Bengaluru, Aug 24: Singer Himal Sagar along with Rajesh Hamal performs during a concert at Central College grounds in order to raise fundsfor the flood victims of Keralaand Karnataka.
Popular artists like Rajesh Hamal, Priti Ale, Himal Sagar, Jyoti Magar, CL Sharma, Girish Khatiwada and Prakash Sabut performed at the concert, which was aimed at stregnething the relationship between India and Nepal.
New Delhi, Feb 25: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday gave time to Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to seek instructions on travel ban imposed on comedian Kunal Kamra.
Kamra approached the court against IndiGo which suspended him from flying with the airlines for a period of six months. Other airlines had also followed the suit in pursuance to this.
Justice Naveen Chawla said that the regulatory body should not have certified actions of airlines other than IndiGo to ban Kamra without conducting inquiry. The matter will now be heard on February 27.
Last month, IndiGo had barred the stand-up comedian for six months from using its services for allegedly portraying "unacceptable behaviour" onboard its flight.
The airline claimed that Kamra, while travelling on a Mumbai-Lucknow IndiGo flight, provoked a TV news anchor by asking questions over his news presentation style.
New Delhi, Jul 11: The COVID-19 triggered restrictions on cinema exhibition industry have not only disheartened movie goers, but axed several thousand jobs and costed the industry an estimated ₹ 5,000 crore in revenue.
The sector has been one of the hardest hit due to COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent restrictions implemented to curb its spread.
Presently, cinemas and multiplexes continue to remain in the list of prohibited activities under the Centre's Unlock 2.0 Guidelines.
In an interview to media persons, movie exhibition major Inox Leisure's Chief Executive Alok Tandon said, "The industry on an average collects about ₹ 1,000 crore a month of 'Box Office' and on an average generates about ₹ 500 crore a month of ancillary revenues."
"Keeping in mind that the lockdown has been effective for more than 100 days now, which is about 3.5 months, the cinema exhibition industry would have accumulated losses worth ₹ 5,000 crore so far."
According to Tandon, associated businesses such as pre and post-production, make-up artistes, graphics, film set fabrication, film crew, events, marketing, F&B services have all been impacted due to the restrictions.
"With the production and exhibition of movies coming to a halt, the industry was bound to witness some job losses," he said without divulging any estimates.
As per industry data, the multiplex industry in India employs more than 200,000 people directly and accounts for nearly 60 % of revenues of the film business.
On the way forward, Tandon elaborated that the industry expects to regain business momentum and sentiment post resumption of operations.
"We believe it will be a matter of a couple of blockbusters, and we will be back to our usual operational numbers," he said.
"We are rightfully relying on the unshakeable passion of the Indian movie lovers, who are yearning to step out and spend time enjoying the giant screen experience."
Furthermore, he cited that industry has sent representation to the Centre for immediate re-commencement of operations and a support package.
"We have requested for financial support in the form of salary subsidies during the lockdown period, interest-free loans for three years, exemptions from various taxes and duties, like 'GST, Show tax, LBETs and Property taxes' for a period of one year from the date of operations, waiver on electricity minimum demand charges for one year and auto renewal of licenses and permits for the next one year," he said.
"We have been talking to our mall developer partners and are working together with them to see through this phase."
However, even after re-commencement, the industry anticipates at least 3-6 months before things return anywhere close to normal.
"The cinema ecosystem is such that we will need all the aspects of the business to swing into action and fire together for us to see a resurgence, and we are highly optimistic about the same," he said.
In terms of global experience, Tandon pointed out that cinemas have started operating in more than 25 major countries, and some of those markets are witnessing a healthy response.
"India is a massive movie market and we are confident that the passionate and responsible movie lovers will turn up in huge numbers to enjoy their favourite form of entertainment and also follow the prevention guidelines at the same time, ensuring a safe and steady revival of the cinema exhibition sector," Tandon said.
The film exhibition industry in India is mainly comprised of single screen and multiplexes.
At present there are around 9,527 cinemas across the country, including 6,327 single and 3,200 multiplex screens.
Mumbai, Jul 28: Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Manoj Tiwari has urged Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to look into the case of actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death and direct the state police to register an FIR in this connection.
Wishing Thackeray on Monday on his birthday, Tiwari, who has acted in Bhojpuri films, pointed out that over 40 days have passed since the death of Rajput, but an FIR is yet to be registered.
"Many happy returns of the Day @CMOMaharashtra Shri Uddhav Ji, on this day I request with folded hands to give justice to Sushant who died 43 days ago, but no FIR has been registered so far. I hope you will help. Please do justice to millions of SSR fans," he tweeted.
Bollywood actor Rajput was found dead at his Mumbai residence on June 14, which the police said was a case of suicide. His death had triggered an outcry from several quarters alleging that the late actor, who hailed from Bihar, was a victim of nepotism in the film industry.
The lawmaker from Northeast Delhi's Lok Sabha seat, who visited the deceased actor's family in Patna last month had then said: "Sushant's father and sister requested me to take up the issue and get him justice. It was really a sentimental moment for me".
Previously, Tiwari had demanded a CBI investigation into the matter
According to the police, statements of 40 people including film critic Rajeev Masand, director-producer Sanjay Leela Bhansali, and filmmaker Aditya Chopra and actor Rhea Chakraborty have been recorded in the investigation so far.
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