Boost To Road Infra: PM Modi Opens Kiratpur-Nerchowk 4-Lane Section In Himachal

by Pabitra Mohan Senapaty

NEWS HIGHLIGHTS

In a major push to road infrastructure in Himachal Pradesh, whose economy largely banks on tourism and horticulture, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday virtually inaugurated Kiratpur to Nerchowk four-lane section of the NH-21 that falls on the Chandigarh-Manali stretch.

Shimla, Mar 11: In a major push to road infrastructure in Himachal Pradesh, whose economy largely banks on tourism and horticulture, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday virtually inaugurated Kiratpur to Nerchowk four-lane section of the NH-21 that falls on the Chandigarh-Manali stretch.

The new four-lane stretch was constructed at a cost of around Rs 3,400 crore.

The execution of the road project by the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) between Kiratpur in Punjab and Manali will shorten the distance from 232 km to 195 km, reducing the travel time by three hours.

Officials said that the work on the Pandoh bypass to Takoli, which is underway, will provide round-the-year connectivity to Manali.

It will become the largest cross-sectional tunnel in the region and reduce travel time from Mandi to Manali by 90 minutes, say officials.

The Pandoh to Takoli stretch has four twin tube tunnels, two single tube tunnels, two major and nine minor bridges, one elevated bridge and 19 km road.

Even on normal days, tmotorists are advised to travel with precaution between Mandi and Kullu towns owing to landslide-prone, narrow and sinking stretches due to loose rock strata and vulnerable to being flooded by the Beas river that ran along the highway.

The twin tube tunnels built between Pandoh and Aut as part of the Kiratpur-Manali project, bypasses the landslide-prone stretch that passes via the Hanogi Mata temple.

Every year after heavy rainfall, the flooded Beas flows over the highway between Kullu and Mandi that has steep hills on one side and deep valleys of the river on the other.

The NHAI in August last year opened the Kiratpur-Nerchowk section of highway for all vehicular traffic on a trial basis.

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A large section of the highway between Takoli and Kullu, and Kullu to Manali, which had been completed, suffered heavy damage during last July's flash floods and landslides.

A significant portion of it was completely washed away near Manali.

(IANS)

Ad-free movies in theatres? A new viewing experience awaits cinema lovers

by Utkalika Mohanty

Mumbai, Apr 27: Watching content on any medium with commercials peppered during its runtime is not a pleasant experience for viewers. Some of them opt for a premium OTT subscription and get a seamless experience, but theatres and television channels still regard advertisements as a revenue stream.

The scenario, though, is changing. Theatres too are taking the ad-free route to offer an unparalleled cinematic experience to the audience, which hasn't been forthcoming about going to watch movies on the big screen.

So, how does a theatre earn additional revenue if it gives up on commercials before each show and during intermissions? Commercials, after all, have been a feature of the cinema-viewing experience for as long as people remember.

Well, the trick seems to be the utilisation of time. The string of advertisements per screening of a movie clocks anywhere between 30-35 minutes. Bypassing commercials, each theatre can save about 45 minutes and use it for the next screening, thereby generating additional revenue from ticket sales and food and beverage services.

The ad-free movie experience is now available in the luxury segment of PVR INOX. The idea behind this experience stems from the time-conscious nature of the audience.

Renaud Palliere, Chief of The Luxury Collection and Innovation, PVR INOX Limited, in a conversation with IANS, shared insights into why the chain has decided to go ad-free for the premium segment.

"We discovered that a specific audience set valued time more than anything else," Palliere said. "The pre-show segment or the advertisements run for 30 to 40 minutes and we learnt that this audience figured that out. Not only did they figure it out, they also started arriving late for the movies to avoid the ads. They arrived close to the showtime. The doors of the hall are open as soon as it is ready to seat the audience."

Talking about the impact of the changing audience behaviour, Palliere said, "Their arrival at the hall a few minutes before the screening of the movie kind of defeated the purpose of advertisements. That's the reason we decided to come up with providing an ad-free experience to the viewers. As I mentioned, this set of audience is willing to pay more, but doesn’t like to compromise on time."

Palliere added that PVR INOX has decided to launch the ad-free experience for movies in three cities -- Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru -- in about 10 "ultra premium" Insignia and Director's Cut cinemas, and "the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive".

Palliere added: “They now experience only 10 minutes of the pre-show package, which consists of trailers and teasers of upcoming movies."

The revenues of each of the participating theatres have not been affected in the least. LED installations and plasma screens in the lounge and the gallery of each theatre are still very much intact, ensuring a steady flow of revenue from ads. These are the common areas and are accessed by the audience cutting across all segments.

The multiplex chain has no plans of rolling out the ad-free experience to the rest of its cinemas, except those in the premium segment, which will see a further scaling up in the second phase of the rollout.

"Beyond the premium group of patrons, there seems to be no point in rolling out this feature to other audience segments that watch movies in theatres," Palliere concluded.

(IANS)

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IPL 2024: No Coetzee & Shaw As Mumbai Indians Elect To Bowl First Against Delhi Capitals

by Hemanta Pande

New Delhi, Apr 27: Five-time champions Mumbai Indians have won the toss and elected to bowl first against Delhi Capitals in match 43 of IPL 2024 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

MI are at ninth place in the points table, while DC are at sixth position. The last time these two teams met in IPL 2024, MI won by 29 runs in the afternoon game at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai earlier this month.

After winning the toss, captain Hardik Pandya said fast-bowler Gerald Coetzee is out due to a stomach bug and left-arm pacer Luke Wood comes into the playing eleven. “The ground is small. It's better to bat second on a smaller ground. Every game is a new game, we make sure we are not out. We keep fighting and keep coming hard in each game.”

“The mood is fine, happy chats, all is well. You should not really focus on what has happened in the past. Anyone can beat anyone. Our goal is to play our brand of cricket and put our best foot forward,” he said.

DC skipper Rishabh Pant said he was looking to bat first, and added opener Prithvi Shaw is out due to an injury, with wicketkeeper-batter Kumar Kushagra coming into the playing eleven. DC have also got South Africa fast-bowler Lizaad Williams into the playing eleven in place of fellow countryman Anrich Nortje.

“I think it will get slower in the second innings. It has been amazing, we're getting the kind of wickets we want. As a team we have to play well and we have been. This is something we talked about - how to control the innings. Bowling with the new ball and bowling at the death is difficult, one over here or there is making all the difference,” he said.

The pitch for Saturday’s match has no grass and looks barren, with it expected to aid spinner. The square boundaries are at 59m and 64m respectively, with straight boundaries measured at 73m and one side of behind the wicket standing at just 54m.

Playing XIs

Delhi Capitals: Jake Fraser-McGurk, Kumar Kushagra, Shai Hope, Rishabh Pant (captain & wicketkeeper), Tristan Stubbs, Abishek Porel, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Lizaad Williams, Mukesh Kumar and Khaleel Ahmed

Substitutes: Rasikh Dar Salam, Praveen Dubey, Vicky Ostwal, Ricky Bhui and Sumit Kumar

Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan (wicketkeeper), Tilak Varma, Nehal Wadhera, Hardik Pandya (captain), Tim David, Mohammad Nabi, Piyush Chawla, Luke Wood, Jasprit Bumrah and Nuwan Thushara

Substitutes: Suryakumar Yadav, Naman Dhir, Shams Mulani, Dewald Brevis and Kumar Kartikeya (IANS)

Boost To Road Infra: PM Modi Opens Kiratpur-Nerchowk 4-Lane Section In Himachal

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