MUMBAI: Infotainment broadcaster Animal Planet is boosting its India content with a new show that will celebrate India wildlife throughout 2012.

The channel will air a 52-week special, ?India: Wild Encounters?, from 26 January?26 February every day at 8 pm and will continue later as a weekly slot every Thursday at 8 pm.

?India: Wild Encounters? provides a tour of the wildlife of India, capturing enthralling stories such as a rhino?s journey from infancy to adolescence, Ranthambhore?s big cats, tigers of Sunderbans and the elephants of North East India. The series also follows the endangered river dolphins of Ganges and King Cobra that lives in the remote forests of South India.

Discovery South Asia senior VP, GM Rahul Johri said, ?We are delighted to bring this unique programming lineup for 52 weeks to television homes in India. India: Wild Encounters will premiere never-seen before wild life encounters and feature global personalities."

Meet the real wildlife explorers - Jeff Corwin, Austin Stevens and Dave Salmoni as they set out on their explorations to learn more about the wild animals of India. In one episode, an individual female Nepalese rhino, Bachada, develops from infancy through adolescence to maturity. The Chitwan Valley in Nepal -- home of the tiger, peacock, langurs and macaques, land of changing river courses and permanent lakes -- is the backdrop for the story of the biology and social behaviour of the greater one-horned rhinoceros, an ancient animal survived the Pleistocene Ice Age and was already venerated by humans as early as 2000 BC.

Said Johri, "This unprecedented content offering is in line with Animal Planet?s strategy to continue to be India?s foremost destination for wildlife television entertainment. We are confident that India: Wild Encounters will generate immense interest amongst the viewers and trade alike.?

MUMBAI: Discovery Channel is launching Wildest India, a five-part series that will premiere on 22 January at 12 noon.

The show will air every Thursday at 8 pm, starting 26 January.

With this new series Discovery Channel is hailing India?s diversity showcasing India?s wildlife, secret locations, epic landscapes and colourful beauty.

Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific South Asia Sr. VP and GM Rahul Johri said, ?Wildest India will take viewers on a safari around the country without ever having to leave their living rooms. With the unique and distinctive content, Discovery Channel aims to present for its viewers the unseen and enchanting Indian wildlife.?

The series explores the wildest and most remote parts of India, from the Himalayan Mountains, down the River Ganges and across to the world of the North East. It will showcase India?s wildlife and grand terrains, while bringing to the fore the relationship that exists between land, wildlife and human beings in the subcontinent.

MUMBAI: The travel and lifestyle channel TLC is set to launch a new cookery show, Donna Hay: Fast, Fresh, Simple with Australian cookbook author Donna Hay on 1 January.

The 13-part series will air every night at 10 pm.

Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific - South Asia Sr VP and GM Rahul Johri said, "TLC has always pioneered unique concepts in food programming, whether it is with Nigella Lawson or Kylie Kwong. This new series with Donna Hay will add a new dimension to food shows on television and we are sure that our viewers will love it."

In the programme, the cook will show how her approach to preparing meals can deliver big results in the minimum amount of time. Putting a new spin on old favourites with a mix of fresh and store bought ingredients, Donna will share with viewers her tips and tricks for creating fast and simple dishes.

MUMBAI: After years of mastering the subsistence tactics by being dropped off in remote locales around the globe, the survival expert and extreme adventurer Bear Grylls returns with a new season of Man Vs. Wild on infotainment broadcaster Discovery every night at 9 pm from 1 November.

The new episodes will see Grylls tackling the terrain and braving the elements, from raging waters and the biting cold to mudslides and deserts, to make it out alive. Grylls will search for new extreme destinations and challenges and shares invaluable survival strategies along the way.

Discovery South Asia senior VP, GM Rahul Johri said, "Man Vs. Wild is one of the most popular programmes on Indian television. It attracts millions of viewers from across India. It also demonstrates the entertainment quotient in Discovery Channel?s unmatched programming."

Grylls has served with the British Special Forces, explored the Arctic and was the youngest British climber to complete a summit and descent on Mount Everest. In the show using his specialist survival skills, he attempts to navigate his way through these environments. Drawing upon years of experience as a soldier, mountaineer and seasoned adventurer, viewers can watch as Grylls claws his way back to civilization, armed only with a few supplies and the clothes on his back.

In this season viewers can follow Grylls as he faces obstacles that push him to his limits in the wilderness and endures the most intense journeys with some of the harshest conditions possible. Some things Grylls does are scaling towering escarpments in the Malaysian archipelago, traversing a mountain range in New Zealand?s South Island, tackling vertical drops in Arizona?s arid desert and facing blinding blizzards in Iceland.

Tagging along Grylls in an episode is the Hollywood actor Jake Gyllenhaal. For two days Grylls and Gyllenhaal embark on a survival experience to an Icelandic landscape dominated by mountains, huge glaciers and some of Europe?s most active volcanoes.

Also part of the series is a Global Survival Guide episode, which features never-before-seen footage from Bear?s challenges from around the planet.

MUMBAI: Lifestyle channel TLC has launched a new travel series for the restless traveller- ?Xtreme Tourist?, with host and travel enthusiast Ernie Harker.

The show airs every Sunday at 9 pm on TLC.

While travelling, Harker does not just tick off a list of must-visit countries, but fervently seeks out new experiences while taking part in adrenaline-pumping activities like skydiving, hang gliding, surfing and rock climbing in each place.

Harker travels to exotic and iconic destinations around the world, including Cancun, Belize and Rio de Janeiro for some extreme sports action.

Discovery South Asia senior VP, GM Rahul Johri said, "TLC is India?s favourite destination for travel. Having reinvented the travel theme and its wide-ranging manifestations from luxury to self-driving trips, TLC has delivered on its promise of bringing the best of travel across the globe. We are delighted to introduce yet another format that Indians are excited and enthused about- adventure travel."

The show airs in TLC?s ?Just Travel@9pm? programme band dedicated to showcasing the best of travel across the world in diverse formats ranging from weekend getaways, road trips, luxury holidays, spa vacations and culinary expeditions, amongst many others.

In one episode the show?s host goes to Seattle. Ernie takes on America?s Pacific Northwest and the Snoqualmie Falls. He also rock climbs the famous REI Pinnacle and finds himself mountain biking the I-5 Colonnade Trail. If that?s not all, he goes on a cruise on Lake Union and then does kayaking at Portage Bay.

MUMBAI: Discovery Science is launching a new show with Josh Bernstein as the host.

Into The Unknown With Josh Bernstein will be aired every Tuesday at 8:30 pm and aims to take its viewers for a ride filled with adventure and mystery, ancient riddles and modern day issues.

Josh Bernstein has an appetite for knowledge and a desire to unravel mysteries and explore natural wonders. In each episode, the anchor will delve into mysteries on earth and investigate stories such as how did the Anga tribe of Papua New Guinea mummify their dead, why is the conflict between elephants and humans escalating in Africa and did the flood of Genesis really happen?

Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific SVP GM South Asia Rahul Johri said, "Into The Unknown With Josh Bernstein is a ground breaking series that takes you on unforgettable journeys; no location is too remote, no culture too exotic, no goal too ambitious."