MAM
Mudra & NWM focus on sensitising campaign for domestic child workers
MUMBAI: Mudra, along with National Domestic Worker’s Movement, an NGO that works for and with domestic workers, has created a campaign to sensitise the community to the plight of underaged domestic workers.
The communication attempts to heighten the fact that child domestic workers most often do the kind of work that only an adult can.
The campaign idea “Domestic work isn’t child’s play” is dramatised by replacing the home setting where they do their chores with toy houses (kitchen set, bathroom set, bedroom set) that typically children play with.
The campaign kick started on ‘World Day Against Child Labour’ (12 June). A total of six bus shelters at prime locations, 16 bus back panels, one hoarding on tilak bridge and 2 hoardings (one at Mahalaxmi and the other at Juhu) were used for the campaign.
Says Mudra Mumbai operations president Jude Fernandes, “You cannot fight child labour in India until there is alternate employment considering 75 per cent of the domestic servants in India are children. The campaign only sends out a message stating that the children need to be given their space and need to be treated like children.”
The broad objectives for the campaign are as follows:
To raise awareness about the vulnerability of children in domestic work
To create a link between development and education of all children
To make employers realize that the development of the country is linked to their own welfare, therefore send all children to school
To sensitise people towards the child’s right to education
To dissolve the societal myth that child domestic work is a solution to poverty
To remind them that children are human being
Explains National Domestic Workers programme co-ordiantor Anjali Shukla, “The purpose was essentially bring about awareness among the community. The campaign has made a difference as people have been calling us and wanting to take up the issue further.”
Shukla added that the second phase of the campaign would looks at solutions and go into details about the issue. The NGO also plans to take this campaign which is currently restricted only to Mumbai to other cities like Delhi and Bangalore where the issue is prevalent, but that would be dependent on the sponsorship it receives.”
MAM
Paramount set to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery in $81 billion deal
Shareholders back merger, combined entity could reshape streaming and studios.
MUMBAI: Lights, camera… consolidation, Hollywood’s latest blockbuster might be happening off-screen. Shareholders of Warner Bros. Discovery have voted in favour of selling the company to Paramount in a deal valued at $81 billion rising to nearly $111 billion including debt setting the stage for one of the biggest shake-ups in modern media. The proposed merger, still subject to regulatory approvals, would bring together a vast portfolio spanning HBO Max, CNN, and franchises such as Harry Potter under the same umbrella as Paramount’s own heavyweights, including Top Gun and CBS.
At the heart of the deal is streaming scale. Executives have indicated plans to combine HBO Max and Paramount+ into a single platform, potentially creating a stronger challenger to giants like Netflix and Amazon’s Prime Video. Current market data suggests HBO Max holds around 12 per cent of US on-demand subscriptions, compared to Paramount+’s 3 per cent, together still trailing Netflix’s 19 per cent and Disney’s combined 27 per cent via Disney+ and Hulu.
Paramount CEO David Ellison has signalled that while platforms may merge, HBO’s creative identity will remain intact, stating the brand should “stay HBO” even within a broader ecosystem.
Beyond streaming, the deal would redraw the map for film production. Combining two of Hollywood’s oldest studios Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros., the new entity aims to scale output to over 30 films annually, while maintaining a 45-day theatrical window. Warner Bros. currently commands around 21 per cent of the US box office, compared to Paramount’s 6 per cent, underscoring the strategic weight of the acquisition.
But scale comes with scrutiny. Critics warn that fewer players could mean reduced consumer choice, rising subscription costs, and potential job cuts as the combined company looks to streamline overlapping operations while managing billions in debt.
The news business, too, faces a reset. CNN would join forces at least structurally with Paramount-owned CBS, raising questions about editorial independence and positioning. The merger has already drawn political attention in the United States, particularly given perceived ties between the Ellison family and Donald Trump, though the company maintains that newsroom autonomy will be preserved.
If approved, the deal would mark another milestone in Hollywood’s consolidation wave shrinking the industry’s traditional “big six” studios to a “big four”, with Paramount joining Disney, Universal, and Sony at the top table.
In an industry built on storytelling, this merger may well become its most consequential plot twist yet.
