MUMBAI: Close on the heels of announcing the Chennai franchisee, Nimbus? hockey league initiative World Series Hockey (WSH) has announced the Bangalore franchise, which has been acquired by Sporting Ace.

Sporting Ace is a part of the Zentrum Group and has Bollywood action hero Suniel Shetty as the Chief Mentor.

Zentrum Group is a global player in the field of energy, chemicals, education, sports, information technology, consulting, media and outsourcing and works with corporate houses, governments, and institutions. The franchise has been called Karnataka Lions

Shetty said, "I am proud to spearhead the Karnataka Lions in World Series Hockey. I have been the brand ambassador for Indian Hockey and felt it was about time I took a more active role in creating a global platform for our hockey players to excel."

Sporting Ace MD Sagar Pol Chowdhury said, "The Bangalore franchise will be much more than just a profitable venture for us. We are committed to invest in sports and the newly formed entity Sporting Ace will look at promoting multiple sports and help build necessary infrastructure. WSH is the first and most important step in that direction. I am delighted to have Suniel Shetty as the Chief Mentor and his passion for sports is a perfect fit with the vision of our organisation"

Nimbus Sport COO Yannick Colaco said, "We are indeed proud to welcome Suniel Shetty and Sporting Ace to the WSH family. It is heartening to see the passion for Hockey they bring to the table and I am confident this will translate into an extremely large and loyal fan base for the Karnataka Lions".

The WSH will be held from 17 December, 2011 to 22 January, 2012 and will involve 200 players -- Indian and international -- who will showcase their talent in 61 matches. It will be a multi-city franchise-based League with players being allocated to the teams based on the internationally accepted and practiced ?draft? system.

The inaugural edition of the league will comprise eight teams out of Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chandigarh, Pune, Bhopal, Punjab, Ranchi and Rourkela.

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World Series Hockey to have total prize money of Rs 100 mn

MUMBAI: Nimbus? hockey league initiative World Series Hockey has announced the highest ever prize money for any hockey event in the world. The company adds that the champion team in WSH stands to win almost 30 times more prize money, as compared to the Euro Hockey League, the leading domestic Hockey league in Europe

The total prize money, in excess of Rs 100 million is structured in a manner to incentivise teams and players.

As per the plan, champions will get Rs 40 million while runners up will be given Rs 20 million. The team on third and fourth place will get Rs 10 million each.

All WSH franchises have committed to sharing a minimum of 50 per cent of their team winnings with the players, creating a player winning purse of at least Rs 40 million and significantly enhancing the potential of earnings for all the players of the teams who finish in the top four spots of the inaugural season of WSH.

In addition to the prize money listed above, there are several individual awards recognising match winners and stars including:

WSH Rockstar (Most Valuable Player): Rs 10 million
Indian Super Star (Star Indian Player): Rs 5 million
Golden Stick (Highest Goal Scorer): Rs 2.5 million
Game Changer (Best Midfielder, Defender or Goal Keeper): Rs 2.5 million
Rookie of the Year (Best emerging player under 21): Rs 1 million

If an Indian player is adjudged ?WSH Rockstar?, the award for the "Indian Superstar" will go the next best Indian player. This ensures a player prize purse of a minimum Rs 60 million made available to the players of WSH, over and above their contract fees.

Nimbus Sport COO Yannick Colaco said, "This is a definite game changer for hockey players in India and across the world. WSH has ensured that the time for hockey players to take centre stage is finally here! By offering the highest prize money and creating an environment where players compete with the best in the world, youngsters can finally look at playing Hockey as a viable profession."

The WSH will be held from 17 December, 2011 to 22 January, 2012 and will involve 200 players -- Indian and international -- who will showcase their talent in 61 matches.

It will be a multi-city franchise-based League with players being allocated to the teams based on the internationally accepted and practised ?draft? system.

The inaugural edition of the league will comprise eight teams out of Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chandigarh, Pune, Bhopal, Punjab, Ranchi and Rourkela.

MUMBAI: BBC Entertainment has launched a new comedy show ?Come Fly with me? which airs every Friday at 9 pm.

From flight crew to check-in, paparazzi to passengers, comic duo, Matt Lucas and David Williams (stars and writers of ?Little Britain?) play almost 50 characters in this mock-documentary set in an airport terminal.

Among their creations are Omar, the owner of Flylo (Britain?s eighth favourite low cost airline) and Flylo?s check in girls, Melody and Keeley. Other characters of the show are Mickey and Buster, the airport?s resident photographers, and Precious Little, the world?s laziest coffee kiosk lady.

Also featured, are the snobby staff of the country?s most prestigious airline, Great British Air. Supported by costume and make-up teams and shot on location at Britain?s airports, the two stars draw on every aspect of airport life to create an array of comic characters.

In order to promote the show in an innovative way, the BBC Entertainment has tied up with The Comedy Store in Mumbai. As a part of this tie-up BBC Entertainment is organising Saturday comedy nights at 8.30 pm with the show title of The Comedy Store in association with BBC Entertainment present ?The Best In Stand-Up Comedy?. 

MUMBAI: UTV Bindass, the youth channel from the UTV Group, is launching a new non-fiction drama series The Khan Sisters, which allows its viewers to take a sneak peek in to the real lifestyle of B-town sisters Gauahar & Nigaar Khan.

Premiering on 19 November, the show will be aired every Saturday at 7 pm.

The show consists of 13 episodes, showcasing a mixture of reality and drama. It brings to fore the lives the sisters lead in Mumbai, Delhi and Dubai- the love, the fights and the differences in their lives.

UTV Bindass business head Keith Alphonso said, "The treatment of the show is refreshingly different from anything else that you would have seen before on Indian television. With this show we aim to redefine the reality genre. The Khan Sisters is all about discovering the unseen side of the reel stars. I am sure the audience would love to get a sneak peek into their lives."

The show is a window into their private world of the two sisters. It?s about all those unspoken territories that happen in a celebrity?s life. As the show progresses, it will go on to divulge the developments that take shape in the lives of the Khan sisters and their family, all of this while the camera rolls on.

MUMBAI: Nokia Music Connects 3 has left no stone unturned to provide the Indian music Industry and its allied sectors a common platform to discuss major issues and challenges faced in the music business.

The annual conference will take place on 16 - 17 November 2011 at a spanking brand new venue, The ITC Grand Central, Parel, Mumbai.

Nokia Music Connects is a joint venture conceptualized by Hong Kong based Branded (which runs Music and Digital Matters) and leading Indian media portal Indiantelevision.com‘s Radioandmusic.com.

With more than 75 proficient Indian and International music panelists and speakers, the two-day long music conference "Nokia Music Connects - the Indian music forum 2011 in association with Artistaloud.com" will throw light on major changes that have evolved in the Indian music industry.

Speakers at the panel will share their expertise on the music in Bollywood films to Indian pop, religious, regional pop, classical music, the digital value chain, live music scene and the future of independent artistes. The event will also witness unique live performance by Grammy award winner Imogem Heap.

Speaking on the occasion, Nokia India MD Viral Oza said, "After the success of Nokia Music Connects two years in a row since we started in 2009, we hope to take Nokia Music Connects 2011 to newer heights. A forum such as this one offers an ideal platform where diverse industry voices coalesce to build and strengthen the music & entertainment ecosystem; all the more so, since the Indian music industry and the entertainment industry at large is poised for momentous change now."

Other important panel discussions will include debate on the legal and copyright side of the music business. Key industry executives will discuss on the new music tools like the Internet mobile radio and streaming services, followed by discussions on music TV reality shows , the live scene and the core of music-the artiste management.

The various panelist include regulatory heads, music label honchos, advertising gurus, corporate heads as well as top notch creative professionals from the music industry, from both India and abroad. Those participating in the conference will be key players from all these sectors, making the event as much of an exciting networking platform as a forum where vital issues facing the industry will be discussed and a path to the future will be forged.

The venture is supported by the umbrella organisation of the music industry, the Indian Music Industry (IMI) in partnership with MMX, PPL and IPRS in association with Hungama.com and Artistaloud.com, Industry partner Saavn.com, Session partners Sony Mix and British Council, Lanyard partner BMI, Endorsed & Supported by SIMCA, Official Festival partner Only Much Louder, Opening Party partner Shiro, supporting partners Indiantelevision.com, Branded, Canadian Music week, Music2Deal, MediaNama, Casbaa, and Media partners - Afaqs, IMT, IHT, Campaign India and PR partner CMCG, Co-Produced by Music Matters and Radioandmusic.com

Speakers and Panelist at NMC 2011 (Alphabetical order):-

Achille Forler (Managing Director, Deep Emotions)

Adarsh Gupta (Head - Music Business, Saregama India Ltd.)

Aditya Swamy (Senior Vice-President, MTV)

Hardeep Singh Anand (Lawyer)

Anil Wanvari (Founder CEO, Indiantelevision.com Group)

Anthony Zameczkowski (Head of YouTube Partnerships, Google Hong Kong Ltd.)

Apurv Nagpal (Managing Director & CEO, Saregama)

Arvind Krishnan (Director - Marketing, Bacardi)

Atul Churamani (Content Head, OnMobile)

Ben Thomas (Managing Director, Kurian & Co.)

Bharath Subramaniam (Director, Xone)

Brandon Bakshi (Executive Director - Europe & Asia, BMI)

Devraj Sanyal (Managing Director, Universal Music Group)

Farhad Wadia (CEO, E18)

Imogen Heap (Grammy Award Winning Artist)

Jasmeet Gandhi (Head - Devices OPM & Services Marketing, Nokia India)

John McLellan (Partner, Haldanes)

Jon Slade (Founder, Elastic Artists Agency)

Jordan Berliant (Linkin Park‘s Manager)

Jyrki Rosenberg (Vice President, Entertainment & MeeGo, Nokia)

Kapil Raizada (Director - Applications & Voice Products, OnMobile)

Mandar Thakur (COO, Times Music)

Mark Wood (Imogen Heap‘s Manager)

Martin Elbourne (Glastonbury Festival)

Mukesh Bhatt (Chairman & Managing Director, Vishesh Films)

Myles Keller (Membership Development Director, PRS for Music)

Natasha Haddad (Programmer, The Great Escape/ Mean Fiddler)

Neeraj Roy (Managing Director & CEO, Hungama Digital Media Entertainment Pvt. Ltd.)

Neeraj Vyas (Executive Vice President & Business Head, SONY MAX & SONY MIX)

Owen Roncon (Partner, Oranjuice Entertainment)

Pakul Chaturvedi (Chief - Asia Pacific, Promo Sapiens)

Param Singh (Co-Founder, Saavn.com)

Peter Jenner (Discoverer of Pink Floyd, subsequent Manager of many, Advisor to WIPO)

Pradeep Anand (Managing Director, MeraGana.com)

Prashant Bahadur (Vice President & General Manager, The Orchard)

Prashant Dogra (Vice President - VAS, Bharti Airtel Ltd.)

Prasoon Joshi (Lyricist, Screenwriter, Copywriter)*

Rajesh Dhupad (Jt. Secretary Simca)

Raju Singh (Music Composer)

Ralph Simon (CEO, Mobilium International)

Rob Lewis (Executive Chairman, Omnifone)

Robert Horsfall (Head, Sound Advice Legal, LLP)

Ruth Daniel (Founder, Un-Convention)

Ruuben van den Heuvel (Independent Consultant - Digital, Media, Music,

Sabbas Joseph (Founder Director, Wizcraft)

Sameer Nigam (CEO, Mime360)*

Shehzad Azad (Head - Business Development & Alliances Spice Digital)

Siddhartha Roy (COO - Consumer Business & Allied Services, Hungama Digital Media

Sita Raina (CEO, The Peninsula Studios)

Soumini Sridhara Paul (Associate Vice President, Artist Aloud)

Stephen Budd (Managing Director, Stephen Budd Music Ltd. & Founder/ Council Member, Music Manager‘s Forum)

Sulaiman Merchant (Music Composer)

T. Suresh (Managing Director, EMI Music India)

Ted Cohen (Managing Partner, TAG Strategic)

Tom Baker ( Founder, Eat Your Own Ears)

Vijay Lazarus (President, IMI / PPL)

Vipul Pradhan (CEO - Licensing Division, PPL)

Viral Oza (Director - Marketing, Nokia India)

Vivek Paul (Director - Digital, Sony Music)