NEW DELHI: Star India-owned Malayalam television outfit Asianet has received a go-ahead from the Competition Commission of India for its merger with Tamil channel Vijay TV.

Both had approached the Commission for its approval on 22 October as a CCI nod is mandatory for mergers happening under Section 5 of the Competition Act. Both the companies are part of the Star Group.

"The Commission is of the opinion that the proposed combination is not likely to have an adverse impact on competition in India," CCI said.

Star India and Jupiter Entertainment Ventures, Rajeev Chandrasekhar?s media and entertainment development company, had formed a new joint venture called Star Jupiter in 2008. Under the agreement, Star India became the majority shareholder of Asianet Communications Ltd (ACL), which currently broadcasts channels in Kannada (Suvarna), Telugu (Sitara) and Malayalam (Asianet, Asianet Plus).

Vijay TV, the Tamil language general entertainment channel currently operated and owned by Star India, will also come under Star Jupiter.

Indiantelevision.com had earlier reported that Chandrasekhar would also have equity stake in Vijay TV. The clearance of CCI, thus, clears this regulatory hurdle.

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MUMBAI: Star Network?s Malayalam general entertainment channel Asianet is going to air a music and dance event named Ponnonam 2012 on 16 September.

The mega event, which was held earlier in Dubai, will telecast on the channel at 5 pm.

The event had music, dance and comedy performances. Music personalities who performed were Suresh Gopi, Unni Menon, Gayathri, Ann Kathrina, Vivekanandan and Teenu Tellance. The dance performances were by actress Navya Nair and Meera Nandan and comedy recipes by Ramesh Pisharady, Darmajan, Jayan and Krishna Prabha.

MUMBAI: Star Network‘s Malayalam general entertainment channel Asianet is gearing up to offer special programming on the occasion of Onam.

Starting 25 August, the channel will be airing interviews, films, special programmes and music-based shows which will continue till 31 August.

On 28 August (Uthradam day), the channel is premiering three films- ‘Killadi Raman‘, ‘Nayika‘ and ‘Casinova‘. It will also air ‘Bhagyapoornima‘ which according to the channel will be one of the major attractions of Asianet‘s Onam menu for viewers. Programmes on Uthradam day also include Onam celebrations of young artistes and technicians of new generation movies ‘Puthumakalude Pookkalam‘ and family game show by Gopinath Muthukad ‘Vismayathumbathu‘.

29 August (Thiruvonam day) will start with an interview with actor Jayaram and Parvathy. ‘Spanish Masala‘, ‘Beautiful‘ and ‘Oru Marubhumi Kadha‘ will premier on the television. The channel will also air an interview with Mammootty with son Dulkkar, chat with actor Dilip and interview with Mohan Lal. Other highlights of the day are- interview with carnatic musician Dhakshinamoorthy Sawami, comedy skit ‘Maveli Vs Maveli‘ , game show ‘Onaradham‘ and programmes like onanilavu and onapattukal.

Asianet will premiere movies like ‘Asuravithu‘ and ‘Christian Brothers‘ on 30 August (Avittom day). There will be an interview with Tamil actress and singer Sruthi Hassan and game show ‘Pachadi Kichadi Aviyaluthoran‘.

On 31 August, (Chathayam), the channel will telecast premier of movies like ‘Madhuchandralekha‘ and ‘Body Guard‘. They will also be featuring comedy programmes like ‘De Maveli Kombathu‘.

Asianet Plus will be telecasting interviews with artistes like Biju Menon, Indrajith, Jayasurya, Samvritha. The bouquet of programmes include comedy shows , music programmes, review of onam films, shopping game show ‘Shoppers hunt‘ and musical event ‘Dashina‘.

Asianet Movies will air special programmes for the festival including celebrity interviews and super-hit movies.