Mar. 21, 2011 (Canada NewsWire Group) --
TORONTO, March 21 /CNW/ - Asian Television Network International Limited (ATN)(TSX: SAT) is pleased to announce that it has partnered with the High Commission of India in Ottawa as an exclusive media partner for the Year of India 2011 celebrations to be held across Canada.
Year of India 2011 is a year-long celebration of Indian culture in Canada and will offer Canadians opportunities to learn about the culture of India, the richness of its art, music and dance, ancient traditions, bounteous nature, food and also to gather information about travelling to India. Events have been scheduled throughout Canada.
2011 was declared as "Year of India in Canada" by Prime Minister of India Dr. Manmohan Singh and Prime Minister of Canada Mr. Stephen Harper, during the latter's visit to India in November 2009. It is against this backdrop that the High Commission of India in Ottawa, in cooperation with the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, Government of India, will showcase India's art and culture as well as its rise as an economic power, promoting thereby closer people-to-people ties across a broad range of sectors including business.
ATN will promote and broadcast various events on its many television channels catering to a huge diaspora from the Indian sub continent. Some of the popular Indian artists/bands/shows performing here are Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, Parikrama, Shakunthalam, Ticket to Bollywood, Rajasthani Folk Ensemble and Ahang. The shows will be held in various cities including Ottawa, Calgary, Edmonton, Montreal, Halifax, Saskatoon, Regina and Winnipeg.
"We are delighted to present the impressive art, culture, tradition, trade and accomplishments of India in a Canadian context," said Dr. Shan Chandrasekar, President and CEO of ATN. "It is an honour to partner with the Government of India and its representatives in Canada to celebrate and raise awareness of Indian culture and trade."
"India Canada relations have grown exponentially over the past two years across all sectors. Several high level visits have been exchanged including at the level of the prime Ministers," said His Excellency Mr. S.M. Gavai, High Commissioner of India in Canada. "I invite all our friends in Canada to participate in these activities and make the Year of India in Canada 2011 a success," he added.
About Asian Television Network
ATN serves Canada's diverse cultural communities with 33 premium specialty television channels. ATN offers its flagship general interest service, several Bollywood movie channels with 800 movies a month, and a variety of channels that include sports, news, music, lifestyle, spiritual and several Indian regional language channels. ATN is Canada's largest distributor of World Class Cricket including ICC World Cup and Indian Premier League (IPL). ATN operates the only South Asian Radio Service 24 hours a day on XM across The United States and Canada. ATN was recently selected as a TSX Venture 50 company, and is a Business Excellence Award winner from the Newmarket Chamber of Commerce. The Founder of ATN was a 2010 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award finalist, and has been inducted to the Canadian Broadcast Hall of Fame. ATN was a broadcast partner for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games, creating history by delivering more than 100 hours of live coverage in six Indian languages on seven channels across Canada. ATN has programming alliances with leading international broadcasters. For more details about these services and The Year of India on our programming schedules please visit www.asiantelevision.com
B. Fulton
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Asian Television Network International Limited
Newmarket, Ontario Canada
905-836-6460
www.asiantelevision.com