LFW,younger talent madhuri dixit, shaadi ke side effect,hutn younger jaya bachchan tv,salman khan,shah rukh kahn party bash

Shah Rukh throws surprise party: Farhan, Karisma, Karan attend the bash

Shah Rukh Khan recently threw a surprise party at his Mumbai bunglaw, Mannat. Many Bollywood biggies attend the bash including Farhan Akhtar, Karan Johar, Karisma Kapoor and Mika Singh.

Though dressed quite casually, the stars seem in hurry.

Take a look at the pictures to know who's who from the industry grace the night

When will you work with us? Salman Khan asks A.R.Rahman

Mumbai, Feb 28: Bollywood superstar Salman Khan is keen to work with internationally acclaimed composer A.R. Rahman and he is awaiting for an opportunity to collaborate with the Oscar winner.

Rahman launched his new album "Raunaq" Thursday and Salman, who graced the occasion, asked Rahman: "When will you work for us?" When asked about Salman's desire, Rahman said: "Then he has to do movies which I like."

Does that mean you don't like Salman's films? "No, no. I like his stuff, they are so energetic and nice," Rahman said.

"We worked together in 'Yuvvraaj' and its music has been a hit. I think life is a cycle... hopefully, we will do something extraordinary," he added. Rahman's compositions in his latest release "Highway" are being appreciated

Hunt on for younger Jaya Bachchan for TV show

Mumbai: Veteran actress Jaya Bachchan is all set to return to acting with her maiden television appearance in an adaptation of Gujarati author Kajal Oza Vaidya's novel "Yog Viyog".

The hunt is on for an actress who can play the younger Jaya.

The team is waiting to find a fresh face to fit the bill.

"The adaptation of Kajal Oza Vaidya's novel is nearly done. Jayaji is in preparation for her mother's part. But the producers Endemol are yet to find a younger actress to play Jaya's role," said a source close to the project.

The prerequisites for the young actress are not so much physical as emotional.

"We are not really looking so much at a physical resemblance as the younger actress' ability to emote as powerfully as Jayaji," the source added.

Names are being shortlisted for Jaya's younger version. Meanwhile, the senior actress will begin shooting for the serial next month.

"It was always Jayaji or no one else for the part. The author Kajal Oza Vaidya agreed to part with the television rights only on condition that Jayaji agrees to play the central role," said the source.

The television adaptation is being considerably revamped. It promises to be different from the novel.

Shaadi Ke Side Effects box office collection: Opens good in metro, surpasses Highway

New Delhi: The Farhan-Vidya starrer has opened good in most of the theatres and is expected to do well in the coming days.

With around 30 % occupancy, the flick is expected to generate some good collection in metro cities as the target audience is mostly of multiplexes.

Madhuri Dixit-Nene appreciates younger talent

Madhuri Dixit-Nene was a force to reckon with during her heydays and even today she is looking at doing as powerful roles as possible. Ahead of her release 'Gulaab Gang', she spoke to us about the actresses whose work she likes these days.

"When I look at a film, I don't think 'Oh, I wish I had done that' because I haven't done that role, so it doesn't matter. But yes, I did appreciate a lot of women today. I really liked Priyanka in Barfi. I also liked Ileana in her own space in that film. Priyanka was absolutely brilliant in that movie. Then there's Anushka Sharma who I loved in Band Baaja Baaraat, Parineeti Chopra in Ishaqzaade, then Deepika in Cocktail I thought it was such a wonderful movie.

And then Chennai Express, she's just blossoming as an actor and it is wonderful to see that. So, a lot of young talent that we have. Vidya Balan and there's Rani Mukerji," she says.

SS Surya presents 'Song of the little road' at LFW 2014

 

Timeless showcases an ageless purity of line, color and form inspired by the eternal beauty of the journey of life. Renowned for his classic approach, resort-flavour and Indian motif, Surya draws from the zero for his LFW Summer Resort 2014 collection called " Song of the little road".

His gowns, dresses, saris, jackets and drapes create a collection that is indian to the core yet international in wearability.

A palette of grey, blue, gold skin, cranberry brown, pale yellow, dull orange and white is treated to a royal mix of Indian Motif.

Cascading down the ramp at Lakme Fashion Week Summer Resort 2014, This young designer will set a new paradigm for all things that never go out of vogue.

SS Surya Profile

A young fashion designer from Kolkata, Surya is an alumnus of INIFD, Kolkata where he won the best creative designer award in 2006. He then went on to bag a scholarship having won the best collection award from Cavandish College, London. Since then, he has gone on to launch his own label "SS SURYA". The label is primarily a western and indo-western clothing line. Being a newcomer and a young aspiring designer, Surya is finding his footing in the Indian Fashion Scene and has also done styling and costume design in the Indian Film Industry. I have had the priveleg of having styled for celebrated stars like Priyanka Chopra, Mugdha Godse, Riya Sen, Vishal Bhardwaj, Shilpa Sukhla , sonal chauhan, to name a few

SS SURYA is western and indo-western clothing brand . Surya did his debut in lakme fashion week in 2012. His clothes are available in few leading fashion stores in india and abroad . Recently he has been titled as one of the rising star of 2013 in fashion by atelier magazine.

Gangster,Maha Govt elections,cybercrime,Box office jilla,remake oh my God telgu, ranbir kapoor is popular than amitabh

Ranbir Kapoor is more popular than me: Amitabh Bachchan

Mumbai: Megastar Amitabh Bachchan on Wednesday said Ranbir Kapoor is more popular than him and wishes to work with the actor, even if it is for a brief role.

Ranbir will be seen making a special appearance in Bachchan-starrer 'Bhootnath Returns'.

Ranbir has already shot for his cameo in the supernatural-comedy film. He will be seen playing himself, as actor Ranbir Kapoor, in the film.

"I dont have a scene or a shot with him. I hope we can work together some day in a film. I would be ok doing even a small role in his film. He is very popular ...than me," Bachchan told reporters here at the trailer launch of Bhootnath Returns.

"It is always great to work with younger actors...one learns a lot from them," he said.

Apparently, Ranbir makes his entry at an important point and his character is somewhat crucial to the flow of the film.

Shah Rukh Khan, who played the role of Aditya Sharma child Banku's father in Bhootnath, will be seen reprising his role in the sequel. He too has a cameo in the film and his character will be a continuation to the one that he played in Bhootnath (2008).

Bachchan plays the role of a friendly ghost in the movie.

"In the first part my character goes to heaven and then he comes back to earth and how he meets this child called Akhrot is what the story is about," he said.

Bachchan will shake a leg with composer-singer Honey Singh in a rap song for the film, which is yet to be shot. The event saw Big B playing card tricks and showing some magic to the media.

'Bhootnath Returns' is a sequel to 2008 horror-comedy 'Bhootnath', which is being directed by Nitesh Tiwari and produced by T-Series & BR Films.

Bhoothnath Returns is scheduled to release on April 11 and stars Big B, Boman Irani and Marathi actress Usha Jadhav in the lead.

'Oh My God' Telugu remake may come out Oct 2

      

Chennai, Feb 26: The yet-untitled Telugu remake of "Oh My God", which features Daggubati Venkatesh and Pawan Kalyan in the lead, will most likely hit the screens on Gandhi Jayanti on Oct 2.

"The film will go on floors soon. We are planning to release the film on Gandhi Jayanti. Of course, there could be changes in the release date, but as of now we have locked Oct 2," the film's spokesperson told IANS.

While the rest of the cast, including the director, is yet to be finalised, the remake will be produced by Pawan and Venkatesh's banners.

Venkatesh's brother D. Suresh Babu and Pawan's close friend Sharat Marar will co-produce the film.

This is the third remake project that Venkatesh has accepted in the last twelve months after "Masala" (remake of "Bol Bachchan") and forthcoming "Drishyam" remake

Box Office: Vijay's 'Jilla', Ajith's 'Veeram' Set to Complete 50 Days

Ajith's "Veeram" and Vijay's "Jilla" are nearing the 50-day mark in several theatres across Tamil Nadu.

"Veeram" and "Jilla", which released on 10 January, are still being screened in theatres, despite many new releases in the last one month.

The Ajith and Vijay starrers will be completing 50-day theatrical run on 28 February. Most of the films that released after 10 January till the last weekend have failed to set the cash registers ringing.

Except for small-budget film "Goli Soda", other films have not been able to make it big at the box office. Even films that were expected to perform well have failed to register big collections. This, in turn, has worked in favour of "Veeram" and "Jilla." 

Cybercrime: Second biggest reason behind frauds

New Delhi: The menace of cybercrime could become the second biggest reason of financial frauds across enterprises in the next few years amid companies using technology across service lines in a bid to enhance performance, a survey by consultancy firm PwC said.

About 48 per cent of the respondents said the risk of cybercrime had increased, up from 39 per cent in 2011, the PwC 2014 Global Economic Crime Survey said.

Also, 45 per cent of financial services organisations affected by frauds reported being victims of cybercrimenearly three times the frequency as reported by all other industry sectors.

Cybercrime ranked fourth (24 per cent) after asset misappropriation (69 per cent), procurement fraud (29 per cent) and, bribery and corruption (27 per cent) in the tally.

However, 30 per cent respondents said cybercrime would pose the highest risk to their companies, next only to asset misapproriation (40 per cent).

"The results appear to reflect the megatrends of global expansion into less-developed markets and the expectation of increasing incidents of cybercrime as more technology is deployed in all areas of business. Cybercrime is not just a technology problem. It is a business strategy problem," it said.

About one in four of respondents said they have experienced a cybercrime and over 11 per cent of these suffered financial losses of more than USD one million.

About 14 per cent said the financial impact of cybercrime was between USD 100,000 and USD 1 million, while six per cent believed it is between USD 1-5 million.

"This underscores the challenge of the threat. Many entities do not have clear insight into whether their networks and the data contained therein have been breached, and they don't know what has been lost or its value," the report said.

This poses risks in a global business ecosystem that is increasingly reliant on both technology and intellectual property and that values transparency, it added.

"In a changing technological landscape, sophisticated adversary takes advantage by attacking new weaknesses. This is why it is essential for organisations to at least try to keep pace with the criminals who threaten them," the report advised.

Companies often make their critical data available to management, employees, vendors and clients on a multitude of platforms, including high-risk platforms like mobile devices and cloud.

While nobody expects the benefits of technology to diminish, or for organisations to shrink their digital footprint, it's clear that with more data accessible on more platforms, valuable data will remain under attack, and that the cost of security breaches will continue to be steep, it said.

"Ultimately, cybercrime is not strictly speaking a technology problem. It is a strategy problem, a human problem and a process problem. After all, organisations are not being attacked by computers, but by people attempting to exploit human frailty as much as technical vulnerability," it said.

This is a problem which requires a response that is grounded in strategy and judgement about business process, access, authority, delegation, supervision and awarenessnot merely tools and technologies, it added.

Ahead-of-elections, Maha govt legalises slum transfer

Mumbai, Feb 26 Apparently eyeing the elections, Maharashtra government today announced "slum transfer policy" which makes the present occupant of a house in a slum the beneficiary of the redevelopment scheme.

It also announced that 138 gram-panchayats situated at the tehsil headquarters would be upgraded to municipal councils.

Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan made these announcements in both Houses of the State Legislature here.

Gangster Chhota Rajan's mother passes away

Mumbai: Mother of Rajendra Sadashiv Nikalje, better known as Chhota Rajan, died on Tuesday night at Chheda Nagar in Chembur, a locality in Mumbai’s eastern suburbs. Mumbai police personnel were present in large numbers to keep an eye on all those who arrived at the funeral that took place in Chembur on Wednesday morning. Though the Mumbai Crime Branch officials felt that Chhota Rajan may not risk coming to Mumbai for his mother’s funeral, they ensured that there is a huge police presence in the area to keep a tab on people visiting to pay their last respects. Gangster Chhota Rajan. File pic “If not Rajan, there will be several other gangsters and developers who may turn up for the funeral. By keeping a watch we may get information about the gang’s activities,” said a senior police officer on conditions of anonymity. Rajan’s youngest brother, Deepak Nikalje, who is a Republican Party of India (Athvale) activist, performed the last rites. Sources said that Mumbai police officials had asked the media to stay away from the funeral as reporting the event could lead to tension in the area.

air asia offers,ipl dport event,news broadcasters kejriwal,filmmaker doli armaanon ki, direct political film

Anubhav Sinha to direct political film next

Mumbai, Feb 25 Filmmaker Anubhav Sinha is gearing up to direct a film soon which will either be a love story, political drama or a thriller.

Sinha, who had last directed Shah Rukh Khan starrer 'Ra.One', is ready with three scripts and he is likely to start work on one by this year end.

"I have three scripts ready, one is a love story, other is a political film and the last one is a thriller.

'Doli Armaanon Ki' actress injured

Mumbai, Feb 25: Small screen actress Neha Marda, who plays Urmi in TV show "Doli Armaanon Ki", met with an accident Tuesday morning while driving to the sets of the show. She suffered minor scratches.

She was driving the car, which is badly damaged, and she was rescued by bystanders and police.

Neha had a narrow escape and doctors are examining her as they suspect internal injuries, said a statement.

However, Neha has refused to skip the shoot as she does not want the production house to face any inconvenience.

In the past, the actress was seen in the popular TV show "Balika Vadhu" as Gehna

Filmmaker Mahendran feels Illayaraja's music has his films' soul

Chennai: Veteran writer-filmmaker J. Mahendran, who is teaming up with maestro Illayaraja for the 12th time for a yet-untitled Tamil project, says the music of the legendary composer has been the soul of his films.

Mahendran and Illayaraja have collaborated for films such as "Mullum Malarum", "Pagalil Oru Iravu" and "Johnny".

"Usually, filmmakers rope in Illayaraja expecting some chartbusters, but I have never demanded hit music from him. His music has been the soul of my films for over a decade now. We have worked in eleven films and the music of each album is special," Mahendran told IANS.

"Our relationship has gracefully aged with us. I narrate all my stories first to him and then to others. This has been a ritual and it continues. After reading my story, he would suggest a suitable title. He will also suggest a title for my latest film," he added.

He says the composer's music becomes the narrative in his films.

"Some of the dialogues in my films are wonderfully complemented by his music. In fact, at times his music has served as the dialogues in some of my films. He has the talent to use his music to build a narrative," said Mahendran.

The 74-year old filmmaker, who has worked with superstar Rajinikanth predominantly, has decided to work with newcomers in his new film.

News Broadcasters Association objects to charges made by Kejriwal

 

New Delhi: The collective body of Indian news channels, News Broadcasters Association (NBA) has objected to what it  called "unverified, unsubstantiated and highly defamatory" charges being levelled against news channels by Arvind Kejriwal of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and their members attributing "corrupt motives".

In a press released issued by NBA, the media body said AAP leaders are "accusing the electronic media  for not giving enough coverage or ignoring this or that party, without specific details to substantiate such charges."

" It is shocking to note that the very parties that gained immensely from media coverage are today turning against the electronic media, when they are under scrutiny on issues of governance.

"NBA is equally shocked by the statement of the Home Minister of India that he would crush the electronic media and that a “close watch” was being kept on them.

"NBA categorically states that a news channel’s endeavour is to cover news worthy events across all segments of national and international life and to present news to viewers which is current and relevant.

IPL still the most favoured sporting event, CSK, MI, most valued teams

Event's prize money is at least Rs 100 crore more than the combined prize money of all other leagues currently played in the country

Despite mounting criticism against the Indian Premier League (IPL) and allegations of rampant match fixing, a report published on Tuesday by KPMG and CII has pegged the IPL as the most lucrative sporting event in the country.

 

According to the report, the event’s prize money of Rs 240 crore is at least Rs 100 crore more than the combined prize money of all other leagues currently played in the country. World Hockey Series comes at a distant second with prize money of Rs 78 crore while Indian Badminton league comes in a third at Rs 54 crore. KPMG has meanwhile said that the event’s total revenue of Rs 867 crore is a stark comparison to many of the global sporting events including the National Football league (NFL) and the Major league Basketball (MLB). The study has pegged the total revenue of NFL at Rs 54507 crore while the MLB generated revenue to the tune of Rs 42200 crore annually.

 

Chennai Super Kings owned by India Cements and Mumbai Indians owned by Reliance Industries Ltd have the highest valuation amongst the IPL teams, Jaideep Ghosh, Partner at KPMG said. 

 

Earlier this month, American Appraisal Associates had said that Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians have a valuation of Rs 450 crore each while Sun Risers Hyderabad has a valuation of Rs 155 crore according to the report. The report had pegged the valuation of the Indian premier League at Rs 19820 crore or $ 3.2 billion. Vijay Mallya’s Royal Challengers Bangalore is valued at Rs 320 crore while Shah Rukh Khan’s Kolkata Knight Riders has a current valuation of Rs 430 crore. 

 

“The total value of various franchise brands in IPL is over $400 million. This does not represent the value of the IPL brand as a whole and only represents the value of individual franchise brands. We estimate that on average, brand value could represent anywhere between 30% and 40% of the business value of individual franchises, depending on the performance and brand rank of the franchise”, the report by American Appraisal said. 

 

The valuations of IPL teams have come at a time when the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is looking to shift a major leg of the IPL to South Africa after the union government said that it will not be in a position to provide security to the event. BCCI is expected to take a decision on the venue after a meeting later this month. 

 

According to the study conducted by KPMG, IPL teams generate revenues of Rs 1-3 crore per match played during the event. The Indian Premier League’s merchandise market is expected to touch Rs 2500 crore by 2020 according to a report published by US based American Appraisal Associates while the sporting event’s valuation has been pegged at Rs 19820 crore.  

 

The BCCI’s decision to push a portion of the Indian Premier league (IPL) out of the country due to Lok Sabha elections is meanwhile expected to affect the franchises and the broadcasters alike with the cost of logistics likely to shoot up and time difference between the countries affect broadcasting time slots and advertising revenues.  

 

“The BCCI haven’t discussed it so far and a decision is likely to be taken soon. We haven’t started calculating the cost factor so far, but we will lose a major portion of the ticket revenues”, Raghu Iyer, CEO of Rajasthan Royals said. According to estimates, the ticket revenue amounts to Rs 20-30 crore of the team revenue. 

 

Multi Screen Media, the broadcasters of the event have meanwhile said that the matches will be telecast as per Indian time “Our viewers are used to tuning in at 4pm and 8pm for IPL matches. The BCCI has assured us that the matches will happen at these times and the weekend matches will take place at prime time” Rohit Gupta, Chief Sales Officer of MSM had earlier told Business Standard.

AirAsia offers half-a-million free tickets on select routes

Mumbai:  Malaysian low-cost airline AirAsia, which is awaiting flying permit from the DGCA to launch its services in the domestic market, today said it is offering half a million free seats along with 1.8 million low fare promotional seats from Kuala Lumpur on select routes.

The bookings under the offer, which commenced yesterday, can be made till March 2 and will go on till March 2 for the travel period from October 1 to April 30 next year, AirAsia said in a release here.

As part of the scheme, the airline has offered an all inclusive fares starting from as low as Rs 6,999 from Kochi, Kolkata, Tiruchirappalli, Chennai, Bangalore to Kuala Lumpur, the airline said adding, the fares for Chennai-Bangkok sector have been fixed at Rs 7,999.

“This free seats promotion allows everyone to enjoy exquisite holiday destination options at very fair and realistic prices,” AirAsia group chief commercial officer Siegtraund Teh said.

Apart from domestic destinations (in Malaysia), the international destinations which are being offered under the promotion include Singapore, Jakarta, Bandung, Medan, Bali, Bangkok, Hat Yai, Surat Thani, Ho Chi Minh City, Phnom Penh among others, through AirAsia’s five Malaysian hubs in Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Johor Bahru, Kuching and Kota Kinabalu, the release said.

The promotional offer is available for booking at airline’s website as well as via AirAsia’s mobile apps which are available on iPhone, Android devices, the Blackberry Z10 and the Windows Phone platform, the release said.

Manish tiwari lessons ,jayalalita makes mokery,main naa bhoolungi ,sahid kapoor "haider" shoot kangana not disappoint, Avtar arrested,

Avatar actor arrested for punching photographer

         
MUMBAI: Sam Worthington, best known for his roles in Avatar, was arrested on Sunday, 23 February after getting into an altercation with a photographer, reports New York Police Department (NYPD).

The 37-year old Australian actor was accused of punching photographer Sheng Li in the face after Li allegedly kicked Worthington's 26-year-old female companion in the shins at 5:30 p.m. in Greenwich Village, according to NYPD Detective Kellyann Ort. The department refused to reveal any details in regards to the identity of Worthington’s female companion. However, no one succumbed to any injuries.

In addition to Avatar, Worthington also starred in Terminator: Salvation, Clash of the Titans, Wrath of the Titans, Drift, Man on a Ledge, Rogue. He auditioned for the role of James Bond in Casino Royale, but lost to Daniel Craig


Kangana not disappointed with her films being shelved



Mumbai, Feb 24 (TE) Actress Kangana Ranaut has said that two of her films 'Ungli' and 'I Love NY' have been canned but she is not disappointed about it.

'I Love New Year', a romantic-comedy directed by Radhika Rao and Vinay Sapru, stars Sunny Deol and Kangana. The film was initially to be released in February last year, then it got pushed to April, to September and later December the same year, but did not hit the screens




Shahid Kapoor wraps up 'Haider' shoot
    

New Delhi, Feb. 24: Shahid Kapoor has completed the schedule of his upcoming movie 'Haider' that was being shot in Kashmir.
The 'Kaminey' actor tweeted that he has finished the entire schedule of his upcoming movie and had a great time in Kashmir and added that people there have big hearts and he will miss the local team specially.
'Haider', which is based on William Shakespeare's drama 'Hamlet', is directed by Vishal Bhardwaj starring Shahid Kapoor, Shraddha Kapoor and Tabu and is slated to release on 12th September, 2014

'Main Naa Bhoolungi' sticking to reality, not aping anyone

Mumbai, Feb 24: The latest track in TV show "Main Naa Bhoolungi" reminds one of Rekha-starrer revenge drama "Khoon Bhari Maang", but Aishwarya Sakhuja, who plays the protagonist in it, says such things happens in real life too and they are just trying to portray the same.
In the show, Aishwarya plays a simple girl Shikha, who falls for Sameer (Vikas Manaktala) and ends up marrying him. But Sameer, who had an ulterior motive behind marrying her, tries to kill her by pushing her off the cliff. She survives the accident, but it damages her face. Now post a plastic surgery, she is back and wants revenge a la Rekha in "Khoon Bhari Maang". "I can't even imagine that I can play this role to her (Rekha) level. Yes, comparisons have been drawn that this is just like the role portrayed by Rekha in 'Khoon Bhari Maang'," Aishwarya said here on the set of the show. "But such things happen with girls in real life - husbands burn them or throw them out and very few have the power to come back, stand for themselves and fight. This is what exactly we are trying to portray," she said and added that there's no intention of making it like Rakesh Roshan directed 1988 hit movie.
"Main Naa Bhoolungi", a weekly show, airs on Sony and Aishwarya says her glam avatar as Samaira is to surprise the viewers. "The whole get-up is new and the idea is to surprise the viewers," said Aishwarya, who became famous after playing Toasty in "Saas Bina Sasural". "So far, the audience has seen Shikha in a different way. She was just trying and trying to get away with all the wrong that happened to her, but nothing was working out for her. So in a way Shikha is now dead and Samaira has come," she added.


Birthday girl Jayalalitha makes mockery of parliament as she cuts parliament-shaped cake!

Chennai: The forthcoming Lok Sabha elections have intensified the ambience in the country. Leaders with the ambitions of becoming the next Prime Minister are doing their entire bit to gain public’s trust. The Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu Jayalalithaa Jayaram has recently joined the bash as she made her intentions clear about wanting to become the next PM.

The supporters of AIADMK’s Jayalalithaa took the celebrations of her birthday to the next level by bringing the whole parliament in form of cake for her at the party headquarters in Chennai. It is the 66th birthday of the politician.

The followers justified their move of selecting the parliament-shaped cake for the celebration as they wanted to show their commitment towards the goal and their Revolutionary Leader Jayalalitha.

A senior party leader Anwar Raja proudly stated that their leader will win the coming elections and that she will become the Prime Minister.

Ms Jayalalithaa has also announced the names the candidates from her party for all the 40 Lok Sabha constituencies from Tamil Nadu and Puducherry and declared that her national campaign will be kicked off from March third. The slogan for the party is " peace, prosperity and progress."

Implementation of first two phases of cable TV digitisation has taught valuable lessons: Tewari

         

NEW DELHI: Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari has said the first two phases of digitisation of cable television provided a learning experience as far as implementation of the process was concerned.

Speaking at the 8th Indian Magazine Congress in the capital on the theme “Winning through Innovation”, he said these lessons would be incorporated while implementing the remaining two phases. The Minister reiterated that Digitisation was bound to be a game changer for the sector and would define contours of orderly growth.

While providing qualitative choices to the consumer, digitisation would also ensure that the subscription revenues and skewed business models are rectified. The Government has already decided to merge phases III and IV and complete the entire process by December this year.

While the first phase of digitisation covering the four metros had come into effect from November 2012 (though it was stayed in Chennai following a court order and was implemented marginally in Kolkata after initial reluctance), the second phase covering 39 cities was implemented by 31 March 2013.

The Government is still considering the proposal to merge Phase III covering all urban areas (Municipal Corporations/Municipalities) and Phase IV covering rest of India to 31 December 2014. The present dates for these two phases are 30 September 2014 and 31 December 2014 respectively.

Ministry sources told indiantelevision.com that if the government achieves its target, it will overtake countries like the United States and the United Kingdom which set long deadlines.