PRCI supports Eastern Chemmeen International Short Film Awards 2016

KOCHI: The Eastern Chemmeen International Short Film Awards 2016 organised by the Global Initiative for Excellence (GIE), publishers of Global k Magazine, and supported by PRCI has invited entries from film makes.

Short films are the current rage among youth and senior age groups around the world. Besides appealing to these target groups, the Eastern Chemmeen International Film Awards will include a focus category that is attracting global attention, namely transgender issues.

“Presently, India has only a handful of short film festivals attracting national attendance. Our aim is to make Eastern Chemmeen International Short Film Awards 2016 a prominent name on the short film calendar in India and internationally, said Joe A Scaria, Executive Director, Global Initiative for Excellence addressing a press conference.

The Awards have been branded ‘Chemmeen’, which is one of the all-time classics among Indian movies, and particularly because the movie has recently celebrated its golden jubilee.

The jury will comprise of renowned names such as Dr. Biju, a multiple national award-winning director, Bollywood sync sound expert and sound designer Jayadevan Chakkadath, prominent Cinematographer M J Radhakrishnan who has won the Kerala State Film Award 6 times for Best Cinematography, well-known Editor Manoj who won the 2015 state award for Best Editor for the film ‘Ivide’, Dr.Meena T Pillai, writer and critic who heads the Centre for Cultural Studies of Kerala University, and Angel Glady an international theatre artist and transgender activist from Chennai.

Well known journalist, Siraj Shah is the artistic director.

The best film will be give a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh.  The other awards are for best actor/actress, best director, best editor, best cinematography, best script and popular film. The popular award will be selected by the audience through social media.

An added incentive is that the winning director will get a chance to assist one of the jury members in his next movie.

The Focus Award will go to the best movie that deals with transgender issues. Gender awareness and sensitization, particularly regarding transgender issues are presently ruling media headlines across the world. The film that sheds light on transgender issues and focuses on their lives and issues will be conferred the Rituparno Ghosh award, named after the late young film maker who was candid about his own sexuality and sought to highlight sexuality-related thoughts through his works.

Contestants can make submissions only online. The entry form can be accessed on the website http://shorts.reelmonk.com/ The last date for submitting entries, with an entry fee of Rs 1,000 each, is May 9, 2016.

The awards are sponsored by Eastern Group and is supported by the Public Relations Council of India (PRCI), the leading PR & communication organisation pan-India with about 30 26, the Shenoy’s Group of Theaters, prominent theatre group in Kerala which is celebrating its Golden Jubilee, online movie platform Reel Monk, and Ergo Consulting, a leading event management company.

NavasMeeran, Chairman, Eastern Group, Vivek Paul, CEO & Co-Founder, Reelmonk, Mansoor Piman, Social Media Coordinator, also addressed the media.  

Dont ape Indian media, says Pak regulator

For long, Indian media, particularly the TV channels ave been under fire for sensational coverage and debates. Pakistan guests appearing on channels have also been having bitter experience and complaining that they do not get proper chance to speak.

Now look at this advisory issued by the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority which is self explanatory.

Many doubted if tjhis note is genuine. It is. I checked on PRNA site - http://www.pemra.gov.pk/
- Editor

PRCI NOW Channel is up

Our own channel - PRCI NOW - is up and running.
Please check the photo album of Kolkata Conclave right away, with music and enjoy the golden movements that we experienced.

Will shortly upload some videos too.

Request all of you to keep sending good pictures and albums (by CD, if you have more than ten pictures to share with PRCI fraternity).

Enjoy!

Editor

CHANAKYA Editorial Board

Presenting the Editorial Board of CHANAKYA.

Requesting all to send in their respective contributions by April 02, 2016 for the April-16 issue.

regards

BNK

========

MANAGING EDITOR:

M.B.JAYARAM

Editor in Chief

BN KUMAR

EDITORS

RT Kumar

Vijayalakshmi

PK Pani

C J Singh

Zonal Editors

Renuka Salwan – North; B K Sahu – East; Amit Tripathi – West; Dr K R Venugopal – South

T Vinay Kumar - International

City Editors:

NEW DELHI-Gaganjit Singh; MUMBAI-Ajai Sharma; JAIPUR- Anuradha Mittal; HYDERABAD- Dr.Ghisulal Jain; CHENNAI- Suganthy S; SHOLAPUR - Ravindra Chincholkar; BHUBANESHWAR Ashok Kumar Panda; KOLKOTA; RN Mahapatra GOA. Ravi Bhatnagar; KOCHI;- US KUTTY:BARODA-- Malathi Gayakwad. VARANASI--Vishwanath Pandey.;MYSORE- Prof R N Padmanabh; PUNE-- Avinash Gawai.;BANGALORE BK Ravi; AMRAVATI – Rajesh Bobade

Columnists

S Narendra-  New Delhi

Jitender Bhargava - Mumbai.

Bish Mukherjee Sydney

Mathew Hibberd UK

Dr. Narashima Reddy Hyderabad.

Marjorie Andrewson Australia.

Sanjeev Bhanawat  Jaipur

Dr. Manohar. Bangalore.

ADVISORY BOARD.

Vishwanath Pandey – Varanasi; Deepak Jolly – Gurgaon; Sanjeev  Bhanawat – Jaipur;

Dr Ch. Sanjay – Hyderabad;G C Banik – Mumbai;Vijayakumar – Bengaluru; Pranab Pani – Bengaluru; Harsha Suhalka – Bhopal;D Ramachandran – Hyderabad;Anil Nayak – Bengaluru;B M Sundaram – Bengaluru;Shabnam Asthana – Pune;Jayaprakash Rao – Mysore;Aparna Dharmender – Hyderabad;TVS Narayan – Hyderabad;B Thyagaraj – Bengaluru;Natesh Nair – Kerala;Dr C Manohar – Bengaluru;Arjit Majumdar – Kolkata;SR Krishnan – New Delhi;S K Kaul – New Delhi;Naomi Junaid –Bengaluru

PrezSpeak: Chanakya April 2016 and the rest of the news

This one is for those who believe that Awards do not make news.

The announcement in PRappot of Chanakya awards presented during the Kolkata conclave has been such a hit that the story has clocked record page views of a thousand, surpassing the previous highs.

http://prapport.blogspot.in/2016/01/chanakya-hall-of-fame-awards-2016.html

What is more, PRapport has now registererd over 26,000 pageviews making it one of most popular niche e-mags.

Not only does PRapport pops up Google searches, but it appears in Google alerts. I received alert on the story about PRCI-Nib Awards in association with Ernakulam Press Club.

Now, over to CHANAKYA issue of April 2016.

The next issue of PRCI House Journal - will focus on Teamwork.

We hereby invite your contributions in 200 words to 600 words on:

• What you think about teamwork,
• How it’s important, and
• How we can fail if we dont work as a team

Personal anecdotes will add flavour to your story.

Short interviews with your leaders are also welcome

Please mail contributions by Saturday, April 02, 2016.

There have been murmurs that the inaugural issue of CHANAKYA carried one too many articles by me.

Our Chairman Emeritus and Chief Mentor has taken pains to explain that that happened because not many from us sent in our contributions, despite repeated requests.

Some PRCI Chapters complained that their activities did not figure in the mag. Again, that was because we did not receive any reports of pictures on their activities. But remember, we devoted four pages for Chapter Charcha!

Let’s bury the past. Let’s look to the future.

Please, please send in your reports and contributions by the next Saturday, April 02, 2016. Do remember to send in high-res pictures, too.

This new-look PRapport has been highly appreciated. It’s easy on the eye and neat, many said.

As regards major events, I personally felt sorry to report that The Global PR Summit (scheduled to be organized by http://www.thepworld.com/pevents) for which PRCI is the Communication partner has been rescheduled. But between PWORLD and PRCI, we hope to organize it around November.

But before that, we have been asked to conduct couple of other major events, including a youth festival and a YCC summit. We shall be giving the events some shape within a month and update you.

Before I sign off, here is the latest statistics on PRapport page views:

Country	Pageviews
United States	16169
India	7770
Poland	342
Germany	247
Portugal	176
United Kingdom	128
France	106
Russia	101
United Arab Emirates	68
Hong Kong	66

Have a great time and do take care of yourselves.

Global PR Summit rescheduled

MUMBAI: The Global PR Summit, scheduled to be held in Mumbai on April 21 and 22, 2016 has been rescheduled.

The organisers of the event have regretted the inconvenience, if any, caused to PR professionals.

A fresh schedule is being worked out which shall be communicated in due course, The Global PR Summit and PRCI, which is the communication partner to the event, said.

Noise over Voice of America: I&B Secy becomes fall guy

India had to have powerful transmitters to counter Chinese propaganda during the 1962 aggression. The I&B Minister okayed an agreement with VOA which led to the government coming under domestic fire. The I&B Secy became the Bakra.

By S Narendra

Former Adviser to PMs and Govt of India Spokesperson

(Political communication is the oxygen of an open democracy like India. Its role and complexion changes when a nation confronts an external threat. PC becomes a ‘aapath dharma shastra’ or weapon for survival by rallying the people behind the flag. But PC as propaganda has its downside as well since it tries to steamroll dissent, the essence of democracy. Also, peace negotiations after the armed conflict becomes difficult)

As mentioned in the previous posts, the 1962 Chinese attack was a chastening experience for Indians and its government. It made the government revisit many areas. One of them was the propaganda policy and organisation for, and its structure, people and channels. The WW II propaganda machinery such as AIR and its monitoring units in Simla that were listening to external radio broadcasts and providing inputs to intelligence wings, PIB, Armed forces Information Office, film documentary wing,  and the new five year plan publicity wing and advertising wing over -night became critical assets in the wake of Chinese aggression.

The Chinese armed  assault on India had been preceded  by propaganda aggression for several years before, especially targeting people living  in the Himalayan border areas. The government had not thus far given any attention to propaganda coming from across the borders both from the west and the east. Even within India various foreign embassies were distributing vast quantities of propaganda material.

As a student, I had the personal experience of a government funded Kannada journal publishing my article that was a translation from an English magazine that I came to know later in life was a channel for anti-communist western propaganda. Some of my journalist friends who were recipients of foreign propaganda material would translate such material and get them published in their newspapers. They were paid handsomely for their efforts by concerned the foreign embassy. The academia was influenced by supplying them with slanted articles by home country academia. Among the latter, there was an unstated bias against the west, particularly US seen as an ally of Pakistan, mostly induced by political communication.

After declaring national emergency, the government hastily put together an emergency media cell in the government for churning out official propaganda material for use by media. However, the officials working in this unit did not have China -related information resources for their work and they had to depend upon the US information service. This emergency cell soon became a patron of private feature services agencies which expected to remain credible but regularly turn out material plugging the Indian (government) view point vis a vis adversaries. Such agencies were paid on the basis of their subscriber base and impact.

During the Mrs Gandhi’s personal emergency in 1975, such feature agencies pro-actively worked for the government.

Another valuable source the emergency cell could access was the AIR’s foreign broadcast monitoring service, a relic of WW II. Located in Simla, this unit monitored world-wide broadcasts on a 24 hour basis and mainly serviced the intelligence community as well as AIR news wing. Overnight, its importance was recognised and it was given more resources. Another wing that assumed importance was the external broadcasts of AIR. While the number of foreign language broadcasts could be increased, reaching them to intended audience was a serious problem. And there by hangs a bizarre tale.

I&B Secretary Fired: The Chinese were beaming broadcasts in Hindi and other Indian languages including in north-east dialects from very powerful transmitters. Suddenly, it was realised that AIR had not been equipped with powerful transmitters even for its domestic, leave alone external, broadcasts for countering China.

  The I&B ministry’s secretary P.M.Laud I.C.S. was asked by his minister Gopala Reddy  to  come up with an immediate solution. Since the prime minister had personally pleaded for urgent and massive American military aid, the I&B secretary with the approval of his seniors had approached the US. The latter readily agreed to spare the transmitters of Voice of America radio located in Ceylon for AIR’s use and a deal was struck.

The Author

When the  the news of the deal became public, the deal met with severe criticism on the ground that such an arrangement could open Indians  to American (capitalist and anti-communist) propaganda. Not only the deal was cancelled but the secretary, P.M.   Laud was forced to quit the government to save the government’s face. 

Laud later went on to become an editor of the Financial Express.

(Next: War By Other Means..Lessons Learnt from 1962-65 wars)

Purani Jeans! Editor as Lobbyist, Nearly a Century Ago

An interesting peak into the past by Dilip Chaware 

on the ever controversial subject - LOBBYING!

The public would like to believe that that no self-respecting journalist becomes a tool for some political, business or commercial interest. Media persons, too, like to flaunt their ‘impartial’ and ‘incorruptible’ credentials. Still, clandestinely, many serve the interests of certain individuals, corporates or groups. Those within the media are aware of such operators but keep mum.

The author - Dilip Chaware is a
veteran journalist and active member
of PRCI Mumbai Chapter's
Managing Committee

Similarly, the ones actually lobbying never admit that she or he is working for a particular interest. Against the backdrop of the present media-related expose and the subsequent outrage in India, it will be interesting to read about the lobbying done by an American editor about a century ago, though for an altogether different motive. Thus, if some journalists are doing lobbying today, albeit surreptitiously, one can only console oneself by saying that the profession has come a full circle, indeed.

‘Editor as Lobbyist’ is a chapter in the book, “My Twenty-Five Years in China” written by famous journalist John B. Powell. The book was published in 1945 by the Macmillan Company of New York after Powell returned to the US for good in 1942.  Powell first went to China in 1917. This is the story of those 25 years, during which he edited and published the China Weekly Review, became managing director of the China Press and was the Far Eastern correspondent for several American and British newspapers. 

He covered the civil wars in China, the Japanese invasion of Manchuria and the early years of Second World War. His vivid description of the events before and after Pearl Harbour based on first-hand information earned him all-round plaudits. Powell was imprisoned and tortured by the Japanese at that time. The book is full of interesting events and anecdotes. One of them relates to Powell’s performance as a ‘lobbyist’ for the US. But he was not condemned for doing this. On the other hand, his contribution gave a great boost to the American industry. Powell has described his ‘lobbying’ effort with utmost transparency since he had nothing to hide. In fact, he was proud doing it for his country.

After the Review became self-sufficient, Powell decided to undertake a trip to the US for ‘establishing advertising contacts’ in 1920. Before his departure, he was invited by the chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce for a farewell dinner. Many prominent Americans turned up for the dinner at which a strange request was made to Powell. He was asked to “go to Washington and put through a China Trade Act, providing federal incorporation for American concerns doing business in the Far East.” He was assured that his hotel expenses in Washington would be defrayed by the Chamber.  From the tone of the book, it is obvious that neither Powell nor the Chamber felt that anything improper was happening in asking him to ‘lobby’ for them.

In the US, Powell arranged to meet the President-elect, Warren Harding. When he explained the purpose of the call, Harding promised to help him and lived up to his word. The object of the meeting was to pass a bill through Congress for adopting the China Trade Act. Powell broached the subject at the Press Club in Washington since he had no firsthand experience of the Capitol. 

The journalists laughed at him and some veterans explained that Washington was full of people who had come there ‘to get a bill through Congress.’ They (the lobbyists) expected it to happen in a few weeks. However, they had stayed on and on and in many cases, the lobbying job became their sole source of support.

Powell persevered and a ‘hearing’ was held for the bill since Herbert Hoover, who was then secretary of commerce, understood its importance. The proceedings were printed in a special edition of the Congressional Record and its copies were sent to chambers of commerce by Powell to arouse their interest. He was successful in achieving this but unwittingly, he was instrumental in sparking off a war between the State and Commerce departments since both wanted credit for the legislation. However, the bill again was held up due to Washington’s typical style of functioning. Powell then had a brilliant idea. He went to Boston, used his business contacts. As a result, Congress received many representations from Boston area, urging it to pass the bill early. Eventually, the bill was passed since many Congressmen had received communications from influential bankers and industrialists about it.

The China Trade Act became of great assistance to small business enterprises. Moreover, it fitted neatly with Hoover’s plans of expansion of American business in China. Powell proudly stated that this was the first federal Act ever passed for the incorporation of commercial companies directly under the government. In later years, practically all important American firms doing business in the Far East were incorporated under this Act. One beneficiary of the Act was the shipping industry. Thanks to the Act, it could compete with British or Japanese shipping lines on an equal footing.

Powell, the accomplished professional, lucidly describes working of the Capitol in those days, the rivalries and jealousies between and within various departments of the administration, the shortcuts to get something done by Congress and the post WW I atmosphere, in general. He has not flinched at all while writing about his lobbying initiative since his conscience was clear. He knew that what he was trying was not for any personal or corporate gain but was for his country. So, nobody challenged him to prove his credentials neither did he pursue the lobbying activity thereafter. As soon as the Act was passed, he was back in China, where he stated, till 1942.

Prime Point Srinivasan forms Digital Journalists Assn.

CHENNAI: In a sixth initiative from Prime Point team, Digital Journalists Association of India (DiJAI) has been formed here.

Srinivasan

Their other endeavours are: (1) Action 2020 (2) English ezine PreSense (3) Tamil eZine New Gen Thamizhan (4) Sansad Ratna Awards and (5) Education Loan Task Force (ELTF).

DiJAI has the following seven trustees to hone the skills of digital journalism among the communication professionals and journalists.

Prime Point Srinivasan (Chairman and Managing Trustee), Nurullah, V Rajendran, Susan Koshy, Dr Sudarshan Padmanabhan, E Perumal alias Bharathi Thamizhan and S G Suryah.

The following office bearers have been elected:

E Perumal alias Bharathi Thamizhan - President
R Nurullah - Vice President
V Rajendran - Treasurer

DiJAI proposes to conduct a workshop on "Essentials in Digital Journalism" during the first week of April 2016.  Details will be announced within a week.

Srinivsan, a well wisger and supporter of PRCI, runs a successful online group called: PR Point.

Focus on PR in instant media age

All eyes on  talk by veteran 

journalist Joe A Scaria

By Geetha Shankar

BENGALURU: Veteran journalist, author, speaker and trainer Joe A Scaria will address a PR and media professionals gathering here on Friday, March 04 on PR in the Age of Instant Media.

Hosted by PRCI and YCC and presented by the University of Visvesvaraya College of Engineering, the talk assumes significance in view the rapidly changing media scenario.

The event will be held at Senate Hall, Central College, Near K R Circle.

As Ajay Sharma, veteran PR professional wrote in the January special issue of CHANAKYA, for many generations, reading newspapers at 6.30 AM or a quick post-lunch glimpse at an afternoon tabloid or watching an evening TV news bulletin were part of our daily routine. For leisurely reading, there were general and business magazines.

The entry of  24-hour TV in 1999 changed the habit dramatically. Live TV broadcasts made it possible to view news anytime through the day. This was the first disruption for media and communication professionals, so to say, which brought in significant changes in its wake.

But TV news consumption, like print, was rooted to a fixed location. Though it offered 24X7 ‘delivery’ of news, it did not facilitate 24X7 ‘consumption’ of news. News consumption using the Internet on desktops suffered the same limitation.

Mobile phones presented an alternative. Unlike TV, print and desktops, consumers could use them to access the news on the go.

In June 2014, India had 914 million mobile subscribers of which 185 million accessed the Internet on their mobiles.

In this background, PRCI and the student community will view Joe’s talk with great interest

Joe spent the majority of his career as a journalist, working 28 years with leading Indian newspapers and publications. His last and longest stint was an 18-year association with the Economic Times, where he was Senior Assistant Editor.

Presently he heads the Kerala bureau of Dubai-based Gulf News, and is a faculty member at the Institute of Journalism, Trivandrum.

He has worked in Kochi, Mumbai, Coimbatore, Thiruvananthapuram and Chennai.

He graduated in Commerce from the Kerala University, and has an MBA with specialization in Marketing.

A unique feature of his career is he has published his resignation letter as a book, titled 'Fourth Estate to Rubber Estate', which was released by Kerala chief minister Oommen Chandy.

Budget Wadget! Let's hear ourselves!!

Jaitely’s  Dilemma

Familiar Photo Ops or expect some Good News for the common man? Lets wait and watch

According to media reports,  Arun Jaitley has invited economists and business representatives for consultation just before sending his budget papers for printing.

This is indicative of the fact that Jaitley is on the horns of a dilemma. Despite several  government steps since assuming office, including goading RBI to cut rates, to push economic growth,their  outcome is very modest. It is pertinent to quote a nugget from the  official Mid-Term  Review of the economy : ‘the remarkable thing about 2015-16 growth performance is that it continues to be as strong ( about 7%) as it is, given the weakness of exports ( because of weak world markets) and private investment’.

The Review has identified two intractable problems: One is that the global trade is declining and most economies-,China, Japan, Europe are on the decline. The US economy is barely growing. The latest Economist magazine says  that  world leaders are running out of options  in fighting  global recessionary trends.As a result, Indian export earnings have declined.

Second, the Indian  private sector is not investing, as there is  external and internal demand contraction. Most companies are heavily indebted and finding it difficult to service their debts due to low earnings. This is having a cascading effect on banks.

This has complicated budget making. Simply put, only government can create demand by making huge  investment  in infrastructure and other projects. But  a low performing economy is accompanied by low government revenues. Against this background, the captains of industry are urging the government to  cut taxes and offer incentives to spur  private investment. Both the measures would result in further worsen the  revenue picture. The Mid -Term Review clearly spells out the difficult choices before jaitley. If the latter were to opt for higher government investment, that could come only from  borrowing or deficit financing. But under the Fiscal Responsibility Act, the finance minister is committed to bring down the fiscal deficit to 3.9 or lower. This is  known as  fiscal consolidation. If jaitely were to cross this Laksman Rekha, and opts to spur growth from public investment out of borrowed money, would it also spur inflation? The retail inflation, particularly of food items, is climbing up.

The other big worry is that the economy is not creating enough jobs to absorb almost a million youth entering the  job market every month. If the  government were to stick to its fiscal consolidation promise, and not  make big ticket investment, this will have an adverse effect on the job market. That is a recipe for youth unrest.

All in all, Jaitley finds himself between a rock and a hard place.

Perhaps he had made up his mind to jump the fiscal deficit commitment in the fond hope of acerbating growth. The last minute consultation is a bid to gain advance endorsement for his growth push. 

- S Narendra

============================

Hello, Telecom Dekho!

India currently is the second largest telecommunications market in the world and there is a consistent growth in this sector, given the kind of growth and investment this sector is seeing it definitely needs attention from government, the current move to adapt GST on the policy front is commendable and these new regimes will have more impact on telecom sector. 

Tax incentives and holidays for Research and Development, Manufacturing in Telecom sector from the government will be a welcoming move again.

 - Atul Jain, COO, Le Ecosystem Technology India Pvt Ltd.

============================

Of taxes and death!

The other day, I read this anonymous quote: Death and Taxes are certain, but dearth does not come annually.

It has become fashion for all political parties, particularly when they are in opposition, to talk about reducing the personal taxation burden. It’s like what Mark Twain said: Everyone talks about the weather, but no one has done anything about it.!

The common man is made to suffer silently and among this lot, the salary earner is the easiest goat for any government – tax them, tax them and keep taxing them.

It does not require a great economic pundit to tell you that if you leave some money in the common man’s pocket, he would only spend! So, why couldn’t the successive finance ministers reduce tax burden and allow people to spend more?

India seems to be the lone country (or among the few) in the world where you are taxed for earning as well as for spending!

I request the FM to allow some tax concessions to the middleclass and allow them to enjoy life! After all, you are taxing us on spending as well, right?

The Economic Survey doe not present signs of any exciting budget. But will the FM do some Jugad in an year where couple of Assembly elections are due?

I am keeping my fingers crossed!

-       BNK

Global PR Summit, PRCI tie up for unique Knowledge Platform

·         World-class event to take place in Mumbai on April 21 & 22, 2016

MUMBAI: Premier PR event – The Global PR Summit – is coming to India in association with Public Relations Council of India (PRCI).

PRCI will be the Communication Partner for the two-day event beginning on April 21, 2016.

The Global PR Summit has so far been held in 16 countries since its launch in 2010. Some of its previous venues were: Turkey, Russia, Qatar, Egypt, Morocco, Jordan, Oman, etc. Over the years, 1,892 brands have sent delegates to the various summits with more than 6,100 attendees.

The Indian edition will focus on the latest trends and challenges in the ever changing global PR and marketing world with a special focus on reputation management in the social media era. The event will feature a presentation on the new rules of reputation management by Mary Jo Jacobi, one of the world’s leading PR professionals and Former VP Communications at BP America.

Speakers at this content-centric event include Thierry Nicolet, SVP (Global Press Relations), Schneider Electric, Aliza Knox, MD (Online Sales), Twitter APAC, Colleen Harris, Former Press Secretary To Princes Charles, William And Harry and Official Spokesperson for Wiliam and Kate's Royal Wedding, Richard Stephenson, Communications Director, Civil Aviation Authority, Patricia Yates, Director of Strategy and Communications, Visit Britain, Jesse Ringham, Digital Communications Manager, Tate Museum and Patrick Jephson, Former Chief of Staff To Princess Diana, New York Times Bestselling Author, Shadows Of A Princess

Kosta Petrov, Chief Experience Officer, P World that owns the event brand, said: "We are very happy to bring the Global PR Summit to India as the nation has made giant strides in a cross-section of fields, including mass communication. We are equally happy to partner with PRCI which is focusing on creating knowledge platforms across the country. We eagerly look forward to meeting the great Indian PR professionals."

Acknowledging the association, B N Kumar – President, National Executive, PRCI – said: “As PRCI has begun to spread its wings globally, the Global PR Summit offers us all a great opportunity to work together to establish a World Communicators’ Forum, cutting across geographical boundaries. We all have a lot of insight to gain from each other’s experiences and work in the interest of societies around us. Let’s go beyond networking and contribute to the society in a meaningful way.”

M B Jayaram, Chairman Emeritus and Chief Mentor of PRCI, said: “PRCI has emerged as a truly pan-India PR professionals body with close to 30 chapters in as many cities. We look forward to gaining from the knowledge that will flow from the Global PR Summit.”

Deepak Menon, Business Strategist associated with the Summit said: “We are glad to note that PRCI has been holding its Conclaves. I am now excited to bring the Global PR Summit with its truly international perspective to India. Such a workshop offers the rare experience and insight into care-taking of top brands that directly influence consumer perception and in turn sales. This experience will be a win-win for all of us.”

The delegate fee for the two-day event is fixed at $350 per head and the registrations close on March 25, 2016.

For details: http://www.thepworld.com/pevents/event/117/global-pr-summit-india.

Or Events page on: http://www.publicrelationscouncilofindia.com/

Do read PRCI e-mag for updates: http://prapport.blogspot.com/

The Descent of Air India - Bhargava's book is out

Air India, which once ruled the skies, is today surviving on periodic infusion of tax payers’ money. 

What led to this tragic change in its fortunes? Are our other public sector companies susceptible to a similar fate in the near future?

Jitender Bhargava, a former executive director of Air India, and a member of our fraternity has authored a book, The Descent of Air India, which elucidates the failure to rejig Air India in tune with the times, compounded with an overt reliance on the airline's past glory, impractical expansion plans and the misuse of the company's resources, rapidly leading to financial meltdown.

Bhargava in a candid account of how a series of dramatic events ran aground the airline offers a behind-the-scenes expose of submissive and indifferent chairmen, self-serving employees and union members, a step-fatherly government, who colluded in the near destruction of one of India's finest public-sector undertakings (PSUs).

The book has lessons for those serving in the government sector, particularly PSUs, that in today's competitive world they can't give in to sloth, be loath to change and demand progressively higher emoluments while remaining unproductive thereby endangering the future of their company. The book heralds a 'wake up time' for government run concerns as India envisions to be a global economic power.

How to get the book?

1. Through Amazon.in @ Rs 495 plus courier charges.

2. By writing to Mr Bhargava at jitenderbhargava@gmail.com @ Rs 400 plus courier charges.

Mr Bhargava has agreed to part his commission for PRCI members and PRapport readers!

About the author:

Jitender Bhargava is a respected voice in the aviation sector. Having served over two decades with Air India, of which thirteen years were as executive director, he has a deep understanding of the problems of the airline and the aviation industry and regularly comments on civil aviation in leading national dailies and television. Bhargava is also Chairman, Aviation & Airports Committee of the Indian Merchants' Chamber, Mumbai.