Mumbai, July 10, 2013: Yash Raj Films (YRF) joins hands with Karol Bagh Saree House (KBSH) to create India?s first Bollywood inspired fashion label called Diva?ni? Where fashion romances Bollywood. India?s leading Production House, YRF along with KBSH, aim to serenade the splendour of Indian cinema through aspirational fashion. The brand is a reflection of the rich legacy and heritage associated with both these esteemed names, which celebrates the glitz, glamour, and drama that reverberates from the age-old union of fashion and cinema.

The objective behind the inception of Diva?ni is to create a brand that is infused with the spirit of Bollywood amalgamated with a glamour quotient that fashion adds to it. Taking ode from the rich Indian traditions and keeping them alive in the form of Diva?ni?s exquisite ensembles, YRF & KBSH together present an experience-consume journey for the Indian and International audiences. The brand strives to make women feel like a diva, who traditionally have been the epitome of pure elegance, grace and beauty. Diva?ni reflects the way Mr. Yash Chopra envisioned his heroines and brought out the best in every woman he worked with.

Inspired from Yash Chopra?s vision and portrayal of the diva in every woman, the first collection to be launched will be a fitting tribute to the man, who in many ways helped define Bollywood fashion.

Rohit Sobti, YRF?s Vice President, Licensing & Merchandising said, ?YRF has been looking to participate in a meaningful way in the apparel category, in order to bring the trends of Bollywood and YRF closer to the consumers. As an industry, we have been setting fashion trends for our fans worldwide over the last 100 years. Development of the brand Diva?ni is a most significant effort by any Film Studio in the world and KBSH is an ideal associate in helping us achieve our goal. With KBSH?s long-standing expertise in creating high quality designs, and always at the forefront of changing fashions over the years, we are sure that they will bring the requisite skill sets for this venture to succeed.?

Commenting on the association, Ms Sanya Dhir, Brand Director, KBSH said, ?Coming with a vast understanding of the ethnic fashion industry, and with an experience of over 50 years, we at KBSH understand what a woman wants in her ensemble. In a country like India where women of all age groups are so highly inspired by Indian cinema, we strive to give our audiences a brand that will bring them a step closer to living their Bollywood dream. We are very happy that India?s premier studio YRF shares our vision and has joined hands with us in this very exciting endeavour. Over the last several decades, YRF has pioneered and mastered the presentation of fashion in their iconic films, and have been creating ?divas? forever. We are sure the association with YRF will bring alive our dream of celebrating the diva in every woman. The design team behind Diva?ni strives to create ensembles that celebrate the emotion in motion, offering the customer an experience to be as stylish and feel as beautiful as a Diva.?

These two brands, coming under this association, will soon be disclosing more details. House of KBSH is an ethnic wear brand-serving generations since 1947. Recognised for its traditional values and contemporary approach to fashion and styling, the brand is committed to adding elegance and romance to the six yards of canvas. Juxtaposing this classy element is the symphony of dance, drama and romance brought in by YRF in this enterprise. Accredited to be India?s largest production company with aninnate passion for entertainment, YRF strives to applaud the inner diva in every woman with the launch of Diva?ni.

Mumbai, June 7, 2013: Havas Media India took home 2 wins at the DMA ECHO Awards India 2013, the gala evening of the two day conclave by the Direct Marketing Association of India (DMAi) at Leela Kempinski, Mumbai, 4-5 June 2013.

Parle?s, Hide & Seek Caff? Mocha, ?Like a Coffee with your Morning Paper?? campaign in the Media-Print category won a Bronze for the innovation of making the audience wake up to a newspaper with the strong whiff of coffee inducing the awareness of the Caff? Mocha cookie.

Quikr.com was awarded the special DMAi 2013 Synergy Award in the Media-Integrated category for ?Buy, sell anything Quikrrr...?. Here the missed call facility was the hero of the communication across media platforms reaching high affinity engagement touchpoints of Movies, Sports, Music and News broadbasing the online audience.

"We are delighted with the awards. It comes at a good time in tandem with the new business wins. We look forward to an eventful year ahead", said Anita Nayyar, CEO, Havas Media Group, India and South Asia.

"The campaigns resulted in meaningful connections with the brands target audience at a personal level to achieve their goal of mass awareness and impact. In keeping with our Meaningful Brands framework we impart holistic solutions to brand marketing", added Mohit Joshi, Managing Director, Havas Media India.

The DMA ECHO Awards India are instituted by the Direct Marketing Association of India in alliance with the DMA International ECHO Awards that honors the creative par excellence in marketing and advertising campaigns that have raised the bar of originality, response strategy, interactivity and marketing impact. In their second year, they recognize marketing excellence & celebration of result oriented marketing campaigns in India.

NEW DELHI: Recognising the remarkable achievements and contributions of Indians who have tirelessly worked towards strengthening India?s foundation, CNN-IBN announced the winners of the Indian of the Year 2012. At a star-studded awards ceremony held in New Delhi, winners across Politics, Sports, Entertainment, Business and Public Service categories were announced.

Instituted in 2006, this is the seventh edition of CNN-IBN Indian of the Year Awards. Over the years, these awards have achieved prestige and credibility unmatched by awards instituted by other media organisations. The awards adhere to a transparent and unique four-tier selection process that includes the IBN Editorial Board drawing a list of nominees, which are authorised by the Jury, followed by voting by the Electoral College and India?s citizens.

The award ceremony will be telecast on CNN-IBN on 22 December, Saturday, 9:30PM. The winners across different categories are:

INDIAN OF THE YEAR 2012 & SPORTS:
Viswanathan Anand is CNN-IBN Indian of the Year Award 2012 and in addition to this he also bagged the award in the Sports Category for being India?s most successful chess grandmaster who has been the undisputed World Champion since 2007.

POLITICS:
Manohar Parrikar: For being the architect of BJP?s win in Goa and for successfully selling the agenda of hope in a state, which was used to a despairingly low level of politics.

BUSINESS:
Dr. Yusuf Hamied: For running CIPLA, one of the most socially conscious pharmaceutical companies in the world, profitably.

ENTERTAINMENT:
Irrfan Khan: For an outstanding performance in ?Paan Singh Tomar?, and for continuing to make a splash in international cinema with films like ?The Amazing Spider-Man? and ?The Life of Pi?.

PUBLIC SERVICE:
Dr. Devi Shetty: For being a cardiac surgeon who leads and runs the world?s largest and most economical heart care and health care institute, Narayana Hrudayalaya, which is run with the motive of giving quality health care services with dignity.

SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD:
Aamir Khan & Team Satyamev Jayate: For using the medium of television and the talk-show format to shed light on burning social issues that affect India?s masses.

MC Mary Kom: For overcoming all obstacles to find a place on the Olympic podium. Her achievement brought joy to an entire region that had always been on the fringe of not just sports but Indian society at large. She is an inspiration and a hero.

Tessy Thomas & Team DRDO: For being an unlikely face in the world of defence research and for inspiring women to choose a career in science. Known as the Missile Woman and Agniputri, Tessy regards missiles as instruments of peace because of their deterrence value.

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD:
Heroes of Rezang La, 1962: For their heroic stand at Rezang La on November 18, 1962 to save a Ladakhi village during the India-China war. The C Company of the 13th Battalion of the Kumaon Regiment, led by Late Maj. Shaitan Singh, fought to last man, last round, and wrote one of the most glorious chapters in the military history of the world.

Rajdeep Sardesai, Editor-in-Chief, CNN-IBN, IBN7 & IBN-Lokmat, said, ?We at CNN-IBN are privileged to honour these distinguished citizens for their accomplishments and contributions in taking India forward. We congratulate all the winners for their extraordinary participation.?

MUMBAI: Top executives are taking up digital technology, but the extent of the embrace appears to be tempered by their need to remain in control of their business ecosystem, according to new research by MEC and CNBC. The research surveyed 32 CEOs in multi-national companies across Singapore, Hong Kong, India and China.

Adoption of digital technology is currently limited to new devices (smartphone, tablet, etc.), being used for information aggregation and synchronization.

Attitudinally, CEOs in Asia acknowledge the positive benefits of using digital technology in the work place, citing upturns in growth and productivity, a leveling of the playing field and changing business formats. They believe that digital technology will change the way they work in the future. ?We?ve only just started but digital technology will significantly change the way we deal with our peers, colleagues, clients and suppliers?, said a CEO from India.

Behaviourally, Asian CEOs consider themselves ?fast followers? and claim to be undaunted by the proliferation of new gadgets ? they remain in control over how and when these devices are to be used. A CEO in Singapore said he does not ?want to be controlled by anyone or a piece of machinery?. An example of this is how mobile phones are often switched off and handed over to secretaries during meetings, for undivided attention.

These CEOs believe that digital technologies are not the ?be all and end all? of everything. The same expectations in communications from the past applies in today?s digital age too, from ?paying full attention when someone is talking? to having control of their time. As a CEO from a HK company said, ?When I?m at home, it?s my time. Unless it?s very urgent, everything can wait till the next morning.?

In essence, CEOs continue to and expect to remain in control of their time and schedules.

CEOs tend to have well-established working behaviours, so technology and devices perform an efficiency or enhancing role, especially on a personal level. New technology has not intrinsically changed the way they behave, it is merely facilitating existing behaviors. ?I want to be thoughtful, not just compelled to reply right away. I use these devices to add meaning,? explained a CEO from Singapore.

However, it is clear that CEOs recognize the benefits of technology and how it can revolutionise their business, but also recognise that they have a long way to go.

iPad ? the game changer?

Interestingly, the iPad is possibly the one gadget that has been observed to subtly alter the CEO behaviour. With the trend of consumerisation of technology and more companies embracing the BYOD (bring your own device) policy, the iPad has quickly become a business as well as a personal device.

The iPad is a perfect fit for the needs of this niche target audience. CEOs have expressed a fondness for it especially for browsing and presenting. This CEO from Singapore likes the iPad: ?When the opportunity arises, I take out my iPad and present rather than use my laptop which makes me look like a salesman.?

It is slowly replacing the laptop for short trips and they express a certain liberation that comes with doing that. I started taking my iPad for short trips and now I find the laptop is becoming desk bound. It feels heavy and un-necessary for some trips.?

?Given that they need to manage complexity, tablets satisfy a specific need from CEOs ? simplicity. CEOs are highly selective with their content and only consume what they perceive will add real value to their work and personal lives. Therefore, brands seeking to communicate with CEOs need to ensure that content is delivered in a concise manner and optimised to be viewed and interacted with on these devices,? said Junji Sumitani, Vice President, Advertising Sales, CNBC in Asia Pacific.

Selective levels of engagement with social media

Asian CEOs acknowledge that the social media bandwagon is a wave they have yet to, or are hesitant to ride on, either for themselves or for their companies. Personally, these CEOs cite valuing their privacy as the reason they are at best passive observers of social networks. Due to the inherent social nature of these networks, there seems to be a fear of opening up access to themselves and not having the bandwidth to deal with it. This CEO from Hong Kong described it as ?There are all these requests I need to accept and I just don?t want to get started on dialogues.?

The innate need to remain in control would clearly be at risk.

However, they do realise the potential of using it for their businesses. Internally, there is some but limited use of social networks for internal communications, stemming from a need to provide a platform for employees to air their opinions rather than as a way to connect and engage with them. ?Clearly young people today feel they have a right to question and understand why something is working the way it is and if you don?t provide a mechanism for them to ask that questions and express themselves, they will go outside. So it is better for us to provide that space within the organization.? said a CEO from India.

Externally, CEOs are starting to explore the benefits of what these networks can do. ?Therefore, it becomes a very interesting B2B tool. So that?s something we are experimenting within the office ? how to use social networking for marketing and promotion and positioning for the company.?

?Social networks are not the way to best communicate with CEOs since they are reluctant to lose control of their communication structures. However, they seek recommendations as much as anyone else, often through respected media brands. Hence B2B brands have an opportunity to partner with these media brands to proprovide valuable, timely content,? commented Jon Wright, Head of Analytics and Insight, MEC Asia Pacific.