#BNHAF One-on-One Awardee Editions l Chesney - Part 1 l Knowledge Series l Masterclass

 

Know all about singer, actress, producer, Chesney, in this specially curated two-part series.

 

Big congrats on winning at One-on-One Awardee Editions of the #BNHAF Awards and Festival. Here is Part 1 of the series.

ECI felicitates Indian Deaf Cricket team ‘T20 Champions Trophy winners’ to mark International Day of Persons with Disabilities

On the eve of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, the Election Commission of India, felicitated the Indian Deaf Cricket Team, today at Nirvachan Sadan. Welcoming the team, CEC Rajiv Kumar said that the Election Commission salutes the resilience and tenacity demonstrated by the players. The team has brought laurels to the country by winning the T20 Champions Trophy held in UAE by Deaf International Cricket Council. Kumar said it’s important to accord due publicity and visibility to the winners. ECI will explore the possibility of sponsoring a match of the Indian Deaf Cricket Association team with mainstream cricket teams.

 

The Commission also organised a sensitization training workshop for officers of the Commission on ‘Diversity and Inclusion’ by Padma Shri awardee Dr. Niru Kumar, ECI National Icon to mark the International Day of PwDs.

Speaking on the occasion Kumar said that ECI is committed to mainstream and deeply embed the concept and practice of accessibility in ensuring a new normal of enabling environment in the entire election process ecosystem from registration to voting.

Kumar elaborated that with administrative and technological innovations ECI has developed a one stop solution in the form of an APP - Saksham App - for enabling and facilitating the PwDs from enrolment to poll day facilities. The PwD electors can avail various services provided by the ECI enabling their participation in the election process, thus making them Saksham. The App can be downloaded from Google Play Store and Apple store.

ECI has been implementing several measures to ensure accessible facilitation at the polling stations, making them conducive for Persons with Disabilities to cast their vote without any hassles. Notified checklist for provisions such as polling stations on ground floor, standardised ramps, wheelchairs, volunteers, EVM with braille and ballot paper, braille EPIC, accessible toilets, tactile signage, sign language interpreters and pick up drop facility are made available in polling stations. The Commission has also provided the option of postal ballot facility to PwDs with 40% benchmarked disability to vote from the comfort of their homes.

The Commission has carried out milestone initiatives such as:

        Setting up of the National Advisory Committee on Accessible Elections.
        A module on sensitization of election personnel.
        Deploying Accessibility Observers during elections
        Appointing achievers with disabilities as election ambassadors/icons
        Developing awareness films on inclusive elections starring achievers with disabilities

The Commission is dedicated to the goal of inclusive and accessible elections and shall endeavour to increase the participation of PwDs in the electoral process for a truly representative and robust democracy. So far, over 83 lakhs electorate have been mapped as PwDs in the electoral roll across the country.

Scindia inaugurates direct international flight from Pune to Singapore

Minister of Civil Aviation and Steel, Jyotiraditya Scindia inaugurated a direct international flight from Pune to Singapore on 1st December 2022.

 

In his inaugural address, Minister of Civil Aviation and Steel, Jyotiraditya Scindia said that the city of Pune, with its rich historical and cultural heritage, is constantly growing to become a hub for innovation, education, and development. He added that giving an impetus to this growth, the government has planned a gamut of activities to increase Pune’s connectivity, such as enhancing connectivity to domestic and international locations, developing a new terminal, and providing infrastructural support to the city by providing a separate cargo terminal.

 

The Minister further added that the initiation of the Pune – Singapore flight is an important landmark in the history of Pune. He also mentioned about the newly launched flight route between Pune and Bangkok and said that these two routes will not just connect the city to important global destinations but also provide an edge to the development of the city by linking it to a wide range of opportunities related to employment, education, trade, and business.

 

Looking at its increasing capacity, the new terminal is being built with a cost of Rs. 475.39 Cr and will expand its current area from 22,500 square meters to 48,500 square meters. To boost exports from Pune, a new International Air Cargo Terminal is also being built which will be completed by December 2024. A newly built multi-level parking facility worth Rs. 120 crores was recently launched on 25th November, 2022 at the Pune Airport.

The inauguration was graced by the presence of H.E. Gavin Roch, Vice Consul, Consul General of the Republic of Singapore, Prashant Girbane, Director General, MCCIA, Deepak Karandikar, President, MCCIA, Sunil Tingre, MLA, Air Marshal Bhushan Gokhale, Chairperson & Director, MCCIA, Dr. Sudhir Mehta, Chairman & Managing Director, Pinnacle Industries Pvt. Ltd., Vinod Kannan, CEO, Vistara.

Press Release l Record Coal Production and Despatch During April - November 2022

India’s coal production increased impressively by 17.13% to 524.20  Million Ton (MT) during April –November 2022 as compared 447.54 MT production during the same period of the previous year. Coal India Ltd (CIL) coal production reported 412.63 MT up to November of FY 23 as compared to 353.41 MT during the same period of the previous year representing an increase of 16.76%.

With an objective to enhance coal production capacity, Ministry of coal has put 141 new coal blocks for commercial auction and has been engaging regularly with various coal companies in the country and monitoring their production. The all-round efforts made to increase the domestic production and despatch have shown extremely good results. India is the world’s third largest energy consuming country and the demand for electricity grows by about 4.7% annually.

The Ministry has also amended the Mineral Concession (Amendment) Rules, 1960 under MMDR (Amendment) Act, 2021 to allow lessee of captive mines to sell coal or lignite up to 50% of the total excess production after meeting the requirements of the end-use plant. The amendment has paved the way for releasing of additional coal in the market by greater utilization of mining capacities of captive coal blocks which has led to increase in production of coal by Captive and Other companies by 33.41% to 71.07 MT during Apr-Nov’22 as compared to 53.27 MT production during corresponding period of FY 22.

Coal Ministry is taking steps to augment rail connectivity infrastructure for all major mines under PM-Gati Shakti to ensure faster transportation. As a result, the total coal despatch have been to the tune of 557.95 MT during Apr-Nov’22 as compared to 519.26 MT during same period of FY 22 indicating a growth of 7.45 %  which shows steady and efficient amount of coal despatch to various sectors across the nation.

Hospitality, Travel, Tourism and Services Series l Review l Manish Rathore

 By: Amit Kumar Agarwal

 

The Corona pandemic was a test  for everyone. More so for the persons employed in the service industry. The personnel had to take care to render the best of services at the same time ensuring all the precautions for the staff and self.

 

Manish Rathore is one such hero.

He leads the operations at the Canara Bank, Lokhandwala branch in Mumbai as the banks' manager.

 

He says that the period of pandemic and post-pandemic were both tough and testing. He had to ensure that the bank continued to deliver the best services, At the same time he had to keep boosting the morale of the staff that were all going through an effect on personal life because of Corona.

 

He is very satisfied that his bank functioned in the same effective manner post-pandemic, as it did pre-pandemic. He also said that he is constantly striving to enhance customer satisfaction at Canara Bank.

 

On being asked whether it was his self-assuring smile and the positivity he exudes that kept the customers and staff happy; he smiled and almost gushed "the customers and the staff are the best people to answer this question."

#BNHAF One-on-One Awardee Editions l Lisa - Part 2 l Knowledge Series l Masterclass

Know all about upcoming multi-faceted film personality Lisa Riesner in this specially curated two-part series.

 

Big congrats to Lisa on winning at #BNHAF One-on-One Awardee Editions. 

Here is Part 2 of the series.

 

Film Bazaar 2022 l Decoding Independent Film l MasterClass l Talk-Session l Value-Series

By: Amit KumaR Agarwal

Year after year I attend film festivals, film markets and film conclaves, where most of the talks and sessions try to decode independent-filmmaking - making them and selling them. The recently concluded Film Bazaar 2022 organized by NFDC under Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India; was no different. The gist of almost all the sessions and masterclasses was, making a film and selling a film.

 

To know the facts, we need to understand what is Independent Film-making in the first place. Almost 99% of film-makers use the term, but don't know it's meaning!

 

Independent film is any film that does not have a studio involved in the four major phases of film-making 1. Pre-Production 2. Production 3. Post-Production 4. Marketing and Distribution

 

If your film doesn't have a studio involved in any of these four-phases, your film is an independent film and you are an independent filmmaker or indie-filmmaker!

I had the good fortune of attending the MasterClass of Abel Ferrara during the Cannes Film Festival, during the session, the talk steered to what should be the budget of an Indie Film.

 

An aspiring actress turns Producer with an Indie-Film

during the Cannes Film Festival

 

Budget for Indie-Films Without spilling much ink, now since this is a digital-portal, too many words; the gist was, the budget should be anywhere between $100K to $500K for the US market; for the Indian market anywhere from INR2.5 million to INR4 million.

 

Six of my friends in 2022 and 2023 (1st quarter) went against this basic rule. They made indie-films in the range of INR20 million to INR40 million, few had supporting actors from mainstream films; but all these films were debacles because they went against this basic rule. These six films couldn’t even recoup cinema rentals, the belief rather the overconfidence that the films will recoup their money from digital or OTT’s came a cropper because all the OTT’s in the Indian space today have major studios making films and content for them. Had they been realistic they wouldn’t have suffered the losses.

 

Be Realistic This is precisely the second point to take note of. A filmmaker has to be realistic about the subject-matter chosen to make the film. Make films that are achievable in the budget. If you have a film that is not achievable in the budget than you are making a mistake, more often than not, the film will be stuck.

 

Select Scripts that are simple Select simple and strong scripts. When writing, most of the filmmakers don’t have the budget in mind. However, if you’re serious and realistic about making a film, you should first have a clarity, about the budget you have or budget you can raise! Unless you have given a hit film or have a solid network with the studios or people that matter in the film-industry; your first film will be self-financed. As a, yet to make a mark, filmmaker, it’s unlikely that anyone will give you million dollars for your film. If you don’t have extremely wealthy connections, it will be even more challenging. Keeping it simple is the key.

 

Indie Film in US and Europe v/s India Making indie-films in US and Europe is still easier because many countries and states give tax-rebates to individuals that support cinema and media by investing in the films and media. Unfortunately, this is not the case in India, this makes making indie-films in India even tougher.

 

There are many films in the west that have multi-investors, investing as low as US$3,000 to be a producer on an indie-film. Many indie-films have as many as 50 investors. It is all about the network you have.

Marketing Hallmark of each and every successful indie-filmmaker is a solid marketing network. This can help an indie-filmmaker not only in raising funds for the movie, but also the all important sales of the movie. More often than not distribution and exhibition of the movie.

 

Film Festivals This is the most important aspect for an Indie-Filmmaker after the film is made. The thumb-rule is only 1% of all films made in the world are seen by more than 10,000 audiences. There are huge chances that your indie-film won't recoup its investment, but smart move can get you in that list of 1% film-makers where your film is seen by more than 10,000 audiences!

 

Again, most indie-filmmakers exhaust their entire budget in making the film. What will you do by making the film, when it is not seen by anyone?

 

Independent filmmakers ought to realize that while making an indie-film, 25% of the budget should be kept to showcase the film - for the outreach and the visibility of the film.

 

If you are a smart filmmaker that knows this all crucial point, get your film to as many film-festivals as you can. There are more than 50,000 film festivals every year across the world. Enter your film to as many festivals as you can, no matter big or small; point is, your film should be seen at the film festival, you never know from where and from whom, funding of your next film might happen!

JOINT MILITARY EXERCISE HARIMAU SHAKTI - 2022

India - Malaysia joint military Exercise “Harimau Shakti - 2022” commenced at Pulai, Kluang, Malaysia on 28^th November. It will culminate on 12th December 2022. 

 

For the record, HARIMAU SHAKTI is an annual training event between the Indian and Malaysian Army which is being conducted since 2012.

Combat-experienced troops of the GARHWAL RIFLES Regiment of Indian Army and the Royal Malay Regiment of the Malaysian Army are participating in the exercise this year to share experiences gained during operations in order to enhance inter-operability in planning & execution of various operations in jungle terrain. The scope of this exercise involves a Command Planning Exercise (CPX) at the Battalion level and Company level Field Training Exercise (FTX) on sub-conventional operations in jungle terrain.

The joint exercise schedule includes the establishment of a joint command post, joint surveillance centre, sharing expertise in employment of aerial assets, technical demonstrations, casualty management & casualty evacuation apart from planning logistics at the Battalion level. Joint field training exercises, joint combat discussions and joint demonstrations will culminate with a two-day validation exercise, where special emphasis will be on enhancing tactical skills and enhancing inter-operability between the forces and to promote Army to Army relations.

“Exercise HARIMAU SHAKTI” will enhance the level of defence co-operation between Indian Army and the Malaysian Army, which in turn will further foster the bilateral relations between the two nations.

Press Release l Our handicrafts are our living heritage; all efforts should be made to promote them – Vice President

 

The Vice President, Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar today said that our handicrafts are our living heritage and appealed to all consumers of handicraft to appreciate local and be vocal about it. Stressing the need to promote organised marketing and branding of Indian handicraft products, he said that interior designers must focus on this rich mine.

Addressing a gathering after presenting Shilp Guru and National Awards (2017, 2018, 2019) at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi today, the Vice President said that the unique talent of our master craftsmen is representative of Bharat. “With your subtle workmanship, you embellish and enrich India’s cultural diversity. You represent India's rich tradition of skills and craftsmanship,” he told the Shilp Gurus present.

Shri Dhankhar described Indian craftsmen as the impactful ambassadors of our culture and creativity and said that by honouring them, the nation is honouring those generations of unknown skilled craftsmen, who have left behind such a rich legacy.

Observing that it takes generations of training to master these skills, the Vice President said that on account of their creativity, skills and the hard work, India's handicraft is the most sought after in the world. “You represent India's creative tradition, you carry India's Intangible heritage of craftsmanship,” he added.

Highlighting the importance of the handicraft sector in the Indian economy, Shri Dhankhar said it employs more than seven million people, a vast segment of which is the craftspeople in rural & semi-urban areas. He expressed happiness that the handicraft industry in India is dominated by female artisans who form over 56% of the total artisans. 

The Vice President praised the initiatives by the Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts and the Union Textile Ministry in ensuring welfare and wellbeing of the Indian artisans.

Shri Piyush Goyal, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food & Distribution and Textiles, Smt. Rachna Shah, Secretary, Ministry of Textiles, Shri Shantmanu, Development Commissioner (Handicrafts), Ministry of Textiles, awardees from across India and other dignitaries were present.