MUMBAI: Starting 19 May, BBC Entertainment will roll out its fresh summer programming for Indian audiences.

The new lineup will see a clear focus on the London Olympics, and, hence, has been named London Calling.

The channel has planned 100 hours of fresh programming, targeting 25+ SEC AB audiences in the eight metros.

According to BBC Worldwide Channels South Asia head, marketing Ishita Roy, the channel has got positive response for the live telecast of the Royal Wedding last year and the recent comedy series Come Fly With Me was also well appreciated.

?We got positive response for the telecast of the Royal Wedding and we now know that there is a viewership for comedies also. Mix this with 2012 London Olympics and the Queen?s Diamond Jubilee ceremony, all eyes will be on London. So we decided to focus programming on these,? Roy says.

London Calling will begin with documentaries on the reigning British monarch with The Diamond Queen, House of Windsor and The Queen?s Palaces. The Diamond Queen presents a definitive analysis of Queen Elizabeth II?s 60-year reign, examining her history, constitutional role and responsibilities, and features exclusive interviews with members of the Royal Family.

The channel will also telecast live from the Queen?s Diamond Jubilee celebrations beginning 3 June at 6.30 pm onwards with the Thames River Pageant, Concert from Buckingham Palace on 4 June at midnight, and Services of Thanksgiving and Royal Procession on 5 June, 1.45 pm onwards.

The event coverage will come directly from BBC One in the UK and streamed live to viewers in India via BBC Entertainment.

The London Calling season will also include the BAFTA winning Sherlock Series 2 on 2 July at 8 pm, starring Benedict Cumberbatch.

Luther, Whitechapel and Spooks are also a part of BBC Entertainment?s lineup of dramas this summer.

BBC Entertainment will also be premiering a new comedy series Twenty Twelve inspired by the Olympics, showing the lighter side of the Games. The comedy series follows the fictional Olympics Deliverance team as they prepare for the London 2012 games.

The channel will also launch a drama Going for Gold - the ?48 games which stars Matt Smith (Doctor Who) as Bert Bushall.

Viewers will also be invited to take a trip behind the scenes of the world?s oldest, biggest and busiest underground train network in The Underground.

London Calling will air between May and August on BBC Entertainment.

Roy tells that L?Oreal has already come on board as the associate sponsor for the entire London Calling season.

The channel also has plans to market the season, with major focus on digital. It will launch a microsite and a game, powered by Google, for London Calling. The game will be launched across the BBC Worldwide network and across nine regions.

In the second phase, the channel will start promoting shows like Sherlock and Twenty Twelve.

NEW DELHI: Participants at a meeting held here today favoured increased use of social media as an important instrument in initiating dialogue with citizens in a participatory democracy.

They were participating in a Round Table on Citizen Engagement and use of Social Media chaired by Communications and Information Technology Minister Kapil Sibal.

The meet was attended by about 100 stakeholders including social media organisations, civil society organisations, industry associations, members of the legal fraternity, representatives of government departments and agencies and others.
 
The need for convergence of different channels of communication - print, electronics, social media etc. - and the need for synergies between these channels was also expressed.

It was agreed that appropriate mechanisms need to be created within government structures to enable faster response as required by social media based interactions.

Ways of improving citizen engagement in policy formulation and implementation of its projects and programmes; requirement of capacity building within government for use of social media; contextualising social media to Indian realities including Indian language content; development of Mechanisms to protect privacy and identity of individuals; and mechanisms to address security concerns about data including personal data also came under discussion.

Sibal agreed on the greater use of social media in a participatory democracy and felt that such close interactions not only helped to build healthy democratic practices but also contribute to transparent and accountable governance.

Minister of State Sachin Pilot stressed the need of creating enabling mechanisms which would help people from all parts of our country to participate in their own language and in the form of their choice: text based, voice based or even sign based. The proposal received support from all present and it was stressed that technologies should enable participation of differently enabled individuals also.

The meet is reported to have come in the wake of Sibal asking social network companies including Facebook, Twitter and Google to remove offensive material and screen content.
Sibal had denied he was promoting censorship and said some of the images and statements on social media sites risked fanning tensions.