Mathrubhumi set to launch Malayalam news channel; NDTV made consultant

Mathrubhumi, the second most read Malayalam daily of Kerala, is gearing up to launch a 24-hour Malayalam news and current affairs television channel – ‘Mathrubhumi News’. To set up the channel, the group is taking the help of NDTV as consultant.

Speaking to exchange4media, MV Shreyams Kumar, Director - Marketing and Electronic Media, Mathrubhumi, said, “The channel will be available soon and we are expecting to get licences shortly. The recruitment is already on and the channel will be operating from Thiruvananthapuram.”

Mathrubhumi News will face some stiff competition from four well-established Malayalam news channels in the state – Asianet News, India Vision, People (Kairali) and Malayala Manorama. When asked about the USP of the channel, Kumar remarked, “Content has always been our core strength and we know that on the basis of the content, we can get more viewers.”

He further noted that the news channel penetration in the Kerala market was still below 10 per cent and that in the next few years it was expected to go up to 15-18 per cent. “There is a lot to see in the market and we see this as an opportunity,” Kumar affirmed.

Mathrubhumi is foraying into the electronic media domain in Kerala at a time when the Assembly elections in the state are scheduled to take place. However, the date of launch of the channel has not been decided on yet, but there are strong speculations that channel would be launched ahead of the forthcoming Assembly elections, likely to be held in May 2011.

Meanwhile, apart from the established players, competition is also expected from some more new entrants. There are speculations that the state could see a few more channel launches ahead of the Assembly elections. These include a channel from another leading media house, Kerala Kaumudi, and one by Janapriya Communications, promoted by K Muraleedharan, son of late K Karunakaran. It is also learnt that Chennai-based Sun Network’s Surya TV, which is an entertainment channel in Kerala, is also all set to launch its news channel.

Politician Sobhana George turns Film Actress, Script Writer and Producer

Chat with Shobhana George

Dhanush has dinner with Dr Manmohan Singh

Dhanush at this very young age seems to overtake the top actors of Kollywood. The star who was filled with tons of praises for his National Award for Aadukalam and the rage of Why This Kolaveri Di song seems to be wondering whether all this is a dream.

Since, recently the Prime Minister of IndiaDr Manmohan Singh has invited the star for the state dinner. It was hosted by the PM for the Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda at his 7 Race Course Road residence in New Delhi.

But this all happened because of Dhanush's Kolaveri song says sources, even the song has reached the PM in his busy schedule it seems.

Dam row hits Rajinikanth's Kochadayaan

We’d mentioned that Asin was a strong contender for superstar Rajinikanth’s big movie Kochadayaan.

Now sources from Mumbai tell us that negotiations with Asin are in progress over dates. The 3D period flick will be directed by Soundarya Ashwin, the younger daughter of Rajini. For K. S Ravikumar who’s supervising the project, Asin has always been top priority to co star with Rajini.

Even if the Ghajini star wants to make a comeback with a Rajini starrer, it remains uncertain whether she would make it toKochadayaan.

The main obstacle is the Hindu Makkal Katchi. The moral police has issued a statement that at a time when the Mullaperiyar Dam row is escalating, ‘Rajini sir’ choosing an actress from Kerala for his film is unacceptable.

Says Kannan, organising secretary of HMK, “One may recall Asin’s anti-Tamil stand when she visited Sri Lanka a few years back. So, Rajinikanth should not accept Asin, an actress from Kerala, at a juncture when the Mullaperiyar Dam issue is in a highly volatile stage”.

Soundarya says “I have no clue what they are talking about! We have not tried contacting Asin for any role inKochadayaan.”

The party has also resolved to protest in front of Rajini’s house and at the shooting locations if Rajini does not heed their request.

When words can’t express

An annoyed programmer trying to express emotions through text messaging decided to tweak the software a little to enable smileys on his Apple gadget. These graphic characters known as emojis or emojicons are inspired by the Japanese culture and have now become quite a craze. Though these smileys are limited to relevant Japanese themes and images, they are available in a variety of images and are quite narrative too!
“Emojis are quiet different from the usual emoticons that we have been using since the birth of texting and prompt an immediate response,” says Rohit Ayyagari, an entrepreneur.

However, there are points to look out for. “An emojicon app on my iPad wouldn’t be of much use as expressing emotions takes a lot of textual content,” says Udit Joshi. Basant Jain, a businessman, who uses an iPhone as well as a BB, points out, “There are settings that need your attention if you want to communicate with emojis.” So unless you have your favourite emojis, it won’t really speed things up, except to express something special at times.

26/11: Ram Gopal Varma’s next movie

Ram Gopal Varma’s next film will be based on the 26/11 attacks.

Three years back when the director was spotted visiting the Taj with then CM Vilasrao Deshmukh and his son Reitesh, Deshmukh was forced to resign as people were appalled that he took Varma along to see the devastation just so that the director could gather research material for his film on the subject.

Varma, then, strongly denied that he wanted to do a film on the subject. But now he admits that his latest film is tentatively titled 26/11.

The story of the attacks will be told from the perspective of a man who inadvertently transported the terrorists on a trawler to Mumbai.

“It will be a realistic depiction of the dreaded attack, but will also focus on the man who ferries these terrorists into Mumbai and how he reacts after he discovers that his passengers were actually terrorists after seeing their pictures on the news the next day,” says Varma.

Non-porn players rush to grab .xxx websites

SAN FRANCISCO, California – Colleges, museums and well known groups have rushed to grab online addresses in the “.xxx” domain to prevent porn purveyors from using their names in the Internet’s new red light district.

Public sales of .xxx addresses began last week after ICM Registry gave companies, groups, actors, porn stars and other well-known people or groups opportunities to secure websites related to their names.

Well-known colleges were among those quick to stake claims to .xxx websites, paying $200 for a decade of exclusive control over addresses based on their names.

Despite painful budget woes in the California State college system, the University of California, Berkeley, paid $1,200 for six .xxx web addresses based on name variations for the school and its Golden Bears football team.

UC Berkeley also opted to pay an annual fee of $102 to maintain a “calbears.xxx” website it did not intend to use, according to college spokesman Robert Sanders.

While the university football team is referred to as the Cal Bears, the name did not meet trademark requirements for sidelining an address for a decade for $200, he explained.

Pak woman spy, terrorist sent to kill Narendra Modi

New Delhi, Dec 14: A woman spy along with her companion, who was arrested recently, came to India with a motive to kill Gujarat . The startling revelation was made by the Delhi police on Tuesday, Dec 13.

The officials of the Special Cell of Delhi police informed that Soofia Kanwal and Imran, who have been identified as jihadis from Karachi, Pakistan, were sent to the country with some devastating motives.

The two detained terrorists were about to explode Akshardham Temple in Ahmedabad and the Cantonment areas in Agra and Delhi. Sources said that the duo were trained by Pakistan's ISI. 

A Police official of Delhi branch said, "They have not revealed details of their plan to kill Modi. We are investigating whether Lashkar, Indian Mujahideen or Jaish were providing them logistics."

Petrol prices may go up by 65 paise from Friday

Petrol prices may be hiked by Rs 0.65 per litre this week if state-owned oil firms manage to get political approval for the move.

While a fall in the rupee to an all-time low of Rs 53.75 per US dollar has resulted in an increase in the cost of oil imports, international rates of gasoline -- against which domestic petrol prices are benchmarked -- have also increased, a top source at a state-run oil firm has said.

"The under-recovery on petrol is Rs 0.55-0.56 per litre. After adding local sales tax, the desired increase in Delhi comes to Rs 0.65-0.66 a litre," he said, adding that the oil companies will review prices tomorrow and any change will be effective from December 16.

State-owned oil firms have cut petrol prices on two occasions in the past one month after international oil rates eased. The companies reduced petrol prices by Rs 2.22 per litre, or 3.2 per cent, from November 16 and followed this with a Rs 0.78 per litre cut from December 1.

Satellite Change: New Satellite for Malayalam tv chanal, Intelsat 17 at 66.0°E

Asianet Middle East and Asianet News: New Frequency

Asianet Middle East and Asianet News are only available through Intelsat 17 at 66 degree east. To receive these channels it wants to align the dish antenna for intelsat 17 at 66 degree east. To receive these channels it must also need a Mpeg-4 receiver with DVB-S2 standard. Mpeg-4 receiver with DVB-S standard is also available in the market. Make sure that you bought a Mpeg-4 receiver with DVB-S2 technology. 

Technical details to receive these channels are given below.

Satellite: Intelsat 17 at 66 degree east

TP Frequency: 4024

Symbol Rate: 14400

Polarization: Horizontal

Signal Compression: Mpeg-4, DVB-S2

Mode: Free To Air (FTA)
Other Free to Air channels  available in the same frequency are given below
1. Asianet Suvarna News
2. Amrita TV
3. Sadhna TV
4. Goodness TV
5. Jaihind TV
6. Jeevan TV

Kairali TV, We and People: New Frequency

Kairali TV, We and People channels are now only available through Intelsat 17 at 66 degree east. To receive these channels it wants to align the dish antenna for Intelsat 17 at 66 degree east. To receive these channels it must also need a Mpeg-4 receiver with DVB-S2 standard. Mpeg-4 receiver with DVB-S standard is also available in the market. Make sure that you bought a Mpeg-4 receiver with DVB-S2 standard .

Technical details to receive these channels are given below

Satellite: Intelsat 17 at 66 degree east

TP Frequency: 4015

Symbol Rate: 30000

Polarization: Vertical

Standard: DVB-S2

Compression: Mpeg-4

Mode: Free To Air (FTA)

Indiavision and Yes Indiavision: New Frequency

Indiavision and Yes Indiavision are now only available through Intelsat 17 at 66 degree east. To receive these channels it wants to align the dish antenna for intelsat 17 at 66 degree east. To receive these channels it must also need a Mpeg-4 receiver with DVB-S2 technology. Mpeg-4 receiver with DVB-S technology is also available in the market. Make sure that you bought a Mpeg-4 receiver with DVB-S2 technology.

Technical details to receive these channels are given below

Satellite: Intelsat 17 at 66 degree east

TP Frequency: 3894

Symbol Rate: 13840

Polarization: Horizontal

Signal Compression: Mpeg-4, DVB-S2

Mode: Free To Air (FTA)

History of Mullaperiyar Dam

On 29 October 1886, a lease 

indenture for 999 years was made between Maharaja of Travancore, Vishakham Thirunal and Secretary of State for India for Periyar irrigation works. The lease agreement was signed by Dewan of Travancore V Ram Iyengar and State Secretary of Madras State (under British rule) J C Hannington.

 This lease was made after constant pressure on Travancore King by the British for 24 years. The lease indenture inter alia granted full right, power and liberty to construct, make and carry out on the leased land and to use exclusively when constructed, made and carried out all such irrigation works and other works ancillary thereto to Secretary of State for India (now Tamil Nadu). The agreement was to give 8000 acres of land for the reservoir and another 100 acres to construct the dam. And the tax for each acre was 5 RS per year. 

When India became independent, the lease got expired. After several failed attempts to renew the agreement in 1958, 1960, and 1969, the agreement was renewed in 1970 when C Achutha Menon was Kerala Chief Minister. According to the renewed agreement, the tax per acre was 30 RS, and for the electricity generated in Lower Camp using Mullaperiyar water, the charge was 12 RS per kiloWatt per hour. This was without the consent of the Legislative Assembly of Kerala^{[citation needed]}. This agreement expired in 2000^{[citation needed]}. However, Tamil Nadu still uses the water and the land, and the Tamil Nadu government has been paying to the Kerala government for the past 50 years 2.5 lakhs Rs as tax per year for the whole land and 7.5 lakhs RS per year as surcharge for the total amount of electricity generated.

If Mullaperiyar Dam Collapses? കേരളം അറബിക്കടലിലേക്ക്!

The Mullaperiyar dam will collapse anytime; its too weak. So if we are not constructing 
a new dam it will collapse and 40 lakh people's lives and property will be lost   
CLICK HERE

കേരളത്തിലെ മൂന്നരക്കോടിക്ക് മേലെ വരുന്ന ജനങ്ങളില്‍ എത്രപേര്‍ തങ്ങളില്‍ പലരുടേയും 
അന്തകനാകാന്‍ സാദ്ധ്യതയുള്ള മുല്ലപ്പെരിയാര്‍ ഡാമിനെപ്പറ്റിയും അതിന്റെ ഇപ്പോഴത്തെ 
അവസ്ഥയെപ്പറ്റിയും ബോധവാന്മാരാണ്? ബഹുഭൂരിപക്ഷത്തിനും കാര്യമായൊന്നും
 അറിയില്ല എന്ന് തന്നെ വേണം കരുതാന്‍ .

1896 ല്‍ ഈ അണക്കെട്ട് നിര്‍മ്മാണം പൂര്‍ത്തിയാക്കിയ കാലത്ത്, 50 കൊല്ലത്തിലധികം
 ഇത്തരം അണക്കെട്ടുകള്‍ക്ക് ആയുസ്സില്ലെന്ന് അണക്കെട്ടിന്റെ ശില്‍പ്പിയായ ബെന്നി കുക്ക് 
എന്ന ബ്രിട്ടീഷുകാരന്‍ തന്നെ പറയുന്നുണ്ട്. അങ്ങനെ നോക്കിയാല്‍പ്പോലും സ്വാതന്ത്ര്യത്തിന്
 മുന്നേ തന്നെ അണക്കെട്ടിന്റെ കാലാവധി കഴിഞ്ഞിരിക്കുന്നു. സായിപ്പ് ഉണ്ടാക്കിയ 
അണക്കെട്ടായതുകൊണ്ട് മാത്രമാണ് പിന്നെയും 63 കൊല്ലമായി അതിങ്ങനെ പൊട്ടാതെ
 നില്‍ക്കുന്നത്. നമ്മുടെ നാട്ടുകാര്‍ ആരെങ്കിലുമാണ് ഡാമുണ്ടാക്കിയതെങ്കില്‍ ഇതിനോടകം
 മുല്ലപ്പെരിയാര്‍ അണക്കെട്ട് ദുരന്തത്തിന്റെ പ്ലാറ്റിനം ജ്യൂബിലി മലയാളികള്‍ ആഘോഷിച്ച്
 കഴിഞ്ഞിട്ടുണ്ടാകുമായിരുന്നു.

ആയുസ്സെത്തിയ അണക്കെട്ടെങ്ങാനും പൊട്ടിയാലുള്ള അവസ്ഥയെപ്പറ്റി ചിന്തിക്കാന്‍ 
തുടങ്ങിയാല്‍ അഞ്ചാറ് ജില്ലകളിലെ ജനങ്ങള്‍ക്ക് മനസ്സമാധാനത്തോടെ റോഡിലിറങ്ങാനും 
പറ്റില്ല, വീട്ടിലിരിക്കാനും പറ്റില്ല. 

Jaya Writes To PM On Mullaperiyar Dam Row 

Jaya Writes To PM On Mullaperiyar Dam Row, Jaya writes to PM- restrain Kerala on Mullaperiyar dam issue, Jaya seeks PM's intervention in Mullaperiyar dam issue video, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa today appealed to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Mullaperiyar row- Advise Kerala against new dam, 

Jayalalithaa urges PM

Kerala firm on new Mullaperiyar dam: Mani

The Kerala government on Monday announced that it will go ahead with the construction 

of a new dam at 

Mullaperiyar and urged prime minister Manmohan Singh to "intervene strongly" in the dispute 

and make 

Tamil Nadu initiate "practical steps" on the issue. "The state government will not go  back from

its decision to construct a new dam at an estimated expense of Rs 600 crore," finance minister

KM Mani told reporters on the sidelines of a function here.

"Kerala has the right to construct a new dam in Kerala's land funded by the state for the safety 
of the people of the state," he said, adding about 45 lakh people living in five districts of Kerala 
are facing serious threat to their lives.

It was due to the "non-cooperative attitude" of the Tamil Nadu government that the
 Mullaperiyar issue was being dragged on without arriving at a solution, he charged.

Funds have been earmarked in this year's budget for the construction of a new dam at 
Mullaperiyar, he said.

Urging Tamil Nadu to adopt a "compassionate approach" to the issue, Mani said Kerala 
was never against giving water to the neighbouring state. "A new dam is the only solution 
as we cannot play with the lives of over 45 lakh people living in the downstream area," he said.

Kerala has been pressing for immediate central intervention to persuade Tamil Nadu to agree 
to the proposal of a new dam at Mullaperiyar holding that the present 116-year-old structure
 posed a threat to nearly three million people, mainly in Idukki, Kottayam and Ernakulam districts.

However, holding a contradictory view, Tamil Nadu has opposed construction of a new dam,
 asserting that the present reservoir "is as safe and good as new" and accused Kerala of 
whipping up fear psychosis.

Kerala's decision to construct a dam at Mullaperiyar might affect the Theni farms.

Uploaded b

Mullaperiyar: Kerala minister to meet PM next week

Kerala Revenue Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan will meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and senior Union Cabinet ministers next week to press Kerala's demand for a new dam at Mullaperiyar in place of the 116-year-old structure.

"As far as Kerala is concerned, the safety of the people living in the downstream areas is a matter serious concern," Radhakrishnan told reporters here on Sunday.

"There is no need for Tamil Nadu to reject the proposal for building a new dam as it will not involve violation of the inter-state treaty regarding the Mullaperiyar dam,” he said.

He would also meet Union ministers Pranab Mukherjee, A K Antony, P Chidambaram and P K Bansal to take up Kerala's case, Radhakrishnan said. Kerala has never had any intention to curtail water from the dam to Tamil Nadu, he said.