Below the line

Share it

The latest Salman Khan offering, Sultan , has created a buzz not only in cinema halls but also on Mumbai’s local trains. Some commuters in a jam-packed local train were pretty aghast to see a teen watching the film on his mobile phone. Soon, though, many were cajoling him for a copy through the ‘Share It’ app.

Going by this current trend, film producers would do well to somehow launch their films exclusively on ‘mobile first’ before hitting theatres and movie streaming websites.  Looks like the big screen is shrinking.

Disruptive times

Disruption seems to be the buzzword in business these days. Recently, at an event organised by the BJP in Bengaluru, the IT minister with the additional portfolio of law Ravi Shankar Prasad told an audience of entrepreneurs that disruption is not something restricted to corporates. “There is disruption even in government,” he said. That’s something to chew on. 

Slimming’s a skill

When an invitation to the convocation of a leading slimming centre arrived saying proudly that its chief guest was none other than the newly appointed textiles minister, Smriti Irani, it was a bit puzzling. After all, what interest could a textiles minister possibly have in an institution promoting weight-loss?

But a closer inspection of the invitation revealed that the convocation pertained to a course on beauty and wellness skill development. In all likelihood, the minister had accepted the invitation in her earlier capacity as HRD minister — when skill development was certainly her business.

Seen out of context, though, the irony is amusing.

Blurred lines

The lines between foreign direct investment and foreign portfolio investment are clearly blurring. A Press Information Bureau press release stating that the Cabinet had approved increase in foreign investment in Axis Bank from the current 62 per cent to 74 per cent said the foreign investment would be by way of “Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) / Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) / Non-Resident Indians (NRIs), Foreign Director Investment covering ADRs / GDRs and Indirect Foreign Investment”. So far, so good. But the real surprise was the next line: “With the approval, foreign direct investment to the tune of ₹12,973.14 crore will be received in the country with an estimated creation of 6,000 to 7,000 jobs over the next three years.” So the real question posed for journalists was whether the approval was for FDI or foreign portfolio investments, or anything foreign?

Minister on many beats

Minister of State (independent charge) for Power, Coal and New & Renewable Energy Piyush Goyal also took charge as the mines minister earlier this week, adding to the already long list of responsibilities he has. Soon after he took charge, reporters tracking the energy and infrastructure sectors told Goyal that his portfolio list has started to resemble the list of beats handled by many reporters, and all he needs to do now is add ‘steel’ to his ever-expanding portfolio. Taking this in the right spirit, Goyal retorted with “ Tumhe subah se koi bakra nahi mila, kya ?” (meaning, you couldn’t find any other sucker, could you!)

COMMENT NOW