CANADA’S  MISSISSAUGA : A PERFECT  BLEND  OF  STABILITY  AND  GROWTH  FOR  INDIAN  BUSINESSES ! 

While welcoming the new year, a significant step in the direction of furthering Indo-Canadian Business ties, Mayor of Mississauga chose to visit Mumbai first on her two-week India Mission 2017, along with a high-powered business delegation

Mississauga, a vibrant, thriving, prosperous, multicultural, multifaceted and diverse city with a significant Indian diaspora holds huge potential for Indian businesses. Our city has become a natural choice for business leaders world over who seek to access markets in North America, especially Canada. Located in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), Mississauga is 6^thlargest and fastest growing city with close to 760,000 residents who command a modern lifestyle, an ever-growing economy and is governed by an innovative and smart local municipality, which is advantageous for all, more so, for the next generation of the new economy”, said Her Worship Ms. Bonnie Crombie, Mayor, City of Mississauga, Canada who along with Mr. Pappur Shankar, Vice President, Indo Canada Chamber of Commerce lead a high-level business delegation representing immigration consultancy, culture, business consultancy, legal fraternity, associations and entertainment sector to Mumbai. In her honour an interactive meeting was organized by the World Trade Centre Mumbai and All India Association of Industries and the Indo Canada Chamber of Commerce at the World Trade Centre Mumbai.

 

     

In her presentation titled ‘Business is a Human Race’ Worship Crombie highlighted Mississauga’ strengths, emphasizing that her city is rated AAA (Standards & Poors) with business taxes among the lowest in North America. “Ranked number 1 in FDI, having direct access to the $13 trillion NAFTA and European Union markets, it is the best place to do business. The dynamics of our extraordinary environment, business community and exceptional talent has spurred growth and innovation in Mississauga”, Worship Crombie proclaimed.

Mississauga is Canada’s second largest life sciences and aerospace cluster by employment, home to over 400 life science companies employing over 25,000 people. The aerospace industry employs over 24,000 people in over 220 aerospace companies.

“We have grown incredibly in almost all major sectors. Business friendliness and lowest economy costs have boosted the ease-of-doing business in Canada. Our country is the safest place for foreign direct investment. Overall Canada is ranked most cost competitive among the G7 nations and is 7.2 per cent lower than the US”, Worship Crombie stressed.

 

Mr. Jordon Reeves, Consul General, Consulate General of Canada in Mumbai, who was present on the occasion to facilitate the event, praised the impeccable timing of the visit of the Canadian business delegation to India. Mr. Reeves said, “I believe and as mentioned by India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi that India and Canada are made for each other. The growth of bilateral trade of both countries brings immense opportunities for huge investments especially in infrastructure with the announcement of the Smart Cities project. The World Economic Forum has consecutively identified Canada’s banking system as being sound globally over the past seven years. It is important to note that $15 billion of private equity from Canada is mainly generated by corporate Canada, to which India is a beneficiary. Currently, there are 1.3 million Canadians of Indian origin in Canada. In educational sphere, we have seen significant growth, foreign applications for studying in Canada has increased to 70{61307dbfb632870ba326f6322853bd3ffea5b163e9c789324eea2723926c15c1}”, said the proud Consul General.

Going forward, Canada will commence direct flights from Canada to Mumbai, shortly. Several ministerial visits and Canada’s Prime Minister are being planned in the course of the year. Further, Mr. Reeves expressed hope that the visit of Worship Crombie to India will positively impact the bilateral relationship between the two countries and the positioning of Mississauga trade and business endeavours, would go a long way in furthering this relationship.

Mr. Pappur Shankar, Vice President – Indo Canada Chamber of Commerce, said, “We have seen India-Canada economic relations rise from nothing to reach where they are today – over $8.3 billion in merchandize trade. The bilateral trade is growing at double digit rates for the last 3 years and it grew by 29{61307dbfb632870ba326f6322853bd3ffea5b163e9c789324eea2723926c15c1} in the last year. Creating a bridge between Canadian and Indian innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystems is one of the latest areas of growth in bilateral relationship. Education is an important sector in Canada. At the end of 2015, almost 49,000 international students from India were studying for six months or more in Canada. India is the second largest source country for foreign students in Canada”, propounded Mr. Shankar.

The massive smart cities project of the Indian Prime Minister  Narendra Modi is opening new doors for Canadian companies, even city administrations in Canada, who have extensive experience in creating smart cities are keen to collaborate with Indian entities, Mr. Shankar added.

Earlier in his welcome address Mr. Vijay Kalantri, Vice Chairman, World Trade Centre Mumbai said, ‘the current bilateral trade between India and Canada stands at $6 billion which can double in the next 3-5 years, if concerted efforts are made towards this direction. There are tremendous opportunities in the areas of tourism, culture, filming (Bollywood) oil & gas, petroleum, agriculture and food processing, healthcare, clean technology,   etc. India requires technology, investments, joint ventures from Canada as it is at the forefront of business activities. Businesses around the world prefer to invest in India which is the fastest growing economy in the world at a rate of 7-8 percent. In order to provide further momentum to this growth, the Government of India has considerably improved the ease of doing business in the last two years and hence Canada could seize this opportunity and channelize its investment to reap great benefits and this in turn could bring about a win-win situation for all. Prime Minster Modi’s initiatives such as Make in India, Digital India, Startup India etc hold great scope where Canada can partner and work together. In conclusion, Mr. Kalantri asserted that the main agenda of such delegation visits to India is to meet and understand each other’s needs and here is where World Trade Centre Mumbai and All India Association of Industries can play a major role in facilitating and fostering such meetings.

Mr. Y. R. Warerkar, Executive Director, World Trade Centre Mumbai proposed the vote of thanks.

In pix Mr. Pappur Shankar, Vice President – Indo Canada Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Vijay Kalantri, Vice Chairman, World Trade Centre Mumbai, Ms. Bonnie Crombie Mayor, City of Mississauga, Canada, Mr. Jordan Reeves, Consulate General of Canada in Mumbai, Mr. Y. R. Warerkar, Executive Director, World Trade Centre, Mumbai and Editor Keval Kumar of leomedia.in with 50 web magazines can easily be spotted.

Filmmaker Kabir Khan and Filmfare editor Jitesh Pillai announces the winners of the first ever JIO Filmfare Short Films Awards 2017 

 

The immensely well-received JIO Filmfare Short Films Awards 2017, announced the winners through a Facebook live session. After shortlisting 44 films from over a thousand entries, the best ones will finally get to take the coveted black lady home on the night of the prestigious 62nd JIO Filmfare Awards.

The first of its kind short film awards property was entirely organized on the digital platform and was supported by many from the film fraternity. The best names in the industry, including Karan Johar, Gauri Shinde, Anand Rai, Meghna Gulzar, Vidya Balan, Zoya Akhtar and Kabir Khan were on board as prestigious members of the jury.

Editor of Filmfare, Jitesh Pillai and jury member Kabir Khan unveiled the winners through a Facebook Live announcement yesterday, a first ever for any awards property. The winners who bagged the first JIO Filmfare Short Films Awards 2017 are Jyoti Kapur Das for a gripping short film, ‘Chutney’ which won two awards under the category of Best Film (Fiction) and Best Actress (Tisca Chopra) respectively. Manoj Bajpai won the ‘Best Actor’ for his character as a constable in ‘Taandav’. Prantik Vivek Deshmukh’s Marathi short film ‘Matitali Kusti’ rightfully won the award for Best Film (Non-Fiction). The People’s Choice Award for Best Film, based on public voting through social media, was awarded to ‘Khamakha’ directed by Aarti S Bagdi, starring Harshvardhan Rane and Manjari Fadnis.

On announcing the winners, director and jury member Kabir Khan said, “Short films is a director’s medium. Given the duration, it is very rare for an actor to display all your skills and craft on screen for such a small duration. That is why it’s a great platform for upcoming directors. Through short films, we are able to address many more issues which because of certain restrictions are not possible on the big screen. They don’t have a box office to worry about and that’s something I would like to encourage.”

“Filmfare was the first and the only award we ever knew of, growing up. To be able to walk the classic Filmfare ‘Red Carpet’ is a dream this hard-core brought-up-on-Hindi-films kid had. It’s overwhelming that my dream is coming true! Chutney is a film made without any agendas. I didn’t expect it to go so viral or to win awards; I just wanted to tell a story engagingly. It’s awesome of the jury and of Filmfare to have rewarded that! When the tweets about the awards came out, I couldn’t stop jumping and I know I will still be jumping when I go up to receive that very special Black Lady on January 14th!” said Jyoti Kapur Das on winning Best Film (Fiction) for Chutney.

“It’s actually an honour for immensely gifted director Devashish Makhija and muvizz.com. I am so happy that Filmfare thought of recognizing the value of short films as a creative platform to showcase ones potential.” said Manoj Bajpayee on winning ‘Best Actor’ for Taandav.

“Filmfare is big, huge, infact. It’s synonymous with the history of Indian cinema. There are many fabulous performances over the years have been highlighted and given longer life by this most prestigious of awards. But what makes this extra special is that I am winning my first Filmfare for ‘Chutney’ which produced and co-wrote. And winning for a character that is the opposite of ‘heroine material’ is what shows me that Filmfare is really looking at the art of acting in a bold and modern way. Introducing the category of short films this year is also a crisp new move. It’s heartening to see that films that have no godfather or a big studio supporting them are also picked by a firm and fair jury. Thank you for the award Filmfare. This one is for the keeps!” said Tisca Chopra on winning ‘Best Actress’ for Chutney.

“Winning a Filmfare Award at 24 is a dream come true for an aspiring filmmaker like me. This is beyond my imagination. I hope this film will not only help in reviving traditional mud wrestling but also in reducing the struggles and the pains of the modern day traditional ‘Pehelwans’ (Wrestlers). It will also help in sustaining the values and culture of our country. I would like to thank Filmfare for honouring me on such a huge platform. I want to graduate to making feature length films some day and the short film format definitely acts as a bridge towards that.” said Prantik Vivek Deshmukh on winning Best Film (Non-Fiction) for Matitali Kusti. 
“Khamakha as an idea came to me because of my husband Arun, when he mentioned how you end up judging people during your travels by the way they talk, or their language or their clothes. Everything that is so external. I decided to stress on a Pride and Prejudice on Languages. Short films are the simplest way to discover your own voice.  With the revered and extremely loved Filmfare coming out and recognizing shorts in such a grand way, it’s going to open up a talent flood that will feel extremely liberating!” said, Aarti S. Bagdi on winning People’s Choice Award for Best Film – Khamakha.

KAAVAR- FOR FESTIVALS

Blue Feather Films’ Kaavar will be launched with a 30-day non stop shooting stint in February in  Mumbai,Karnataka and Laddakh locales. The film is being directed by Jagannath SR for producers Raajeev Chopra and Sushil Mehta.  Story: Vishal Mohite. Screenplay-dialogue: Vishwa. DoP: Rahul Suman. Vishwa plays the male lead along others who are yet to be finalised. Music: Pankaj Mandalik who has recorded four songs in the voices of Shaan,Altamash Faridi, Bela Shende,Javed Ali and Mrs. Amruta Phadnavis( wife of  Maharashtra CM Devendra Phadnavis)The film will be screened in various national as well as International film festivals. EP: Rohan Mohite.

MUKKAM POST AAICHA GAAVA- Post-production In Full Swing

The post-production work of Green Salad Entertainment’s Mukkam Post Aaicha Gaava has begun  with editing at Sound -N- Vision,Goregaon. The film is being produced by  Jayshri Rohan Mohite and is directed by Jagannath  SR. A non-stop 40 days shooting stint for the film was completed on actual locales of Dapoli, Ganeshpuri, Vajreshwari, Badlapur locales and in and around Maharashtra. Cast: Vishwa and Ankita Tare in the main leads alongwith Arun Nalawade,Prafulla Samant,Prema Kiran and others. Writer & Lyricist: Ninad Narvankar.Music: Pankaj Mandalik who has recorded three songs for the film which are rendered by Anand Shinde, Abhijeet Sawant (Indian Idol) and Aadhar Shinde. DoP: Kaustubh Bhate. EP: Rohan Mohite.

 

YAARA To Roll Shortly

Five Finger Productions Pvt.Ltd.’s Yaara will roll on the floors in April 2017 and will be completed in a non-stop 30 day-shooting stint all over Maharashtra locales. The film will be directed by Jagannath SR from a story by Vishwa who also plays the male lead alongwith two more heroes who are yet to be finalised. The pre-production work for the film has already begun in full swing. The other cast and credits of the film are yet to be finalised. EP: Rohan Mohite.