Singer Katy Perry is reportedly planning to name her daughter after her late grandmother Ann Pearl Hudson.Perry announced last week that she and actor-fiance Orlando Bloom are expecting a little girl .. . Katy is no stranger to India. The inauguration of IPL 5 ~ was not at Chepauk, far away from the Cricket stadium at Nandanam there were more crowds – mad people spending so much – not for seeing cricketers in action………….. butthe event that kickstarted the game. IPL was toutedto bea treat of Cricket entertainment ~ but the stage opened with bollywood diva Kareena Kapoor, Amitabh Bachchan, Prabhudeva, Priyanka Chopra, Salman Khan, Colonial Cousins and Katy Perry.Yes, American Singer, songwriter and actress - Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson better known by her stage name Katy Perry performed for IPL atYMCA College of Physical Education ~ an innovative move to promote and popularize and patronize cricket !!! Amitabh, started the proceedings for the evening with a rendition of a poem 'If I were to be born again', written by renowned lyricist Prasoon Joshi. – the Colonial Cousins Hariharan and Leslie Lewisdid not churn out great stuff.It was away from Cricket, venue was also away from the playing arena and the Opening Nite did not quite live up to the expectations.Katy Perry dance looked a scene straight from any Telegu movie. Life has changed – for sure amidst we do not want entertainments and gatherings be it Cricket or Cinema or Politics !
There is a race
between some States (reason – Health Secretary would say meeting at one place –
will not name or identify the group !) - among the states with high numbers of
COVID-19 cases, Madhya Pradesh is fighting the battle against the virus with Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, in a
rather piquant situation having assumed
office on March 23, 2020. Shivraj Singh Chouhan is the 17th and current
Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, having been elected to the same position 3
times in the past and a Member of Legislative Assembly in Madhya Pradesh. He holds the record as the state's longest
serving Chief Minister.
Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chauhan has
taken a meeting of the state level advisory committee of banks in the ministry.
In this meeting, he said that there is a situation of lockdown in the state due
to Corona crisis. Many districts have also been sealed. In such a situation,
provide bank access to the public to provide cash for the need.He added that facility of withdrawal of
various government schemes should be provided to the account holders in the
village itself. ATMs of banks Stay in money Digital payments should be
encouraged. For this work, banks should do their branch-wise and village-wise
micro planning. A workaholic, Chouhan
has been busy round-the-clock, conducting field visits, addressing field
officers, devising strategy with his core team of officers, and conversing with
the public through video addresses. His Twitter handle has remained active with
information and important advisories.
The
most prestigious and rocking International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards
2020 will be held for the very first time in Madhya Pradesh (MP), over the last
weekend in March, and that too in our rocking city Indore, along with some
events in Bhopal too !! IIFA 2020 will be held in association with the MP
government !! (old news !!) – it certainly would have had glamour quotient but
what is that ‘prestigious’ !. Since
they began in the year 2000, the IIFA awards have been captivating audiences in
more than 15 locations across 12 countries and 4 continents !! IIFA has always
chosen some of the most iconic landmarks across the world, as venues for these
rocking awards, such as the Millennium Dome - London, Sun City - Malaysia, New
York, Johannesburg, Singapore, Amsterdam, Dubai, Yorkshire, Thailand, Macau,
Colombo, Spain, Toronto, and Mumbai !! And therefore, it is no wonder that IIFA
chose India's most rocking city Indore to host the 2020 Awards function !! rocking
campus of The Daly College !! it was
announced that Bollywood star Salman Khan will host the 21st International
Indian Film Academy (IIFA) awards at his ‘home town’ Indore of Madhya Pradesh
to be held from March 27 to 29. A pre-event festival would be held in Bhopal on
March 21.
This was announced
at a press conference on Monday at Bhopal, attended by Salman Khan, Jacqueline
Fernandez and the then Chief Minister
Kamal Nath.The cine star lauded the leadership and initiative of CM
Nath saying a young state like Madhya Pradesh cannot have a younger chief minister than Kamal Nath ‘who can
stand up for anything’. (Kamal nath is 74 and Chauhan is at least 13 years younger!).
Nath on his part said the IIFA organisers made a good choice when they selected
Madhya Pradesh as the venue for the award ceremony.Nath further said he wanted to dedicate the
award to the tribal and poor youth of the state and was confident that such
events showcased the state’s potential to attract investment and generate
employment and livelihood opportunities.Jacqueline Fernandez, who visited Bhopal for the first time, was
commented as being so close to the CM. A number of state ministers, including
Tourism Minister Surendra Singh Baghel and Culture Minister Vijaylaxmi Sadho,
Chhindwara Member of Parliament Nakul Nath and chief secretary of MP S.R.
Mohanty, were also present at the event.
The stadium where the event was to be held has a total of 11000 seats for spectators. The
cheapest ticket was to be available for Rs.500.
The rates for VVIP seats were reportedly one to three lakh rupees per person. It was announced that food vouchers and
parking will be free for those taking Gold Block tickets. All that is a thing
of the past – the CM has changed, event cancelled and.. ..
Amidst the outbreak
of the Wuhan Coronavirus, the Shivraj Singh-led-government in Madhya Pradesh
has decided to transfer Rs.700 crores to the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund, which were
earlier kept aside by former Chief Minister Kamal Nath to conduct the IIFA
(International Indian Film Academy) ceremonies in Bhopal and Indore. The amount
is mind-boggling !the IIFA ceremonies were to be held in March 2020
and was planned to be telecasted in 90 countries at an expense of ₹700 crores. Kamla
Nath wanted to use the mega event to promote his State. Even then, Shivraj
Singh Chouhan had suggested the then MP Government reconsider its plans and
instead use the money for farm loan waiver and flood relief.
The IIFA event was
planned as a big event in the state, however, in the present situation the
amount to be spent on the mega ceremony will be transferred to the Chief
Minister’s Relief Fund for COVID-19 assistance”, Shivraj Singh Chouhan is quoted
as saying after the ceremony was cancelled. After a sudden spike in the number of
coronavirus cases, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister on Wednesday ordered three
major cities Indore, Bhopal, and Ujjain to be sealed completely. Alongside
this, the government had also announced a complete lockdown of 14 districts
amid the coronavirus threat. The state government also invoked the Essential
Services Management Act (ESMA) in the state with immediate effect to combat
COVID-19 to ensure essential supplies and services are operational during this
crisis.
With regards – S.
Sampathkumar
10.4.2020.
