A two-part documentary aired on Aaj Tak in October 2001 has bagged the best film/video award in the national category at the recently concluded Mumbai International Film Festival.

Two Assassinations and An Accident was part of 25 Incredible Years - a 10 part TV mini series in Hindi and English, each of 25 minutes, commissioned by the India Today group to commemorate 25 years of its existence. The films were made by Moving Picture Company, the production house of documentarist-auteur Ramesh Sharma. The award carries a cash prize of Rs 1,00,000.

The Mumbai International Film Festival for Documentary, Short and Animation Films is a biennial competitive event in film and video format organised by the Films Division, an I& B department, in co-operation with the Maharashtra government. Outstanding films in various categories are selected by an International Jury, with cash prizes aggregating to 2.7 million Indian rupees (approx. US$ 60,000). The festival serves as a platform where the filmmakers of the world can meet, exchange ideas, explore the possibility of co-production and market their films.

Two Assassinations and An Accident is a collage of interviews and reconstructions through the days of the Emergency till the end of the Rajiv Gandhi era, focussing of the careers of the Gandhi family members and the Indian polity through the decades. The first two episodes go behind what really happened during the Emergency-and why it happened in the first place. Among those interviewed for these segments were former prime minster Chandra Shekhar, photographer Raghu Rai, journalist Khushwant Singh, union home minister L K Advani, former BBC India bureau chief Mark Tully and Nehru family member Arun Nehru.

The BBC has announced that Capita has been formally appointed to deliver field and call centre operations for TV Licensing for the BBC. An official release states that the contract was signed on 8 February.

Capita is scheduled to take over the operation from Consignia in July 2002.

Speaking on this, head of revenue management Zarin Patel said: "We look forward to working in partnership with Capita to deliver the most effective TV Licensing system. The focus will be on examining opportunities to cut collection costs and increase licence fee revenue. Over the next few months the Capita team will get up to speed with the complexities of the TV Licensing operation. In the meantime it?s business as usual for TV Licensing.?

Capita will draw on its proven strengths and experience of transitioning and transforming complex, large scale administration and customer service activities to ensure a smooth transfer and a successful route forward for delivering an effective service into the future. The AMV consortium is scheduled to begin TV Licensing marketing and communications activity in April 2002. Consignia (formerly the Post Office) will continue to deliver the contract until Capita takes over in July.

The release informs that the Capita Group is a leading provider of integrated professional support service solutions. Capita currently delivers a unique customer contact service operation for the BBC. In 1998 Capita was awarded a 5-year contract to set up and administer the BBC Information Service.

The ongoing political stand-off between India and its neighbour has put paid to Sony Entertainment Television‘s plans to launch in Pakistan for the foreseeable future. But the launch of action channel AXN is very much on the cards.

Shantonu Aditya, senior vice president, franchise channels and distribution, SET India Ltd, said the English language action channel from Sony Pictures, which is part of the Sony Entertainment bouquet, is launching in Pakistan next month. Queried about the status of SET‘s launch plans, Aditya said it was tied to political temperatures between the two neighbours cooling down.

As per the original schedule, the Hindi language entertainment channel was to launch in Pakistan in December 2001. Distribution was being handled by Lahore-based Leo Communications for which the Sony was to be paid a minimum guaranteed amount aside from a revenue sharing arrangement that had been worked out.

Aditya said the distribution of set top boxes had been completed and as and when the air clears up, SET could star beaming with a a very short lag time. Aditya has been quoted as saying there are 6,000 headends in Pakistan and eight million cable and satellite homes.

Though Pakistan is not happening for the moment, SET‘s newest area of operations is Indonesia. SET began airing in the South East Asian country last month and is being distributed through a local company called Cabelvision. Plans for launch in the Philippines and Fiji are also on the anvil for which talks are still going on, Aditya said.