Yamuna

The Yamuna (/jəmʊnaː/; Sanskrit and Hindi: यमुना), sometimes called Jamuna (Hindi: जमुना; /d͡ʒəmʊna:/) is the longest and the second largest tributary river of the Ganges (Ganga) in northern India. Originating from the Yamunotri Glacier at a height of 6,387 metres on the south western slopes of Banderpooch peaks in the uppermost region of the Lower Himalayas in Uttarakhand, it travels a total length of 1,376 kilometers (855 mi) and has a drainage system of 366,223 square kilometres (141,399 sq mi), 40.2% of the entire Ganges Basin, before merging with the Ganges at Triveni Sangam, Allahabad, the site for the Kumbha Mela every twelve years. It is the longest river in India which does not directly flow to the sea.

It crosses several states, Uttarakhand, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, passing by Uttarakhand and later Delhi, and meets its tributaries on the way, including Tons, its largest tributary in Uttarakhand, Chambal, its longest tributary which has its own large basin, followed by Sindh, the Betwa, and Ken. Most importantly it creates the highly fertile alluvial, Yamuna-Ganges Doab region between itself and the Ganges in the Indo-Gangetic plain. Nearly 57 million people depend on the Yamuna waters. With an annual flow of about 10,000 cubic billion metres (cbm) and usage of 4,400 cbm (of which irrigation constitutes 96 per cent), the river accounts for more than 70 per cent of Delhi’s water supplies. Just like the Ganges, the Yamuna too is highly venerated in Hinduism and worshipped as goddess Yamuna, throughout its course. In Hindu mythology, she is the daughter of Sun God, Surya, and sister of Yama, the God of Death, hence also known as Yami and according to popular legends, bathing in its sacred waters frees one from the torments of death.

Talking Movies

Talking Movies is a top-rated film news programme broadcast on the BBC, that covers cinema around the world, including delivering reviews of the latest films and exclusive interviews with top Hollywood and international talent. The half-hour flagship programme, with a format conceived by BBC TV Executive Producer, Martin Everard, jointly with presenter journalist Tom Brook premiered in 1999 with the demise of the BBC's Barry Norman film programme, and is broadcast on BBC World News, while shorter Talking Movies reports are broadcast during the week and carried in the mornings on BBC America. At one time, the programme was carried on BBC 1, BBC 2, BBC News 24 as well as to the 200 million homes on BBC World. An edited version was/is also shown on a number of international airlines' inflight channels.

As of 2012, the programme has run for over 400 editions and features annual episodes covering the Sundance, Cannes and Toronto film festivals. Recently, the programme has traveled to India and Brazil, reporting on the latest developments in cinema in both countries. The programme has a strong following in Asia, North America, and Europe, as well as other parts of the world.

Cinema of South India

The Cinema of South India is used to refer collectively to the five film industries of South India, the Tamil, the Telugu, the Kannada, the Malayalam, and the Tulu film industries, as a single entity. They are based in Chennai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Kochi and Mangalore respectively.

Although developed independently for a long period of time, gross exchange of film performers and technicians as well as globalisation helped to shape this new identity, which competes with other film industries in the world. The largest industry are the Tamil and the Telugu film industries, which are responsible for 55% of all film revenues in South India as of 2013. The industry is regulated by the South Indian Film Chamber of Commerce.

History

Early beginnings during the Madras Presidency

In 1897, a European exhibitor first screened a selection of silent short films at the Victoria Public Hall in Madras. The films all featured non-fictional subjects; they were mostly photographed records of day-to-day events. In Madras (present-day Chennai), the Electric Theatre was established for the screening of silent films. It was a favourite haunt of the British community in Madras. The theatre was shut down after a few years. This building is now part of a post office complex on Anna Salai (Mount Road). The Lyric Theatre was also built in the Mount Road area. This venue boasted a variety of events, including plays in English, Western classical music concerts, and ballroom dances. Silent films were also screened as an additional attraction. Swamikannu Vincent, an employee of the South Indian Railways in Trichy, purchased a film projector and silent films from the Frenchman Du Pont and set up a business as film exhibitor. He erected tents for screening films. His tent cinema became popular and he travelled all over the state with his mobile unit. In later years, he produced talkies and also built a cinema in Coimbatore.

Cinema of India

The cinema of India consists of films produced across India, which includes the cinematic cultures of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, Assam, Gujarat, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Manipur, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, and Bollywood among others. Indian films came to be followed throughout Southern Asia, the Greater Middle East, Southeast Asia, and the former Soviet Union. Cinema as a medium gained popularity in the country and as many as 1,600 films in various languages of India were produced annually.Dadasaheb Phalke is known as the father of Indian cinema. The Dadasaheb Phalke Award, for lifetime contribution to cinema, was instituted in his honour, by the Government of India in 1969, and is the most prestigious and coveted award in Indian cinema.

In the 20th century, Indian cinema, along with the Hollywood and Chinese film industries, became a global enterprise. As of 2013, in terms of annual film output, India ranks first, followed by Nollywood,Hollywood and China. In 2012, India produced 1,602 feature films. Indian film industry reached overall revenues of $1.86 billion (INR 93 billion) in 2011. This is projected to rise to $3 billion (INR 150 billion) in 2016. Enhanced technology paved the way for upgrading from established cinematic norms of delivering product, altering the manner in which content reached the target audience. Visual effects based, super hero science fiction, and epic films like Enthiran, Baahubali, Krrish emerged as blockbusters. Indian cinema found markets in over 90 countries where films from India are screened.

South India

South India is the area encompassing India's states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana as well as the union territories of Andaman and Nicobar, Lakshadweep and Puducherry, occupying 19.31% of India's area (635,780 km² or 245,480 sq mi). South India includes the southern part of the peninsular Deccan Plateau and is bounded by the Bay of Bengal in the east, the Arabian Sea in the west and the Indian Ocean in the south. The geography of the region is diverse with two mountain ranges the Western and Eastern Ghats bordering the plateau heartland. Godavari, Krishna, Kaveri, Tungabhadra and Vaigai rivers are important non-perennial sources of water. Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Coimbatore and Kochi are the largest urban areas in the region.

Majority of the people in South India speak one of the four major Dravidian languages: Telugu, Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam. During its history, a number of dynastic kingdoms ruled over parts of South India whose invasions across southern and southeastern Asia impacted the history and culture in those regions. Major dynasties that were established in South India include the Cheras, Cholas, Pandyas, Pallavas, Satavahanas, Chalukyas, Rashtrakutas and Vijayanagara. European countries entered India through Kerala and the region was colonized by Britain and other nations.