MAM
Cartoon Network promo picks up bronze at marketing awards
NEW DELHI: Cartoon Network’s ‘Bano Toon Star With Scooby-Doo And Max’ promotion, in association with HLL’s Kwality Walls Max ice creams, received a bronze at the recently held Promotion and Marketing Awards Asia 2003, in Singapore.
According to an official statement from Turner International India, the integrated promotion won the award in the category for ‘Best Campaign Generating Brand Awareness And Trial’. The Bano Toon Star With Scooby-Doo And Max promotional licensing deal achieved a 60 per cent increase in sales of Kwality Wall’s Max ice creams. In addition, the redemption rate for the promotion hit an all time high of 58.3 per cent, with an average of 19.1 per cent during the promotion period.
This award winning licensing campaign was developed to launch four new flavours of Kwality Wall’s ice creams with Cartoon Network’s famous Scooby-Doo as its brand ambassador. The promotion offered 12 Indian kids the chance to become a Toonstar by featuring alongside Scooby-Doo in an animation short.
Kids could win the dream opportunity by simply exchanging three Kwality Wall’s ice cream wrappers for a scratch card at any of the 900 redemption centers across the country. Interestingly, every scratch card had an assured prize such as Scooby-Doo comics, Max jungle trail board games, cameras and tents, thus making every kid a winner! The campaign was launched nationally by HLL’s Kwality Wall’s Max ice-creams on 20 March 2003 and was supported on-air, on-line and on-ground.
Launched in India in 1995, Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.’s (TBS) Cartoon Network is a leading kids entertainment channel, reaching more than 18 million viewers. Currently available in English, Hindi and Tamil languages, Cartoon Network India is the only international kids channel to acquire locally produced programming like Pandavas – The Five Warriors, Sinbad – Beyond The Veil of Mists, Ramayan – The Legend Of Prince Ram and The Adventures of Tenali Raman as well as dedicate lunchtime viewing to pre-schoolers and mothers, by launching an exclusive block Tiny TV.
MAM
Raghu Rai passes away at 83, leaves behind iconic legacy
Padma Shri-winning photographer documented history across 5 decades.
MUMBAI: The lens may have stilled, but the stories it captured will never fade. Raghu Rai, one of India’s most celebrated photojournalists, passed away on April 26, 2026, at the age of 83. He breathed his last at a private hospital in New Delhi after battling cancer and age-related health issues.
His son, Nitin Rai, revealed that Rai had been diagnosed with prostate cancer two years ago, which later spread to the stomach and, more recently, the brain. Despite multiple rounds of treatment, his health had declined in recent months.
Born in 1942 in Jhang, Punjab (now in Pakistan), Rai entered photography in his early twenties, inspired by his elder brother, photographer S. Paul. Beginning his career in the mid-1960s, he went on to build a body of work that spanned more than five decades, contributing to global publications such as Time, Life, GEO, Le Figaro, The New York Times, Vogue, GQ and Marie Claire.
His global recognition took a decisive leap in 1977 when legendary French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson nominated him to join Magnum Photos, placing him among the world’s most respected visual storytellers.
Rai’s lens chronicled both power and poignancy. He photographed towering figures such as Indira Gandhi, Dalai Lama, Bal Thackeray, Satyajit Ray and Mother Teresa, while also documenting defining moments like the Bhopal gas tragedy later captured in his book Exposure: A Corporate Crime.
Over the years, he published more than 18 books, building an archive that blended journalism with artistry. His contributions were recognised early when he was awarded the Padma Shri in 1972 for his coverage of the Bangladesh War and refugee crisis. In 1992, he was named “Photographer of the Year” in the United States for his work in National Geographic, and in 2009, he was honoured with the Officier des Arts et des Lettres by the French government.
Rai is survived by his wife Gurmeet, son Nitin, and daughters Lagan, Avani and Purvai. His last rites will be held at Lodhi Cremation Ground in New Delhi at 4 pm on Sunday.
With his passing, Indian photojournalism loses not just a pioneer, but a patient observer of history, one frame at a time.
