Left, Right & Centre

Right when it seemed that the Coronavirus-induced pandemic would sound the death knell for big screen cinema, country's two major multiplex chains PVR and Inox announced their merger, promising it to be a game changer for the movie going audience with the combined entity aiming to have 1,500 screens eventually. Coupled with aggressively priced tickets for consumers and an enhanced movie watching experience, they aim to recapture the market they had ceded to over the top (OTT) players in the last two years.

PVR Chairman Ajay Bijli, who will be the Managing Director of the combined entity (to be called PVR Inox Limited) and Inox Director Siddharth Jain, who has been named as the Non-Executive Non-Independent Director, shared their experience of the past two years with NDTV and explained how they plan to work with each other post the merger.

The great Oscar bash-up - Will Smith slaps Chris Rock for insulting his wife. India's leading comedians join us as we debate, does a joke justify a physical assault? It's an incident which has shocked many, with several saying there needs to be some action against Will Smith. Hitting someone is unacceptable.

It's a huge day for civil aviation in the country with 'air bubbles', which had come into effect during the pandemic, having been replaced with full fledged flights across destinations, across the world. In other words, normal overseas operations. The aviation industry in India, which was battered by the pandemic sees this as a sign of hope, and for passengers, there is the expectation that this will mean cheaper airfares. In simple terms, as many as 60 airlines from 40 countries have been permitted to operate 1,783 frequencies to/from India during the summer schedule.

 

President Biden meets Poland's president as he wraps up a visit to Europe intended to bolster unity over Russia's invasion of Ukraine. His trip came even as there were indications that Moscow might be scaling back its military ambitions. In a potentially significant shift, the Russian army says it will now focus on the complete 'liberation' of the eastern Donbass region, territory claimed by Russian-backed separatists in the east. On LRC we ask, is this a face-saver for Russia in the face of unexpected resistance by Ukraine?

Eight people were killed in the violence that broke out in Birbhum after a Trinamool leader was murdered. Amid massive political outrage and horrific details of the brutality, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee visited the area today. Is it too little, too late by the Chief Minister?

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah will be among the high-profile guests at Yogi Adityanath's swearing in tomorrow. Yogi Adityanath will be the first Chief Minister to be re-elected in over 30 years in the state. According to sources, around 45 ministers are likely to be sworn in with him. Who could these 45 people be - and what's the BJP's math and mantra behind choosing the next UP cabinet?

The Indian Coastguard intercepted 6 Lankan nationals trying to flee their country on Tuesday, in an attempt to escape the unemployment and food shortage there. In the past few days, the economic crisis in Sri Lanka has spiralled out of control, with protests at long fuel lines, with 3 elderly people even dying after waiting in queues for several hours. We take a deep dive into the situation in Sri Lanka.

 

Former Vice Chancellor of Delhi University Dinesh Singh expresses cautious optimism about the new common test for Universities. Mr Singh says all past entrance tests, including NEET, inspire confidence. Students need to have creativity, rational thinking and general knowledge.

Fuel prices go up after the election results, at a time people were already suffering due to the rising inflation. Cooking gas, edible oil, milk and food prices are already at a high. On the show we ask, is post-election price rise now a ritual?

Zomato clarifies what their new 10-minute delivery means, but there are still concerns about road safety and delivery partners being fined. The risk versus reward debate continues.