MUMBAI: Star India CEO Uday Shankar and Aamir Khan will be honoured by the National Commission for Scheduled Castes, Government of India, in recognition of their efforts to create awareness against social discrimination through `Satyamev Jayate.?

The commission will felicitate Shankar and Khan at an award function being organised to mark the International Valmiki Day in New Delhi on 18 October.

Shankar said, "Satyamev Jayate was a natural evolution of content, given Star?s steadfast and widening focus on socially relevant issues. This recognition will spur us to advance in this path of leveraging the power of TV to act as a change agent."

Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, Social, Justice and Empowerment Minister Mukul Wasnik, Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni, Delhi Chief Minister Shiela Dixit and other political and civil society leaders who have worked for the cause of social equality will attend the awards function.

Star said in a short span, the show questioned social mores, helped shape mindsets and transcended borders to top popularity charts across the globe. It left an imprint on the minds of people with compelling tales from everyday life.

Satyamev Jayate was a narrative of real stories from across India that touched and inspired millions of people.

MUMBAI: In view of the 31 October 2012 deadline for implementation of the first phase of digitisation in four metros, the Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) has decided to reschedule the dates for the inaugural Indian TV Fest. ITF?12 was earlier scheduled to be held in Goa from 2-3 November, 2012.

Digitisation of cable TV is the next step forward for the Indian TV industry. Measures have been taken so that no further delays happen in the implementation with the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and the broadcast industry taking keen interest in the same. IBF, an association of broadcasters, has decided to channelize all its focus and all its might towards ensuring a successful rollout of digitization in Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Kolkata. 

Announcing the rescheduling, IBF persident Uday Shankar said, "We at IBF are committed towards the successful implementation of digitisation. At this stage our priority is to ensure that we put in all the industry might behind digitization so that it is successfully completed by the sunset date of November 1, 2012. We understand the importance of this date for the television broadcasting industry; hence IBF has deferred ITF ?12 to a new date."

"I would also like to add that from the time we announced the Indian TV Fest?12, we have received encouraging support from industry peers, sponsors, media and from delegates who have registered with us. This overwhelming response is an indication to the enthusiasm and interest for the festival. The ITF?12 has been rescheduled to a later date and will be conducted as planned," he said.

IBF adds that it has received encouraging support from industry peers,sponsors, media and from delegates who had registered for the event.Rescheduled dates for the festival will be announced shortly.

While the industry is bracing itself to usher in an all new era, many members of the broadcasting industry, its allied industry and the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) are likely to be busy with last minute execution and operational details. Indian Broadcasting Foundation received many requests to reschedule the dates of the festival. Being a representative body of the industry, IBF has decided to take the decision that is going to be appreciated by all beneficiaries.

MUMBAI: Star Plus will be airing a special episode of Satyamev Jayate on Independence Day titled ?Satyamev Jayate ka Safar?.

Aamir Khan will return to anchor the episode, which records accounts of how the television series whipped up winds of change over the course of 13 weeks.

?Satyamev Jayate ka Safar? will trace the journey of the 13 episodes, the impact it has had and revisit progress on each of the issues. It will be aired on 15 August at 11 am on Star Plus, Star Pravah, Star World, Star Jalsha and Doordarshan while on Star Vijay, Asianet and ETV it will telecast on 19 August.

Star India CEO Uday Shankar said, "Satyamev Jayate was all about compelling stories that raised the bar for television programming and creating an experience for our viewers. Such content is consistent with the philosophy of our network entertainment that?s also food for thought. A steady stream of forward-looking content on Star is going a long way in making TV as a powerful medium that enables change."

"We will continue to unwaveringly focus on delivering programming that matches people?s expectations from us," he added.

In the episode, Khan will share stories of change from all over the country. He will share India?s response to the various questions posed at the end of each episode with viewers as well as give details of all the donations collected for the various NGOs.

Mumbai: Star Plus that had opened the Sunday morning slot with Amir Khan?s Satyamev Jayate is replacing the big-budget show with another show that focuses on issues of social consequence, ?Lakhon Mein Ek?.

Starting 5 August the show will air every Sunday at 11 am. Satyamev Jayate, which went off air on 29 July, rated an average of 2-2.5 TVR.

?Lakhon Mein Ek? will feature stories of real life people who rose above the ordinary through choices they made - be it a young girl helping her widowed mother find marital bliss yet again or a father, who lost his son to ragging, start a sustained campaign against such abuse or a mother lend her womb to bear her daughter?s child. The person behind the story would be introduced at the end of each episode. The show will feature inspiring tales of courage that has the potential to change entrenched mindsets, the channel said.

Produced by Big Synergy, the show will be hosted by Pooja Gor who plays lead in Star Plus? fiction property ?Mann Ki Awaaz Pratigya?. Being the ?Sutradhar? of Lakhon Mein Ek, she will be introducing each story and guiding viewers with the key message from each episode.

Star India CEO Uday Shankar said, "Excellence and distinctiveness are values that are very often ignored. Satyamev Jayate reinforced what we knew about our viewers. They have an appetite for compelling stories that are built around the communities that we live in and that have a material impact on the kind of country we want to build and live in. Lakhon Mein Ek is consistent with that philosophy. The show itself is part of Star?s efforts to use TV?s reach and power to shape society?s outlook and mindset by making examples out of individuals who influence change."

Star Plus head Nachiket Pantvaidya added, "It?s Star doing its best to deliver content that helps transform mindsets through programmes that are sensitively made. Lakhon Mein Ek showcases people who are real heroes and who have dealt with difficult circumstances. Star Plus is committed to talking to masses and hence we are coming up with another show that relates to them. This is a new slot we are investing in and we want to create an area where we tackle issues that will touch people?s lives in multiple ways."