The Kingfisher Ultra Indian Derby returns for its scintillating 5th edition

An elegant weekend at the races filled with glamour and entertainment

 The most awaited event of the year is here, the dates for the highly anticipated Kingfisher Ultra Indian Derby 2020 were announced today. The uber stylish equestrian extravaganza will take place on the first Sunday of February the 2nd 2020 at the prestigious Royal Western India Turf Club. The three day affair will be a celebration of fashion, style, horse racing and much more.

Kingfisher Ultra Indian Derby will showcase an impressive line-up of thorough bred premium horses and extremely skilled jockeys coming in from across the globe to prove their mettle and enthral the audience.

It will be a race to behold as competitors go neck to neck for the coveted trophy and prize money of approximately 2 crores.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Gurpreet Singh, Head Marketing, United Breweries limited said,
“The Kingfisher Ultra Indian Derby is a jewel in the crown of our Ultra experiences. Year on year people wait and anticipate the arrival of the Kingfisher Ultra Indian Derby. With a grand line up of performance, the derby is the perfect amalgamation of sport, fashion and entertainment. It is our never ending effort to ensure we provide a good time and stay true our name as custodians of Kingfisher Ultra. We are elated to bring to everyone yet another season of the iconic Kingfisher Ultra Indian Derby in all its glory.”

Speaking on RWITC’s long association with Kingfisher Ultra Indian Derby Mr. Zavaray Poonawala, Chairman, RWITC said “The RWITC is proud to continue its annual tradition of hosting the most-coveted Indian Derby. We are honored to be home to the most prestigious horses and jockeys from around the world for a weekend of thrill, excitement and entertainment. The RWITC's association with the United Breweries Limited continues to strengthen, as we jointly strive to make this year's 2020 Derby Weekend the greatest, most glamorous and glorious one yet. We look forward to welcoming all our guests and enthusiasts for an experience that goes beyond horse racing."

The Kingfisher Ultra Indian Derby goes beyond just being a horse race and will host a variety of performances by various artists. This year the emperor of Good times brings a racing event like never before, with the best of sports, fashion and entertainment. Get ready for a fun filled weekend in true Kingfisher Ultra style.

Catch the Derby on Sunday, February 2nd , 2020 At the Royal Western India Turf Club, Mahalakshmi Nagar, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400034

London Pilsner announces England’s all-rounder Ben Stokes as the new face of the brand

           

Resonating with the name and popularity, London Pilsner from United Breweries Ltd. has brought one of the cricketing world’s biggest sensations, Ben Stokes, on board as its brand ambassador. After his unforgettable performance at the 2019 World Cup, he went on to win the Sir Garfield Sobers award for the 'Cricketer of the year' by the ICC.  Stokes was also awarded the 2019 BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 2019.

Speaking on the brand ambassador announcement, Mr. Gurpreet Singh, Marketing Head for United Breweries Ltd. said, “London Pilsner has been a household name for the consumers in Maharashtra for nearly five decades. We believe this association with the swashbuckling England all-rounder Ben Stokes does justice to the rich legacy of London pilsner. This reinforces our commitment to appropriately appeal and reach out to our consumers. London Pilsner has always been a brand with a wide appeal due to its smooth taste and attractive pricing”.

Commenting on the association, Ben Stokes said, “I am delighted to come on board with London Pilsner as its brand ambassador.  I look forward to working with the London Pilsner team over the coming years and building not only a strong association with the brand but also a strong bond with its consumers”.

London Pilsner, or LP, as it is known lovingly, is a high performing brand in Maharashtra under the United Breweries portfolio. LP is available in four SKUs across its two variants of mild and strong beer. LP offers consumers great value in terms of its pricing, striking packaging and refreshing smooth taste. Launched in 1964, LP remains a crowd favorite to this date. 

Ritu Phogat aims to continue winning streak at ONE Championship

Largest global sports media property in Asian history, ONE Championship (ONE) returns to the Singapore Indoor Stadium on Friday, 28 February

 Indian wrestling sensation Ritu Phogat goes for her second win in a row in her budding mixed martial arts career when she locks horns with China’s Pro MMA fighter Wu Chiao Chen at ONE: KING OF THE JUNGLE as the largest global sports media property in Asian history, ONE Championship (ONE) returns to the Singapore Indoor Stadium on Friday, 28 February. Phogat, who belongs to India’s most famous wrestling family, sizzled in her debut late last year when she beat Nam Hee Kim in the first round by technical knockout. 

The 25-year-old will need to be at the top of her game against Wu, who is looking to make an impact in her debut.

“It was quite challenging to leave wrestling and join another sport but the win has increased my confidence. The ambience at ONE Championship has been amazing and I am overwhelmed by the love and support I have received so far from fans and from my teammates here in Singapore. I am looking forward to getting a win again,” said Phogat.

Other than Phogat, there will be 11 other bouts. In the main event, ONE World Champion Stamp Fairtex of Thailand is scheduled to defend her ONE Atomweight Kickboxing World Title against Janet “J.T.” Todd of the United States. The two were involved in an epic battle at the inaugural ONE Atomweight Muay Thai World Championship battle in early 2019 and would reprise their sizzling rivalry with the ONE Atomweight Kickboxing World Championship on the line.

In the co-main event of the evening, reigning ONE Strawweight Kickboxing World Champion Sam-A Gaiyanghadao of Thailand will take on WPMF Bantamweight World Champion, Rocky Ogden of Australia for the ONE Strawweight Muay Thai World Title. In a lightweight contest, former ONE World Title challenger Amir Khan of Singapore will take on ONE Warrior Series contract winner Kimihiro Eto of Japan. Veteran Yoshihiro “Sexyama” Akiyama of Japan and Korea returns to action against Sherif “The Shark” Mohamed of Egypt in a welterweight mixed martial arts contest.

Top women’s atomweight and former ONE World Title challenger Mei “V.V” Yamaguchi of Japan continues her march to the top of the weight class, this time by facing formidable Chinese adversary, Meng Bo. Unbeaten American bantamweight contender Troy Worthe will take on New Zealand’s Mark Fairtex Abelardo, a ONE Warrior Series contract winner.

Former ONE Featherweight World Champion Honorio “The Rock” Banario of the Philippines battles Thai superstar Shannon “OneShin” Wiratchai in a featherweight contest. Fan-favorite and former ONE World Title challenger Tiffany “No Chill” Teo of Singapore makes her highly-anticipated return to action against dangerous grappler Ayaka Miura of Japan.

In a ONE Super Series kickboxing contest, WFKO Kyokushin Karate World Champion Hiroki Akimoto of Japan faces OneSongchai R1 Champion Azwan Che Wil of Malaysia.

Lastly, ONE Strawweight Indonesian Tournament Champion Adrian “The Papua Badboy” Mattheis of Indonesia aims to bounce back from a tough loss to countryman Stefer Rahardian by claiming victory over CMPC 2015 Fighter Of The Year, “Wolf of the Grasslands” Hexigetu. Local hero Radeem Rahman, the first Singaporean martial artist in ONE Championship, goes head-to-head with Canada’s Jeff Chan.

About ONE Championship™:

ONE Championship (ONE) is the largest global sports media property in Asian history. Headquartered in Singapore, ONE is the world's largest martial arts organization, hosting bouts across all styles of martial arts such as Muay Thai, Kickboxing, Karate, Kung Fu, Silat, Sanda, Lethwei, Mixed Martial Arts, Tae Kwon Do, Submission Grappling, and more. ONE hosts the biggest sports entertainment events across Asia, featuring some of the world's best martial artists and world champions on the largest global media broadcast in Asia. ONE Esports, a subsidiary of ONE Championship, runs Asia's largest global esports Championship Series with some of the biggest blockbuster game titles in the world. With a focus on both martial arts and esports, ONE Championship is currently the largest producer of millennial live sports content in Asia. In addition to its digital platforms, ONE Championship broadcasts to over 2.6 billion potential viewers across 140+ countries with some of the largest global free-to-air and digital broadcasters, including Star Sports, Tencent, ABS-CBN, Astro, ClaroSports, Startimes, Fox Sports, Thairath TV, Turner Sports, Skynet, Mediacorp, Great Sports, Mediaset Italia, ProSiebenSat.1, Dubai Sports, and more.

Inauguration of all women post office will be held on 25 January 2020 at 11am

Inauguration of all women post office will be held on 25.01.2020 at 11:00 hours, Saturday, at the Mahim Bazar Post Office, Mumbai 400016, by Smt. Arundhaty Ghosh, Member (Operation), Department Of Posts, New Delhi in the presence of Shri. H. C. Agrawal, Chief Postmaster General, Maharashtra & Goa Circle, Smt. Swati Pandey, Postmaster General, Mumbai Region, and Smt. Kaiya Arora, Director Postal Service, Mumbai Region.

The concerned post office is situated in the prominent market place and residential area where all kinds of postal services are conveniently provided. It is undeniably true that the comfort level eases up when women interact among themselves. Keeping all this in mind the said women post office is set up at Mahim Bazar Post Office where more than 70% of the visitors who arrive for service regularly are women.

In the said women post office all the posts, right from the post of a Postmaster to Postman have been filled with women employees, who will manage and supervise all types of works including Saving Bank Counters, Multipurpose registration booking counters, Aadhar Centre, India Post Payment Bank and Treasury work to name a few. All postal business counters have also been made operational with proper display of services made therein.

In this era of women empowerment, where India like other nations is focusing on guaranteeing equal opportunities to women, ideating and implementing an all women post office is indeed one of the most trail blazing initiatives of India Post, Mumbai Region.

Inauguration of this all women post office will be done by Smt. Arundhaty Ghosh, Member (Operation), Department Of Posts, New Delhi in the presence of Shri. H. C. Agrawal, Chief Postmaster General, Maharashtra & Goa Circle, Smt. Swati Pandey, Postmaster General, Mumbai Region, Smt. Kaiya Arora, Director Postal Service, Mumbai Region on 25.01.2020 at 11.00 Hrs.

10 -Day-Old Farmer’s Baby From Shahapur With A Complex Congenital Cardiac Problem Successfully Treated At Bai Jerbai Wadia Hospital For Children

The baby suffered from a Problem known as TAPVC (total anomalous pulmonary venous connection) a heart disease that affects pulmonary veins along with sepsis

~10 in 1,000 babies have congenital heart defects, and 1 in 1,00,000 have TAPVC~

~ Emergency major open-heart surgery spanning 5 hours corrected the baby’s problem and normalized the heart function~

A team headed by Dr Biswa Panda, Paediatric Cardiac Surgeon, Bai Jerbai Wadia Hospital For Children, successfully carried out high-risk open-heart surgery on a 10-day old baby boy with total anomalous pulmonary venous connection (TAPVC), a congenital cardiac problem that lead to breathing difficulty and low oxygen level. The child needed nearly 25 Days of ventilation, and critical care to get out of life-threatening risk. After, open-heart surgery, the child accepts feeds and is growing well.

Parenthood is bliss. Komal Ughade, a housewife, and her husband Ramchandra Ughade, who is a farmer in Shahapur, Thane district, were happy on the arrival of their twin baby boys, 1 weighing 1 kg and the other 2 kg, on December 1, 2019, by cesarean section. But, their happiness was short-lived after they came to know that one of their baby’s condition is critical. Komal and Ramchandra’s world came crashing down when they saw their newborn in pain. However, the baby was shifted from Shahapur to Wadia Hospital in the NICU with breathing difficult and low oxygen level, wherein he was ventilated and stabilized.

Dr Biswa Panda, Paediatric Cardiac Surgeon, Bai Jerbai Wadia Hospital For Children,  “On evaluating the baby via echocardiography, it was revealed that the baby had a complex congenital cardiac problem known as Obstructed  TAPVC (total anomalous pulmonary venous connection). 10 in 1,000 babies have congenital heart defects, and 1 in 1, 00,000 have TAPVC. It can be described as a congenital heart disease affecting the pulmonary veins. The pulmonary veins were connected to the right chamber of the heart instead of the left side, and surgery was the only treatment for survival. Also, the baby was extremely weak and septic. The baby displayed symptoms like breathing problems and low oxygen levels, soon after birth. In view of obstruction to this anomalous venous connection, there was no opportunity to wait and treat the baby for sepsis.”

He added, “Emergency major open-heart surgery spanning 5 hours corrected the baby’s anatomical problem and normalized the heart. The pulmonary veins are reconnected to the left atrium and the atrial septal defect is closed. In view of major debility and preoperative sepsis, the child required nearly 25 Days of ventilation and critical care to get out of life-threatening problem. Now, after the open-heart surgery the child is accepting feeds and is growing well. The baby will be discharged soon, and his family has been advised precautions like avoiding taking him to crowded places to keep infection at bay.  

Baby’s father Ramchandra Ughade (28) said, “I am a farmer from Shahapur, and my family belongs to a low socioeconomic status. I have 2 girls and my wife Komal gave birth to the twin boys and one of them required an immediate open-heart surgery, and we couldn’t afford the cost of the surgery. But, Wadia Hospital came forward and offered free treatment to my baby. Today, my family is complete owing to the limitless efforts taken by the hospital. The hospital’s expertise, round the clock services and cutting edge technology helped save my baby’s life.”

“This 1-day-old baby was brought in the emergency at the hospital wherein the baby was given timely treatment. The hospital is well-equipped and caters to the need of each and every patient. The hospital works relentlessly to help patients improve their quality of life with its multidisciplinary approach. The hospital aims to come up with various initiatives, drives, and camps for the betterment of the society,” Dr Minnie Bodhanwala, Chief Executive Officer of the Wadia Hospitals.

Inauguration of exhibition of Achyut Palav’s four-decade calligraphic journey and the release of his book “Letterospective” in English

India is not only agricultural country but also the country known for many scripts- Achyut Palav

Noted cartoonist and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena President Raj Thackeray inaugurated the exhibition of depicting four-decade-old calligraphic journey of Achyut Palav, credited with making calligraphy known in India and abroad, and also released his book  “‘Letterospective” in English at Jehangir Art Gallery, Kalaghoda at Fort in South Mumbai. Besides Thackeray and Palav, Anil Gala of Navneet Publications was present.

The exhibition begins with calligraphic painting showing Suvichar”(good thoughts) and it ends with calligraphic painting of zero. The boards, banners, hoardings, nameplates, paper, canvass, walls of interior can be seen in this exhibition. Besides the documents, coins and tools received while studying Modi” language (an ancient variation of the Devanagari) are on display in the exhibition.India is not only agricultural country but is known also for its many scripts.

With a view to expose the creative and artistic form of these scripts and to ensure dialogues, the “Boru Akasharayan” (an optical character recognition engine for Indian languages using “Boru”(wooden writing instrument) was created. With an aim to expose visitors to different Indian and global scripts, a focus is on “Aksharyan 2020”. For this, 13 feet tall “3 D Boru” has been created and traditional “Borus” have been branded as “Aksharyan” and linked to main scripts (Devnagari, Gurumukhi, Gujarathi, Kannada, Telugu, Malyalam, Urdu, Bengali)

The exhibition shows the beginning of this art form in India, its progress till now not only in India and abroad and the people’s response.

While speaking about Achyut Palav’s four-decade-old calligraphic journey Raj Thackeray said that “I have seen his four decade old journey from close quarter. Today whatever he is, is because of his efforts and consistency. The work he has done till now is unparalleled. The work done on computer cannot be compared with the work done by hand. The original is original”. Thackeray gave him well wishes for his future endeavours. He also said that “my hand writing is good and credit for that goes to my father and uncle Balasaheb Thackeray. Even by grandfather used to sign in “Modi” language.

Achyut Palav said that the exhibition has been organised to make people known my four-decade-old journey in calligraphic. The intention behind the release of book “‘Letterospective” is that it should be useful to future generation. The artists should introduce variety in work and reach it up to people. I always try to do this and make attempt to do new experiments in calligraphy. I have presented calligraphy with a fusion of music, dance, rain and wind. The calligraphy gave me recognition not only in India but also abroad. I would like to advise present generation that the success is not easy and constant efforts are needed to achieve success. The success is assured if one works with dedication. India is not only agricultural country but is also known for its many scripts.

Palav’s journey with calligraphy began when Parel’s Dr Shirodkar High school entrusted him the responsibility to write “Suvichar” (Best Thoughts) on the school board in 1973. As the days advanced, “Calligraphy” became more matured and he was credited with taking calligraphy to a broader spectrum of people in India and abroad. In 40 years span from 1973 to 2019, he created different letterings, scripts in different mediums. He founded “Achyut Palav School of Calligraphy” and also organised several editions of “Callifest”, the festival which gives a forum to calligraphists. He also began felicitating the calligraphers with “Callihunt” award.

Till now he has published over 10 books related to the calligraphy. Several countries including Netherlands, Germany, London, China, Dubai, Algeria, Korea, France and Russia, have taken note of his workshops, lectures and demonstrations. 

His calligraphic work finds place in many libraries and museums including: Stiftung Archives,Germany, Klingspor Museum, Germany, The Academy of Arts (German: Akademie der Künste), Berlin, Armenian Consulate, Societe General, Paris, France and Contemporary Museum of Calligraphy, Moscow, Russia.

The exhibition will be open for all between 11 AM and 7 PM till 27 January 2020 at Jehangir Art Gallery, Kalaghoda. Besides, there will be live demonstration by Achyut Palav between 11 AM and 11.30 AM on 26 January, Republic Day.

Singathon 28 discovers 3 new voices in a city wide musical search

·         Proceeds from the show Raah Foundation

 Mumbai based entrepreneurial venture Swarmaanas has been focusing on training amateur singers since the last 18 years. Started by young & dynamic Manasi Kelkar-Tambe, the organization has been trying to break the myth that singing is not only for professionals but for anybody & everybody with their motto “Anybody can sing”. Swarmaanas hosted the 2^nd Annual Singathon 28 competition on Jan 12 2020 at Sane Guruji Vidyalaya (Dadar West). The top 15 performed on the 17th January at Veer Savarkar Auditorium, Shivaji Park. The grand finale was graced by veteran musician Ashok Patki, singer Uttara Kelkar and actor Amol Bawdekar from popular Marathi TV series "Swamini". The competition was judged by renowned music composer Ajit Parab and instrumentalist Anupam Ghatak.

Singathon 28 was divided into 3 age groups i.e. 4 to 9years, 10 to 15years and 16 to 80 years. Avani Kumar won the 4 to 9 years category, Ananya Kumar won the 10 to 15 years category and Shivani Gaitonde won the 16 to 80 years category.

ManasiTambe, a music teacher, a practicing psychological counselor and the founder of Swarmaanas shared “Singathon 28 saw a whole range of participants right from bathroom singers to non-singers or rather anyone who wants to sing, we have tried to give them a proper platform to showcase their talent.” Manasi Kelkar-Tambe is the daughter of renowned playback singer Uttara Kelkar.

Shivani Gaitonde, winner in senior category shared, “I had participated in Singathon 28 in its first year as well but I wasn’t selected. I practiced hard, and I am happy that I won this edition. It is an excellent platform where it is a level playing field for all.”

Swarmaanas also donated a cheque to Raah Foundation which is on a mission to make a better world for the tribals of Jawhar & Mokhada blocks of Palghar District. Sonia Risbood, COO, Raah Foundation added, “It is wonderful to collaborate with something associated for a cause. Singathon 28 is non-judgemental as it celebrates the spirit of singing by amateurs. I am happy that together we can work for tribals in Jowahar district on water scarcity issues and better livelihood through education and empowerment.