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Tag: Mamta Banerjee

  • Breaking: Music Maestro Rashid Khan is no more

    Breaking: Music Maestro Rashid Khan is no more

    Mumbai: In a shocking development, music Maestro Rashid Khan passed away on Wednesday. He was battling with cancer on a ventilator and oxygen support for a few days.

    Rashid Khan is the nephew of Ustad Ghulam Mustafa Khan and his mentor and maternal uncle was Ustad Bissar Hussain Khan who passed away in 1993. Rashid Khan had a cerebral attack last month.

    He belongs to Rampur-Sahaswan Gharana and received multiple awards including the prestigious citizenship award ‘ Padmashri and Padmabhushan’.

    Reacting to the news West Bengal Chief Minister Mamta Banerjee expressed, ‘ This is a great loss for the entire country and music fraternity. I am in a lot of pain as I still can’t believe that he is no more.’

    Rashid Khan gave his first concert at the age of 11. He also experimented with music concerts in different styles. He passed away at the age of 55.

  • West Bengal allows theatres to fully reopen

    West Bengal allows theatres to fully reopen

    MUMBAI: Even as the Tamil Nadu government has reversed its decision permitting 100 per cent occupancy in cinema halls following directions from the ministry of home affairs, it is now the turn of West Bengal to allow theatres to fully reopen. West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee made the announcement while inaugurating the 26th Kolkata International Film Festival on Friday.

    Her directive is to be notified by chief secretary Alapan Bandopadhyay and is against the central government’s unlock rules, which stipulate 50 per cent occupancy.

    The move came a day after single-screen owners in West Bengal urged the state government to allow 100 per cent occupancy in theatres, citing poor box office returns as the reason.

    Tamil Nadu had taken a similar decision earlier this week but had to withdraw it on receiving clear cut directions from home secretary Ajay Bhalla that the unlock restrictions must not, under any conditions, be diluted. The current set of unlock guidelines will be enforced till 31 January.

    Soon after, the Tamil Nadu government issued a statement saying that the audience in all cinema theatres, including those in multiplexes and shopping malls, shall be capped at 50 per cent till further orders. The Madras high court had also stated that it believed that the state government should  reconsider its former decision of allowing 100 per cent  occupancy in cinema theatres in view of the Coronavirus situation in the state. It also said that it is not proper to give economic problems top priority when the nation is going through a pandemic.

    Now it remains to be seen is if the home secretary will once again write to the West Bengal authorities and if the Centre’s rules will be followed. It must be recalled that the Tamil Nadu government led by the AIADMK is an ally of the BJP which has formed the Union government. The Trinamool Congress is in power in West Bengal and it is a bitter rival of the Narendra Modi-led BJP.

  • I really wanted to be a part of ISL, says King Khan

    I really wanted to be a part of ISL, says King Khan

    KOLKATA: After a number of starts recently flaunting their football teams, King Khan, who already co-owns a cricket team, expressed his disappointment at not being able to be a part of the Indian Super League (ISL).

     

    The Baadshah of Bollywood who tried to buy the Kolkata franchise of the ISL said that he could not bring himself to buying another city.

     

    “I will say something which is unfortunate and sad for me. I really wanted to be a part of ISL and I wanted to own a football team but there was no way that I would have got Kolkata and if I can’t have Kolkata I can’t have any other city,” the superstar reckoned.

     

    “I was offered every other city but I said I won’t do it,” he added. “If we play football we have to play for Kolkata, you don’t play for any other city. I have all my love for Mumbai and Delhi but the city I back is Kolkata.”

     

    The brand ambassador of West Bengal, who was in Kolkata to promote his latest film Happy New Year described Kolkata as his ‘home’.

     

     “This is my hometown. I have been all over the world to promote this film. But I told them that one place where you have to come is Kolkata which is my own city,” SRK said.

     

    He, however, congratulated Ganguly, the co-owner for the ISL’s Kolkata franchise. “More deserving than me is ‘dada’ (Ganguly) and he should have it and I can’t compete with him…I wish ‘dada’ and everyone in the championship. I hope it does well.”

     

    He said the team is in better hands than him and would do well.

     

    “Even today when I was flying down I felt very sad that I don’t have the football team of Kolkata. I started IPL because I was told that IPL will extend into soccer. My love is for football. I play football, my son plays football and my daughter is the captain in football,” the actor-producer revealed.

     

    He also went to meet West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee with Happy New Year co-actors Sonu Sood, Vivaan Shah and director Farah Khan. “She has told me that she has liked my film although I don’t think she had the time to watch the whole film. She is the ‘didi’ (elder sister), I do not see her only as a chief minister,” Khan said.

     

    Khan, who also co-owns IPL franchise Kolkata Knight Riders, said he had met everyone involved to buy the Kolkata ISL franchisee which was eventually bought jointly by former cricketer Sourav Ganguly, businessmen Harshavardhan Neotia, Sanjiv Goenka, Utsav Parekh and Spanish club Atletico Madrid.

  • Launch of ‘Modi Tsu’namo’ mobile game by Milestone Interactive Group

    Launch of ‘Modi Tsu’namo’ mobile game by Milestone Interactive Group

    MUMBAI: With BJP’s recent win and Narendra Modi all geared up to take charge of India, Milestone Interactive Group, India’s leading game publishing, marketing, retail and distribution organization has launched the Modi Tsu’namo’ mobile game. The game is available on the Google Play Store and celebrates the spirit of elections in a fun and casual manner whereby the player has to match at least three or more faces of popular Indian election candidates including Narendra Modi, Rahul Gandhi, Arvind Kejriwal and Mamta Banerjee in a single swipe of each leader in any continuous motion combination and earn points. Combinations containing Modi will fetch more points than those containing any other leader. Play the game and celebrate this win for Modi and for India and lead the change by sharing it on Facebook.

    Commenting on the launch of the game, Mr Jayont R. Sharma, Chairman & CEO, Milestone Interactive Group said, “The win for BJP and Narendra Modi in the recent Loksabha elections, has encouraged us to launch theModi Tsu’namo’ mobile game. The game is part of our celebration of this momentous occasion. We are certain that with all the support Shri Narendra Modi has garnered, the players will have a good time playing this mobile game.”

    The game is available on: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.milestone.moditsunamo

  • Google partners with Network18 on ‘In Conversation’

    Google partners with Network18 on ‘In Conversation’

    MUMBAI: Network18 and Google announced a joint initiative today to help connect prominent politicians with voters across the country. The partnership involves a series of Google Hangouts with politicians titled ‘In conversation”. First in the series will be Arun Jaitley, Leader of Opposition, Rajya Sabha, who will be addressing voters live via a hangout session on 25th March.

    The 2014 general elections have been acknowledged to be the first in the nation’s history that will be extensively discussed, debated and fought on social media platforms including Google Hangouts and YouTube. The hangout series will involve politicians such as West Bengal CM Mamta Banerjee, Jammu & Kashmir CM Omar Abdullah, Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chauhan, NCP President Sharad Pawar, noted economist Jairam Ramesh and social activist Anna Hazare – discussing key topics and issues on the voters minds.

    Announcing the partnership, Rajan Anandan, VP and Managing Director, Google India, said, “India is a politically vibrant country and the 2014 general elections promises to be a landmark in the history of this nation – it marks the beginning of political parties and candidates embracing Internet to reach out to an educated and digitally savvy group of young and potential voters. We are very excited to partner with Network18 to provide our users with all the information they need and engage the leaders of the country on Google products.”

     
    Commenting on this, Ajay Chacko, COO, Network18 added “At Network18, as a leading editorial voice in the country, we have always focused on ideas and initiatives that encourage our citizens to participate and engage. ‘In Conversation’ is another milestone in this direction and it assumes greater significance given the 200 million+ fast-growing, highly aware digital audience that is shaping the agenda during these elections. We are happy to partner with google in this pioneering effort and are confident that this will serve our audiences well.”

     
    Speaking on the partnership, Rajdeep Sardesai, Editor in Chief, IBN18 Network, said, “Perhaps more than any other election in the past, these elections are about capturing the imagination of millions of both first-time as well as experienced voters. And it is evident that the frontier of this battle is online. ‘In Conversation’ is a landmark because it meshes the power of digital with the impact of a town hall’.

    Making full use of the power of social media and understanding the importance of getting real time feedback from the citizens of the country, Indian politicians have increasingly started using social media platforms like Google+ to reach out to the netizens. In 2012, Gujarat Chief Minister, Narendra Modi, was the first Indian public figure to use Hangouts to reach out to his audience. A number of politicians including Arvind Kejriwal of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram, HRD Minister Shashi Tharoor and others have used Google+ Hangouts to connect with Indian citizens.

    Don’t miss this special series beginning Tuesday, March 25, 2014 at 10:00 PM on CNN-IBN and at 9:30 PM on IBN7.

     

  • Amitabh Bachchan to cut the ribbon for 19th KIFF

    Amitabh Bachchan to cut the ribbon for 19th KIFF

    Veteran actor Amitabh Bachchan will inaugurate the 19th Kolkata International Film Festival in the month of November. Kolkata Chief Minister Mamta Banerjee has made an official declaration regarding the same, “I am very happy and delighted to share with you all, that Shri Amitabh Bachchan ji, a great legend, has kindly accepted our invitation to inaugurate the 19th Kolkata International Film Festival to be held on 10th November, 2013.”

    Bollywood celebrities like, Shah Rukh Khan, Jaya Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan are also expected to be present at the film festival. CM Mamta Banerjee has said that she is making efforts to get the whole Bachchan family at the event and at the same time she said that state’s brand ambassador SRK is also likely to be present there. If all these celebs come in the film festival then it would be really amazing for their fans to see all of them on the same platform together.