TV channels to showcase India's heritage on I-Day

New Delhi, Aug 13: As we ring in the 59th anniversary of India's independence from the British rule, its time to celebrate the country's momentous journey from a 'newly-independent' state in 1947 to a 'nation on the move' which is well on its way to becoming an 'economic superpower'.

Showcasing the vibrance of India's culture, democracy and its economy as well as charting India's significant march to being a force to reckon with on the global scene in terms of its achievements in various disciplines will be a series of programmes on various television channels.

A slew of programmes cutting across all viewer groups have been lined up by various television channels in the run up to the Independence day. The wide range of programmes are aimed at awakening the spirit of patriotism amongst the audience as India enters the 60th year of Independence while, at the same time, giving a fun filled and lighthearted dimension to the occesion, with a variety of entertaining shows.

In keeping with the patriotic sentiments that the day arouses among one and all, the channel CCN-IBN will telecast 'In August Country', a half hour special programme tomorrow and on August 15 at 2030 hrs where the channel will revisit historic places like Chori Chora, Jalianwala Bagh, Dandi and many more where the Indian freedom struggle reached great heights.

The viewers can also participate in an interactive quiz based on every story aired during 'In August Country' by logging onto ibnlive.com.

Tracking the State of the Nation by capturing on the small screen the opinion of people from all walks of life on politics, terrorism food habits and the youth of India will be a series of four episodes being telecast by the channel in the run up to the Independence day. Titled State of the Nation, the four episode special - 'India's Best CM', 'Dietary Habits', 'Terrorism in India' and 'Youth of the city' - being telecast from August 12 to August 15 at 2130 hrs, 2200 hrs, 2200 hrs and 2130hrs respectively. It will be based on an exhaustive pan India poll conducted by CSDS, spanning across 20 states with over 24000 touch points.

The vibrancy on India's cultural scene will be captured through 'India Rocks', to be telecast on August 15 at 1330 hrs on CNN-IBN and at 2130 hrs on Channel 7. The programme will feature refreshing sounds of patriotic music from music maestro Pt Shiv Kumar Sharma and his son Rahul Sharma, actor Shabana Azmi, playback singer Sunidhi Chauhan, Shubha Mudgal, Pakistani singer Salman Ahmad and many others.

Another programme 'Live-On-Air Independence Day Kids Quiz', to be telecast on August 15, will hunt the best 'Kid Quiz Brain' in the country. Anchored by Vidhya Shankar Aiyar, the inter-school zonal (North, South, East and West) live quiz contest will be aired from morning to afternoon. While the morning segments will air the elimination rounds (prelims), the finals will be aired at 1300 hrs.

In the run up to the Independence day, ESPN Star Sports will showcase some of the most memorable moments in the history of Indian sports. Keeping up with the spirit of Independence Day, the channel will, in a special programme, relive the glorious moments in Indian sports for viewers across the country - the 1986 series, where the Kapil Dev-led and Vengsarkar-inspired India won two Test matches; the 1971 series, where India's spin trio had England in a web; the historic 1983 World Cup semi final and the record chase by Indians against England in the NatWest series final - the moments that have done India and Indians proud at the international level.

Showcasing some of modern India's finest moments will be modern day Indian sporting icons such as Narain Karthikeyan, Shiv Kapur, Sanjoy Dutt, Sania Mirza, Mahesh Bhupathi, all of whom have done India proud at the international level at individual and team sports.

On the occasion, music channel Channel [V] will showcase India as a teeming, multi-ethnic, multi-religious, multi-lingual country through the third edition of its 'Freedom Express', to be telecast on August 15 at 1300 hrs, 1700 hrs and 2100 hrs in three half hour episodes.

The programme will have Channel [v] VJs Archana, Juhi and Aditya travel across the country capturing myriad scenes, voices and thoughts of India which make it a study of contradictions; diverse yet united, traditional yet contemporary. The programme aims to expose the viewers to the beauty, the variety and the wonderful people that exist across this remarkable country.

Lending their support to this special initiative will be Sanjay Dutt and Arshad Warsi , the star cast of 'Lage Raho Munnabhai', the forthcoming sequel of 'Munnabhai MBBS'.

History Channel will telecast programmes on personalities that have spearh eaded freedom movements across the world and events that have left an impression on the world. In 'Voices of Freedom', its special programming on the occasion, the channel will, through stunning documentaries and dramatic recreations, pay tribute to extraordinary people who rose against overwhelming odds through their intelligence and perseverance to triumph over prejudice, injustice and hardship.

While the 'Battle of Gettysburg', to be telecast tomorrow at 2130 hrs, highlights the turning point of the American Civil War, 'Tiananmen Square' on August 15, is the true story behind the death of 500 young Chinese students who became the martyrs for democracy at Tiananmen.

UNI