The Hero Honda Indian Television Academy (ITA) Awards, were announced on October 10, at The Club in Bombay.

The nominations for the various Technical and Jury categories as well as public polling for Popular categories will begin on October 15. The Awards presentation will take place on November 30, emceed by Shatrughan Sinha and will be telecast on December 2, on Doordarshan.

Sashi Ranjan, the convenor of the evening's proceedings, declared that Hema Malini will head the Jury for the awards. The Governing Council of the awards boasts of distinguished film and television personalities including Mahesh Bhatt, Shekhar Suman, Neena Gupta, who were also present at the gathering.

Pricewaterhouse Coopers Limited, who have been associated with the Oscar Awards since 1935, have agreed to supervise the entire collation and tabulation of the results. The event will be marketed by Percept D' Mark.

It was also announced that a song specially written by Javed Akhtar, composed by Shankar, Ehsaan and Loy and directed by Ken Ghosh featuring the creme-de-la-creme of Television, would be released to mark the celebrations.

The Indian Television Academy also hopes to promote the welfare of its members from the television industry through insurance schemes and technical workshops. It hopes to bridge the gap between broadcasters and talent, by promoting interaction between channels and producers.

Also spotted were Shabana Azmi, Kiron Kher, Siddharth Kak, Rakesh Bedi, Ronit Roy, Archana Puran Singh, Parmeet Sethi, Ken Ghosh and Peter Mukerjea.

Film Museum in Bombay

Bombay may soon be see a museum dedicated to Indian cinema, showcasing costumes and posters apart from recording the history of films.

The museum, a first of its kind in India is expected to bring in a lot of tourists.

Officials say that the proposed site for the museum could be the Films Division, Pedder Road, or Film City, Goregaon.

Old records and cassettes of various singers would be part of the museum. Once the funds are made available, the government will appeal to leading personalities in the industry to donate for the museum.

The estimated cost of the film museum is Rs 15 to 20 crore.

President K R Narayanan receives The Making of Asoka

The Making Of Asoka, a book on the making of the Santosh Sivan film was received by President K R Narayanan at the hands of its author, film journalist Mushtaq Shiekh.

Shah Rukh Khan was present at the ceremony held in the Asoka Hall of the Rashtrapati Bhavan. Shah Rukh also met with the Home Minister L K Advani and invited him for a special screening of his production.

Ban on Mi Nathuram Godse Boltoi lifted

The ban on the staging of controversial Marathi play Mi Nathuram Godse Boltoi has been lifted with the Bombay High Court quashing a Maharashtra government notification which stipulated forfeiture of its scripts.

The judges observed that offending the sensitivities of followers of Mahatma Gandhi could not be equated with offending the religious beliefs of a certain class.

Compiled By: Vivek Fernandes
Design: Imran Shaikh