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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)