MP CM Shivraj Chouhan transfers 700 Crore IIFA - CM Relief Fund Covid 19

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………….. but  the event that kickstarted the game.   IPL was touted  to be  a 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 at  YMCA 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 Lewis  did 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.