MUMBAI: Star News is foraying into merchandising. As part of its merchandising and brand extension, Star News, in association with Star India Licensing and Merchandising division, has launched three books that predict the future of 2008.

This partnership between Star India Licensing and Merchandising and Star News will develop a line of publishing products based on the popular shows, under its Star Publishing initiative.

MCCS VP marketing Yogesh Manwani said, "This is our first venture in the merchandising business. We will be soon rolling out some more products to extend our brand."

"This is yet another first-of-its-kind initiative in Hindi news television by MCCS along with the licensing and merchandising expertise of Star India. And there are more such initiatives in the pipeline," he added.

The three books launched by Star News include Tarot 2008, Astrology 2008 and Numerology 2008. The books are based on the show Teen Deviyaan that forecasts fortunes using three different clairvoyant methods.

Tarot 2008 is written by Munisha Khatwani; Astrology 2008 by Meera Mahajan, and Numerology 2008 by Shelly Gupta. The books are being distributed by Prakash Books India Private Limited.

The book contains predictions for 2008 based on the individual predictive method. Viewers can refer to the book for queries or questions and get an opinion on their stars.

Star Licensing and Merchandising is the newly formed division of Star India Pvt. Ltd. and is involved in the business of development of Star intellectual property with partners across categories. Besides books on Star News shows, Star Publishing is also creating several titles on shows across the network including novels, comics, cookery, travel, style guides, children's books and others. Yet another brand launched by the division is Star Parivaar, a brand that targets women offering a range of apparel, accessories, home and lifestyle products.