New movies help boost multiplex occupancy – Times of India

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NEW DELHI: Multiplexes, one of the hardest-hit industries by the pandemic, are gradually picking up steam with occupancy rate back to around 20%.
A weekly occupancy rate of 30-35% has traditionally been considered “very good” by these multiplex operators, said a senior executive at one of the largest chains in India. “There is a strong pent-up demand among consumers to watch movies on the big screen owing to the gap when consumers were away from multiplexes,” said Gautam Dutta, CEO at PVR.
The success of some of the recently released films in theatres after multiplexes started screening movies in November is being dangled as a teaser to what lies ahead for the industry.
The current roadblock is the 50% occupancy restriction in four states, including two major markets — Mumbai and Rajasthan.
“Before ‘Master’, occupancy rates were around 5-10% and that was only possible due to low-budget regional movies that agreed to open with us,” said a senior executive at a large multiplex chain. “Master was the first sign that movie goers are willing to come back to theatres.”
Going ahead, top multiplex chains, such as PVR and Inox, are betting on fresh content to lure footfalls. Around 50 regional films, 12 Hollywood movies, along with 50 Bollywood releases are set to hit theatres this year, according to a roster of one of the multiplex chains that TOI has reviewed. “Every month, a Rs 50-100 crore movie is slated to be released,” said the executive. This year will see the maximum number of big-budgeted, multi-language films releasing at cinemas, said PVR’s Dutta.
Multiplex chain operators have been suffering from the lack of fresh content and footfalls. While Inox reported losses of Rs 102 crore for the quarter ended December 2020, PVR reported losses of Rs 49 crore. During the same period in 2019, both companies had posted profits of Rs 35 crore and Rs 36 crore, respectively.

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Gehlot sticks to ‘no phone tapped’ stand, calls row a BJP plot | India News – Times of India

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JAIPUR: Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot on Tuesday cited his original response to a question about alleged phone-tapping raised in the assembly last year in a bid to combat the resurgence of a controversy that he said had been raked up by BJP just to disrupt the current session. His counter came on a day when BJP legislator Madan Dilawar was suspended from the House for a week for alleged misbehaviour when his party was demanding a debate on the issue.
Gehlot claimed squabbling within BJP was the reason behind the resurgence of a non-issue, more so after he had long contested charges of phone-tapping and said on record that “it is not the tradition of the state to tap phones of MLA and MPs illegally”. He released a statement in which he categorically said “it (phone-tapping) has never happened in Rajasthan”.
“This is a fight of domination within the BJP ranks,” Gehlot said in his rejoinder on Facebook. “The issue is being unnecessarily raised, and it is being done to disturb the House.” The embers of the phonetapping debate were reignited by the state administration’s official reply to an August 2020 question by BJP MLA Kalicharan Saraf in the assembly belatedly appearing on the assembly’s portal. It states that phone calls had been “intercepted” by the police “after obtaining permission from the competent officer”. This was done “in the interest of public safety or public order”, it says.
BJP has since accused Gehlot of lying in the assembly about not tapping phones and demanded a CBI inquiry. On BJP’s allegation about Congress resorting to phone-tapping to save the Gehlot government in the face of a Sachin Pilot-led revolt, the CM said, “BJP’s claims don’t hold true. The chief secretary or the home secretary, all of them have to do their job legally. Surveillance is done in accordance with rules and regulations.” Gehlot said the onus was on BJP to come out with definite proof about whose phones were tapped and why. “If these allegations are proved, I will leave politics,” he said.
In the assembly on Tuesday, suspended MLA Dilawar allegedly shouted down Independent legislator Sanyam Lodha, who had been speaking on demands for grants for education, art and culture, to demand a debate on the phone-tapping episode.
After Lodha objected to Dilawar’s behaviour, Speaker CP Joshi warned the BJP MLA to back down. When Dilawar allegedly did not pay heed, Joshi asked parliamentary affairs minister Shanti Dhariwal to bring a motion to suspend him. The motion to suspend Dilawar for seven days was passed by a voice vote. When assembly marshals removed the suspended member, BJP MLAs formed a human chain around their colleague. A scuffle ensued, following which the Speaker adjourned the House for 30 minutes. It was the fourth adjournment of the day.
Joshi said he would allow a discussion and a reply from the government if the opposition furnished “details” about alleged phone-tapping.

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‘Agriculture budget’ exercise begins in Rajasthan

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The exercise for presenting a separate “agriculture budget”, with the emphasis on welfare measures for farmers, has started in Rajasthan in accordance with the announcement made by Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot in the 2021-22 State Budget. The new document will provide for innovations for the benefit of cultivators.

Agriculture Minister Lalchand Kataria said in the State Assembly that while the agriculture budget would fulfil the dreams of farmers, the steps for providing new facilities in the farm sector would be accompanied by sufficient financial provisions. Organic farming would also be promoted in a big way, he said.

The Assembly passed the budgetary demands worth ₹3,756 crore for the agriculture sector and ₹1,829 crore for the Animal Husbandry Department by a voice vote after the debate on the demand for grants.

Mr. Kataria said the agriculture and allied sector had registered a growth rate of 3.45% in 2020-21 despite the adverse circumstances created by the COVID-19 pandemic. With more than 1.30 lakh farmers engaged in organic farming, the department was working to provide agricultural equipment on rent to cultivators, he said.

The Minister said a new scheme of ₹23 crore had been formulated for the protection of camels and an additional ₹1,750 crore had been provided in the last two years in the Farmers’ Welfare Fund. He called upon farmers to adopt modern methods of agriculture and conserve rain water for irrigation.

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Morning Digest: Modi, Gotabaya speak over telephone ahead of Geneva vote; Health Minister says pollution contributes to spread and virulence of SARS-CoV-2 infections, and more

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Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Narendra Modi reviewed “topical developments” during a telephone call on Saturday, an official press release said, just over a week before a crucial vote on Sri Lanka at the U.N. Human Rights Council, where Colombo has sought New Delhi’s support.

There is emerging evidence to suggest that exposure to ambient air pollutants, especially PM2.5 and NO2, contribute to the spread and virulence SARS-CoV-2 infections, said Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Saturday, while inaugurating the new green campus of Indian Council of Medical Research’s (ICMR) National Institute for Research in Environmental Health (NIREH), at Bhopal.

North Korea has not responded to behind-the-scenes diplomatic outreach since mid-February by President Joe Biden’s administration, including to Pyongyang’s mission to the United Nations, a senior Biden administration official told Reuters on March 13.

Politics seems to sit very well on Kamal Haasan. A ‘newbie’ in politics, this veteran of cinema, is comfortable with the new skin he wears. He says he hit the ground running with the launch of his party, the Makkal Needhi Maiam, in 2018, and he’s been running since. Things are hectic, possibly more than ever, but his demeanour says “relaxed” and “confident”. Here, he discusses, with The Hindu his ideology, reasons for choice of candidates, caste-politics in Tamil Nadu and missing his long-time friend Rajinikanth’s company in politics.

Sri Lanka will soon ban the burqa or face veil, a Cabinet Minister said on Saturday, as he announced the Rajapaksa administration’s latest policy decision impacting the minority Muslim community.

AIADMK leader and Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniwami on Saturday said the Puthiya Tamilagam (PT), which was in the forefront of the agitation to classify seven Dalit sub-sects under the common title ‘Devendrakula Velalar’ and to be delisted from the Schedule, has left the ruling alliance.

Eight months after the rebellion of former Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot, the discontent simmering in the ruling Congress in Rajasthan has come to the fore through three MLAs from the eastern parts of the State.

Just within six months of Srinagar being declared a militants-free zone, the J&K police on Saturday released a list of nine “wanted militants”, with seven recruits identified from the city and operating from the capital.

As Haryanvi singer Ajay Huda croons “Zindabad kisani, zindabad jawani”, his latest song on farmers’ protests, sons of farmers break into a jig at the Bhojpur panchayat called by the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) against the contentious farm laws.

The BJP on Saturday joined the Valley-based Muslim religious organisation in condemnation of Shia leader Waseem Rizvi’s move to approach the Supreme Court to seek removal of 26 verses of the Quran, a holy book central to the faith of Muslims across the world.

China is no longer compliant with Hong Kong’s joint declaration after Beijing announced sweeping changes to the region’s electoral system, Britain said on Saturday. “The U.K. now considers Beijing to be in a state of ongoing non-compliance with the Sino-British Joint Declaration,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The contradictions began even before a ball was bowled. A day after India skipper Virat Kohli had stated that Rohit Sharma and K.L. Rahul would be the first-choice opening pair, the team management decided to rest Rohit for the first T20 in Ahmedabad on Friday.

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