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Big B thanks wife Jaya for watching KBC regularly
Mumbai, Aug 13 (IANS) Amitabh Bachchan returns as host of the popular television quiz show 'Kaun Banega Crorepati' (KBC) when season 11 starts on August 19. At the trailer launch of the latest season, Big B made an engaging revelation: His loyal viewer for the show back home is none other than wife Jaya Bachchan!
"Everybody in my family watches 'KBC', but Jaya watches the show regularly. No matter what work she has, she will sit in front of the TV when the show starts. I would like to thank her publicly for that," said the megastar, at the trailer launch in Mumbai on Tuesday.
While his entire family -- including daughter Shweta Bachchan-Nanda and daughter-in-law Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan -- love the show, they are unable to participate owing to certain rules of the channel, he added.
"My family loves playing KBC at home -- sometimes Shweta plays, sometimes Aishwarya. We all sit together and discuss the questions and answers. However, as per the rules of Sony channel, my family cannot participate in the game show. So, I abide by their rules and keep them away from the show," he pointed out.
Asked if his seven-year-old grand-daughter Aaradhya watches the show, he replied: "Even Aaradhya has started watching the show now. She asks me questions about it and also tries to answer the questions when we all sit together and play the quiz at home."
The 76-year-old actor, who is extremely energetic and is doing back-to-back films at his age apart from hosting the game show, was quizzed on the secret behind his energy. "It's my job, I have to do it," he simply replied, adding he tries to do as much work as possible.
The tagline of season 11 is 'Ade raho', which translates to 'Be resolute'. When Big B, who completed 50 years in the Hindi film industry this year, was told that the line applies to his life as well, he replied: "I try to keep working. I keep doing whatever work I get. I am grateful that you think I have been resolute in life. I feel, as long as we live, we will have to keep fighting."
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SBI extends credit period for auto dealers by 15-30 days
New Delhi, Aug 18 (IANS) India's largest lender, the State Bank of India, on Sunday said that it is extending the repayment period for stressed automobile dealers by 15-30 days to help them out of current inventory builds-ups due to the slowdown in the sector and in economy.
"Normally, the repayment period is 60 days. So we extend it for 75 days for some dealers and to 90 days for a few others. We are talking to each dealer. We also had meetings with the Federation of Auto Dealers. We are actively engaged with all of them.
"On a case to case basis, whichever dealer has faced any problem on account of excess inventories, we have been working out solutions for all of them," SBI's Managing Director, Retail & Digital Banking, P.K. Gupta said.
He also said the current slowdown would not create NPAs.
The auto sector is the worst-hit sector in the current slowdown and apart from huge inventory build-up, the companies are resorting to production shutdowns to cope up with poor sales.
"SBI is looking at extending the credit period for those auto dealers faced with inventory build-up due to poor demand. Our main focus is making available funds at cheaper cost for those retail customers keen on buying cars. We also fund the dealers when they buy the cars from the manufacturer. However, for the aspect of revival of demand, only the government can step in," Gupta said.
The bank has an exposure of Rs 11,500 crore to auto dealers.
Gupta said that at the moment, some automobile dealers are facing difficulty in repaying existing loans as per schedule. He was, however, hopeful that the festive season will boost auto sales.
"Our discussions with dealers' associations suggest that the festive season is going to start soon and then they will be able to clear most of the inventory and most of the accounts may not turn into NPAs. But it will all depend on what kind of demand revival takes place," he said.
The SBI on Sunday said in a statement that it conducted sessions with officials starting from the branch level to chalk out a roadmap for reviving credit. The rush for conducting these meetings is a result of a push from the Central government asking banks to come up with suggestions on the future of the industry.
It said the bank is trying ensure availability of credit to car buyers, and low interest rates and the current slowdown in the country's auto sector may not create non-performing assets for the banking sector.
"I think it will be difficult to say at this point of time (whether there will be NPAs in the auto sector). We have seen some cases of dealers having an excess inventory, and we have been working out solutions for them," Gupta said.
Auto sales in July this year fell to a 20-year low, and at the current monthly average sales, total projected annual sales of passenger vehicles for 2019-20 may drop to yearly sales levels seen in 2014-15 and 2015-16.
--IANS
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