Updated: 16 September, 2020 11:03 IST |
ANI |
Washington D.C
The release of Scarlett Johansson-starrer Black Widow has been delayed several times since its original release date in May
Scarlett Johansson as the Black Widow
The much-awaited Marvel superhero film 'Black Widow' which was slated for release on November 6, is likely to get its release delayed, according to Variety. The studio is also known to explore various release options for Pixar's animated film 'Soul' which was scheduled for a November 20 release.
According to Variety, the studio is also considering releasing 'Soul' on its online video streaming platform Disney Plus. This comes days after Warner Bros. announced that the release of 'Wonder Woman 1984' has been shifted to late December from early September.
Around 70 per cent of the cinema halls in America have reopened after COVID induced shutdown but many are facing problems in attracting audiences. The release of Scarlett Johansson starrer 'Black Widow' has been delayed several times since its original release date in May.
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First Published: 16 September, 2020 10:31 IST
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PDP Holds First Party Meet after Article 370 Abrogation, Mehbooba Mufti Still Under House Arrest
File photo of PDP leader and former J&K chief minister Mehbooba Mufti.
The meeting held at the PDP headquarter was attended by party leaders Abdul Rehman Veeri, Ghulam Nabi Lone Hanjura, Khursheed Aalam, Waheed-ur-Rehman Parra, Suhail Bukhari among others.
Last Updated: September 16, 2020, 4:39 PM IST
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) held its first meeting in Srinagar on Wednesday in more than a year after the abrogation of Article 370 on August 5 last year.
The meeting held at the PDP headquarter was attended by party leaders Abdul Rehman Veeri, Ghulam Nabi Lone Hanjura, Khursheed Aalam, Waheed-ur-Rehman Parra, Suhail Bukhari among others.
However, party president Mehbooba Mufti continues to remain under house arrest. Earlier, a meeting called by the party could not take place after most of the party leaders were not allowed to move out of their residences.
PDP leader Suhail Bukhari said for the first time the party's youth leadership was allowed to move out of their residences and hold the meeting at the party office.
Welcoming the PDP meet, former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah tweeted: "Good to see Youth JKPDP make a start with political meetings. Political activities must resume unhindered and the administration is duty bound to ensure a level playing field for all political parties."
A broker monitors share prices while trading at a brokerage firm in Mumbai. (File photo: Reuters)
The Indian markets inched higher in Wednesday's morning deals after a flat opening, lifted mainly by auto stocks .
The S&P BSE Sensex added 140 points at 39,190 levels and the Nifty50 index topped the 11,550-mark. Mahindra & Mahindra (up 5%) was the top Sensex gainer, followed by Larsen & Toubro, and Bajaj Auto (all up 3%). On the other hand, State Bank of India and Axis Bank were trading half a per cent lower.
Aurobindo Pharma rose 4 per cent in early deals after the company announced its collaboration with Council of Scientific and Industrial Research to develop vaccines to protect against Covid-19.
The trend among Nifty sectoral indices was largely positive, led by Nifty Auto index, up 2 per cent.
In the broader market, the S&P BSE MidCap and SmallCap indexes were trading 0.4 per cent higher, each.
In an exclusive meeting with Financial Express Online, Markand Adhikari, Chairman and Managing Director, SAB Group, talked about his journey of 40-year, the advancing substance utilization situation, effect of COVID-19 on M&E industry and substantially more. Excerpts:
Markand Adhikari, Chairman and Managing Director, SAB Group
The Sri Adhikari Brothers Group is a known name in Indian television industry and they have been associated with TV for ages. One of the early birds in TV industry they started as a little family-claimed association firm by siblings Markand Adhikari and late Gautam Adhikari in 1985, turned into the first openly recorded TV creation organization. SAB TV (which is presently essential for the Sony Pictures Networks bouquet) as of late finished 20 years in the business, while SAB Group’s mainstream music channel Mastii has finished 10 years in the business. In an exclusive meeting with Financial Express Online, Markand Adhikari, Chairman and Managing Director, SAB Group, talked about his journey of 40-year, the advancing substance utilization situation, effect of COVID-19 on M&E industry and substantially more. Excerpts:
Two Decades in the market for SAB Group & Four decades of your contribution in this Industry – What have been the key milestones in this journey?
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It has been an incredible journey so far. SAB Group has been active in Broadcasting for 20 years now, and my experience during the overall 40 years of my experience is unparalleled. SAB Group being a core media conglomerate, had commenced its journey through a small advertising agency. My late brother Gautam was an art director back then. In the early ’80s, Doordarshan was so immensely popular that we used to approach them for sponsoring entertainment programs. For almost ten years, we continued programmes on Doordarshan- both national and regional. We produced many popular daily programmes like “Shrimaan Shrimati,” “All The Best,” “Hello Inspector,” “Waqt Ki Raftar,” “Suraag,” and many more of around thousands of hours for Doordarshan.
We were the first ones to be approached to produce programs such as “Commander” and Philips Top Ten” by the first satellite television ZEE TV in 1991. For the overseas UK based channel- TV Asia, we had created new programs. We were one of the first media/production houses listed on both the Stock Exchanges: BSE and NSE in the year 1995. That was how SAB TV was founded on 23rd April 2000. We created one of a kind niche category by changing the whole programming into comedy. Programs like “Office Office” and “Yes Boss” had made waves in the industry.
In 2010, Mastiii was launched with a new concept of comedy and music, which became an instant hit and was positioned number 1 in just a month. We had found a Bhojpuri channel “Dabangg,” Marathi music channel “Maiboli.
We have launched “Governance now” the public policy magazine (now Digital post covid) which has created its own niche and credibility amongst readers.
We’ve also produced and distributed films like “Pyar Ka Punchnama 2”, “Missing,” “Great Grand Masti,” multi-starrer “Total Dhamaal,” and some others on the regional front.
We’ve released our first web film, “Dheet Patangey” premiered on Disney+Hotstar on 2nd March 2020. As our future is digital, we have more movies and web series in our pipeline for various platforms.
With India now entering Unlock 4.0, how do you observe the revival of the Entertainment sector in this?
This COVID-19 pandemic has had enough impact on every media house, and SAB Group is no exception. While April was terrible, having revenues deepened down to 85%, the month of May did comparatively better. From June, the revenue percentage increased but was still relatively backward from the pre-COVID scenario.
We have high hopes for the festive season, but festive revenues are just a temporary boost up. The real analysis will begin from January 2021 onwards. With the unlocking of big metros, and particularly the exact time period of launch of waxing will revive economy. But the same will get slow momentum as it has the past COVID baggage.
What are your thoughts on the impact on the Television Industry amidst OTT’s gaining popularity?
Undeniably, OTT platforms have created its one-of-a-kind category in the industry and are doing so well. We can too watch our favorite channels on OTT platforms anytime and anywhere. Our future is digital, it offers us such stupendous advantages, but traditional Indian families still like to watch TV with their family members in the evening on dinner time. So, Television is here to stay. When I say Television, it means Television Channels comes on TV screen via cable or DTH mode, otherwise TV screen is just a monitor. Still Daily newspapers are not out yet (talking about pre-COVID era), how can TV Channels be out?
We have witnessed significant content consumption during the lockdown period, is there also any paradigm shift to viewership content in India?
As I mentioned earlier, today, movies and web series on OTT platforms have gained stupendous popularity because people love their new and unexplored content. Web series has created one-of-a-kind categories amongst the youth in the entertainment industry. And this lockdown brought a tremendous change in the industry with more people subscribing to OTT platforms for watching films and web series of varied genres. It is undoubtedly a new trend, not going to fade. The television industry, on the other hand, took one step backwards. It started broadcasting old TV shows to arouse the feeling of nostalgia in the minds of the viewers. We love to watch the acceptable ancient Ramayana on the TV after years as it makes us nostalgic and reminds us of our childhood. Several other channels had also started broadcasting old daily soaps which were once so immensely popular among the viewers. Undoubtedly, television has also succeeded in engaging the viewers in its way.
What does the future roadmap look like for SAB Group? What would be your key focus areas for growth?
Like I always say, that SAB Group will forever remain as a core media conglomerate. We can’t deny that digital is our future. Keeping this in mind, we shall be mostly focused on creating exciting content for digital. SAB Group would like to grow in our present horizons, and the sky’s the limit for creativity.
Social Distancing Globally Won't Help Combat COVID-19; World Needs Multilateralism: UNGA Prez
Social distancing at the global level will not help as no country could combat COVID-19 alone, President of the UN General Assembly's 75th session Volkan Bozkir has said, asserting that multilateralism is the panacea to all the problems in the world. Bozkir, addressing the UN ambassadors and delegates, said that since the beginning of the crisis earlier this year, critics of multilateralism have become more vocal and the pandemic has been used to justify unilateral steps and weaken the rules-based international system.
Last Updated: September 16, 2020, 11:36 AM IST
United Nations: Social distancing at the global level will not help as no country could combat COVID-19 alone, President of the UN General Assembly’s 75th session Volkan Bozkir has said, asserting that multilateralism is the panacea to all the problems in the world. Bozkir, addressing the UN ambassadors and delegates, said that since the beginning of the crisis earlier this year, critics of multilateralism have become more vocal and the pandemic has been used to justify unilateral steps and weaken the rules-based international system.
“In the past six months, our plans for the 75th year of the United Nations have changed. Today, we have other urgent priorities. Our masks remind us of the very serious threat we face They remind us we are in this together, Bozkir said as the 75th session of the General Assembly commenced on Tuesday. Wearing masks, UN diplomats and envoys sat socially distanced in the iconic General Assembly Hall as the high-level annual session begins in a largely virtual format this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
International organisations have been reproached and the need for international cooperation has been questioned. These criticisms are not baseless but their conclusions are misguided, the veteran Turkish diplomat told the 193-member General Assembly. Giving a clarion call for strengthening multilateralism to combat the pandemic, Bozkir said, Make no mistake: No state can combat this pandemic alone. Social distancing will not help at the international level. Unilateralism will only strengthen the pandemic.
It will move us further away from our shared goal. At this time of crisis, it is our responsibility to strengthen people’s faith in multilateral cooperation and international institutions, with the UN at their center. Later, addressing the UN correspondents at a press briefing, Bozkir said that multilateralism is the panacea to all the problems of the world.
Multilateralism can best be implemented in the United Nations platform, he said. Responding to a question on whether he thinks the UN can survive a second term of US President Donald Trump, who has been very critical of its agencies and withdrawn from the UN entities and agreements like the World Health Organization and the Paris climate accord, he said if the UN shows to the world that it is doing its job in a strong manner and the wind is blowing from all the world behind to the UN, then I don’t think any country or any person can think of abolishing this institution or lessening its strength.
Personally, I don’t have any concern about it. I have full trust that the United Nations is irreplaceable and it will be with us for another 75 years, he said. Bozkir said that there is a need to continue a frank, transparent and results-oriented dialogue about what went wrong in our efforts to contain the virus and what we have to do to avoid a similar situation in the future.
He stressed that the international community will also need to ask and answer questions about how COVID-19 vaccines can be distributed fairly and equitably. This is not just a question of health and economics, but of ethics in the most profound way. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, addressing the opening of the 75th session of the General Assembly, said in the landmark year of the world organisation, it is clear that the world has high expectations of us, as the main platform for multilateralism and cooperation on a rules-based international system.
The nature of multilateralism is changing and I have frequently pointed to the need for a more networked and inclusive multilateralism for the 21st century, Guterres said, welcoming Bozkir’s pledge to work towards consolidating trust and cohesion among UN member states, major groups of countries and other international organisations. These efforts are essential to the unity and solidarity we need in this next crucial year, as we respond to the pandemic, build a strong recovery and implement the Sustainable Development Goals, Guterres said.
For the first time in the 75-year history of the United Nations, state heads and government, ministers and diplomats from 193-UN member states will not be gathering in New York for the high-level UNGA week due to the coronavirus pandemic. World leaders will send pre-recorded video statements in advance to the UN for the largely virtual General Debate as well as other virtual summits planned during the session, including the high-level meetings to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the UN.
Bozkir added that during the 75th Session, a Special Session will be convened to discuss the COVID-19 pandemic and a second one against corruption.
Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor
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