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Kareena Kapoor Khan wants to do more socially relevant films

Kareena Kapoor Khan says she has taken a conscious decision to do films that are socially relevant.

Some of her recent outings such as “Udta Punjab”, “Ki and Ka”, “Veere Di Wedding” and her next two releases “Good News” and “Angrezi Medium” deal with various social issues like substance abuse, feminism, surrogacy and education.

“There is conscious effort to do movies that have social topic and subjects and stories that can touch hearts. Even if my part is smaller, I want to blend in films that are relevant.

“Films like ‘Veere Di Wedding’ broke boundaries in many ways, it was a story of four friends, no one addressed their issues in public domain. Similarly, ‘Udta Punjab’ talked about an important topic,” Kareena told PTI.

Her next release “Good News” with Akshay Kumar, Diljit Dosanjh and Kiara Advani is slated to release on December 27.

India positioned at Cannes as an attractive global filming destination

The Indian Delegation led by I&B Secretary Shri Amit Khare recently met Film Commissioners of participating countries at Cannes Film Festival. During the meeting, India was positioned as an attractive filming destination by highlighting the steps taken to easy the process of obtaining permissions for filming in India through the Film Facilitation Office which facilitates Single Window Clearance for film-makers. The steps taken by the India Government to combat film piracy were also discussed.

The Indian Delegation highlighted the opportunity of utilizing the abundant talent pool of skilled professionals and technicians and projected the possibility of India emerging as a major post production hub. The focus of the discussion was exploration of co-production opportunities with the participating countries and forage opportunities of collaborations for films with international production houses. The rebates and incentives being explored by the government to incentivize foreign filmmakers further to shoot in India were also highlighted.

During the discussions, Shri Amit Khare talked about the possibility of filmmakers of different countries coming together under bilateral co-production agreements which would also forge new markets and wider audiences by making India a hub for shooting world class international movies. He also talked about the opportunity of creative collaborations in terms of content exchange and explored the idea of cultural exchange through co-creation of content.

The key principles involved in the meeting were Cine Tirol Film Commission, Austria, Ms, Angelika Pagitz, Film Commissioner; Costa Rica Film Commission, Costa Rica, Mr, Castro, Costa Rica Film Commissioner; Film Commission Norway, Norway, Mr, Truls Kontny, Head of Film Commission Norway; Film Development Council Of The Philippines, Philippines, Ms, Mary Liza Dino, Chairperson / CEO; Italian Film Commissions, Italy, Ms, StefaniaIppoliti, President IFC; Location Austria – The National Film Commission, Austria, Mr, Arie Bohrer, Film Commissioner; Netherlands Film Fund / Netherlands Film Commission, Netherlands, Ms, Doreen Boone kamp, CEO; Swedish Film Commissions, Sweden, Mr, Marketing, Mikael Svensson, Certified Film Commissioner; Swedish Film Commissions, Sweden, Ms, Mia Uddgren, Film Commissioner; Taipei Culture Foundation – Taipei Film Commission, Taiwan, Ms, Jennifer JAO, Director; Telefilm Canada, Canada, Ms,  Marielle Poupelin, Director, International Promotion.

The Indian Delegation also met Mr. Marc Tessier, President, Film France. The Delegates talked about amendments in the already existing co-production treaty between India and France to include animation, gaming and visual effects. The idea of conducting workshops to further the deep cultural connection between the two countries was also discussed.

The Delegation further met Ms.Eti Cohen, Director of Film Department and Council, Ministry of Culture and Sports,Israel. During the meeting, Israel proposed India to be the focus country in Jerusalem Film Festival, 2020. The buzz created by the Hindi movie Newton in Israel was also highlighted by the Israeli Delegation. Israel also proposed the idea of making concept based films in India, with a focus on regional and small budget films.

 

 

Big diplomatic setback for Pakistan as US imposes visa curbs on senior officials

In a major diplomatic standoff between the two countries, the US has imposed visa sanctions on three senior Pakistani interior ministry officials. The stern action has been taken following a row between the two countries over deportation of dozens of Pakistanis in America for their visa overstay and other allegations.

Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Tuesday informed the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs about that visa curbs by the US. The officials who are facing the visa restrictions are an additional secretary and a joint secretary of the interior ministry as well as the director general passports, the Dawn newspaper reported.

Qureshi said the US authorities intended to deport more than 70 Pakistanis, but the government had asked them to fulfil the legal requirements.

The US has over the past 18 months deported over 100 Pakistanis, all of whom were accepted back. It is the first time that Pakistani authorities have insisted on a verification of the credentials of the deportees.

Kangana Ranaut and Aditya Pancholi in legal battle

Actor Aditya Pancholi has filed an FIR against Kangana Ranaut, claiming Kangana’s lawyer threatened to file a rape case against him. The FIR filed by Aditya Pancholi is a counter application to a complaint which was filed by Kangana and her sister Rangoli which stated that the actor exploited and abused Kangana, a decade ago.

The complaint has been filed in Versova police station and Aditya has also submitted the videos and phone recordings as proofs as according to him rape is the worst kind of crime that can happen. According to a report in Mid-Day, Aditya Pancholi stated, “I have already filed a defamation case against the actor, which is sub-judice. Following the defamation case, her lawyer, on January 6 this year, threatened to file a rape case against me if I didn’t withdraw the defamation case against his client. Thankfully, I have recorded the 18-minute meeting with him. The video in the form of evidence has been submitted to the court and to the police as well.”

With the latest move, the fight between Aditya Pancholi and Kangana Ranaut is turning uglier with each passing day. Kangana Ranaut had earlier accused Pancholi of sexual and physical abuse in one of her old interviews.

India extends ban on LTTE for five years

The Central Government has extended the ban on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) for another five years under sub-sections (1) and (3) of section 3 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (37 of 1967) with immediate effect. The notification in this regard was issued here today.

The notification states that the LTTE’s continued violent and disruptive activities are prejudicial to the integrity and sovereignty of India; and it continues to adopt a strong anti-India posture as also continues to pose a grave threat to the security of Indian nationals.

Former Navy Officer tells how INS Viraat was misused by ex-PM and Congress leader Rajiv Gandhi

INS Viraat has been in the news since 8th May, 2019 when PM Modi retaliated to the repeated charges of “Chowkidar Chor Hai” by Congress President Rahul Gandhi. Modi made a scathing attack on the dynasty during his rally at Delhi by saying that former Congress leader Rajiv Gandhi ji and Sonia Gandhi ji used INS Viraat as a Taxi to go to Lakshadweep islands for their holidays with some Indian and foreigner friends. He probably also mentioned about the use of a helicopter as well.

The immediate reaction by some Admirals was that it was a lie and nothing of that sort happened. I was stunned by the immediate reaction denouncing Modi. But then I knew that at least one of them has been very vocal in criticising Modi time and again since Modi ji was elected as the PM of India. He has issued a number of open letters to media and the President criticising Modi government, may be at the instance of some parties that believe in anarchy in the country.

Now looking at this type of response by my respected Admirals for the most honest, hardworking, daring to be decisive to combat terrorism and globally admired PM of India, I couldn’t control myself. I was the witness to some of the activities at that time. I was a young Lieutenant posted on INS Viraat since its Day 1 even prior to commissioning of the ship when it was still HMS Hermes with Royal Navy at Devonport Dockyard at Plymouth, UK. I loved this great ship from Day 1 and was posted there for more than three years. Though I have been a very reluctant Twitter user, I decided to tweet on 9th May, 2019.
My tweet was:   

“Rajiv and Sonia Gandhi used INS Viraat for travel to celebrate their holidays at Bangaram island. Indian Navy resources were used extensively. I am a witness. I was posted on INS Viraat that time”. —- Commander VK Jaitly

Within no time, my tweet became viral and I started getting congratulatory replies from hundreds of twitter users and my message was retweeted by thousands and seen by lakhs. The TV channels were after me to get to know more and more from me. I think all the important national TV channels except the hard-core anti-Modi television channels covered my statement.

Here I was, the retired Commander who had contradicted the statements of a few respected Admirals for whom I always had great respect and admiration. And let me affirm that I shall continue to do that as that is my upbringing in the Navy, before joining the Navy and even after the Navy life. My respect for them will never reduce. But it does surprise me; to whom were they trying to benefit by immediately coming to the rescue of Rajiv Gandhi?

After my tweet and statements on TV channels, their statement changed a bit that it was an official trip and everything was done as per protocol. Now this is a very vague statement. Can they also give the details of what all was done as per protocol? How many ships remained on duty for about 10 days as per protocol? What all preparations started about a month or two in advance before the actual event? How many helicopter sorties were done to survey the area where the Royal Guests were to stay and during those 10 days? What all changes were done on INS Viraat to host the Royal Couple? How many Naval Officers and Sailors were on duty during these 10 days on those five or six ships? INS Viraat alone had 1500 plus officers and sailors on board. How many Officers were on Liaisoning duties? How many sailors were on special duties other than their routine duties? How many crores of rupees were spent for this 10 days’ holiday trip of the Royal Couple and their entourage? If calculated, this may turn out to be the most expensive holiday by any head of the state of any country?

Admiral L. Ramdas PVSM, AVSM, VrC, VSM issued a detailed statement. As per para 1: Prime Minister and Mrs Gandhi were embarked on board INS Viraat off Trivandrum enroute Lakshwadeep. The Prime Minister was at Trivandrum as chief guest for the National Games prize distribution. He was going to Lakshadweep on official duty, to Chair a meeting of IDA (Islands Development Authority). This meeting is held alternately in Lakshadweep and in Andamans.

Then in para 3, he states: They did, of course visit some of the Islands on short trips by helicopter to meet local officials, as also the people there. (PM is authorised to travel along with his spouse by service aircraft on official duties).

Now according to me, the use of Naval resources during holidays at Bangaram by Rajiv ji in 1987 may be legally correct as the private party was converted into an official visit through two programmes; one at Trivandrum and one at Kavaratti island. But ethically and morally it was WRONG. The Navy followed the orders and extended great hospitality to PM and his entourage.

Here I would like to draw the attention to the statement (Admiral Ramdas’) in bold in para 3 that PM is authorised to travel along with his spouse by service aircraft on official duties. My question here to the respected Admiral is that “Is PM authorised to travel along with his spouse by service AIRCRAFT CARRIER on official duties?” I think NO Sir. Passage on Aircraft Carrier for any VVIP is too expensive affair. And for a poor country like India, it is a criminal offence.

One young lady mentioned in her tweet that she had sailed on a Navy ship when her brother was posted there. Yes, ladies and children also sail on our warships once a year when we have a family day for the fleet. Immediate family members do sail with due permission to expose them to various exercises and operations of the Navy.

If someone still wishes to confirm that I am not exaggerating and the Admirals are not underplaying the massive use of Naval resources, there can be a scrutiny of the Log Books of all the ships and the helicopters that were deployed during those 10 days. I can also refer some young officers who were actually performing their duties. There will be many surprises. And if the costing is done for all these operations, it may turn out to be the costliest official duty for a couple of hours at two places by any VVIP in the world and may find a place in the Guinness Book of Records.

But for this great royal family of India, the response may be: “Hua to Hua” (if it happened then it happened)

I am trying to highlight all this so that such things do not happen again. Let the politicians and bureaucrats respect the defence forces. Let defence forces do their jobs independently without any interference. No politician of any stature should be allowed to exploit the resources of any of the defence forces; in fact, any of the government departments including PSUs. Let there be a cultural change in the country for austerity measures.

DRDO successfully conducts Flight Test of ABHYAS

Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) conducted successful flight test of ABHYAS – High-speed Expendable Aerial Target (HEAT) from Interim Test Range, Chandipur in Odisha yesterday. The flight test was tracked by various RADARS & Electro Optic Systems and proved its performance in fully autonomous way point navigation mode.

The configuration of ABHYAS is designed on an in-line small gas turbine engine and uses indigenously developed MEMS based navigation system for its navigation and guidance. The performance of the system was as per simulations carried out and demonstrated the capability of ABHYAS to meet the mission requirement for a cost effective HEAT.

The Best Places for Foreign Workers

For those workers looking for the best place to find some good or solid working experience in an international locale, one of the best places for you to find some work will be within the context of the reports by the World Economic Forum on research.

According to the Boston Consulting Group’s Decoding Global Talent, there appear to be workers more often wanting to head to the United States of America more than any other nation.

In addition, even with the some of the travel bans and antics happening in America, and with the increase in some talent drainage headed for the US going to Canada, the US continues to dominate the overall charts of those places that individuals want to garner some better lives and work in advanced sectors of work.

This has been a strength of America, not its primary and secondary school system. But, rather, the ways in which high-level talent and menial labor – the high and low end, so to speak – funnel into the US and work for applicable wages, where some are illegal and others require the genius passport or the H1-B.

The most appealing for the respondents, according to the WEF, are, in the order presented from most to least desirable, the US, Germany, Canada, Australia, the UK, Spain, France, Switzerland, Italy, and Japan.

As reiterated in the article, “Despite recent policy changes that are less than welcoming towards immigrants, the US remains the most attractive country for foreign workers. It is the number one choice of people living in Latin America, the Caribbean, and sub-Saharan Africa, and second among workers from the Middle East and North Africa and Europe. “

America is the place to be, according to the votes of feet crossing borders to get to it. Canada is a highly desirable for the young and the educated from around the world.

“Germany has replaced the UK in second position. According to the report, workers from countries like Spain, Denmark, Poland, and Romania who were previously keen on the UK, now have their eye on Germany. The country has welcomed many foreigners in recent years, and has a booming economy,” the report stated.

With the fourth spot given to Australia, it made a leap by appearing in the top five for this time. Since 2014, the UK has dropped three spots into fifth. One may speculate as to the relation of this to Brexit.

1/3rd of the non-British workers are looking to leave within 5 years. That’s simply a fact of the political instability of a country and the economic consequences of a country, not in the immediate but in the years henceforth.

“However, despite the UK’s decline in popularity, London remains the world’s number-one city for foreign workers to move to,” the report stated, “Spain, France, Italy, Switzerland and Japan make up the remainder of the top 10, with France and Switzerland both dropping places.”

Over the last few years, the trend has been, in fact, trends with one of them being the set of workers simply not wanting to move. 57% said that they would want to move now. 64% were happy to move in 2014. This is a moderate but noticeable trend if calculated over several economies.

The WEF stated, “This is particularly the case in China, where a booming economy means that workers don’t have to look elsewhere for a job, and also in Eastern European economies that are experiencing stronger growth.”

With more closure of nation-states around the world, this could be influencing the situation, too. At the same time, there was some commentary on the nature of the globalization of work.

There is a rising nationalism and authoritarianism while, in simultaneity, a rise in the global nature of the work, i.e., remote and other means by which to work at a distance.

“However, not every country saw a drop in enthusiasm among workers for a cross-border move. More than 90% of Indians and 70% of Brazilians now say they would be willing to move to another country for the right job, up significantly since 2014,” the report stated.

Photo by Andrew Neel on Unsplash

Secretary, Ministry of I&B leads Indian delegation to Cannes Film Festival

India Pavilion is set to be inaugurated at Cannes Film Festival, which will be held from 14th to 25th May 2019. The Pavilion will showcase Indian cinema across linguistic, cultural and regional diversity, with the aim of forging international partnerships in distribution, production, filming in India, script development, technology, promoting film sales and syndication. It will be set up by Ministry of Information & Broadcasting in association with Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry. The Pavilion serves as a platform for the Indian Delegates to meet International Delegates attending the Festival to promote networking with other countries and organizations. The Pavilion also serves as an information dissemination point about India and Indian Cinema for the Global Film Community.

The Indian Delegation this year will be led by Shri Amit Khare, Secretary, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting. The Film Delegation would consist of Shri Prasoon Joshi, Chairman, CBFC and acclaimed filmmakers Shri Rahul Rawail, Shri Shaji N. Karun and Shri Madhur Bhandarkar.

During the Festival, the Indian Delegation will be interacting with key stakeholders of Cannes as well as other members of the film fraternity. A key focus area of the Indian Delegation this year will be to promote the Golden Jubilee Edition of International Film Festival of India to be held in Goa later this year. A specially designed IFFI poster for the Golden Jubilee Edition will also be released during the Festival.

The Delegation will also popularise steps taken to ease shooting films in India through Film Facilitation Office that facilitates Single Window Clearance for film-makers and steps by the Government to combat film piracy. To take advantage of availability of technicians and skilled professionals, India will be showcased as a post-production hub to promote collaborations for films with international production houses. A comprehensive Film Guide will also be distributed at the India Pavilion to showcase the importance of the film ecosystem and Government incentives to shoot in India.

Elaborating further, Shri Amit Khare, Secretary, I&B Ministry said that “the initiatives such as co-production and single window clearance would facilitate integration of the Indian Film makers with production houses worldwide.” He further added that “it would be possible for filmmakers of different countries to come together under bilateral co-production agreements. These arrangements would also forge new markets and wider audiences by making India a hub for shooting world class international movies.”

Amitabh Bachchan shares interesting story behind the title ‘Don’

Big B recently shared the story behind the title of his 1978 blockbuster “Don”, saying that many industry veterans were not happy with the choice of the film’s name. He wrote about it in his blog on the occasion of 41st anniversary of the release of “Don”, which is one of the most popular characters essayed by him.

“‘Don’ was a name title that no one in the market approved of. They never understood what it meant and never felt that a name such as ‘DON’ was material for the title of a Hindi film. In fact, if truth be told… for many it was quite an amusing title,” Bachchan wrote on his blog.

Sharing a funny anecdote on the film title’s comparison with a “very popular brand of vests”, he wrote, “They were carrying the name ‘DAWN’. DON phonetically sounded much like that brand of undergarment in the market. There was consternation in titling a film that conveyed an undergarment.”

The actor revealed after the release of Hollywood classic “Godfather”, the title ‘Don’ became “respectable”. “Much later, of course, with the ‘Godfather’ series the word garnered enough publicity and reckoning, to be respectable enough. But till then, initially, it was in the realm of humour.”