After desperate attempts to prop up the industry’s once-thriving DVD business, studio executives now believe the only hope of turning around a 40% decline in home entertainment revenue lies in rapidly accelerating the delivery of movies over the Internet.In the next few years, the growing number of consumers with Internet-connected televisions, tablets and smartphones will face a dizzying array of options designed to make digital movie consumption a lot more convenient and to entice users to spend more money.With films that can be accessed on any digital device, downloaded as iPhone apps or shared on Facebook as easily as a photo, it may be the biggest shift in Hollywood’s business model since the explosion of the DVD in the late 1990s. “The days of baby steps on the Internet are over,” said David Bishop, president of Sony Pictures’ home entertainment unit. “It’s now critical that we experiment as much as possible and determine how to build a vibrant market for collecting digital movies.”Though the online movie business has been growing at a healthy clip for the last few years, driven in large part by the majority of Netflix’s 24 million U.S. subscribers who stream video, it hasn’t come close to making up for the rapid drop in DVD revenue. Insiders attribute that to the lack of selection — thousands of movies available on disc still can’t be found online — and to the complexity of downloading a film on one device and watching it on another.Studios are eager to change that by offering more movies in easier ways, but there’s not yet a consensus on how. As a result, people who connect their TVs to the Internet or buy iPads will face a vastly expanded but potentially confusing menu of options to access films from different sources in various ways.”What you have now is a lot of people pursuing a lot of different paths to figure out how to reverse the trends we’ve been seeing,” Paramount Pictures Vice Chairman Rob Moore said.One thing is certain: People who like inexpensive movie rentals are going to have to get used to waiting longer than they do now. Studios are beginning to use the Internet to slice up the market so that people who are willing to buy a movie or pay more to rent it can get it sooner. Four studios have already experimented with so-called premium video on demand, in which consumers pay $30 to rent a movie only two months after it debuts in theaters. Recently Sony Pictures began selling some movies online two weeks before they become available on DVD. At the same time, some studios that make Netflix and kiosk rental company Redbox wait until 28 days after a DVD goes on sale before they can offer it for rent want to lengthen that delay. They believe such a move will encourage consumers to pay more to buy or rent a movie digitally.By next year, consumers may have to wait two months or longer after a movie goes on sale before they can get it in a Redbox kiosk or Netflix envelope. Those who want to stream films online for a flat monthly fee from Netflix, Amazon or Blockbuster will in many cases wait years until those titles have completed their runs on cable networks like HBO.”I see movies going down a path over time from premium sell-through all the way to the lowest-price rentals,” said Craig Kornblau, president of Universal Studios Home Entertainment. “If we get digital right, consumers are going to get what they’re willing to pay for.” Until now, most people have been largely uninterested in buying movies online, no matter the price or timing. Purchasing digitally typically means downloading a file to a single device, less convenient than a disc that can be moved from a bedroom to a minivan to a portable DVD player. Research firm IHS Screen Digest estimates that Internet movie purchases will be flat this year compared to last, while online rentals will surge 41%.

Hollywood’s solution is to put movies in the “cloud,” creating virtual copies that people can access, after purchase, from any Internet-connected device. An initiative called UltraViolet will launch this year, when Blu-ray discs for films like “Green Lantern” and “The Smurfs” will come with free cloud copies. By next year, most online and DVD purchases will connect to UltraViolet’s “virtual locker,” and Apple’s iTunes is expected to have a similar offering.To encourage people to embrace the cloud, studios are even considering offering digital copies of DVDs they already own for a nominal fee.
“Historically when you bought a DVD you were really just buying the physical copy,” said Edward Lichty, general manager of Wal-Mart Stores’ digital service Vudu. “It’s a profound development to say you own the movie itself and it can’t be broken or lost.”Studios are rethinking not only how to sell movies online but where. The next frontier, many agree, is Facebook. Some have already started renting movies to people who click “like,” but many executives hope to do more. People could use social networks to watch films with friends, share clips and play social games related to movies. They could also get recommendations based on the “likes” of people on their friends list.Similarly, many in the entertainment industry are hoping that smartphones and tablets will be more than just another screen for watching movies. They’re looking for ways to create movie-specific apps, as Warner Bros. has already done for titles like “Inception,” and to use the devices as “second screens” with additional content such as director commentaries.”On these new platforms we have to forget the way we have thought about movies as ‘transactions’ and think about them more as ‘experiences,’” Lionsgate President Steve Beeks said.On a recent Tuesday afternoon in Los Angeles, the need for Hollywood to make the great digital leap was evident as customers searched for bargains at Rocket Video’s going-out-of-business sale.A mecca for L.A. cinephiles for more than 30 years, Rocket offered tough-to-find art-house and foreign films. But like giant chain Blockbuster, which shuttered more than 1,750 stores in the last year alone, Rocket saw revenue plummet as customers flocked to less expensive and on-demand alternatives.
“I used to buy a lot of DVDs, but since two years ago I’ve just been using Netflix and iTunes,” said Katherine Canipe, a 26-year-old actress clutching a copy of “Pet Sematary” that she had just plucked off the shelf. “I hate to see places like this going away, but I know I’m part of the problem.”As he sold off the store’s more than 50,000 DVDs and VHS tapes, longtime store manager Jeff Miller remembered the days when Rocket was packed on Friday and Saturday nights with young people stocking up for a weekend of movie watching.”It just became obvious we weren’t making as much as we used to and there was a shift to an older crowd,” he said.Now the remaining customers have been asking Miller what they should do.”I don’t know what to tell them,” the self-professed technophobe admitted. “But recently I’ve been thinking even I have to figure out how to get movies on the Internet.”

Grihendra Munakarmi, senior brand manager, APCA House, revealed that the main objective of the fashion week is to give a boost to fashion business.“Our agenda is to provide a platform for the graduates of IEC in conjunction with some of the big names and boutiques from around the country and abroad, giving the upcoming talents positive exposure.”
Shailza Adhikari, managing director of IEC, opined on the collection and the event, “First and foremost this is Nepal’s show, where designers will get to showcase their creations in an international level.”
“Within a span of four days, 14 models from Nepal and six from India will showcase nine to ten themes each day. The variety this time around is very promising,” she added.Fulbright scholar Bethany Mueleners, the fashion consultant for this year’s fashion week, shared that the designers have been meticulously selected to achieve uniformity across the collections and presentation of garbs of highest quality.Sharing the same runway, students and established designers will showcase their creations ranging from regular cocktail dresses and ethnic collections to offbeat creations like Goth, and one inspired by Harry Potter book.The Nepali fashion industry is still in its infancy, however there’s room for growth, said Munakarmi.
“There’s no dearth of creativity. However, the designers as well as models can benefit from the international exposure, so we have invited Bangladeshi designer Emdad Hoque and six Indian models including Miss India International 2011, Ankita Shorey.”
Hoque, renowned for his use of traditional hand loom fabrics in cotton and khadi has already showcased his designs worldwide.

The NIC gave such directive to the Finance Ministry in response to an application filed by the Freedom Forum complaining that the Finance Ministry denied providing the details of VAT fraud scam within three days of the application.
The Freedom Forum, as per the Right to Information Act, had filed an application in the Finance Minister on July 10, 2011, seeking detail information the tax evaders and a complete photocopy of a report of a probe committee on VAT evasion but in vain.

After it could not get the details of tax evaders from the Finance Ministry, the Forum moved to the NIC for the information of VAT fraud scam.

No existing law and legal provisions in the country can save VAT defaulters; and every public body is obliged to furnish the information about the issues of public importance as per the Right to Information Act 2007.
Freedom Forum expects that with NIC’s directive to the Finance Ministry to provide information, both demand side and supply side are activated to expedite ahead the RTI campaign in Nepal. It obviously helps promote information culture in the country.

In London and ready to appear in the West End production of musical Chicago, the 57 year-old looked better than ever during a photocall to promote her role as Roxie Hart.

Wearing a black lace dress Christie looked breathtaking while posing alongside a group of male dancers.

Another pair of images give a full view of her astonishingly toned figure, which is the product of a vigorous regime.

The model is a health fanatic, doing 100 push-ups a day – 30 before even taking a shower.

As well as following a strict vegetarian diet, the working mum optimises every opportunity she can.

She often squeezes in some moves whilst cheering on her children’s sports games from the sidelines and openly admits to doing squats in the supermarket.

Christie is in town for a four-week run after making her Broadway debut earlier this year.

The beauty famously starred in the video to ex husband Billy Joel’s 1983 hit Uptown Girl.

Christie has said of her transition into stage roles: “Billy always used to say I could do a Broadway musical.”

Amra-Faye Wright, who has been playing fellow glamorous jailbird Velma Kelly alongside Christie in the US version of the long-running production, will also transfer to the Cambridge Theatre production.

Robbie Williams’ pal Jonathan Wilkes will appear alongside them as Velma’s lawyer Billy Flynn.

Christie began modelling in the 70s and quickly became one of the most famous cover girls in the world.

She made her acting debut in 1983 opposite Chevy Chase in the film National Lampoon’s Vacation and more recently she made a guest appearance in TV fashion comedy Ugly Betty.

Longoria’s Beso club within the CityCenter complex on the Las Vegas Strip closed Monday to save money.

 Beso LLC bankruptcy attorney Lenard Schwartzer said Wednesday that the restaurant attached to the club will remain open because it is profitable.

 He says the nightclub could eventually be renovated and reopened.

 Beso LLC filed in January for bankruptcy to remain operating while reorganizing nearly $5.7 million in debt. The federal Chapter 11 filing claimed the nightspot was losing more than $76,000 per month.

 Longoria owns nearly one-third of the business but is also listed as an unsecured creditor.

Creating a lot of buzz, the show – which is a Bhushan Dahal production – is about a girl named Seema, played by Richa Sharma, who, with her sheer passion for football, pursues with a missionary zeal to follow her dream as a coach to a local team.