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Culture and Tourism Ministry provides considerable financial support for 30 cinema projects

The Ministry of Culture and Tourism has provided its first post-shooting and co-production support following the new cinema law passed last year. The ministry gave financial support of TL 23,175,000 (about $3,564,342) for 30 projects in the cinema sector. The ministry announced in a written statement that a total of 257 projects in the categories of first feature-Length fiction production, feature-length motion picture production, post-shooting and co-production have been evaluated by a support board of eight members consisting of the representatives of the movie industry. As a result of the evaluation meeting held by the support board, TL 6,250,000 has been provided for nine first feature-length fiction production projects, TL 15,650,000 for 16 feature-length motion picture production projects, TL 775,000 for four post-shooting projects and TL 500,000 for one co-production project. As part of the support given by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, support for directors who will shoot their first films will allow young and promising filmmakers to make their first motion picture films once again this year. Emin Alper, Tolga Karaçelik, Kaan Müjdeci, Ali Özel, Mahmut Fazıl Coşkun and Vuslat Saraçoğlu, who were provided support by the ministry earlier, won various awards in festivals both at home and abroad. Support for veteran directors A total of TL 2 million was provided for “Kuru Otlar Üstüne” (On Dry Grass), the new project by world-renowned director Nuri Bilge Ceylan, who won the Golden Palm at the Cannes Film Festival. Also, many other films by directors who successfully represent the Turkish cinema in the international arena, including Reha Erdem’s "Neandria," Özcan Alper’s "Karanlık Gece" (Black Night), Gözde Kural’s "Nacva" and Erkan Tahhuşoğlu’s "Döngü" (The Cycle) have been supported so far. As a result of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism Ministry’s support for feature-length animated movies in recent years, there has been a significant increase in the number of domestic animation films released. On the other hand, domestic animated films have achieved great success, especially in 2019. The new movie of the “Rafadan Tayfa” series, the most-watched animated movie of Turkish cinema, as well as “Kuklalı Köşk” (Mansion with Puppets) and “Hızlı Ayaklar” (Fast Fett) are other animated movies supported by the ministry. The first support for co-productions has been granted to "Holy Spirit / Espiritu Sagrado,” a Spanish, French and Turkish co-production. Co-productions are increasingly important in the movie industry as they have brought together filmmakers from various countries, helped in the transfer of knowledge and technology and access to domestic funding resources and created potential markets. In addition, four film projects, which have been shot and have not received support from the ministry before, have been granted support in the post-shooting category so that they can complete visual and audio processes. The ministry’s support boards will continue to assess new applications for ministry support throughout the year.

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Thailand’s Biggest Island on Lockdown to Contain Coronavirus

Phuket in Thailand is on lockdown starting Monday, with most transportation to the island banned, in the latest effort to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus in the usually popular tourist destination. The order will last for at least one month, according to Phuket Governor Pakkapong Taweepat. Boats, cars and trucks providing essential goods and services are exempted. Restricting access to the island is a toughening of state-of-emergency rules imposed by the government last week under which non-essential businesses are shut and inter-provincial travel is discouraged. Phuket’s economy is reeling from the outbreak: about 56% of total employment was in tourism related industries, the Bank of Thailand said in a note. Thailand’s foreign tourism receipts plunged in February to the lowest since 2015 and the nation’s economy is course for its worst contraction this year since the Asian financial crisis in the 1990s. Local media, citing Phuket authorities, reported that the island’s airspace will close from April 10 onward. But finding flights to Phuket and other destinations is in any case getting more and more difficult as the airline industry shuts down. The nation’s largest low-cost carrier, Thai AirAsia Co. Ltd., is temporarily suspending all domestic and international flights. Bangkok Airways Pcl and Thai Airways International Pcl are also grounding planes as airlines slash costs to cope with the fallout of the new coronavirus. Phuket, Pattaya and Bangkok -- all popular with tourists before the disease hit -- have some of Thailand’s biggest Covid-19 clusters. According to the Health Ministry, 49 cases have been reported in Phuket, making it the province with the highest number of cases outside of the Bangkok metropolitan area. Overall confirmed cases rose by 136 on Monday to 1,524, with two additional deaths reported, bringing the count to nine fatalities. Officials are taking a range of steps as infections surge. For instance, the Thai Navy has prepared 1,200 extra beds at its facilities for patients.

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Delhi Hotels Provide Free Food & Stay To Foreign Tourists Stuck In India Due To Travel Ban

Amid the nationwide lockdown, foreign tourists who have been to India on a tour are finding it difficult to manage their stay as they are out of cash. Luckily for them, the hotels are providing them with free food and accommodation. These tourists from the European countries are residing in Delhi's Paharganj hotels and are grateful to the hoteliers for allowing them to stay and not asking them to vacate amid the lockdown. "A very few of the medical shops are open. The only place where we can get food is the hotel. We are very grateful for this," added Jerani. "It has been more than a week since we have been trying to return to our countries. Our flights have been cancelled. We are now running out of cash. We just want to go back to our home," she added. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has issued a letter regarding grant of consular services in order to help the foreign nationals stuck in India due to the lockdown owing to Coronavirus. "As a number of foreign nationals are in the country since the imposition of travel restrictions and are unable to exit the country during the validity of their visa, it has been decided to provide the essential consular services by Office of the Foreigners Regional Registration Officers/ Foreigners Registration Officers to foreign nationals presently in India," said the MHA.

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Qatar Airways to ask for state support as travel restrictions bite

Qatar Airways will soon run out of cash and need government support to continue flying, its chief executive Akbar al-Baker said, as travel restrictions introduced in response to the coronavirus pandemic continue to hammer the airline industry. "We have received many requests from governments all over the world, embassies in certain countries, requesting Qatar Airways not to stop flying," Baker told Reuters. The airline is one of the few continuing to maintain its flight schedule and expects to operate 1,800 flights over the next two weeks. Meanwhile, rivals Emirates and Etihad Airways, of the United Arab Emirates, have grounded passenger operations. Qatar Airways' flights to Europe, Asia and Australia continue to repatriate people left stranded in countries whose borders have shut. "We will fly as long as it is necessary and we have requests to get stranded people to their homes, provided the airspace is open and the airports are open," Baker said. But Baker said that this was coming at a high cost to the airline and that it could only sustain operations for a "very short period". "We will surely go to our government eventually," Baker said, adding that the airline was taking measures to conserve cash. Some flights have been operating at 50 percent occupancy or less and the company had said before the pandemic that it would report a loss this financial year. The regional political spat between Qatar and its Gulf neighbours has forced the airline to fly longer, more expensive routes to avoid flying over the airspace of those countries. Several states have already stepped in to support airlines affected by the pandemic, with the United States offering $58bn in aid. Emirates staff have already taken paid and unpaid leave voluntarily and some have offered to take pay cuts. But Baker said that staff would not be forced to take a pay cut and that he had forfeited his salary until the airline resumes normal business.

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International table tennis events suspended till June 30

The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) on Sunday suspended all planned events and activities involving international travel until June 30 due to the dreaded COVID-19 pandemic. The ITTF Executive Committee met on Sunday to further discuss the effects of the coronavirus outbreak on the international table tennis event schedule. “Due to the continued uncertainty caused by COVID-19 pandemic and postponement of Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the ITTF Executive Committee reached the following decisions: Suspension of all currently planned ITTF events and activities that involve international travel until 30 June 2020,” ITTF said in a statement. The international governing body said that “proposal of new dates for the Hana Bank 2020 World Team Table Tennis Championships will be announced in the coming week“. ITTF also decided to freeze ranking lists as of March 2020 and further evaluate “all implications related to the postponement of events, travel restrictions and other complications, with scope for further decisions on potentially necessary adjustments“. The Tokyo Games were on Tuesday postponed to next year due to the rapidly-spreading disease and ITTF said once the new dates of the Olympics are announced it will adjust the qualification pathways. The Executive Committee also decided to reduce their expenses and senior staff have offered to take a salary reduction. The ITTF will hold another follow-up meeting on April 15 to further evaluate the situation.

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Farmers to be issued travel permits

Panaji: The agriculture department will soon issue travel permits to farmers and their vehicles to carry out cultivation and harvesting of crops during the ongoing lockdown. These permits will be issued through the zonal agricultural officers (ZAO). “All the ZAOs are requested to seek application forms from the farmers, service providers and procurement agencies for the issue of travel permits. The form should be forwarded to the director of agriculture by email for issuing the travel permit,” the order signed by director of agriculture, Nevil Alphonso, read. The circular, however, mandated that due care must be taken to ensure that the travel pass is not misused by the permit holder. TOI had earlier reported that farmers have been desperately seeking to resume their irrigational activities during the lockdown.

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