Reopening of Cinema halls across Assam: Letters to the Editor

Reopening of Cinema halls across Assam

I am a movie enthusiast and I am writing this to you in order to bring to your notice that various cinema halls have reopened across the State of Assam.

Starting with 4th December 2020 onwards Big Blockbuster Movies such as TENET directed by Christopher Nolan will be screened by Cinema Theatres across the State. Other big movies coming up are Indoo Ki Jawani and Wonder Woman'84 who have confirmed their release in the big screen. It is to be noted that the cinema halls which have reopened till date are maintaining strict protocols to avoid any risk of infections.

Cinema theatres across the State have been seeing low footfalls primarily due to lack of awareness among public that Cinema Theatres have reopened. Furthermore, lack of good content to show in the month of November also added to the low footfalls. However, December onwards with the availability of good content like Tenet, Wonder Woman and Indoo Ki Jawani, the cinema theatres are expecting higher footfalls. It may be further noted that due to huge fixed monthly expenses, pending electricity dues and uncertainty of footfalls, many cinema theatres have still not opened in the State. Cinema theatres which have opened in Guwahati are Grande Cines, Cinepolis, Galleria and Matrix.

It is to be noted that the cinema halls were given a green signal to reopen from the 15th October, but the Assam Cinema Hall Owners' Association (ACHOA) declared the closure of Cinema Halls till 13th November 2020 citing pending electricity dues on account of fixed electricity charges payable monthly without any use due to closure.

During the lockdown it was also seen that OTT platforms were rising with various releases but did not see any good viewership. The big screen can only be experienced at the movie halls and not on small screens. The exhibition sector has faced many hurdles during this year but despite that it has not received any major benefits from the government. Other than government, it is also seen that the exhibition sector did not receive any support from Bollywood industry as they shifted to various streaming sites and did not consider waiting for theatres to reopen. Even now when the theatres have reopened, the movies are being delayed. The exhibition sector is facing a huge crisis, not only in Assam but also across the nation. If Bollywood doesn't support the industry it will become tough for them to survive.

With the help of your esteemed newspaper this message shall reach out to all those movie lovers that they can once again watch their favourite movies at their favourite theatres. This will help cinema theatres to survive in these difficult times as they suffered huge losses already and save employment of many.

Saurav Jalan,

srvjalan02@gmail.com

GST frauds

With the detection of tax frauds in GST to the tune of more than Rs 1.19 lakh crore in the last three years, the Directorate General of Goods and Services Tax Intelligence (DGSTI), has unleashed a crackdown on fake invoicing networks. The volume approximates the budgets of small States, and is close to the deficit that the Centre owes to the States in GST revenues. Of the Rs 1.19 lakh crore, it appears that roughly a quarter has been recovered so far. The DGSTI needs to crack down on existing fraudsters and recover the amounts involved, while the GST Council improves system to ensure that future frauds are checked. The law committee of the GST Council has suggested stringent GST registration processes, which includes an Aadhaar-like biometric identification and an examination of the track record of the applicant, in terms of income tax and GST transactions. The law panel has also suggested that 2 per cent of the GST dues be set aside as a deposit or a bank guarantee. Meanwhile, the DGSTI arrested over 60 individuals in recent days, the amounts running up to Rs 2,500 crore or more. A Finance Ministry memorandum issued in May last year details the modus operandi and motives of fake invoicing. While the motive is generally to claim input tax credit without doing any transaction (supplying goods), it could also be aimed to 'defraud other authorities such as banks by inflating turnovers, laundering of money, etc'. The fake invoicing network involves powerful vested interests, as in borne out by the involvement of the son of a Maharashtra MLA. The ministry points to a network of shell companies at work. The DGSTI needs a free hand. At the same time, a distinction needs to be made between booking the guilty and leaving bona fide entities alone. To prevent the wrong choice of parties to transact business, a list of wrongdoers should be published on the DGSTI portal. The Centre should pursue the matter in a fair, even-handed way, sending out the message that the rule of law rather than arbitrariness shall prevail.

Chandan Kumar Nath,

Sorbhog.

Playing victim card

The words namely 'political vendetta and witch hunt' are generally associated with the politicians when they are caught on the wrong foot. The practice of playing victim card has been going on for decades among the leaders of over hundred-year-old party, the liberators of the country from the clutches of British rule, the Indian National Congress (INC). Whenever and wherever they are caught in siphoning of public money, the culprits cry political vendetta or political witch hunt by the Opposition. India has seen some of the massive scams post independence like Bofors Scam, CWC Scam, Coal Mining Scam, 2G Scam, etc which involved staggering amount of money enough to be annual budget of some other country. Citizens have to identify who is 'Chowkidar' and who is 'Chor' at the earliest. In the meantime, it augurs like people are with the ' Chowkidar'.

Lanu Dutta Chowdhury,

Guwahati

Good governance

It is good to acknowledge that the Collector of Madhya Pradesh's Rajgarh district imposed a fine of Rs. 100 on himself and the official of his department over "shortcomings". A meeting was called for a department-wide review of pending cases of Samadhan Online, Prime Minister's Housing, MGNREGA, CM Helpline, Jansunwai, and the people's representatives. District Magistrate Neeraj Kumar Singh has fined himself and the officials concerned for not resolving 1,139-related complaints. This is setting up a new example of discipline and good governance. Hope that all government departments should complete all tasks on time and ensure that the benefits of the schemes run for the betterment of the people to reach them.

Amit Singh Kushwaha,

Satna (M.P.)

Remarkable win of BJP in Hyderabad

Remarkable win of BJP in Hyderabad Municipal Election is in larger national interest, firstly because a national party now defeating erstwhile dominating a regional party TRS apart from rejection of pseudo-secular politics. With BJP allying with ruling AIADMK in Tamil Nadu with its government in Karnataka, only challenge remains for the party is to capture Kerala.

A big responsibility now rests on BJP where the party should also concentrate on other issues relating to common persons. Otherwise the party may find it difficult to retain its big gain like it lost power in northern States Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh even though defections in Madhya Pradesh later gave power to BJP from back door.

Madhu Agrawal,

Delhi