Media & Environment

The Hindu Business Line on AD Ind. in 2007 

Real estate cos sustain ad industry growth

Purvita ChatterjeeMumbai, Dec. 25

Infrastructure and real estate companies have been primarily responsible for the advertising industry sustaining its double digit growth rate estimated at 15 and 20 per cent this year. However, in general, companies and brands have been increasing their expenditure on advertising.

“It has been a fantastic year for advertising as business has been phenomenal. This has been due to the fact that there have been a number of companies, which have begun to advertise for the first time. At the same time, expenditure on advertising has gone up by over 20 per cent and that’s my conservative estimate,” states Mr R. Balakrishnan (Balki), newly-designated Chairman of Lowe India.

New companies, especially in the infrastructure sector, have begun to advertise. They include companies ranging from those building airports such as GMR to a real estate major such as India Bulls. While unconventional advertisers in the construction and real estate sector have jumped on to the advertising bandwagon, the FMCG industry, which has always relied on advertising to build its brands has raised its spends in the past year.

As Mr Balakrishnan observes, HUL has increased its ad spends this year. “We continue to have 35 per cent of the revenues contributed by the FMCG companies.”

Growth

According to an advertising outlook report released by the London-based Zenith Optimedia, India’s total advertising expenditure will be Rs 26,532 crore in 2008 in comparison with Rs 22,721 crore this year, recording a 17 per cent growth.

Ad spend: `Real estate, telecom top ‘
New Delhi, Sept. 9

The real estate and telecom sectors witnessed highest increase in advertisement spend proportionate to sales between financial year 2000 and 2006, according to a study conducted by industry chamber Assocham. The real estate including construction and telecom firms increased their advertising budgets as a ratio of their sales by an annual 36 per cent and 21 per cent in the period. The next big spenders are white goods manufacturers, liquor, passenger and multi-utility vehicles companies. The maximum rise among these was accounted for by white goods producers with 20 per cent increase, followed by growth of 10 per cent in liquor industry and 9.5 per cent in passenger car companies

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Dear Friends,

The clouds are gone.
Clear blue sky is back.
Nights are chill.
Days are cool.

Yes it is trekking time for us.
Me too getting ready with my Lens.

This Weekend I am planning to visit Seegur, next to Masinagudi, Mudumalai an official trek through my Institution.

Next week I am attending a Black Buck Census at Erode Forests, organised by my friends, OSAI with guidance from Forest Department.

ANYONE INTERESTED in Wildlife, Photography can join us. Should walk atleast 12 Kms a day. The dates are 4, 5, 6, (Fri - Sunday) January.

Interested persons contact me by Monday (31 Dec). Can call me in my MOBILE 098942 59100 or send your plan to [email protected]

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The time was 12 noon. But the temperature was 10 Degrees!

The elevation was 2550 Metres above sea level. But the visibility was only for 5 Metres!
Welcome to Mukkurthi, the third tallest, but the most beautiful peak in Nilgiris Bio -phere Reserve.
Located adjacent to the Silent Valley National Park of Kerala, this peak is known for its Shola and Grasslands around it.This winter it is covered with clouds, most of the time. The mercury dips to sub zero in the night.
This pristine forest is a safe heaven for Tigers, Leopards, Nilgiri tahr,Sambar deer, Wild dogs, Sloth bears and Jackals.
The biggest mammal on land, elephants have come down to plateaus in and around Erode and Coimbatore districts now, because of biting cold prevailing in the Mukkurthi National Park.

Trekkers Paradise

Mukkurthi Peak is surrounded by dense Shola forests on all sides, making it a Paradise to scale. Not all persons can reach this peak. Only seasoned trekkers, with proper winter wear and strong determination can make it to the peak.
`Scaling such beautiful peak gives a sense of gratification. It gives confidence in me, that I am a totally fit person’ exclaims, Mr. N.S.L. Ram Prabhu (9443417590), the Divisional Accounts Officer of PWD, Nilgiris, who was a part of the trekking team last weekend.

`Going by the scats available in the trek route, there seems to be a healthy number of big cats here’- confirms Mr. Rangasamy (9442025361), the Secretary of Nilgiris Wildlife and Environmental Association (NWEA). `Each time you come here, you can see differently patterned grasslands and new species of animals here’ says Rangasamy, who has surveyed over a dozen Sanctuaries all over India as a part of Census team.

Nilgiris Peak Guard Selva Kumar (9443095796) was a good Guide for us. Mahendran & Subish (ECO CLUB Co ordinators of PSG IM & PSG CAS) were the new comers, excvellent trekkers.

How to reach?

Mukkurthi can be reached from Ooty via Porthimund. Night stay is permitted only for researchers and serious wildlifers at Mukkurthi fishing hut, which is maintained by the NWEA.
Forest department permission has to be obtained from The Warden, Mukkurthi National Park, Stuart Hill, Ooty.

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It’s a Wonderful Life
From Wikipedia

Directed and Produced by Frank Capra
 Screenplay:
Frances Goodrich
Albert Hackett
Jo Swerling
Frank Capra
Short Story:
Philip Van Doren Stern
Starring James Stewart
Donna Reed
Lionel Barrymore
Distributed by RKO Radio Pictures
Release date(s) December 20, 1946
Running time 130 min
Country United States
Language English
Budget $3,180,000[1]
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile
It’s a Wonderful Life is a 1946 American film produced and directed by Frank Capra and based on the short story, “The Greatest Gift” written by Philip Van Doren Stern.

The film takes place in the fictional town of Bedford Falls shortly after World War II and stars James Stewart as George Bailey, a man whose attempted suicide on Christmas Eve gains the attention of his guardian angel, Clarence Odbody (Henry Travers) who is sent to help him in his hour of need.

Most of the film is told through flashbacks spanning George’s entire life and narrated by Franklin and Joseph, unseen Angels who are preparing Clarence for his mission to save George. Through these flashbacks we see all the people whose lives have been touched by George and the difference he has made to the community in which he lives.

The film is regarded as a classic and is a staple of Christmas television around the world, although, due to its high production costs and stiff competition at the box office, financially, it was considered a “flop.” The film’s break-even point was actually $6.3 million, approximately twice the production cost, a figure it never came close to achieving in its initial release.[2] Mark Eliot writes, “Although it was not the complete box-office failure that today everyone believes… it was a major disappointment and confirmed, at least to the studios, that Capra was no longer capable of turning out the populist features that made his films the must-see, money-making events they once were.” [3] Although not an Oscar winner at the time, it has been since named by the American Film Institute one of the best films ever made and was placed number one on the AFI’s 100 Years… 100 Cheers list of the most inspirational American films of all time.

Plot
The story begins on Christmas Eve, 1946, and George Bailey is in a dark place. The prayers of his family and friends alert Heaven to George’s state of mind, and Clarence Odbody, an Angel Second Class, is sent to Earth to save George — and thereby perhaps, after 200 years of trying, to earn his wings. To prepare for his mission, Clarence is brought before Joseph, the head angel, to see a review of George’s life to date, highlighting all the good he has done for others:

As a boy in 1919, George saved his brother Harry’s life in an ice sledding accident, a heroic act that cost him the hearing in his left ear.

About six months later, George was working for the local pharmacist, Mr. Gower (H.B. Warner), when he prevented Gower, grief-stricken from his son’s death, from accidentally poisoning a child.

George’s most compelling ambition is to see the whole world; he plans to become an architect and design magnificent bridges and skyscrapers everywhere.

However, as George matures, he continues to extend help to whoever needs it at the sacrifice of his dreams: He puts off going to college until Harry graduates from high school to take over the family business, the Bailey Building & Loan Association, essential to many of the disadvantaged in Bedford Falls.

 On Harry’s graduation night, as George fantasizes about his future to childhood sweetheart Mary Hatch (Donna Reed) in front of a dilapidated old mansion, their father suddenly dies.

 An avaricious and opportunistic board member of the Building & Loan (and owner of most of the town), Mr. Potter (Lionel Barrymore) seizes the opportunity to gain control of the Board of Directors and end the “nonsense” of home loans for the working poor; George makes a reluctant but impassioned plea to keep the company independent, moving the board members to agree, but only if George remains to run the business.

Harry goes on to college, but George’s hopes of being able to leave Bedford Falls on Harry’s return are dashed once again when Harry unexpectedly brings home his new wife Ruth, whose father has offered Harry a well-paying job in his company.

Depressed, George is persuaded by his mother to call on Mary, also back from college. Their mutual school friend Sam Wainwright telephones her; he has gone on to wealth and success in the plastics industry, and is doing much of the traveling George always wanted to do.

 George and Mary are forced to share a telephone handset during the call, and in an emotional cartharsis, George finally expresses his love for her. On their wedding day, as the Great Depression looms, George and Mary see a run on the bank that leaves the Building & Loan in serious danger of going under.

Potter, sensing another opportunity, offers all its customers “50 cents on the dollar”; George argues vehemently for his customers to remain with the institution, and Mary offers money from their honeymoon fund to lend the townspeople enough to sustain them.

The plan is barely a success: At closing, the Building & Loan holds exactly $2.00. Later Mary, with Ernie and Bert’s aid, sets up an elaborate mock tropical honeymoon in the old mansion, which is eventually rebuilt as their new home.

As time passes, George and Mary have four children, and he starts Bailey Park, an affordable-housing project, with the family of the local bar owner Martini as its first tenants.

 When World War II erupts, George is unable to enlist due to his bad ear; he stays at home to assist in the war effort while his brother Harry becomes a Navy pilot, awarded the Medal of Honor for shooting down 15 enemy aircraft, including two kamikaze planes that were about to crash into a Navy troop transport.[4][5]

On Christmas Eve, entering the bank lobby to make an $8,000.00 deposit for the Building & Loan, Uncle Billy (Thomas Mitchell) encounters Mr. Potter and, bursting with pride, shows him the newspaper article about his nephew Harry, about to be honored by the President.

Absent-mindedly, he leaves the deposit money in the newspaper that he drops in Potter’s lap. Potter finds the money moments later but does not tell anyone. This is also the day the bank examiner has come to inspect the Building & Loan’s records, and arrives to find the money missing and George and Billy ransacking the place looking for it.

 In desperation, George goes to appeal to Mr. Potter, telling him he (not Billy) lost the money; Potter implicates George’s “generosity” — specifically his charity to troubled childhood friend Violet. When George offers his $15,000 life insurance policy, Potter laughs mockingly, “You’re worth more dead than alive!”

Returning home in anguish, George perceives his entire life as a massive failure. His children, exuberantly preparing for the evening’s festivities, send him into a rage.

George talks to Zuzu’s teacher on the phone, unfairly chastising her for getting Zuzu sick; he then tends to Zuzu and, in an emotional shift, tenderly places her flower’s petals into his pocket. He leaves the house and goes to Martini’s bar where he prays for guidance, admitting he is not a praying man. The school teacher’s husband, upon discovering George in the bar, punches him in the face, cutting George’s lip.

 George leaves the bar and, in a snow storm, crashes his car into a tree. He runs to the nearby bridge over the river, intending to commit suicide.

Henry Travers as Clarence after “saving” GeorgeBefore George can jump into the river, however, Clarence the angel jumps in first. After a shocked George saves him, Clarence reveals himself to be George’s guardian angel and that he saved George from committing suicide.

Clarence pleads with a reluctant George to let him help, so he can finally earn his wings. George concedes that killing himself wasn’t going to better things and instead wishes he had never been born.

At that instant it stops snowing outside, and Clarence allows George to see life as it would have been if George Bailey was never born: Bedford Falls is called Pottersville and is mostly a slum; Main Street is dominated by pawn shops and sleazy bars; Bailey Park was never built and remains a desolate cemetery; George’s home remains a run-down, abandoned mansion.

George sees the people he knows and loves, but in this alternative world, none of them recognize him and their lives are hard and grim. His mother, now a widow eking out an existence from running her house as a room-and-board, and Mary, a spinster librarian, are both lonely, embittered women. Uncle Billy has been in an insane asylum for years; Harry has been dead since he fell through the ice in childhood since George wasn’t there to save him (and consequently the men on the transport ship were all killed). Violet has become a dancer whom George sees when she is arrested for pickpocketing, Mr. Gower was convicted of poisoning the child that George had saved and is now a panhandler and Martini no longer owns the bar. Ernie and Bert, although still friends, are much darker characters, and are suspicious of George, thinking he is insane when he claims to know them.

After finally realizing Mary and the others do not remember him at all, George returns to the bridge and calls upon Clarence, and then to God, to let him live again.

 It begins to snow again; Bert spots George and tells him the whole town is looking for him. Ready to fight, George realizes Bert now recognizes him, then notices his mouth bleeding and his pockets containing Zuzu’s petals:

George has returned to present-day Bedford Falls on Christmas Eve, at the instant he witnessed Clarence. Screaming his ecstasy to buildings and people alike — including even Potter — George runs home and basks in his family’s recognition, even welcoming the bank examiners. Mary urges him to prepare for what is coming: Caroling “Hark the Herald Angels Sing,” his friends and family (even the bank examiners) have rallied to collect huge amounts of money to save George and the Building & Loan from scandal and ruin.

As a final coup, Mr. Gower has telegraphed Sam Wainwright in London, who wires an immediate $25,000 advance. In the midst of the festivities, Harry returns and toasts, “To my big brother George: the richest man in town”; with that, everyone spontaneously cheers and breaks into “Auld Lang Syne.”

Seeing how many lives he has touched, and the difference he has made to the town, is enough for George Bailey to realize that despite his problems he really has a wonderful life.

The film ends with George finding Clarence’s Tom Sawyer book, inside which is inscribed: “Remember that no man is a failure who has friends. Thanks for the wings.” George and Mary then hear a bell ring on their Christmas tree; Zuzu exclaims, “Look, daddy! Teacher says, every time a bell rings, an Angel gets his wings.” George quietly agrees as “Auld Lang Syne” rings out.

Background
The original story “The Greatest Gift” was written by Philip Van Doren Stern in November 1939. After being unsuccessful in getting the story published, he decided to make it into a Christmas card, and mailed 200 copies to family and friends in December 1943.

 The story came to the attention of RKO producer David Hempstead, who showed it to Cary Grant’s Hollywood agent and, in April 1944, RKO Pictures bought the rights to the story for $10,000 hoping to turn the story into a vehicle for Grant.

RKO created three unsatisfactory scripts before shelving the planned movie with Grant going on to make another Christmas picture in The Bishop’s Wife.

 At the suggestion of RKO studio chief Charles Koerner, Frank Capra read “The Greatest Gift” and immediately saw its potential. RKO, anxious to unload the project, sold the rights in 1945 to Capra’s production company, Liberty Films, which had a nine-film distribution agreement with RKO, for $10,000 and threw in the three scripts for free.

 Capra along with writers Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett (with Jo Swerling, Michael Wilson and Dorothy Parker brought in to “polish” the script) turned the story and what was worth using from the three scripts into a screenplay that Capra would rename “It’s a Wonderful Life.

 Filming
It’s a Wonderful Life was shot at the RKO studio in Culver City, California and the RKO Ranch in Encino, where “Bedford Falls” was a set covering four acres, assembled from three separate parts with a main street stretching 300 yards (three city blocks), with 75 stores and buildings, a tree-lined center parkway and 20 full grown oak trees.

 Due to the requirement to film in an “alternate universe” setting as well as during different seasons, the set was extremely adaptable.

Filming started on April 15, 1946 and ended on July 27, 1946 (exactly on deadline for the 90-day principal photography schedule).

The RKO ranch in Encino, the filming location of Bedford Falls, was razed in the mid-1950s. Because of this there are only two filming locations still remaining from the film. The first is the swimming pool that was unveiled during the famous dance scene. The pool is located in the gymnasium at Beverly Hills High School, 241 Moreno Drive in Beverly Hills, California.

The second location is the Martinis’ new home and neighborhood in the fictional Bailey Park. The Martini house is located at 4587 Viro Road in La Canada Flintridge, California. The roofline, window layout (including the front bay window), front path and chimney are all the same as they appear in the film.

During filming, in the scene where Uncle Billy gets drunk at Harry and Ruth’s engagement party, George points him in the right direction home. As the camera focuses on George, smiling at his uncle staggering away, a crash is heard in the distance and Uncle Billy yells, “I’m all right! I’m all right!” Equipment on the set had been actually knocked over accidentally; Capra left in Thomas Mitchell’s appropriate ad lib.

The full extent of Mr. Potter’s deviousness is never revealed to the other characters in the film, and he is never brought to account for sequestering the $8,000, although Capra filmed an alternate ending that was subsequently cut wherein Potter receives a “comeuppance.”

Later a Saturday Night Live skit reprised the scene, this time with Potter comedically brought to account.

A lapse in film editing is obvious in the scene in which Uncle Billy loses the money. George comes into the Building & Loan office with a wreath on his arm, and sets it on a desk. Moments later, when he picks up the telephone, the wreath re-appears on his arm.

While George sees what life would be like without him, Harry’s would-be grave displays the dates 1911–1919, contradicting Clarence’s statement that Harry died at the age of nine.

Hope you students realised the worth of the MOVIE.

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Blood Diamond (film)
From Wikipedia

Blood Diamond

Directed by Edward Zwick
Produced by Gillian Gorfil
Marshall Herskovitz
Graham King
Paula Weinstein
Edward Zwick
Written by Charles Leavitt
Starring Leonardo DiCaprio
Jennifer Connelly
Djimon Hounsou
Michael Sheen
Arnold Vosloo
Music by James Newton Howard
Cinematography Eduardo Serra
Editing by Steven Rosenblum
Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
Release date(s) December 8, 2006
January 26, 2007
Running time 138 min
Country United States
Language English, Mende, Krio, Afrikaans
Budget $100 million

All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile
Blood Diamond is a 2006 drama film. It was co-produced and directed by Edward Zwick. It stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Connelly and Djimon Hounsou. The title refers to blood diamonds, which are diamonds mined in African war zones and sold to finance the conflicts. On January 23, 2007, it was nominated for five Academy Awards including Best Actor (DiCaprio) and Best Supporting Actor (Hounsou).

Plot
Set during the Sierra Leone Civil War in 1999, the film shows a country torn apart by the struggle between government soldiers and rebel forces.[1] The film portrays many of the atrocities of that war, including the rebels’ amputation of people’s hands to stop them from voting in upcoming elections.

The film begins with the capture of Solomon Vandy (Djimon Hounsou), a Mende fisherman, by the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels. Separated from his family, Solomon is enslaved to work in the diamond fields under the command of Captain Poison (David Harewood). The RUF use the diamonds to fund their war effort, often trading them directly for arms. While working in the RUF diamond fields as a forced laborer, Solomon finds a large diamond of rare pink colouring. Moments before government troops launch an attack, Captain Poison sees Solomon hiding the diamond. Captain Poison is injured in the attack before he can get the stone, and both he and Solomon are taken to prison in Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone.

Danny Archer (Leonardo DiCaprio), a white ex-mercenary from Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) trades arms for diamonds with a RUF commander. He is imprisoned after being caught smuggling the diamonds into neighboring Liberia, and the diamonds are confiscated. He had been transporting the diamonds to a South African mercenary named Colonel Coetzee (Arnold Vosloo), who is in turn employed by South African diamond company executive Van De Kaap (Marius Weyers) and his deputy Simmons (Michael Sheen). Coetzee is Archer’s former commander in 32 Battalion, the most decorated unit of the South African Border War, made up of Angolan and Rhodesian soldiers and white South African officers. Archer is desperate for a way to repay Colonel Coetzee for the diamonds taken from him when he was arrested and thrown in jail, in the same prison as the fisherman. While in prison, he overhears Captain Poison ranting to Solomon about the discovery of the large diamond and decides to hunt down the stone. He arranges for Solomon’s release from prison and offers to help him find his family in exchange for the diamond.

Archer and Solomon find their way to Maddy Bowen (Jennifer Connelly), a reporter, who helps Soloman track down his family. Bowen soon learns that Archer is using Solomon to find his diamond and will eventually steal it for himself, to leave Africa forever. Bowen who is a humanist, refuses to help Archer unless he can tell her about the diamond market to stop the flow of blood diamonds out of Africa, cutting off funding for Civil War and ending a mass revolution. Archer gives Bowen the information that she wants and gets access to use the press convoy to travel to Kono to find the diamond.

The convoy is attacked and Archer, Solomon and Bowen escape and find their way to the South African mercenary force under Colonel Coetzee. There they learn of the attack force preparing to retake Sierra Leone — a reference to the actual 1995 hiring of South African security firm Executive Outcomes by the provisional government of Sierra Leone. The two men leave the camp on foot while Bowen boards a plane carrying foreigners out of the conflict zone. After an arduous overnight trek, the men reach the mining camp in a river valley, still under RUF control, where Solomon discovered and buried the large diamond. Here, Solomon is painfully reunited with his son Dia, who refuses to acknowledge him because he has been brainwashed by the rebels. The South African mercenary force, also after the diamond, dispatches the RUF rebels in a massive air strike; and, through a deal with Archer, Colonel Coetzee forces Solomon to retrieve the stone. In a desperate battle, Archer kills Coetzee and the other two soldiers with him after realizing that they would have killed both Archer and Solomon upon locating the diamond. At this point Dia holds Archer and Solomon at gunpoint, but Solomon manages to convince him to side with them.

As Archer overturns a body to take equipment he realizes he has been shot, but keeps this to himself. Having arranged in advance for a plane to pick him up, he radios to the pilot, Benjamin Kapanay (Basil Wallace), who demands that Danny dump Solomon and Dia. Slowly and painfully the group makes its way from the valley towards an airstrip atop a nearby ridge. Archer collapses, unable to climb, and Solomon carries him a little ways before Archer has him put him down. He tells Solomon to take Dia home, knowing that he is dying, and gives them the diamond. Danny shoots the soldiers chasing them while Solomon and Dia flee, and then makes a final phone call to Bowen, asking her to help Solomon as a last favor before looking out over the beautiful landscape of Africa once more and dying peacefully.

With the help of Bowen, Solomon trades the diamond to Simmons for a large sum of money and the reunification of his family, making the exchange as Solomon’s wife and children deplane from a Lear Jet at a London airport. Bowen, who secretly photographs the deal, later publishes a magazine piece exposing the trade in “conflict” or “blood” diamonds. The film ends with Solomon smiling at the photograph Maddy took of Archer earlier, now published in her magazine along with the complete story of their journey, before addressing a conference on blood diamonds in Kimberley, South Africa, describing his experiences. This refers to an actual meeting that took place in Kimberley in 2000 and led to the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme, which seeks to certify the origin of diamonds in order to curb the trade in conflict diamonds.

Controversies
When the plot of the film became public, De Beers, the South African diamond mining and trading company, maintained that the trade in conflict diamonds had been reduced from 4% to 1% of total purchases by the Kimberley Process. De Beers denied a suggestion that the company had pushed for the film to contain a disclaimer to the effect that the events it portrayed were fictional and outdated.[2]

More recently, the New York Post reported that Warner Bros. Pictures had promised that 27 child and teenage film extras who were amputees would receive prosthetics once the film shoot was done.[2] Several months after the completion of filming, however, the prosthetics had not been supplied, and the studio reportedly told the amputees they had to wait until the December 2006 release of the film to maximize a public relations boost. In the meantime, the private charity Eastern Cape assisted in supplying prosthetics to the amputees.[2]

These allegations were countered by an article in L.A. Weekly, which stated that Warner Bros. had not promised the prosthetics, but that the cast and crew raised between $200,000 and $400,000 to begin a “Blood Diamond Fund”, which was then matched by Warner Bros. and “administered by a Maputo-based international accountancy firm under the supervision of Laws and João Ribeiro, the production managers in Mozambique”.[3]

The film was released in the midst of an upsurge in mass media publicity about the conflict-diamond trade, including a song by rapper Kanye West entitled “Diamonds from Sierra Leone,” a VH1 documentary about conditions in Sierra Leone called Bling, the Nicholas Cage film “Lord of War” and a non-fiction book called The Heartless Stone: A Journey Through the World of Diamonds, Deceit and Desire.

The film The Empire in Africa advanced the view that the RUF was in fact fighting for the liberation of Sierra Leone and did not cause more abuse than the government and western armies.[4]

Reception
Blood Diamond was released to positive reviews from both critics and audiences. Richard Roeper gave the film four stars, calling for it to be nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture. It has a 63% ‘fresh’ rating on the Rotten Tomatoes film review website and, as of October 2007, it had a weighted average of 8.0/10 on IMDB.

Review from Amazon.com
Leonardo DiCaprio puts a handsome face on an ugly industry: In parts of Africa, diamond mining fuels civil warfare, killing thousands of innocents and drafting preteen children as vicious soldiers. DiCaprio (The Departed) plays Danny Archer, a white African soldier-turned-diamond-smuggler who gets wind of a large raw jewel found by Solomon Vandy, a native fisherman (Djimon Hounsou, In America) recently escaped from enslavement by a brutal rebel leader. Archer offers a deal: He’ll help Vandy find his war-scattered family if Vandy will share the diamond with him. Drawn into this web of exploitation is journalist Maddy Bowen (Jennifer Connelly, Little Children), who agrees to help if Archer will tell her the details of how conflict diamonds make their way into the hands of the corporations who sell them to the Western world. DiCaprio is compelling because he never flinches from Archer’s utter ruthlessness; Archer ends up doing the morally justifiable thing, but only because his desperate greed has led him to it. Hounsou and Connelly, though saddled with all the moral and political speeches, rise above the cant and keep the movie’s treacherously formulaic plot rooted in human characters. But in the end, the story won’t stick with you as much as the dead stillness in the child soldiers’ eyes; the horror of African civil strife refuses to be contained by Blood Diamond’s uplifting message–and the movie is all the more potent as a result. –Bret Fetzer

Product Description
An ex-mercenary turned smuggler (Leonardo DiCaprio). A Mende fisherman (Djimon Hounsou). Amid the explosive civil war overtaking 1999 Sierra Leone, these men join for two desperate missions: recovering a rare pink diamond of immense value and rescuing the fisherman’s son, conscripted as a child soldier into the brutal rebel forces ripping a swath of torture and bloodshed across the alternately beautiful and ravaged countryside. Directed by Edward Zwick (Glory, The Last Samurai), this urgent, intensely moving adventure shapes gripping human stories and heart-pounding action into a modern epic of profound impact.

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Route: Avalanche - Lakkadi top - Kolaribetta - Earthern Dam - Bankithapal (Night stay) - Kerala View point - Madippu Malai - Nadukaani Mattam - Kinger Undi - Upper Bhavani.

Total distance travelled on foot : 30 Kms.

Organised by: Wildlife Warden, Mukkurthi National Park, Nilgiris.

Team: Wildlife Warden Rakesh Kumar Dogra, Mukkurthi Ranger Devaraj (94430 76980), Dinakaran Photo Journalist Palaniappan, NWA Ramasamy (94420 25361), PWD official B.Raghunathan (98945 10830), Nilgiris NIC officer Daniel (99944 63326), Belliraj (Manjur PWD 98656 83393) and Forest Dept staff (Total: 20).

Dates: Dec 1 & 2, 2007.

Sightings: Sambar deer, Malabar Pit Viper, Green Snake, Indian Bronze Back Snake and Landscapes of Upper Bhavani & Mukkurthi Valley.

Interesting times:

Stay at Bangithapal with mercury dipping below Zero Degree was excellent. Dr. Davis (80) and Sabeena (Germany) were great trekkere even at their elderly age.

First day we saw Trought fish breeding near the Avalanche check post. Then 5 Kms journey in Jeep. Trek started at 4 PM in Lakkadi Top; It took 3 hrs to reach Bangithapal.

Second day was a day of Landscapes. Missed to capture Malabar Pit Viper’s head clearly.

Blue sky was there for Photographs. But haze and bright sunshine played spoilsport.

Great food even at jungles. Good outing.

Applying for other treks arranged by the same team.

Photos  up loaded after getting permission from the Warden.

Published a pictutre of Backsbone snake in The New Indian Express (Weekend) 0n Dec, 8, 2007.

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Trek to Thengumarahada & Mangalapatti.

Dates: 24 & 25 November, 2007.

Team: Karthikeyan, Senthil & 3 Chennai friends.

Lifers: White rumped Vulture, Crested Hawk eagle, Feral buffalo, Eurasian Dove, another Eagle, Green bee eater, Black buck and a fly catcher type bird.

Interesting trip: Jeep - Per day charge only Rs.1,200 (inclding driver bata & fuel). This old Mahindra crosses Moyar river, which has flowing water for a width of 30 mtrs, depth of 2 -3 feet. Jeep gets stuck in the mid way - driver gives a Mobile call - Tractor comes and pulls it out. Diesel tank found full after crosssing the river- `No problem‘ says Driver - drains out Diesel + Water, refills Diesel from can. No starting trouble- the journey continues!

While crossing the river, water enters into the jeep, shoes turn wet. It is like travelling in a boat!

Only old model Mahindras can do this miracle. New, electronic models wont start after such sturdy tests.

Fisherman Selvam was another interesting character. He works, treks full day, has an assistant, gets only Rs. 150 as his wage.

Elephants everywhere:
We spotted atleast 50 elephants in the Thengumarahada - Mangalapatty route. Sad story is nothing has a tusk. For next 3 months elephant lovers can visit this place.

After returning home, felt excited to find the White Rumped Vulture as a CRITICALLY ENDANGERED SPECIES. Hence posting 3 pictures of it in crjayaprakash.com.

Missed to capture: Though we could site more than 25 Black bucks at 5 spots, no clear picture could be taken because of the crowd in the jeep. Noise of the Jeep was too high. Crocodile and a 3 feet Monitor lizard was spotted by fisherman Selvam (again a big miss).

STAY: COMFORTABLE AT Gulithuraipatty anti poaching shed near GEJALATTY which is 15 kms away from Bhavani sagar (Sathy forest, Erode District).

Moyar is the lifeline for this shrub jungle and dry decidious forest.

Filed a news item with picture for Weekend of The New Indian Express. Published on Dec. 1, 2007.

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This is an article which appeared in the Opinion Page of The Hindu on 22-11-2007.
The Speaker of the Lok Sabha has opened his heart out on the behaviour of the Present day Media in India.

Let us discuss it out…
Time for a round of introspection
Somnath ChatterjeeNewspapers, TV channels and Internet news providers need to institute a process of continuous introspection to ensure that they remain transparent and truthful purveyors of information.

In pre-Independence India, there were two kinds of newspapers and journals. One set was supportive of the colonial power, if not overtly then covertly. The other spoke of the aspirations of the people, pointed out injustice and oppression. Draconian laws were put in place to muzzle the latter. Those who started or owned or published or edited them were themselves actively involved in the freedom movement in one way or the other. The number of copies and the number of publi cations were limited, partly because of administrative obstruction and partly because of technological limitations. Yet the effect of what was printed and circulated was profound, even inspirational.

Independence brought with it within a few years our Constitution, which guaranteed freedom of speech and expression to all citizens. Thus the shackles on press freedom were done away with, except for the ‘reasonable restrictions’ provided for in Article 19(2).

The press in India in the early years of Independence showed its commitment to truth and transparency. The initial years saw the emergence of a new feature: the ownership of some newspapers passed from the founders and editor-publishers to commercial concerns. For some years, while the interest of some of the owners did shift to the revenue earned by the newspapers, the editors were free to determine the editorial policy. That was an age of great editors, who virtually set the standards of impartiality and independence that became an integral part of the print media.

Other factors came into play. Chief among them was the advent of technology that made it possible to print millions of copies, and set pages on computers, making production not only fast but more economical. Then the satellite age made it possible to send content from one office to another, so that local editions could be produced simultaneously. Another factor was the burgeoning advertising industry and the enormous amounts of money it poured into newspapers and journals. Indeed it is said that today some newspapers can afford to give away their copies for free, since their main revenue, that may run to crores of rupees daily, comes from advertising, not from the sale of the newspaper — as used to be the case in pre-Independence India.

In sections of the press, it appears that more importance is now given to the marketing divisions than to editors. It is said that in some newspapers, the marketing division decides what will ‘sell’ the paper in terms of news — and how they will do it. Thus it is that we are no longer surprised to read, on the front pages of some leading newspapers, of the eating habits of some personality from the entertainment industry, or of someone who has won some much publicised contest of some kind. Sadly, news relating to the state of the country is relegated to the inside pages.

But overshadowing all that has been happening to the newspapers is television. From a modest beginning of being the handmaiden of the Central government of the day, television has, since much of it went into private hands, grown exponentially, especially the news channels in different languages. But one has to think whether the development of television, especially television news, in the country has been in the right direction.

Private channels are not merely news providers. They make no secret of the fact that they are entirely dependent on advertising revenue, and it appears that advertisers have poured enormous amounts of money into those channels they perceive as getting the larger numbers of viewers. This has had two effects. One is that in the fierce competition to get more viewers, some channels have not hesitated to compromise with the truth. Others have taken recourse to sensationalism, and all manner of stories are shown as news.

Of course, we have a number of channels that maintain high standards of journalistic integrity, and have as a consequence retained the trust of the viewers. But these are not many in number.

The basic feature of post-Independence media is the change in the nature of ownership. A channel or a newspaper is now seen as a profit-making venture, as indeed it is in all countries where advertising ensures the profitability of a channel or newspaper. This in itself is not necessarily antithetical to credibility. There are owners who are committed to their newspapers and channels observing the highest standards of journalistic propriety. But they are few in number, and the number of those who see the ‘packaging’ of news as an essential requirement to earning more money seems to be growing.

A feature that merits highlighting is the fact that, owing to the single-minded obsession with perceived market requirements, those elements of the governance of our country that were at one time considered to be of vital importance — the proper functioning of the three arms of our democracy, the judiciary, the legislature and the executive — no longer warrant the attention they got in earlier years. They are noticed, by and large, only when there is something of sensationalist value in some event relating to them.

This is not only unfortunate but undesirable, as the power of the media, especially of television, is great in influencing the perceptions of viewers, and the images that remain with people in general are not just negative but incorrect.

Today, newspapers and private channels cover the stock markets in obsessive detail. But they do not do the same with the debates in Parliament on major policy issues. Thus debates have ceased to be reported.

Press freedom is not without responsibility; the media must desist from distorted or concocted reporting that highlights only those aspects of an issue that suit it. The editorial policy of a newspaper should not be dictated by the prejudices of media moguls and media barons. While profit is indeed a motive in the media world, that in itself should not be the sole criterion when it comes to news and views on the issues before the nation. The increasing levels of certain types of content in the print and electronic media are a matter of concern.

It is for the media themselves to ponder on the long-term implications of their acts on society at large. More than ever before, today there is an imperative to strengthen our national fabric and the ideals we cherish, such as democracy, secularism and pluralism. Unfortunately, of late we find a tendency among a section of the media to project partisan points of view in the name of dissemination of views, rather than news that is factual and objective. The glory of the media is in their presentation of information based on truth. Sadly, this basic duty is at times forgotten by sections of the press. Except for some honourable exceptions, today the political leanings and political predilections of newspapers and TV channels are well known, and these obviously affect dispassionate presentation of news and also views.

Democracy is unthinkable without a free press and its success depends to a large extent on the kind of role the media play as an interface between Parliament and the people. Parliament is at the heart of a democracy. That being so, it deserves serious attention from all quarters, be it the people, the executive, the judiciary, civil society groups or the media. It is in Parliament that important decisions are taken and the government is made accountable. It is the responsibility of the media to inform and educate people on various issues that are before Parliament. While trying to expose the misdeeds and corrupt practices of public authorities, including people’s representatives, the media would do well to report their commendable initiatives and work as well. Giving publicity only to interruptions, disturbances and adjournments in Parliament, as if nothing else takes place there, gives a distorted picture of our elected representatives, and projects Parliament and parliamentarians in a negative, even derogatory, manner.

It has been a remarkable journey that the media have had as the voice of the people. That is indeed what they were in the pre-Independence days, and what some newspapers and television channels still are. But what is mentioned in many quarters is that market forces have come into and affected the credibility of the media and done considerable damage — damage that affects even those dedicated, principled newspapers and channels that do not stoop low.

While we can applaud the media for their independence in most matters, it is necessary for all those involved, from newspapers to television channels to Internet news providers, to institute a process of continuous introspection to ensure that they remain transparent and truthful purveyors of information. We have come to expect this of our media and we would like to continue to be as proud of them as we have been in the past.

In this very challenging task the Press Council of India has a key role. It may not need to have draconian powers — indeed, it should not — but it needs to have the respect of all newspapers and news channels, and it is for all of them to sit together to determine how best this can be done. As we have seen time and again, where law has not been effective, consent has been. It is time this matter was given serious thought by all those who profess to abide by the truth above everything else.

(Based on an address by Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee at a discussion on ‘Media’s role as the people’s voice — Pre and Post-Independence,’ organised by the Press Council of India on the occasion of National Press Day on November 16, in New Delhi.)

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From The Economic Times, Page 4, 15-11-07.

Media barons bullish on newspaper industry

LEADING players and investors in the Indian newspaper industry seemed bullish on the future of newspapers in the country even as they shared their experience and debated challenges surrounding the sector at the International Newspaper Marketing Association (Inma) South Asia conference in Delhi.

Inma, an association of 1,100 members in 82 countries, is the leading provider of global best practices and marketing ideas for newspaper companies. “At least 360 million literate people in India are still not reading newspaper and only 0.34% of the country’s GDP is today spent on advertisement, as against the global norm of 1-2%,” said Inma executive director Earl J Wilkinson, underlining the huge opportunity India presented to the newspaper industry.

Ravi Dhariwal, president, INMA Asia division, and CEO - publishing, Bennett Coleman and Company Ltd, which owns the Times group of newspapers, pointed out how the Indian newspaper industry was moving on a different curve compared to newspapers in the west. “There is talk of internet ads taking away revenue from newspapers. But this is not true in India.”Speakers at the conference were of the view that ad revenue in newspapers was only going to go up significantly with time. They were also of the opinion that newspaper would see massive expansion and attract more investment.

The world’s largest private equity player Blackstone seemed to echo this point of view. The PE player has recently invested in Andhra Pradesh based media conglomerate Eenadu group- the PE player’s largest investment in India. “Media is at the top of our priority, higher than infrastructure,” said Blackstone India chairman Akhil Gupta.

On the challanges arising out of tying up with foreign investors, Sanjay Gupta, CEO and Editor, Dainik Jagran, said, “Our biggest challenge was to transform ourselves from a family owned business to a professionally managed one after a strategic investor came on board.”

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The Top 10 Indian Advt. Agencies and their strength.

Findings by Brand Equity, The Economic Times, 14-11-2007.
1. O&M
Top Management:

Piyush Pandey, Executive Chairman; SN Rane, Co-Executive Chairman & Chief Operating Officer; Madhukar Sabnavis, Country Head – Discovery & Planning Regional Director; Pratap Bose, CEO; Prateek Srivastava, Group President – Ogilvy South

Branch Heads:

Mumbai: JC Giri; Delhi: Sanjay Thapar; Bangalore: Prateek Srivastava; Chennai: Prakash Dharmarajan; Kolkata: Sharmista Dey; Hyderabad: Rani Reddy

Shareholding:

WPP – 74%, Local – 26%

No of Employees:

Creative: 393; Servicing: 304; Production: 61; Account Planning: 12; Other: 167; Specialised Divisions: 262

Divisions:

Ogilvy Outreach; Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide; Ogilvy Live; Ogilvy One Worldwide; Neo @ Ogilvy; Ogilvy Landscapes; Ogilvy Sport; Ogilvy Sign Scapes; Ogilvy Design Cell

Key Accounts:

Asian Paints, Cadbury India, Castrol/BP, Coca-Cola, Hindustan Times, Hutchinson Max, Hindustan Lever, Motorola, Pidilite Industries, Seagram

Accounts Won in 2006:

Amran Trading, Bank of India, Digital Radio (Red FM), L&T Group, Lafarge India, Madhya Pradesh State Tourism, Maruti Udyog, Mumbai International Airport, Tea Board

Major Awards:

Cannes – one gold and one silver; One Show – one silver and 2 bronze; Asia Pacific AdFest – one bronze; Agency of the Year with two gold and 32 silvers at Abby Awards; EMVIE – four EMVIES including Grand EMVIE

2. MUDRA COMMUNICATIONS

Top Management:

Madhukar Kamath, MD & CEO; Bobby Pawar, National Creative Director; Dilip Upadhyaya, CFO; R Lakshminarayanan, Executive Director & CEO; Ajit Menon, Exec VP & Head; Jude Fernandes, Executive Director & Head; JS Mani, President

Shareholding:

Indian – 90%, DDB Worldwide – 10%

No of Employees:

Creative: 160; Servicing: 218; Account Management/ Operations: 286; Media/Account Planning: 65

Divisions:

Kidstuff Promotional Marketing; Rapp Collins India; Tribal DDB India; Primesite; Mudra Health & Lifesyle; OMS; Videotec; Tantra; Mag India

Key Accounts:

Reliance ADAG (Energy, Telecom, Corporate), LIC of India, Philips India, Paras Pharmaceuticals, Godrej Group, Future Group, Dabur India, TTK Prestige, Times Internet, McDowell’s

Accounts Won in 2006:

Godrej (Yummies, Snuggy, Shaving Cream, Sofit, Vigil, Nutrine, Erasmic), Home Solutions, Union Bank, Reliance ADAG, TUI, Zydus Cadilla, Nirlife (Nirma Ltd), Adani Wilmar (Naturelle), The New Indian Express, Signature Whisky, Mr. White Detergent

Major Awards:

New York Festival – two silvers; Asia Pacific AdFest – one gold, one silver and two bronze

3. McCANN ERICKSON
Top Management:

Prasoon Joshi, Executive Chairman; Sanjay Nayak, President – McCann Worldgroup; Manoj Singh, CFO; Govind Pandey, President – McCann Erickson; Aditya Atri, Sr VP & GM, Result McCann; Dileep Ashoka, Sr VP – McCann Erickson South; Debashis Paul, Sr VP & GM, McCann Erickson Delhi; Rana Bawa, VP & GM McCann Healthcare

Branch Heads:

Mumbai: Govind Pandey; Delhi: Debashis Paul; Bangalore: Dileep Ashoka; Chennai: Sunil Thopil

Shareholding:

McCann Erickson Worldwide – 93%, Other – 7%

No of Employees:

Creative: 114; Servicing: 92; Production: 13; Account Planning: 15

Divisions:

Weber Shandwick; Result Momentum; Result MRM; McCann Healthcare

Key Accounts:

Coca-Cola, Intel, Johnson & Johnson, Marico, Microsoft, Nestle, Perfetti Van Melle, TVS Motors, Hindustan Unilever, Western Union

Accounts Won in 2006:

Barclays Bank, Britannia Industries, Essar Retail, Hindustan Lever – Liril, HP – Compaq, Nicholas Piramal, Radico Diageo – Masterstroke, General Motors, GSK – Crocin, Titan Industries

Major Awards:

Asia Pacific AdFest – one silver; Media Asia – one bronze; AAAI – four gold, 12 silver & 23 bronze

4. JWT

Top Management:

Colvyn J Harris, CEO

Branch Heads:

Mumbai: Tarun Rai; Delhi: Rohit Ohri; Bangalore: Dhunji Wadia; Chennai: Anita Gupta; Kolkata: Raji Ramaswamy; RMG Mumbai: Charulata Ravi Kumar

Shareholding:

Not shared

No of Employees:

Not shared

Divisions:

IPAN; RMG Connect; Portland; Right Aligned NLX; Intaglio

Key Accounts:

Hero Honda Motors, PepsiCo, DTC, GlaxoSmithKline, Reliance, Ford, Hindustan Unilever, Frito-Lay, Nokia, Godrej

Accounts Won in 2006:

Not shared

Major Awards:

Not shared

5. LOWE LINTAS

Top Management:

Prem Mehta, Chairman; Pranesh Misra, President & CEO; R Balakrishnan, National Creative Director; S Munsiff, Director – Commercial; Lynn de Souza, Director – Lintas Media; Ashish Bhasin, Director – Lintas IMAG; Brent Gosling, Chief – Strategy; Fali Vakeel, Executive Director

Branch Heads:

Delhi: Mohit Beotra; Bangalore: Vikram Satyanath; Chennai: Kevin d’Souza; Kolkata: DK Guha

Shareholding:

Interpublic Group – 100%

No of Employees:

Creative: 110; Servicing: 197; Production: 18; Account Planning: 28; IMAG: 147; LINTAS MEDIA GROUP: 138

Divisions:

Linterland; Lin-Opinion; Ad-Vent; Lintas Personal; Lintas Digital; Aaren Initiative; D-Cell; Lintertainment

Key Accounts:

Hindustan Unilever, Idea Cellular, Bajaj Auto, LG Electronics, Maruti Udyog, ITC Group, Britannia Industries, MRF Tyres, Tata Tea

Accounts Won in 2006:

SBI Cards & Payment Services, Havells India, Tilda Riceland, Roots Corporation, HT Music & Entertainment, Tube Investments of India, Infiniti Retail

Major Awards:

Not shared

6. REDIFFUSION DYR

Top Management:

Diwan Arun Nanda, Chairman & MD; Mahesh Chauhan, President; Shreedharan Nadkarni, CFO; Arvind Mohan, Chief Strategy Officer; Sagar Mahabaleshwarkar, Chief Executive – Creative; Ramanuj Shastri, Chief Executive – Creative

Branch Heads:

Mumbai: Bimal Nair; Delhi: Ramesh Srivats; Kolkata: Amitava Sinha; Bangalore/Chennai/Hyderabad: Minakshi Achan

Shareholding:

Diwan Arun Nanda – 30%, Ajit Balakrishnan – 30%, Young & Rubicam Far East – 26.67%, Dentsu Inc. – 13.33%

No of Employees:

Creative: 84; Servicing: 90; Production: 4; Account Planning: 4; Others: 3, Media: 63

Divisions:

Rediffusion PR; Showdiff Worldwide; Wunderman India; Outdoor Advtg Professionals; Touch Point; Sudler & Hennessey

Key Accounts:

Bharat Airtel, Colgate Palmolive, Tata Sky, Onida, Tata Motors, Indian Oil, UB Group, Taj Group of Hotels, Franklin Templeton, Eveready Industries

Accounts Won in 2006:

Religere, Pure Earth Infrastructure, Bank of India, Taneja Development Industries, Citibank Private Banking, Popley Jewellers, Linc Pens, Adani Exports, RPG Spencer, Metal Junction

Major Awards:

Cannes – one gold, one silver; One Show – one bronze; New York Festival – one silver; Abby – four silvers; AAAI – four silvers & seven bronze

7. LEO BURNETT

Top Management:

Arvind Sharma, Chairman & CEO; KV Sridhar, National Creative Director; Rajeev Sharma, National Director; Samir Gangadhar, Executive Director; Santosh Padhi, Executive Creative Director; Nitesh Tiwari, Executive Creative Director; Sainath Saraban, Executive Creative Director; Shailesh Shah, Finance Director

Branch Heads:

Mumbai: Arvind Sharma; Delhi: Samir Gangadhar

Shareholding:

Leo Burnett Worldwide – 100%

No of Employees:

Not shared

Divisions:

Arc Worldwide; Leo Entertainment

Key Accounts:

Reliance Communications, Procter & Gamble, Heinz India, Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, General Motors, Sony Entertainment, HDFC Standard Life, VVF, Reliance Capital

Accounts Won in 2006:

Reliance Communications, Sony Entertainment, Coca-Cola – Minute Maid, Reliance Capital, Hewlett Packard, British Airways, UTI Mutual Fund, GMR Group, Diageo Radico, Centurion Bank of Punjab

Major Awards:

Cannes – one silver, two bronze; Andy Awards – one bronze; AAAI – four gold, 14 silver & 17 bronze

8. GREY WORLDWIDE

Top Management:

Nirvik Singh, Chairman – South Asia & President – South East Asia; Jishnu Sen, Sr VP – Mumbai; Rupam Ganguly, VP – Delhi; Sudhir Nair, VP – G2 Interactive; Naresh Gupta, VP – Strategic Planning; Pankaj Mudholkar, VP – Ahmedabad; Sarita Srikanth, General Manager – Chennai; Hari Krishnan, General Manager – Bangalore; Suparna Mukkadam, Manager – Kolkata

Branch Heads:

Mumbai: Jishnu Sen; Delhi: Rupam Ganguly; Chennai: Sarita Srikanth; Bangalore: Hari Krishnan; Ahmedabad: Pankaj Mudholkar; Kolkata: Suparna Mukkadam

Shareholding:

Not Shared

No of Employees:

Creative: 80; Servicing: 68; Production: 33; Account Planning: 12; G2 Activation: 40, Others: 50

Divisions:

GCI; G2-Events & Promotions; G2-Direct Marketing; G2-Interactive; G2-Geometry; Grey Healthcare

Key Accounts:

Suzuki, BSNL, Parle Products, Wrigley’s, Bharti AXA, Ambuja, Reliance, Suzlon, Proctor & Gamble, Kinetic

Accounts Won in 2006:

Suzuki, BSNL, Parle Products, Deutsche Bank, Diageo, Trianz, Spencers

Major Awards:

Not shared

9. FCB-ULKA
Top Management:

Anil Kapoor, MD& CEO; MG Parameswaran, Executive Director & CEO; NG Alai, Executive Director & Group CFO; Kinjal Medh, COO – Cogito Consulting; V Wabgaonkar, VP – Strategic Planning; Haresh Moorjani, Creative Director; Subodh Poddar, Creative Director; Nitin Karkare, COO – Mumbai

Branch Heads:

Mumbai: MG Parameswaran; Delhi: Arvind Wable; Kolkata: Nitin Karkare; Bangalore: Lekshmipathi Bhat; Kochi: Rajeev Menon

Shareholding:

Not Shared

No of Employees:

Not Shared

Divisions:

Cygnus PR; FCB-Ulka Interactive; 10 Design; Nebula Films; Cogito Consulting; FCB-Ulka Healthcare; Procyon Graphics

Key Accounts:

Tata Motors, Tata Tele Services, Whirlpool India, GCMMF, Hero Honda Motors, Wipro Ltd, Tata Consulting Services, Zee Telefilms

Accounts Won in 2006:

Tata Tele Services, Power Horse Energy Drink, Johnson Hopkins, Essar Steel, Johnson & Johnson, GCMMF –Amul Milk, Chirion Vaccines, Hero Honda Pleasure

Major Awards:

Abby – one gold; AAAI – one gold

10. SAATCHI & SAATCHI

Top Management:

V Shantakumar, MD & CEO; S Ghosh, Director & COO; Anil Vora, CFO; Ramesh Ramanathan, National Creative Director; Adip Puri, National Planning Director; Kamal Basu, Executive VP; Malavika Harita, Executive VP; Sanjib Dey, Executive VP

Branch Heads:

Bangalore: Ayan Chakraborty; Delhi: Sanjib Dey; Mumbai: Kamal Basu; Saatchi & Saatchi Direct: Malavika Harita

Shareholding:

Foreign Holdings – 80%, Local Management – 20%

No of Employees:

Creative: 58; Servicing: 54; Production: 29; Account Planning: 4; Management: 6, Finance & Admin: 38

Divisions:

Saatchi & Saatchi Direct

Key Accounts:

ICICI Prudential Life Insurance, Mahindra Renault, Proctor & Gamble, Mak, SOEED, Bharat Petroleum Corporation, Sony Ericsson, Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, Leela Hotels, Kannan Devan, Gemini, Cox & Kings

Accounts Won in 2006:

Mahindra Renault, ICICI Bank, Leela Palace

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