ALia Bhatt wonders where she gets her energy from
Mumbai, Feb 8: One movie old ALia Bhatt is gearing up for the
release of "Highway". The actress, who is currently promoting the
film, wonders where she gets this enthusiasm and energy from.
"Highway
promotions starts again! Long day today but super charged! Wonder where this
energy is coming from," ALia posted on Twitter Saturday. The film has been
directed by Imtiaz Ali and also stars Randeep Hooda in the lead
Sonakshi Sinha grateful to background dancers
Mumbai, Feb 8: Actress Sonakshi Sinha, who has been delivering
hit performances since her debut in 2010, is grateful to the background dancers
who support her when she is dancing.
The
actress took to Twitter to convey her feelings to the hard work put in by these
dancers. "Meet the dancers, the driving force of every act! These guys
work so hard to make our acts look good! I feed off their energy...Thank you
guys," Sonakshi posted on her Twitter Saturday. The actress was last seen
in "R...Rajkumar" along with Shahid Kapoor. The movie was received
well with the audience
Chennai, Feb 8: Double Oscar winning composer A.R Rahman was
floored by the love showered upon him by his son Ameen, who wanted him to stop
recording and catch some sleep at 3 in the morning.
"I
was arranging music for my new album, 'Raunaq', and suddenly a young chap comes
and tells my sound engineer to shut down everything... He said that I have to
sleep at least 7 hours a day and rest well. So, all plugs were to be pulled off
and all computers to be shut down," Rahman posted on his official Facebook
page, Thursday.
"I
was surprised. It was Ameen. It took me 10 minutes to convince him to go and
sleep. (I) had to promise him that I will catch up on my sleep for sure, and so
I did. (It's) hard to believe that he is not a baby anymore," he further
posted.
Rahman's
latest album was Imtiaz Ali's "Highway". His work-in-progress albums
include "Ai", "Sattendru Maarudhu Vaanilai",
"Paani" and "The Hundred-Foot Journey
Honey Singh wants limited work now
Mumbai:
Unlike other singers who love to work
on multiple songs at a stretch, Rapper and music composer Yo Yo Honey Singh
wants to focus on quality over quantity.
"I don't want to work more. I want to do limited but good work," Honey Singh said here Friday at the launch of a book, Top 100 Celebrity Brands.
The singing sensation, who churned out hit Bollywood numbers last year including "Lungi dance", "Party all night" and "Horn okay please", further said he composes for a restricted number of people in Bollywood.
"I compose for very limited people in Bollywood as I am not a playback artist. I compose my songs and sing them," said the rapper, who recently recorded a track "Chaar bottle vodka' for Sunny Leone starrer "Ragini MMS 2".
"However, I also sing for other writers and singers but I have limited choice (of) regarding songs," he added.
"I don't want to work more. I want to do limited but good work," Honey Singh said here Friday at the launch of a book, Top 100 Celebrity Brands.
The singing sensation, who churned out hit Bollywood numbers last year including "Lungi dance", "Party all night" and "Horn okay please", further said he composes for a restricted number of people in Bollywood.
"I compose for very limited people in Bollywood as I am not a playback artist. I compose my songs and sing them," said the rapper, who recently recorded a track "Chaar bottle vodka' for Sunny Leone starrer "Ragini MMS 2".
"However, I also sing for other writers and singers but I have limited choice (of) regarding songs," he added.
Audi A3 will be priced
above the luxury hatchbacks
New Delhi: Joe King is the head of Audi India, and
we get to speak to the man as he tells us more about the company’s current and
future plans. Audi become the first luxury carmaker to have achieved the sales
in excess of 10,000 units in a year for the Indian car market. Now, the company
is ready to introduce the A3 sedan and the Cabriolet for our market, very soon.
Q1) Audi is again the first mover in the compact sedan segment. Will it be priced similar to the premium hatchbacks or will be more expensive?
Joe: We aren’t pricing it similar to the hatchbacks and we will be charging the extra premium for the A3 sedan. It is more premium that the hatchbacks and it will priced below the A4 sedan, there is a sweet spot and we believe that price segment has a huge potential. We will be introducing the A3 sedan with several engine options to give the customer a lot more options to pick and choose from.
Q2) We see the A3 Cabriolet at the Auto Expo, can we expect it also?
Joe: Well, we have bought it here. We are willing to try it out, as our research suggests it is good option for the consumers. We have a strong belief and it is breaking new ground, something we do. The Q3 S with the manual transmission worked well for us and we believe there is a great opportunity for us.
Q3) Can we expect a manual transmission in the A3?
Joe: Let us keep this as a bit od surprise for the A3 launch and that is when we can talk in more detail about it.
Q4) What are your sales target for this year?
Joe: It will similar for this year, as per our calculations. The market will be not growing much and we can expect more sales from Tier 2 and 3 cities. We are expanding our reach to make it to 40 dealerships this year and we are looking forward to add more sales from these new dealerships as we believe the Tier 2 and 3 are bigger markets and they will drive our sales further.
Q5) Audi had showcased the armoured-versions of the A8 and can we hear more on that? Competition is speaking about it.
Joe: Well, we can’t speak about it considering the security point of view for our clients and hence we do not speak much on it.
Q6) What is the current split in sales between the SUVs and the sedans?
Joe: The current split between the sedans and SUVs is 60:40. The Q range has responded well and that’s why we have a 40 percent share of it.
Turnaround of MFI industry: New players
enter after 3-yr gap
In last 6-8 months, at least six new
firms have got membership at Micro Finance Institutions Network, the industry
body
The five MFIs include-- Kolkata-based Jagran Microfinance, two Mumbai-based firms, namely Svasti Microfinance and Jagdhan Investment Finance, Bhopal-based Sahayog Microfinance, Lucknow-based Margadarshak Microfinance and Bhubaneswar-based Annapoorna Microfinance.
Annapoorna Microfinance, in its earlier avatar, People’s Forum, was working as a self help group since 1995. With the rapid decline in the SHG movement and dismantling of the groups, the organization decided to covert into an NBFC in 2009-10. However, the unprecedented crisis halted the growth prospects for the firm, and only after 2012, Annapoorna started full-fledged operations. An NBFC-MFI since October 2013, the MFI now has a gross loan portfolio (GLP) of nearly Rs 142 crore, making it one of the largest homegrown MFIs in Orissa, according to Satyajit Das, chief finance officer, Annapoorna.
Notably, MFIN, which used to have 49 members till 2010, saw a dip in membership to 39 members by 2011 due to adverse market conditions. With the new members, MFIN is now a 44-member industry body.
“The MFI industry is expected to grow by at least 55 per cent this fiscal due to favourable business environment,” says Alok Prasad, Chief Executive Officer, MFIN. The GLP of the MFI Industry registered a growth of 30 per cent, till September 2013 over the same period last year. The amount of loan disbursed in the second quarter of this financial year increased by 50 per cent over the same period last year, according to MFIN Micrometer, 2013. Moreover, funding to the industry during the second quarter grew by close to 300 per cent compared to the first quarter, according to MFIN.
Bandhan, the largest MFI in the country is expecting nearly 40 per cent GLP growth by the end of this financial year, entailing an additional bank funding of nearly Rs 4,000 crore over the last year.
“The industry will easily surpass a 50 per cent growth target, as the crisis has been overcome and bank funding is smooth,” said Ghosh.
One of the major fillip to the MFI industry has been facilitated by Reserve Bank India’s decision to accord Self Regulatory Organization (SRO) status to the industry association for Non-Banking Financial Companies that are engaged in microfinance (NBFC-MFIs). MFIN, which is working on the draft for the SRO expects to submit the report to RBI by next week, according to Prasad. Yesterday, RBI further relaxed the regulations by removing the 26 per cent interest rate cap on loans given by MFIs, and instead linking the interest rate to the cost of funds. The new rules are likely to encourage new entrants, which typically get bank funds at higher cost, according to Chandra Shekhar Ghosh, CEO, Bandhan
One interesting feature of the MFI growth this time, is the shift of focus of the industry from southern to northern states. MFIs operating in Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, have seen a significant portfolio growth in the recent past, according to MFIN.
During the second quarter of the present fiscal, Uttarakhand recorded the highest growth in GLP, followed by Rajasthan and Punjab.
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