Bollywood wishes Deepika Padukone on her 28th birthday

Mumbai, Jul 25: Movie theatres have been shuttered for months due to the coronavirus pandemic in the country, but the Information and Broadcasting Ministry has now recommended that the Union Home Ministry allow cinema halls to reopen in August. 

I&B Secretary Amit Khare indicated this at a close-door industry interaction with the CII Media Committee on Friday. He said Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla at the Home Ministry would take the final call.

Khare said that he has recommended that cinema halls may be allowed to reopen all over India as early as August 1, or at the latest, around August 31.

The formula suggested is that alternate seats in the first row and then the next row be kept vacant, and proceeding in this fashion throughout.

Khare said that his ministry's recommendation takes into consideration the two metre social distancing norm, but tweaks it gently to two yards instead. The Home Ministry, however, still has to revert on the recommendation.

Cinema owners, present in the interaction, however, pushed back and said this formula is unwise and merely running films at 25% auditorium capacity is worse than keeping the cinemas shut.

The attendees at the meet included media CEOs like N.P. Singh of Sony, Sam Balsara (Madison), Megha Tata, (Discovery), Gaurav Gandhi (Amazon Prime), Manish Maheshwari (Twitter), S. Sivakumar (Bennett Coleman and Co Ltd), and K Madhavan, Star & Disney, and also Chairman, CII Media Committee.

The OTT platforms present, including Gandhi of Amazon Prime, did not push back. Some Bollywood producers, notably those of Amitabh Bachchan's Gulabo Sitabo, have posted their movies on OTT, rather than live out the lockdown uncertainty.

New Delhi, Apr 14: Legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar on Tuesday paid tributes to Dr BR Ambedkar on his birth anniversary.

The 90-year-old singer took to Twitter to extend her greetings on the occasion of Ambedkar Jayanti and also expressed gratitude for being able to get the chance to meet him.

"Namaskar. Bhartiya Savidhan ke janak mahamanav Bharat Ratna Dr BR Ambedkar Ji ki Jayanti par main unko koti koti vandan karti hu. (Namaskar. On the birth anniversary of Dr. BR Ambedkar, the father of the great Indian Constitution, I offer him a ceremonial offering)" she tweeted.

"Main unko pratyaksh roop se mil saki ye mera sobhagya hai. (It is my good fortune that I got the chance to meet him)," her tweet further read.
Ambedkar, commonly known as Babasaheb, dedicated his life to working for the upliftment of Dalits, women and the underprivileged.

Born into a poor Dalit family on April 14, 1891, Ambedkar became independent India's first law minister, the principal architect of the Indian Constitution and a founding father of the Republic of India.

He also campaigned against the social discrimination faced by Dalits and inspired the Dalit Buddhist Movement in 1956. Ambedkar was awarded the Bharat Ratna posthumously in 1990.

Washington, Feb 19: Popular Indian-American stand-up comedian Hasan Minhaj, who has been critical of both US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, would perform at the annual dinner of the White House Correspondents Association.

Hasan Minhaj, whose parents come from Aligarh in Uttar Pradesh, will serve as the entertainer at the event.

Kenan Thompson, the actor, and longest-tenured Saturday Night Live cast-member will serve as the host for the annual White House Correspondents Association's (WHCA) dinner on April 25.

"Hasan Minhaj, the Peabody award-winning host of Netflix's Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj, will return to the dinner as featured entertainer," the WHCA announced.

"Kenan and Hasan are two of the most engaged and engaging entertainers in America. I'm thrilled they'll help us celebrate the role of a free press in our democracy," said Jonathan Karl, Chief White House Correspondent for ABC News and president of the WHCA.

"We're looking forward to a lively evening honouring the most important political journalism of the past year," he said.

President Trump who has skipped the WHCA dinner for the last three years is unlikely to attend this time as well.

Hasan Minhaj has hosted his Netflix show since 2018, drawing critics' raves, including a Peabody award in 2019, for his humorous and informed examination of issues of domestic and global import.

He was the entertainer at the 2017 WHCA Dinner when he was a senior correspondent on The Daily Show. His one-hour Netflix comedy special Hasan Minhaj: Homecoming King was released in 2017, for which he won his first Peabody Award in 2018.

Kenan Thompson began his career as a member of Nickelodeon's sketch series All That. Kenan Thompson is currently in his 17th season on SNL where he has set a record for the most celebrity impressions performed on the show.

In 2018, he received an Emmy Award for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics and a nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series.

At its annual dinner, WHCA will be presenting two new awards at the 2020 dinner: The Katharine Graham Award for Courage and Accountability and the Award for Excellence in Presidential News Coverage by Visual Journalists.

These are in addition to the longstanding Aldo Beckman Award for Overall Excellence in White House Coverage and Merriman Smith Award for Excellence in Presidential News Coverage Under Deadline Pressure.

This year's dinner will also include the inaugural presentation of the Collier Prize for State Government Accountability, administered by the University of Florida''s College of Journalism and Communications to recognize outstanding statehouse reporting.