'Avengers: Endgame' on way to be first Rs 300-crore Hollywood film in India

Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Endgame is inching towards the Rs 300-crore mark after it collected Rs 157.2 crore (net after tax) at the Indian box office in the first weekend of its release. Given the demand, the good reviews and word of mouth, distributors and exhibitors feel the movie is set to enter the Rs 300-crore club within 10 days of its release.

Endgame has marginally surpassed Avengers: Inifnity War’s (2018) first-week collection (Rs 156.64) in just three days. This also puts the movie in the league of some of the most successful Indian movies.

Suniel Wadhwa, independent distributor and box office analyst, says while the film was expected to do well at the box office, the collections have been better than expected. “Earlier, it was unconceivable that a Hollywood film with dubbed versions could deliver a collection above Rs 100 crore in the first weekend. Today, it’s a reality.”

“Forecasting Endgame’s lifetime collection is near impossible at this point. However, should Endgame deliver a similar multiplier as Infinity War (first weekend Rs 94.3 crore), it seems safe to assume this movie will become the first Hollywood film to surpass Rs 300 crore at the Indian box office.” Bollywood has seen eight movies breach the mark, and all of them were released in at least 4,000 screens at the time of launch.

Released in around 2,800 screens across multiple exhibition formats (2D, 3D, IMAX 3D, and 3D 4DX) in three Indian languages — Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu — besides English, the movie made Rs 53.1 crore on the first day, becoming the highest opener of the year so far, and the highest Hollywood opener in India. It is now second only to SS Rajamouli’s Baahubali 2: The Conclusion in terms of the opening day collections in the country across languages. The record for the highest Hollywood opening was previously held by Avengers: Infinity War at Rs 31 crore.

“The massive response by audience across the country is a testimony of how emotionally invested the Marvel fans are in the Avengers franchise. They eagerly waited to watch the culmination of the journey and their love for Marvel characters is clearly evident,” says Bikram Duggal, head - studio entertainment, Disney India.

The film held onto business on Saturday with a collection of Rs 51.4 crore, and followed it up with a marginal jump in collections on Sunday at Rs 52.7 crore. With this, it also became one of the few movies to have crossed the Rs 100-crore mark in the first weekend.

Endgame witnessed the most robust distribution for any Hollywood film. Even with a runtime of three hours (without an interval), there were 13,000 shows per day. It was the first time that exhibitors ran 24x7 programming for a Hollywood film.

“The demand for the movie has been phenomenal, which has resulted in Endgame performing even better than expected. Non-metro cities have shown equal demand, which contributed to its fabulous run. We have seen 85 per cent occupancy in the first weekend across markets. While in case of metro cities, heavy advance bookings were done, in non-metros, the uptake was quicker for current bookings,” says Devang Sampat, director - strategic initiatives, Cinépolis India.

92 trips to 57 countries since 2014: Here's what PM Narendra Modi achieved

As Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi bids for reelection, his party has said his skillful diplomacy on the world stage has increased India’s global stature and brought in a flood of investment.

But what exactly have Modi’s foreign travels achieved? With 92 trips to 57 countries since coming to power in May 2014, Modi has flown abroad nearly twice as much as his predecessor Manmohan Singh in five years.

While Modi’s visits have won praise from supporters for boosting India’s global profile, the costs associated with them -- and the optics of traveling abroad so often in a country where many farmers are struggling -- have triggered some criticism. The main opposition Indian National Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has accused Modi of ignoring problems at home.

A closer look at Modi’s trips show that while some have yielded vague agreements that may not develop into anything substantial, doubters may still be exaggerating the negatives. Summit meetings accounted for roughly a third of Modi’s visits. And his arrival in each foreign capital made a symbolic statement about New Delhi’s world outlook.

Modi also made a point of repeatedly meeting leaders such as Japan’s Shinzo Abe and Russia’s Vladimir Putin, whose countries provide much-needed industrial investment and defense technology. Here’s more:

Foreign direct investment into India in Modi’s first term amounted to $193 billion, 50 percent more than the preceding five years.

At the same time, despite a high-profile push to generate jobs through manufacturing, much of the FDI has continued to flow into India’s services and capital-intensive industries, not labor-intensive ones.

While Modi won investment commitments from longstanding economic and strategic rival China, it largely remains a non-starter. FDI from China totaled $1.5 billion in the four years to March 2018, data from India’s central bank show, against $20 billion President Xi Jinping promised in the five years from 2014.

Under Modi, India started purchasing crude and liquefied natural gas cargoes from the US for the first time. In the last five years, he struck deals from Russia to the Middle East securing oil assets for India. He got the world’s biggest oil exporter Saudi Aramco to agree to invest in India’s largest oil refinery, and the U.A.E. to fill up strategic oil reserves, reducing the strain on state finances.

More broadly, Modi has maintained relations with Gulf countries crucial to India’s energy security even as he strengthened ties with Iran. However, the opposition has criticized the prime minister’s diplomacy for failing to win continued access to cheaper Iranian crude in the face of increasing US pressure on Tehran.

Mohammed Bin Salman, modi Mohammed Bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, with Modi in New Delhi on Feb. 20.Photographer: T. Narayan/Bloomberg

Big Projects

Modi has tried to tap a number of countries for strategic projects, which has occasionally brought him political grief.

After making the first-ever visit to Israel by an Indian premier, Modi has continued to seek advanced defense and water technology from Tel Aviv. With Japan, India is building a bullet train in Modi’s native Gujarat state -- although the slow pace of land acquisition has led to criticism.

In 2016, Modi signed an $8.7 billion deal for 36 Rafale fighter planes from France. The move has come under intense scrutiny since then for alleged rule violations, which his government has denied. Opponents have continued to use the deal to question the government’s anti-corruption credentials.

modi Modi with Putin in 2017, clockwise from top left, with Abe in 2016, in France in 2015 and in Israel in 2017

Soft Power

Modi has tried to use his trips to bolster India’s global image as an investment destination and a rising global power. He’s addressed the World Economic Forum in Davos and the Shangri-La security dialogue in Singapore.

Modi used a rare informal summit with China’s Xi in the city of Wuhan last year to patch up geopolitical tensions between New Delhi and Beijing following a military stand off in the Himalayas.

However several trips, including a surprise visit to Pakistan in 2015, did not yield any tangible results. And though Modi has approached diplomacy with vigor, some analysts suggest he has not injected the resources -- or implemented the reforms -- necessary to improve India’s standing in the world.

Uber drivers plan 12-hr protest in 6 US cities over low wages ahead of IPO

Uber Technologies Inc's drivers in six US cities are planning to shut their apps for 12 hours on May 8 to protest against low wages and working conditions, two days ahead of the company's expected market debut.

Drivers in San Francisco, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Diego, Philadelphia and Washington DC will shut their app on the day, when a separate protest will be carried out outside Uber's head office in San Francisco, a spokeswoman for Gig Workers Rising, a campaign for gig workers, told Reuters.

About "hundreds of drivers" are likely to join the protest, with Los Angeles and San Francisco expected to see a higher concentration of people, Clarkson said on Monday.

The drivers' demands also include employee benefit plans such as health care, holiday pay and representation in Uber's management structure.

Uber expects to price its IPO on May 9 and begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange the following day, people familiar with the matter have said.

"Uber's IPO will put millions in the pockets of executives, but the drivers who provide the service that is core to the company will get nothing, " Clarkson said.

To improve relations with drivers, Uber had announced plans to offer cash bonuses to some of its most active drivers with the option to purchase shares in the company's market debut.

PNB takes Tarapur Textiles Park to DRT for $13-million loan default

With investigations into Nirav Modi scam in full swing, Punjab National Bank (PNB) has unearthed yet another default from its London branch. The bank has moved the Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT) against Tarapur Textiles Park for defaulting an amount worth $13 million.

A PNB official said Tarapur Textile account had turned into a non-performing asset and PNBIL (PNB International Ltd) has initiated recovery proceedings against the borrower.

The case had been filed in the DRT by PNBIL in July last year and the matter is pending in court since then, PNB said.

The bank is investigating why the loan was given by the London branch when the project was set up by an Indian company in Maharashtra. The bank has also invoked the personal guarantees of the promoters but it has not yielded any results so far for the bank in its bid to recover the dues.

An email sent to Tarapur Textiles did not elicit any response.

In February last year, PNB made headlines but jeweller Nirav Modi-owned Firestar International and Gitanjali Gems defaulted loans worth Rs 14,300 crore. Nirav Modi is currently in the custody of British authorities even as his plea against extradition to India is heard by an appeal court. In August 13 last year, Allahabad Bank Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Usha Ananthasubramanian was sacked by the government, a day before retirement, for her alleged involvement in the Rs 14,300 PNB fraud.

Delhi HC rejects plea to bar media from publishing allegations against CJI

The Delhi High Court on Monday dismissed a plea seeking to restrain the media from publishing allegations of sexual harassment against Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi by a former Supreme Court employee.

A bench headed by Chief Justice Rajendra Menon said the top court is already seized of the matter and no interference was needed.

The plea, filed by NGO Anti Corruption Council of India, had said publication of allegations against the CJI directly hit the Indian judicial system.

The petition had sought immediate restriction on the media from further telecasting or publishing the allegations till conclusion of the three-judge panel's inquiry.

The allegations levelled by the former woman employee of the Supreme Court are being enquired into by a three-judge panel of the apex court which held its first proceeding on Friday last.

Cyclone 'Fani' may turn into severe storm, NDRF, Coast Guard on high alert

The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the Indian Coast Guard have been put on high alert and fishermen asked not to venture into the sea as cyclone 'Fani' is expected to intensify into a very severe storm by Tuesday, the Home Ministry said Monday.

The cyclonic storm 'Fani' Monday morning was located at 880 km of South-East of Chennai and it will continue to move North-West and change its path to North-East from Wednesday.

The cyclone is expected to intensify into a very severe cyclonic storm by Tuesday, a home ministry statement said.

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), its landfall over Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh is ruled out. However, the possibility of landfall in Odisha is under continuous watch.

The NDRF and the Indian Coast Guard have been put on high alert and placed at the disposal of the state governments concerned. Regular warnings have been issued since April 25 to fishermen not to venture into the sea and asking those at sea to return to coast, it said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is closely monitoring the situation and has directed Cabinet Secretary P K Sinha to convene a meeting of the National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC) to take stock of the situation with the state governments and the central ministries and agencies concerned to ensure necessary preparations to deal with the situation.

The IMD has been issuing three hourly bulletins with latest forecast to all the states concerned and the home ministry is also in continuous touch with the state governments and the central agencies concerned, the statement said.

Rafale case: Rahul replies to SC's contempt notice over 'chowkidar' remark

Congress President Rahul Gandhi Monday filed a fresh affidavit in the Supreme Court after a notice was issued to him on a contempt case for his remarks on the Rafale case verdict and again expressed regret for attributing the "chowkidar chor hai" remarks to the apex court.

The Congress President also sought dismissal of the contempt petition filed by BJP leader Meenakshi Lekhi, saying it was an abuse of the process of the court.

In his counter affidavit, Gandhi expressed regret for the "chowkidar chor hai" remark on Prime Minister Narendra Modi while referring to the Rafale judgment.

"It is also clear that no court would ever do that and hence the unfortunate references (for which I express regret) to the court order and to the political slogan in juxtaposition the same breath in the heat of political campaigning was ought not to be construed as suggesting that the court had given any finding or conclusion on that issue," he said in his affidavit.

The apex court had on April 23 issued notice to Gandhi on a criminal contempt petition filed against him by Lekhi for his remarks.

In his affidavit, Gandhi said he did not have the slightest or remotest intention to bring the court into political arena, or bring it into disrepute by attributing something which the court had not said.

"At the outset, it is clarified that the answering respondent (Gandhi) did not have the slightest or remotest intention, desire or even thought process to bring the court into the political arena, or bring it into disrepute or attribute to it deliberately or wilfully that which the court has not said or meant," he said

Gandhi said, "Several limbs of the government and of the ruling party" have repeatedly stated that the December 14 last year's order of the apex court constitute a clean chit to the government.

"The answering respondent (Gandhi) would also submit that his statement on April 10, 2019, had also been made in that context, purely politically, to counter the aforesaid misinformation campaign being led by senior functionaries of the BJP as well as the government that the judgement of this court dated December 14, 2018, was a clean chit to the government regarding all the aspect of the Rafale deal," he said.

"It is also noteworthy that the Rafale issue which had been and continues to be one of the most prominent political and social issues in this country for many months and despite the matter being sub judice it has been the subject of incessant discussion in civil society and the media," he said.

The counsel appearing for Gandhi mentioned the matter before a bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and said they be allowed to file a reply on the contempt notice.

The bench, also comprising Justices Deepak Gupta and Sanjiv Khanna, allowed advocate Sunil Fernandes, who was appearing for Gandhi, to file the counter affidavit.

The apex court had earlier said it will hear the criminal contempt petition on April 30.