Offering available across 1500 food retail brands around 1000+ cinemas, on all BookMyShow platforms

​Bangalore​, March 2​3​, 2017: To enhance and complement the overall movie going experience, India’s largest entertainment ticketing platform – BookMyShow, has expanded its ‘MyCoupons’ offering to 45 cities across India. MyCoupons are exclusive and free discount coupons that can be availed at popular restaurants & cafes in the vicinity of the cinema a user is visiting. With a validity of two days (including the day of the movie show), a user can pick upto two Free MyCoupons right after making the seat selection on BookMyShow and redeem at their preferred restaurant or café, by simply showing the received e-mail or SMS to avail fabulous discounts.

BookMyShow piloted this offering in Mumbai and Pune in 2016 and in a span of just 10 months has expanded MyCoupons across 45 cities, which include all metros, mini-metros and cities such as Lucknow, Jalandhar, Warangal, Vizag, Mangalore and Jaipur among others.BookMyShow has partnered with more than 1500 food retail brands right from local city food joints to popular national chains including McDonald’s (Hardcastle Restaurants), Chaayos, Mainland China, Dunkin Donuts, Barbeque Nation, Subway, Bikanerwalaetc. to cover a combined 5000+ outletsaround 1000+ cinemas across these cities. The offering, which was earlier available through bookings made on BookMyShow website, can now also be availed through BookMyShow Android & iOS apps.

Marzdi Kalianiwala, VP- Business Intelligence and Marketing, BookMyShow said, “Movie watching in India is not just an activity but rather an experience that we share with friends and family. In most cases, this experience remains incomplete unless we eat out with them either before or after the movie. Since we know when and where our user is consuming the content, we are able to ensure that relevant and highly contextual offers are targeted towards them, thus strengthening the overall proposition through MyCoupons for our users. We have witnessed an extremely warm and rapid response to MyCoupons across all markets, with adoption rates growing at as high as 200% month-on-month.We are now aggressively working towards expanding this to other markets and delighting many more users with our offering.”

New Delhi: An unrepentant Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad today said that he would not apologise to the Air India staffer whom he assaulted, and instead blamed the airline employee for the incident. The MP drew more flak today, with four private Indian carriers banning him from flying, while Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathy Raju promised that action would be taken against him.

Gaikwad told reporters at the Maharashtra Sadan here this morning that he has no regret over his actions, saying “kaahe ka pashchaataap (what is there to repent)?” “I will not apologise…he (AI Manager Sukumar) should come and apologise… then we will see. A 60-year-old man should also know how to behave,” he said.

Gaikwad said he went out to watch a Bollywood movie — ‘Badrinath ki Dulhaniya’ — last night to “relax” himself after journalists sought his reaction over the incident. “Tension-free hona chahiye na…you also watch the movie…it’s very good,” he said. The first-time lawmaker also said he had made the Parliament “proud”, when asked if his act has brought shame to the temple of democracy.

Meanwhile, Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan said she cannot take suo motu action and that she will take a call if it is brought to her notice in the House. “I always say every human being should behave in a nice manner with everyone…whosoever it is, your behaviour should be good with everyone. As a mother I would suggest that to everyone. I will understand everything and then I will comment,” she told reporters before entering the house.

Gaikwad also said that he has had no conversation with his party chief Uddhav Thackeray since the incident and added that he has written to the Lok Sabha Speaker and the Civil Aviation Minister regarding the incident. Yesterday Gaikwad had repeatedly hit a 60-year-old Air India officer with sandal over being unable to travel business class despite having insisted on boarding an all-economy flight. The national carrier has filed two FIRs against the MP, while the Shiv Sena has sought an explanation from him.

“Police can arrest me…my party, Uddhav saheb will take care of it,” he said. Raju said the incident “should never have happened”. “It was an unfortunate incident. It should never have happened. What has to happen (now), will happen. I am not saying no action has to be taken. Action has to be taken and we will do it. That is not the problem at all. “I am also an MP. We are not above the law and we have to follow the law of the land,” he told reporters outside the House.

Meanwhile, Congress leader Manish Tewari said the Sena MP should be expelled from the House for his “outrageous” and “brazen” act of “cowardice”. “He (Gaikwad) should be expelled from the House. It has the inherent power to do so. It doesn’t require anyone to complain…it should take suo motu cognisance,” he said.

Meanhwile, the Federation of Indian Airlines, which has Jet Airways, IndiGo, SpiceJet and GoAir as members, has taken a “strong view of the incident and accordingly taken a decision to bar Gaikwad from flying”, an FIA source said. The FIA will not allow the Sena MP to fly on its member carriers, the source said.

(Agencies)

Hathras Sadar sub-divisional magistrate Rakesh Gupta met the shop owners and heard their grievances. (ANI photo)

Hathras (UP): Three shops selling meat and fish were set afire by unidentified persons here, triggering panic in the area, police said Wednesday.

The incident comes close on the heels of some slaughter houses being sealed in Uttar Pradesh after the BJP government led by Yogi Adityanath was sworn in.

Police said the arson incident took place in Manyawar Kanshiram Colony last night. The shop owners said all their stock was charred in the fire.

Superintendent of Police, Hathras, Dilip Kumar Srivastava, said, “Unidentified persons set ablaze three shops selling fish and meat. An FIR has been registered against them.”

Sub-divisional magistrate (Hathras Sadar) Rakesh Gupta later met the aggrieved shop owners and heard their grievances.

The BJP had announced in its manifesto that it would take “stern steps to close down all illegal slaughterhouses besides banning mechanised slaughterhouses” if it comes to power.

Yesterday, a slaughterhouse, which was allegedly being run illegally, was sealed by the district authorities in Kamalgadaha locality.

Officials claimed, that the slaughterhouse had been shutdown in 2012, but it continued to operate in a clandestine manner.

The Ghaziabad Police had yesterday sealed 10 meat shops and four slaughter houses which were allegedly running illegally in the city.

(PTI)

New Delhi: Narada News chief Mathew Samuel who conducted a sting operation purportedly showing Trinamool Congress leaders accepting bribes, on Wednesday approached the police claiming threats to himself and his family.

Samuel, who is currently in Kerala, filed the complaint with the state police, while his family filed a complaint with the Delhi Police as they are in the national capital.

In both complaints, Samuel and family have claimed that they were being “stalked” and “followed” since afer the Calcutta High Court on March 17 ordered the CBI to conduct a preliminary inquiry into the 2016 sting operation.

“Ever since the high court’s order came, I, my family and my staff are regularly being stalked by unknown men,” Samuel told IANS over phone.

“I am the prime witness in the Narada sting operation. The Kolkata Police have already tried to harass me by registering a false case against me. And now these threats. There appears to be a plan to eliminate me, the prime witness,” Samuel said.

Asked whom he suspected, Samuel said: “Who else could it be? My life is a threat only to those against whom I conducted the sting.”

Earlier on Tuesday, the Supreme Court rejected the Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government’s appeal and declined to interfere with the high court order.

The controversy erupted in March 2016 when Narada News portal uploaded a series of videos purportedly showing a number of high-profile Trinamool Congress leaders, including former and present ministers, members of Parliament and state lawmakers, receiving money in exchange of favours to a fictitious company.

The Narada News footage became a big issue during the 2016 West Bengal assembly polls, but the Trinamool Congress managed to retain power despite a vigorous anti-corruption campaign by the opposition.

(IANS)

Jaipur: A special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court here today sentenced Bhavesh Patel and Devendra Gupta to life in jail in the Ajmer Dargah blast case. The magistrate also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on Patel and 5,000 on Gupta.

The blast on October 11, 2007 in the dargah of Khawaja Moinuddin Chisti at the time of Roza Iftaar, had left three pilgrims dead and 15 others injured. On March 8, the court had convicted Patel, Gupta and Joshi in the case while acquitting others including Swami Aseemanand. Joshi died soon after the blast.

The case was handed over to the ATS Rajasthan and was later transferred to NIA which re-registered the case with the NIA police station in New Delhi on April 6, 2011. There were as many as 149 witnesses in the case and 451 documents were examined and the NIA filed three supplementary charge sheets in the case.

(Agencies)

Jaipur: The alleged dumping of meat pieces in the open by the staff of a hotel here triggered rumours of beef cooking in the city following which the police arrested the hotel manager and another employee.

No beef was found in the hotel which was sealed by the Jaipur Municipal Corporation (JMC) as the owner had no licence to operate. The incident occurred late on Sunday night when members of a group, Gau Raksha Dal led by Sadhvi Kamal raised objection over the alleged dumping of meat pieces.

The hotel employees denied that they had thrown any meat pieces which triggered protest by the members, police said today.

Police said there were rumours of beef cooking but no beef was found in the hotel. Senior Health Officer of the JMC Rajendra Garg said that the hotel was sealed as the hotel owner had no licence to run the hotel and restaurant.

The members of the Dal alleged that the hotel staffers were throwing meat in the open and cows were getting sick after consuming the remains.

“The hotel manager Wasim and a cleaner Kasim were arrested under section 151 of CrPC (Arrest to prevent commission of cognisable offences) and were released by a court yesterday,” the police said.

A separate FIR under section 295 A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs)was also registered but no arrest in the case has been made so far.

The police action has been criticised by activists of the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL). “The entire action of the arrest of the two employees, registering the FIR and sealing the hotel which was running well only reflects the one-sided Hindutva agenda of the state government,” PUCL General Secretary Kavita Srivastava said.

(Agencies)