Television Eighteen is laying off 12% of its permanent staffers (about 200 people, according to a company source) as part of a major restructuring exercise which will see the operations of the company’s Hindi and English business news channels getting merged.

In a statement to the Bombay Stock Exchange, the company said it was merging “overlapping and common operations at the back-end” of CNBC TV18 and CNBC Awaaz. Both channels will continue to maintain separate identities, the company said. CNBC TV18 is the market leader in the English business news space. 

NDTV Networks CEO Vikram Chandra, also a key anchor for the group’s news channels, spoke to contentSutra from New York shortly after his company’s strategic partnership with Scripps was announced. Excerpts:

Congrats on the deal. What next for the company?

Thanks. This is a very exciting partnership for us. Scripps is the world leader in lifestyle programming and they have many successful properties. NDTV is the leader in this space in India and with this partnership, I think we should be able to do accelerate our growth in this genre.

Indian broadcaster NDTV Ltd and US-based Scripps Network Interactive today said they were forming a strategic alliance in the lifestyle broadcasting space in India.

As part of the deal, Scripps will acquire 69 percent stake in NDTV Lifestyle Ltd, with the NDTV Group retaining the rest. Scripps will pay $55 million for the holding, which values the one-channel company at $79 million. The company currently broadcasts lifestyle channel NDTV Goodtimes. The companies propose to launch more channels under the joint venture, they said in a statement.

We reported in September that Scripps and NDTV were in talks for a strategic partnership. 

AOL (NYSE: TWX) CEO Tim Armstrong did a hurried Q&A session at the Paley Center this afternoon and then had to rush off to being the IPO roadshow, which starts tonight here in Manhattan, presumably at some glitzy event here in the city. (Ed. note: The road show actually starts Nov. 19; the headline also has been corrected..) He didn’t say anything he hasn’t before, but hinted at some contraction in the international market, at least in terms of direct presence. he said AOL is in about 40 countries now, but in 2010 would probably be in less markets directly; as a result, it is looking for local international partnerships, he said. Left unsaid: the big upcoming AOL cuts would also likely include international, presumably.

Update: Now Kara is reporting that ICQ, the highly popular instant messaging platform, is for sale. One guess on a possible buyer: South African media giant Naspers, which has been buying up international digital properties across Europe and Asia, and owns a stake in the biggest Chinese IM platform Tencent as well.

In September, India had 35.8 million Internet users (excluding visits from net cafes and handhelds), up 17% year-on-year, according to web metrics firm comScore. India’s growth rate is the third highest in the Asia Pacific region, China and Japan surpassing the country both in absolute number of users and in growth rates. 

HT Media Ltd, publisher of newspapers such as Hindustan Times, Hindustan and Mint, has decided to demerge its Hindi business. HT Media will transfer Hindi daily Hindustan, magazines Nandan and Kadambini, internet portals of these publications as well as all employees, assets and liabilities to Hindustan Media Ventures Ltd for a consideration of Rs149 crore. HT Media owns 99.3% of Hindustan Media Ventures. All relevant IPR and brands can be used by the subsidiary on a long-term lease basis and it will also have the right of first refusal on these properties in case of a sale.

Well-known cricket writer Prem Panicker, one of Rediff.com’s earliest staffers and the editorial director of the company’s US-based newspaper India Abroad, is leaving the Nasdaq-listed firm after a 14-year stint, a person familiar with the development said. According to our source, Panicker is likely to join Yahoo (NSDQ: YHOO) India as managing editor, a post that has been vacant for a long time now.

Panicker declined to comment for this story. A Yahoo India spokesperson also declined to comment.

Panicker is currently based in Mumbai. Yahoo India’s editorial operations are based out of Bangalore.

Fox Television Studios India is hiring Nachiket Pantvaidya as managing director, a person familiar with the development said. An announcement is expected soon.

Fox Television Studios is the TV production unit of News Corp.‘s Fox Entertainment Group, and is a leading producer of TV shows globally, alongside companies such as Mediaset-controlled Endemol and Bertelsmann AG’s Fremantle Media. Endemol has had a good run in India, with shows such as Bigg Boss, while Fremantle recently said it is setting up shop in India. 

News Corp.-owned Star India is the country’s leading private broadcaster.

South Korea’s GS Home Shopping, the world’s third largest home shopping network (as per this release), will invest $18.5 million in HomeShop18, a Network18 subsidiary. GS will hold 15% stake in the company post the investment. Parent Network18 will invest $5 million and will continue to be a majority shareholder with a 51% stake post dilution. GS’ investment values HomeShop18 at $123 million.

Saif Partners holds a 30% stake in the company.

The partnership also entails strategic cooperation in the areas of sourcing, merchandising, broadcasting and logistics. GS will post key employees at HomeShop18 and will also train HS employees in Korea.

Another South Korean network, CJ Home Shopping, had forged a JV with Star India for a home shopping channel. It is yet to go on air.

Multiplex chain PVR Ltd is buying realty major DLF Ltd’s cinema chain DT Cinemas, which currently runs 26 screens in Delhi, Gurgaon and Chandigarh. PVR will also get exclusive rights to be the key multiplex partner in all future developments by DLF.

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Rohit Bansal, COO at Independent News Service Pvt. Ltd, which runs India TV, has stepped down. Bansal, who has worked at the firm for five years since 2004, has been active in the broadcast policy circles and was a familiar face at industry gatherings. Bansal confirmed the development. August 31 was his last day at the channel.