MUMBAI: It ain‘t exactly stealing a march, but it certainly looks like an effort to steal some thunder.

Star Plus may not have what Sony has bagged in Bollywood screen siren Madhuri Dixit who is fronting a SET show, but the channel isn‘t letting go without making a point of its own. That could well explain why a Star Special Event called Madhuri Magic replaces a Star Mast Movie, Jhooth Bole Kauva Kaate, on 21 July at 8 pm.

Perfect Timing... Madhuri dances to Star tune.

The concert, says Star, will also feature some of the biggest names from the industry like Rani Mukerjee, Sanjay Kapoor, Alka Yagnik, Sunidhi Chauhan, Vinod Rathod, Adesh Shrivastava, Inder Kumar? and some great dances from Dil to Pagal Hai, Tezaab (Ek Do Teen?) and Anjaam. Bollywood biggies like MF Hussain, Saif Ali Khan, Govinda, Saroj Khan and ‘Rikku‘ Rakesh Nath will also be on screen.

Sony recently announced its new show Kahin Naa Kahin Koi Hay with Madhuri Dixit as its star anchor. The show is the one that has fired the channel‘s ambitions of reaching for the number one position among satellite channels. If it can be any consolation to Star, KNKKH is being pitched as Sony‘s KBC.

NEW DELHI:Star India Pvt Ltd, a subsidiary of the Rupert Murdoch-controlled Hong Kong-based Star Group, has applied to the Indian government for permission for a port-to-port uplinking facility through Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd. This is one of the first steps taken by the company preparing for a new life for Star News post-31 March, 2003.
Confirming the move, government sources told indiantelevision.com that the application from Star came in recently.

As and when Star India gets the permission, it can uplink to any destination in the world from India using the various VSNL hubs round the country. However, it cannot uplink directly to a satellite bypassing VSNL.

At the moment, it is Prannoy Roy‘s New Delhi TV (NDTV) that has permission from the government to uplink through VSNL from India for content aired on Star News channel.

Interestingly, sometimes back NDTV is also said to have applied for uplinking permission separately and afresh, an indicator to the fact that the TV software powerhouse too is preparing to launch independent initiatives after March 2003 and, probably, turn into a broadcaster itself.

That Star India has applied for a port-to-port uplinking facility through VSNL is also indicative of the fact that the company does not propose to set up an uplinking base in India in the near future and would continue to use its uplink facility located in Hong Kong, media analysts said.

From Hong Kong, which also houses the headquarters of the broadcaster-turned-multi media company, various Star channels are uplinked to various satellites, including Asiasat-3 whose footprints cover the Indian subcontinent.

At the moment, Indian-promoted channels like Aaj Tak, Eenaadu and Sun do uplink directly to their broadcasting satellites from India from their uplink base. Aaj Tak, for example, Zee Telefilms too, has got permission to uplink some of its channels directly to a satellite from its uplink base located at Noida, on the outskirts of New Delhi.

LONDON:The radio arm of the BBC has just received a shot in the arm from the British government. The BBC World Service, which commands a listenership of 150 million every week all over the globe, will gain an average annual increase of 3.4 per cent in real terms over the next three years as part of the government‘s Spending Review for 2003-2006.

The new investment represents an extra ?48 million spread over the three years, in addition to a strong, stable capital baseline, says an official release. The money will be used to:

# Consolidate recent extensions in BBC services following the events of 11 September and launch new programmes serving Afghanistan, South West Asia and the Arab World.

# Develop landmark radio programmes on global issues such as global security; Islam in the 21st century, and development and democracy.

# Develop new flagship programming serving Africa, China and Europe.

# Support the World Service‘s important capital modernisation programme.

The BBC World Service gains an additional ?8 million, ?13 million and ?27 million respectively in each of the three years. The settlement goes hand-in-hand with a rigorous programme of efficiency over the period. BBC World Service is funded through grant-in-aid from Britain‘s Foreign Office. The grant-in-aid currently stands at ?201 million and will increase by ?38 million to ?239 million by 2005/6, including the additional ?11 million for 2003/4 announced in the 2000 spending review.