik Roshan.

With an aim to popularize the concept of ‘speed-jamming‘ across people from different cities and backgrounds in India, Zoom in association with Coca Cola had held auditions and regional rounds across metros that included Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Pune and Chandigarh.

The event with extremely talented participants set the mood for some tough competition and brilliant performances judged by the very suave Hrishita Bhatt, newcomer Geeta Basra and model-cum-actor Zulfi Syed. The final event of the Coca Cola Speed Jamming Contest was broken down into five rounds, one better than the other. The first round was the ice breaker Main Hoon Kaun round, an introductory round where in the participants had to introduce themselves in Bollywood style and Connect ho Jao was the second round which gave them the opportunity to interact with each other on a one to one basis.

The third round of the contest saw some cool jhatka‘s and matka‘s with the Aaja Nach Le round where the participants were enacting famous bollywood numbers

The Dress up and Buzzer rounds at the end made up for a lot of excitement since the contestants were paired to work together to dress up a mannequin in a stipulated time frame. The team that dressed up the mannequin the best scored the maximum while the buzzer round was a rapid fire round wherein the boys were asked questions related to the girls and vice versa.

With quality being the rule of the game than just quantity, Coca Cola Speed Jamming Contest saw an attractive mix of over five lakh contestants participate from all across the country.

Zoom has now decided to take the on-set experience to the masses by telecasting this entire journey of the Coca Speed Jamming Contest on Saturday, 21st July, 2007 at 9 p.m. Isko Dekho!

MUMBAI: Infosys‘ chief mentor Narayanmoorthy participates in TIMES NOW on campaign says action of two Bangaloreans should not sully IT capital.