The attack on Manhattan‘s World Trade Centre Tower I and II and the Pentagon was timed to get maximum viewing audiences globally. 9 am in New York means it was about 6 am on the west coast, late night in Australia, early evening in India and late evening in south east Asia.

Zed Career Academy, which is a division of Zee Interactive Learning Systems, will offer the ‘Genius‘ software course in conjunction with Sterling Infotech and Carnegie Technology Education. CTE is a wholly owned subsidiary of Carnegie Mellon University which is one of the top five Universities in America. Students will cover the course through a combination of learning through the Internet as well as classroom education. These centres will take advantage of the VSAT network. Students can go to the Zed Career Academy centres and access the course when they want to.

Genius has ten modules and they will lead to two levels of certification, which are Certificate in Computer Programming and Certificate in Software Systems Development. The aim is to develop the students fundamentals in software engineering. It also equips them with various software tools and develops their skills in areas like system level programming.

Speaking on this Dilip Mahapatra the COO of ZILS said,‘The Mckinsey Report projects the need for IT professionals in India to the tune of 2.2 million by the year 2008. It is to meet this need of hi-tech professionals in India that the company has launched such a high-end online course.‘

TV France International (TVFI), a firm which promotes the production of French Television programmes abroad, kicked off the seventh edition of its international marketplace Le Rendezvous (the French TV Screenings) today.

There is a large contingent representing Indian industry at the event that includes Sandeep Goyal, Zee Telefilms broadcast CEO, Monica Dalton (also of Zee), Tomali Bhattacharaya of Eenadu TV, Naresh Chahal of the Indian Broadcasting Foundation, Shailaja Kejriwal of Star Plus, Rathikant Basu of Tara TV - Broadcast Worldwide and Sanjay Bhattacharji of UTV, among others.

More than 170 buyers have registered to sample the 650 new programmes that 59 French companies like France Animation, CNDP and Gaumont will have on display at the proven硬 seaside resort of Saint-Tropez. The approach of the meet centers around content and ends on 14 September.

The productions cover a wide range of genres like drama series, movies made for the tube, features films and documentaries. Participants can view programmes of their choice at the video library, which is open everyday from 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. For the convenience of international visitors most programs have two versions: French and English.

This event has seen many important transactions occur in the past several years. Last year, the new channels of the Canadian group Astral (the Fiction Channel and the History Channel) which began transmitting last January acquired more than 500 hours of programming for more than 25 million francs.

TVFI also maximises the efforts of French companies participating at international markets, festivals, and special events, such as Le Rendez Vous, MIP-ASIA, The Sitenghi Market, the Tokyo Showcase, NATPE and the US Television Showcase.

TVFI was created in 1994 to support promotion and world sales of French television programmes. TVFI serves as a trade association, providing information and advice on international strategies to its 170 member companies, whose activities encompass programme production, broadcasting, distribution and finance.