New Delhi, Apr 26: Famous Punjabi singer Daler Mehndi Friday joined the Bharatiya Janata Party at its Delhi office here in the presence of Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari and Union minister Vijay Goel.
BJP's candidate from northwest Delhi constituency Hans Raj Hans, Union minister and Chandni Chowk candidate Harsh Vardhan and other party leaders were also present. Mehndi's daughter is married to a son of Hans.
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.
Mumbai, Jul 27: Reel life villain Sonu Sood turned real life hero once again, this time by gifting a tractor on Sunday to a farmer in a remote village in Andhra Pradesh to help him till the land. The actor came up with the gift after coming through a video clip on Twitter wherein a tomato farmer in Madanapalle in Chittoor district was seen ploughing the land with his two daughters carrying the yoke on their shoulders.
In his instant reaction, Sood promised a pair of ox to the farmer, but later said the family deserved a tractor. "So sending you one. By evening a tractor will be ploughing your fields. Stay blessed," Sood, who acted as a villain in numerous Telugu films, said in a tweet.
True to his word, a new tractor was delivered to the elated farmer Nageswara Rao at his Mahalrajupalle village by Sunday night. Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu, who belongs to Chittoor district, hailed the actor's gesture.
"Spoke with @sonusood ji and applauded him for his inspiring effort to send a tractor to Nageswara Rao's family in Chittoor district. Moved by the plight of the family, I have decided to take care of the education of the two daughters and help them pursue their dreams," Naidu said in a tweet.
Rao's elder daughter completed her Intermediate while the second one passed Class 10. Rao used to run a tea stall in Madanapalle before coronavirus left him out of business. He returned to his native Mahalrajupalle village to take up agriculture once again.
Given his penury, he could not hire either a pair of bulls or a tractor to till the land, when his daughters volunteered to help him on the chores. Their plight went viral on social media following which the actor stepped in with help.
Mumbai, Jul 12: Actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and her daughter Aaradhya have tested positive for coronavirus, confirmed Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope on Sunday. However, veteran actor Jaya Bachchan has tested negative for the virus.
"Smt Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Daughter Aaradhya Abhishek Bachchan have also been detected positive for Covid-19. Smt. Jaya Bachchan ji is tested negative for Covid-19. We wish the Bachchan Family to get well soon with a speedy recovery," Tope tweeted.
As per Assistant Municipal Commissioner Vishwas Mote, the rest of the family members - Jaya Bachchan, daughter Shweta Bachchan Nanda and her children Agastya and Navya Naveli - have tested negative for COVID-19.
On Saturday, legendary actor Amitabh Bachchan and son Abhishek Bachchan took to social media to confirm that they have detected positive for coronavirus.
The 'Sholay' actor is reported to be in a "stable" condition with "mild symptoms."
The 77-year-old has been admitted to the isolation unit at Mumbai's Nanavati Super Speciality Hospital.
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