MUMBAI: Zee Entertainment Enterprises (Zeel) is all set to host its annual awards event, Zee Cine Awards 2013, on 6 January at Yash Raj Studios, Mumbai.

The award ceremony will for the first time be simulcast on Zee TV, Zee Cinema, Zing, Zee Marathi, Zee Bangla, Zee Tamil and Zee Telugu. The Red Carpet will air at 7.30 pm on 20 January followed by the main event at 8 pm.

The channel has roped in New Fair & Lovely as the presenting sponsor of the event.

 Zee Cine Awards this year is propagating the rights of the viewers to choose their favourite actor/film with the positioning ?Haq Hai Aapka?. Zee will introduce an innovative and transparent voting mechanism to make the ?Viewers? Choice? proposition of ?Zee Cine Awards 2013? credible and transparent. To ensure this, Zee has empanelled Ernst &Young as a third party to authenticate the voting mechanism. To give the viewer a platform to voice his opinion, Zee has introduced an interactive platform which is a voice portal called ?Zee Connect?.

Zeel MD and CEO Punit Goenka said, ?I?m pleased to announce that the 13th Zee Cine Awards will be held in Mumbai in January. The Awards will be telecast on 20 January 2013 on Zee TV and for the first time will also be simulcast on Zee Cinema, Zing, Zee Marathi, Zee Bangla, Zee Tamil and Zee Telegu. To ensure the authenticity of the voting mechanism for the nominations listed for Zee Cine Awards 2013, we have made the voting system toll free and brought on board Ernst & Young to audit the entire process of voting.?

In the past, Zee Cine Awards has been held in places like Macau, Singapore, London, Mauritius and Dubai.

MUMBAI: English GEC Zee Caf? will showcase Miss Universe 2012 live, as 88 women battle it out at Las Vegas in the US.

Zee Caf? will showcase Miss Universe 2012 on 20 December at 6.30 am and a repeat telecast at 9 pm. Miss Universe will additionally be simulcast on Zee Studio and Zee Trendz.

Miss India Universe Shilpa Singh will compete in the event.

The 1952 local "bathing beauty" competition, spearheaded by Catalina Swimwear in Long Beach, transformed into an international annual tradition with countless young women around the world vying to become a part of the Miss Universe history.

The Miss Universe Organisation owns and manages the annual Miss Universe Finals, a competition that has grown into one of the World?s biggest.

This year, apart from the Miss Universe 2012 award, the challenge events includes the following titles: National costume round, Sports, Swimsuit Round, Evening gown round

These participating women are savvy, goal-oriented and aware. Those who become part of the Miss Universe display those characteristics in their everyday lives, both as individuals, who compete with hope of advancing their careers, personal and humanitarian goals, and as women who seek to improve the lives of others. The Indian winners in the past have been Sushmita Sen and Lara Dutta.

Zee Network business head niche channels Anurag Bedi said, "After the immense response received from last year, Zee Caf? is proud to be associated with Miss Universe this year as well. Apart from showcasing the latest and the best of English shows, Zee Caf? gets to you live and exclusive telecasts of the biggest world events. For Miss Universe this year, we have Amway on board as the presenting sponsor and Microsoft, Tata Nano, Hitachi, and Quikr.com as the associate sponsors to celebrate this much awaited event."

MUMBAI: Ashish Golwalkar, who had quit Zee TV as non-fiction head in August this year, has joined Star Plus to head the non-fiction content of the channel.

Golwalkar has replaced Vaibhav Modi who had quit Star Plus in September this year. He will report to Star Plus general manager Nachiket Pantvaidya.

Golwalkar had a stint of 12 years at Zee TV before joining Star Plus.

He was credited for shows like Dance India Dance.

MUMBAI: Star Plus is launching a new show titled ‘Veera‘ that will narrate a story about a brother-sister bond.

Starting 29 October, the new show will air from Monday to Friday at 10.30 pm.

‘Veera‘ is replacing Star Plus‘ long-running show ‘Pratigya‘ which is going off-air this week. The new show will compete with the leader of the slot Sony Entertainment Television‘s (Set) Bade Achhe Lagte Hain, Zee TV‘s ‘Punarvivaha‘ and Colors‘ Parichay.

Star Plus GM Nachiket Pantvaidya said, "Veera is a story of complex human relationships narrated through a loving brother Ranvijay, who becomes a motherly-figure for his sister. ‘Veera‘ is a heartfelt story of a brother and sister bond that will give viewers hope and will highlight the importance of nurturing old bonds with their siblings. The relationship between siblings is unique and has a special place in our lives."

Produced by Beyond Dreams, the show is being directed by Waseem Sabeer.

According to the channel, Ranvijay and Veera‘s (lead characters) story is set to provide a ray of hope to all its viewers who often found themselves tangled in their complex daily life which is replete with strained relationships, rocky marriages, troubles family ties, routine pressures and hollow and materialistic existence.

‘Veera‘ will fill an important void that is created by existential battles to survive "extremely busy" and "stressful" lives. The show will sensitively reinstate one‘s faith in family ties that now suffer from monotonous and hectic lifestyles, the channel said.