Pune Calling! 12th Global Communication Conclave. March 9 & 10, 2018

Pune Calling...12th Global Communication Conclave. March 9 & 10, 2018

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Pune Calling! 12th Global Communication Conclave. theme: TRANSFORM OR PERISH

@prcitweets

Calling writers, photographers among Communicators!

12^th Global Communication Conclave. Request for articles on TRANSFORMATION

A CHANAKYA cover for ref

The Public Relations Council of India (PRCI) – the premier body of PR, media, advertising, HR, marcom professionals and mass communication students and academicians - is happy to inform you that we will hold the 12^th Global Communication Conclave at Pune on March 9 & 10, 2018 at the conveniently located venue, All Spice, Shantai Hotel, near Camp. (Opp: Ashoka Pavillion) 

The theme for the Conclave is: TRANSFORM OR PERISH.

Apart from the rapid developments in technology, life around us too is changing fast – faster than the speed of thought. What we think today may not be relevant tomorrow. Some of these rapid developments would need a total transformation, and not a mere change.

We will bring out our special CHANAKYA number for this Conclave.

We request you to send your contributions – articles, photographs, research or study reports – for this special issue – focused on these sub-themes:

PR, Corpcom, Media, Social Media, Regional Media, Advertising, Crisis, HR, Mentoring, CSR, Artificial Intelligence, Governance, Film, Agriculture, Energy, Health, Environment, Urban Infra etc.,

with the overall theme being – TRANSFORM OR PERISH.

You may discuss: is transformation needed/or taking place in these sectors.

For instance, in public health is Swachh Bharat campaign doing enough?

Word Limit:

·         Articles: 750 for articles

·         Research/study reports: Up to 1,500 words.

·         The photographs should of high-res. Please avoid copyright or Google images.

·         In fact, do mention that the accompanying photographs are royalty-free.

Thanks and regards.

B N Kumar

Conclave Chairman, National President – PRCI &

Editor – CHANAKYA.

Blast From Not So Past...

Presenting a few snapshots of PRCI Global Communication Conclaves....
- a SAMACHAR FOUNDATION presentation

Watch this space for more interesting posts.
-Editor

NTPC bags energy, public awareness awards

NTPC has won a series of awards recently.  The corpcom team has won award for Best Public Awareness Programme at the PRSI conference at recently at Vishakapatnam.

Ganta Srinivas Rao, Minister for HRD , Govt of Andhra Pradesh presented the award.

Earlier, NTPC - Kawas bagged the  First Award in Gas Station Category  and NTPC -Mouda bagged the Second Award for National Energy Conservation in Thermal Station Category.

The awards  were presented by President of India Ram Nath Kovind.

Transform or Perish - PRCI Conclave theme

Inviting all Communicatiin Professionals to attend the 12th Global Communication Conclave at Pune on March 9 & 10, 2018

Change ain’t no good! Transform we must!

By S Narendra

Former adviser to PMs & Ex Spokesperson, Govt of India

Transform or Perish - the Focus of the 12^th PRCI Global Conclave to be held in Pune in March 2018 is a continuation of PRCI’s attempt to expose the Communication community to the emerging challenges ahead. Last March, we had zeroed in on Disruption. In a modest way, the Conclave hopes to enable fellow professionals to tap the potential for making Communication a dynamic and innovative force and responses.

A recent McKinsey Global Institute report is titled Disruptive Technologies: Advances That Will Transform Life, Businesses And The Global Economy. The advances are coming in a cascade, leaving no aspect of life in any geography untouched. The transformational technological advances demand of every human being, and organisations ,public, private, created for the welfare and progress of the  human beings on this planet, to not just adopt ‘change’ but to transform, to be in the vanguard. Or sadly, left behind.

The dimension of the transformation challenge requires a collaborative global leadership, that has to work with the national leadership, that works with local leadership. Such a leadership has to emerge in several fields, in most cases from within the organisation and its several levels. That is because a new Political-Economy of the Future is being created with or without the consent of the political sovereign powers; not to speak of The Blockchain technology and Bitcoin are worrying examples. No borders and no intermediaries. Uber and Airbnb intruded on this old concept of sovereignty of ‘states’, and in some cases doors were kicked open. The digital challenge operates in a new political and economic ecosystem. If that is the plight of border conscious ‘sovereign’ states, one can only imagine the impact on other less powerful entities.

In an  earlier era, management gurus focused on ‘change management’. Adjusting or adopting and adapting to change meant putting in place processes, a route map towards a destination. There was some time for ‘change’ to be accepted and adopted. It could take place in stages. In the emerging tech world of innovations, the demand is for transforming organisations, its workers, preparing for a journey into an uncharted territory. Whole scale technology -led disruption could arrive without notice. What is demanded of organisations and their leadership in the merging situation are: to be alert, assess the threat as well as the opportunity potential. But in the real world, the challenge is much more complex to face than such a simple formula. Watch this space for more on Transform 0r Perish.

PRCI Global Communication Conclave - Unique Knowledge Forum

Countdown for 12th Global Commn Conclave begins

PUNE, India: With the preparations for the 12^th Global Communication Conclave at Pune on March 9 & 10, 2018 going in full swing, the countdown for the event conducted by Public Relations Council of India (PRCI) has begun.

PRCI - the premier body of PR, media, advertising, HR, marcom professionals and mass communication students and academicians – has altready announced that it will hold the Conclave at the conveniently located venue, All Spice, Shantai Hotel, near Camp, opposite Ashoka Pavilion.

The theme for the Conclave is: TRANSFORM OR PERISH.

Apart from the rapid developments in technology, life around us too is changing fast – faster than the speed of thought. What we think today may not be relevant tomorrow. Some of these rapid developments would need a total transformation, and not a mere change.

PRCI will also present its much sought-after signature awards under the Chanakya series and induct achievers into the PR Hall of Fame. And, we will present the popular PRCI collateral awards – a talent recognition for communication professionals.

PRCI: Headquartered in Bangalore, PRCI has Chapters across close to 30 cities and towns and a dedicated youth wing called Young Communicators Club (YCC) that galvanizes the mass communication students at various universities and colleges, pan-India.

The Conclave is also a unique opportunity for communication and marketing students to listen to mentors, global experts and learn from their experiences.

PRCI and YCC periodically hold a series of knowledge forums in association with media organizations like Press Clubs and universities/colleges.

Daughters’ Day: PRCI celebrates Daughters’ Day on June 1 – the official date of birth of late Indo-US astronaut Kalpana Chawla – to focus attention on girl children’s education. The Council has adopted few girls through various established NGOs to ensure their uninterrupted education till at least SSC, High School.

WCC: PRCI has recently promoted a global platform – World Communicators’ Council (WCC) – with Chapters in UAE and Sri Lanka. Soon, WCC will spread its wings to many other countries, including Australia, UK and the US.

World Communicators’ Day: Realising that we Communication professionals do not have an international day of ours, PRCI initiated World Communicators’ Day to be celebrated on October 28 – the day the world’s first Press Release was shot out by Ivy Lee in the US in 1906. We had a series of events, pan-India, including sessions on the art of press release writing.

Social Communication: In a yet another unique initiative, PRCI launched a Social Communication campaign to deal with issues of concern to the communities around us. Our campaign – Mission Mumbai Local – has been adjudged as the PR Milestone of The Year at America’s PR World Awards. The campaign focused on the plight of suburban train commuters of the island city and the need to improve.

Similarly, the organisation met with great success in our campaign  #IamParsikHill, IamDying as the plundering of the hills on the outskirts of Mumbai has been stopped. The NGT ruled that no quarrying can be done without environment clearances.

The Pune conclave, thus, promises many takeaways, apart from being a good meeting point to share thoughts and ideas to be able to face lurking future challenges.

The 12^th Global Communication Conclave schedule is:

Day 1 – March 09. 2018	Day 2 – March 10, 2018
Registrations: 2 PM onward Conclave Inauguration - 3.00 PM Business Session-1: 4.00 PM Tea Break: 5 PM Chanakya Awards: 5.45 pm onward. Cocktails and dinner: 7.30 PM onward.	Business Sessions: 10 AM onward Lunch: 1 PM YCC Conclave: 2 PM onward Tea Break 3.30 PM Collateral Awards: 4 PM to 5.30 PM Curtains down: 5.30 PM

PRCI has worked out the following early bird delegate fee structure which, we are sure, you will appreciate and quickly send in your confirmation of participation, along with the attached Registration Form.

Fee Type	PRCI Member	Non-Member Professional	Student delegate	International Delegate
Delegate Fee	Rs. 3,500	Rs 4,500	Rs 1,000	US$100

• This fee covers Entry to Conclave on both the days, One lunch, One gala cocktail-dinner, two High Teas
• The offer closes on February 15, 2018.
• On the spot registration, subject to availability of seats, Rs 5,000 per PRCI member delegate, Rs 6,000 for non-member and $150 for International delegates.
• Pl fill in the attached Delegate Registration form and send it to PRCI.

PRCI has negotiated a good deal with Shantai Hotel for room tariff:

Room type	Single Occupancy	Double Occupancy
Standard A/C	Rs 2,500 + taxes per night	Rs 2,800 + taxes per night
Delux	Rs 3,000 + taxes per night	Rs 3,300 + taxes per night

• Please check attached Room Reservation form addressed to Shantai Hotel.
• The payment will have to be made DIRECTLY to the hotel as per their terms and conditions.
• PRCI will not be responsible further.
• The rooms come with complimentary lavish breakfast and Wifi connectivity.
• Shantai Hotel is just 1.5 KM from Pune Railway station and 12 KM from Pune International airport.

For room reservations, the delegates are requested to fill in the attached form and send it to the Hotel, marking CC to PRCI as mentioned in the form.

TRANSFORM or PERISH: 12th Global Communication Conclave theme

PUNE, India: Public Relations Council of India (PRCI) – the premier body of PR, media, advertising, HR, marcom professionals and mass communication students and academicians – has announced that it will hold the 12^th Global Communication Conclave at Pune on March 9 & 10, 2018 at the conveniently located venue, All Spice, Shantai Hotel, near Camp.

The theme for the Conclave is: TRANSFORM OR PERISH.

Apart from the rapid developments in technology, life around us too is changing fast – faster than the speed of thought. What we think today may not be relevant tomorrow. Some of these rapid developments would need a total transformation, and not a mere change.

Come, let’s discuss and share our knowledge and experiences which are much richer than text messages or twitter posts.

Come, let’s listen to expert speak and discuss with them our future course.

PRCI will also present its much sought-after signature awards under the Chanakya series and induct achievers into the PR Hall of Fame. And, we will present the popular PRCI collateral awards – a talent recognition for communication professionals.

PRCI: A word about 13-year-young PRCI with Chapters across close to 30 cities and towns: We have a dedicated youth wing called Young Communicators Club (YCC) that galvanizes the mass communication students at various universities and colleges, pan-India. So, the Conclave is also a unique opportunity for communication and marketing students to listen to mentors, global experts and learn from their experiences.

PRCI and YCC periodically hold a series of knowledge forums in association with media organizations like Press Clubs and universities/colleges.

Daughters’ Day: We celebrate Daughters’ Day on June 1 – the official date of birth of late Indo-US astronaut Kalpana Chawla – to focus attention on girl children’s education. We have adopted few girls through various established NGOs to ensure their uninterrupted education till at least SSC, High School.

WCC: PRCI has recently promoted a global platform – World Communicators’ Council (WCC) – with Chapters in UAE and Sri Lanka. Soon, WCC will spread its wings to many other countries, including Australia, UK and the US.

World Communicators’ Day: Realising that we Communication professionals do not have an international day of ours, PRCI initiated World Communicators’ Day to be celebrated on October 28 – the day the world’s first Press Release was shot out by Ivy Lee in the US in 1906. We had a series of events, pan-India, including sessions on the art of press release writing.

Social Communication: In a yet another unique initiative, we launched a Social Communication campaign to deal with issues of concern to the communities around us. Our campaign – Mission Mumbai Local – has been adjudged as the PR Milestone of The Year at America’s PR World Awards. The campaign focused on the plight of suburban train commuters of the island city and the need to improve.

Similarly, we met with great success in our campaign  #IamParsikHill, IamDying as the plundering of the hills on the outskirts of Mumbai has been stopped. The NGT ruled that no quarrying can be done without environment clearances.

The Pune conclave, thus, promises many takeaways, apart from being a good meeting point to share thoughts and ideas to be able to face lurking future challenges.

The 12^th Global Communication Conclave schedule is:

Day 1 – March 09. 2018	Day 2 – March 10, 2018
Registrations: 2 PM onward Conclave Inauguration - 3.00 PM Business Session-1: 4.00 PM Tea Break: 5 PM Chanakya Awards: 5.45 pm onward. Cocktails and dinner: 7.30 PM onward.	Business Sessions: 10 AM onward Lunch: 1 PM YCC Conclave: 2 PM onward Tea Break 3.30 PM Collateral Awards: 4 PM to 5.30 PM Curtains down: 5.30 PM

PRCI has worked out the following early bird delegate fee structure which, we are sure, you will appreciate and quickly send in your confirmation of participation, along with the attached Registration Form.

Fee Type	PRCI Member	Non-Member Professional	Student delegate	International Delegate
Delegate Fee	Rs. 3,500	Rs 4,500	Rs 1,000	US$100

• This fee covers Entry to Conclave on both the days, One lunch, One gala cocktail-dinner, two High Teas
• The offer closes on February 15, 2018.
• On the spot registration, subject to availability of seats, Rs 5,000 per PRCI member delegate, Rs 6,000 for non-member and $150 for International delegates.

You will be happy to know that PRCI has negotiated a good deal with Shantai Hotel for room tariff:

Room type	Single Occupancy	Double Occupancy
Standard A/C	Rs 2,500 + taxes per night	Rs 2,800 + taxes per night
Delux	Rs 3,000 + taxes per night	Rs 3,300 + taxes per night

• Please do not forget to quote PRCI Conclave Tariff while booking.
• The payment will have to be made DIRECTLY to the hotel as per their terms and conditions.
• PRCI will not be responsible further.
• The rooms come with complimentary lavish breakfast and Wifi connectivity.
• Shantai Hotel is just 1.5 KM from Pune Railway station and 12 KM from Pune International airport.

For room reservations, please fill in the attached form and send it to the Hotel, marking CC to PRCI as mentioned in the form.

Limited seats and limited accommodation!

Please, therefore, rush in your confirmation by return mail to allow the Conclave Secretariat to plan logistics.

Looking forward to meeting you at the 12^th Global Communication Conclave, Pune, on at 2 PM on March 9, 2018.

Have we forgotten Indira Gandhi?

Many Indians love Indira Gandhi for what she stood for and what she did. Many Indians shun her memory for what she did between 1975-77.But her imprint on post-independence history of India is indelible. In the government policy area, the shadows of her polices linger though unacknowledged. Her signature was leadership, writes S Narendra, former adviser to PMs and ex-Spokesperson, Govt of India. A PRapport exclusive! (Pictures from Congress party website)

As an Indian I was both sad and upset to see in my morning daily newspaper a half-page bland

display advertisement on Indira Gandhi by the Congress party announcing on 19^th November her birth centenary.The party in its present form,under dynastic leadership,continues to exist solely because of Mrs Gandhi’s daring and successful confrontation against the old guard in 1969. The party’s credentials as a pro-poor, secular outfit with pan -India appeal are based largely on her record. Even posthumously her name earns votes. The half page newspaper tribute is one more evidence of  theabsence of imagination and leadership in  the party. Purely in utilitarian terms, Indira Gandhi’s centenary was a  great opening for reminding the post -1991 Liberalisation generation of the unquestionable contribution of Indira Gandhi in putting India first in several fields. This was also a missed opportunity to come forward with the leadership’s vision  fora youthful India, especially when Rahul Gandhi is likely to replace his mother as party president.

Like all political leaders who wielded enormous power about whom posterity reads in history books, Indira Gandhi’s record was mixed.As an adversary,she was formidable and the present ruling establishment  has lots of causes to despise her. But we as a nation have to thank her for a lot of things that may be politically inconvenient for the present rulers. Again.as a nation, we cannot forgive her for imposing ‘her political emergency’ in 1975,abusing the Constitution. Nothing prevented Indira  of those days from preceding Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe and many others who declared themselves to be heads of their governments for life. But She redeemed herself by abruptly ending the emergency and opting for election in early 1977. And,Indira should be remembered for this act alone, If not for other reasons I am about to list.

I was more upset to see the Congress tokenism, because if in power, the party would have splurged government  money on ‘celebrating’  Indira’s centenary and made it a political event. In 1969, the party and Indira politically exploited Mahatma Gandhi’s birth centenary and claimed impliedly that she was out to fulfil Gandhi’s dream of wiping the tears of the last man in the line[ the talisman]. In 1989, an election year, Rajiv Gandhi’s government opened the government purse to observe Nehru centenary for a year to tell the nation that his grandson deserved to be rewarded by the electorate.

In 1969, the Nehru family’s hold on power was about to slip out. Indira resolutely rescued the dynastyand made the Congress a family owned party, against daunting odds.She, thus, set the trend of dynastic politics. Regional leaders-Karunanidhi,Jayalitha,Mulayam Singh Yadav, Patnaik, Devegowda to name a few,later only followed her example of promoting dynasties.

What all did the Congress party miss out to tell? The present government is presenting its successful confrontation against China at Doklamas an example what strong leadership could achieve.No doubt that must be noted and applauded.The successful face-0ff against China was facilitated by Indira’s gutsy master stroke in making Sikkim a part of India in 1975, where the Indian army ,at present ,is deployed in strength. For those unfamiliar with Doklam geography, it is atthetri-junction between Sikkim,Bhutan and China, a highly contested territory, important for  India as it helps in protecting the narrow(24 km wide) Siliguri corridor that connects the north east states to the rest of India.If Sikkim were not part of India, it would have placed India in a precarious situation.

The Sikkim annexation was not the only peaceful expansion of India’s territory. Indira was also responsible for the ground work that entitled India to a piece of territory in the Antartic,  one among  half a dozen countries  to set up research stations there.Not only that India’s exclusive rights to explore polymetallic nodules from sea-bed in central Indian ocean basin have been extended by five years in August 2017.These rights are over 75000 sqkms of area in international waters allocated by International seabed Authority for development activities for polymetallic nodules. How did that come about?.This was possible because the government set up a separate Ocean Development department in 1981 and encouraged it to  pioneer in developing seabed survey and research, including the technology for seabed mining.The Ocean department and the Indian navy cooperated in carrying out the sea bed survey in 2000, that entitled India to claim seabed territory.

ISRO,India’s space agency is globally hailed for its innovation in the satellite technology business.The Space commission and ISRO took shape in 1969 and Aryabhata satellite went up in 1975.Satellite TV broadcasting was introduced  throughSITE experiment; this was followed by satellite telephony experiment. Indira was criticised for spending money on fancy projects. In a congratulatory message to ISRO, Indira had said;’ expensive high technology was low cost in the long term when harnessed for development’. ISRO’s Chandrayaan and other odysseys have made the country proud.

Pokharan-II nuclear explosions in 1998 made India a nuclear power, and in 2009 India shed its status as a nuclear pariah when the Indo-US nuclear cooperation agreement was signed .The efforts of the present  government to gain the membership of NSG, pacts for nuclear cooperation with Japan and with others would not have been possible without Pokharan-I in 1974.

Coming to the strides made in agriculture,rural development, poverty reduction  and Make in India, the humongous contribution of the nationalised banks must be acknowledged.When Mrs Gandhi nationalized the 14 commercial banks on July 19,1969,their total number of branches was less than 2000 and their total deposits was less than Rs3000 crores.Of the total bank lending, barely 1.75 percent went to agriculture.When the present government is taking credit for announcing the earmarking of highest bank credit (10 lakh crore) for agriculture, it has to be noted that this would not have been possible if the banks had not been nationalized.India now can boast of being a leading producer of milk,vegetables and fruits and agri- products. Impartial research would show that the farm and rural directional change in economic growth and development was ushered in by the 1970 budget. Prime minister Indira Gandhi had presented this budget as the finance minister. A document accompanying the Budget-titled ‘growth with social justice’ had launched the small farmers development agency, dry land development agency and many others with self-employment avenues (dairy farming,poultry, animal husbandry) assisted by nationalised bank finance. This white revolution is noted but its author is less remembered. Indira’s CSRE {1972} or crash scheme for rural employment has now turned into MNREGA, aboon to landless labour in drought seasons. The government’s direct intervention for reducing poverty, distress in agriculture took off ina big way. Of course, lots of money has been syphoned off by politicians of all hues from such schemes but Mrs Gandhi cannot be blamed for the leakages. Politics teaches its practitioners to tap into any and every government programme with a kitty.

This 1970 budget also tightened the ‘Licenceraj’, under which many industrial houses,new and old flourished. And, crony capitalism spawned big businesses.Owners of some of them today are making it to the list of billionaires in the Forbes magazine.

Her finest hour, and that of India, was December 16, 1971 when the Pakistan army surrendered to the Indian army at Dacca in Bangladesh and the latter became an independent country.

Then PM and statesman Vajpayee paying tributes to at Indira's Samadhi - Shakti Sthal

On that occasion ,the poet in Atal BehariVajpayeeji came out to anoint her as ‘Durga’. This powerful and benign ‘Durga’ , unfortunately showed  to the future prime minister and to her other political rivals her dark  face in 1975.

The opposition and the regional parties also must thank her for breaking the cycle of simultaneous elections to Lok Sabha and the state assemblies in 1971. The argument advanced then was that the issues in play in a parliamentary poll are national in nature,unlike in Assembly elections in which regional and local issues are agitated. This one Indira move incapacitated the Congress juggernaut from steam-rolling into power across states.Smaller and regional political outfits had very little chance of coming to power if simultaneous polls were held for the Lok Sabha and assemblies. Strangely, now there is talk of undoing this in the hope of establishing a political monolith on the lines of the Congress party before 1967.

History has mysterious ways of revisiting itself. Unlike her father, Jawaharlalal Nehru, after India’s victory over Pakistan in 1971,Indira`veered towards the cult of personality. Wikipeadia explains it thus:’cult of personality arises when a regime uses mass media,propaganda or other methods such as government -organized demonstrations to create an idealized, heroic and at times worshipful image of a leader,often through unquestioning flattery and praise. Her party president Devkant Barooah became famous with his quote ; ‘Indira is India’. Indira was irritated by media criticism and began to ignore media.She had said that the media represent 0.001 percent of the population and public opinion. Editors like B.G.Verghese who  were critical of her policies  and centralisation of power ,came under their newspaper owners’ pressure and were sacked. Her contempt for free media not unexpectedly showed up as media censorship during the emergency. However, her contribution to media development was significant.Under her instructions, the TV training was added to the Film and Television Institute in Pune in 1974 and the institution became a full -fledged visual media training facility  with full government support. The film documentary wing as well as the film development corporation for financing creative films flourished.The newspaper industry starved of news print due to global scarcity let out a sigh of relief when the government responded to its appeal for producing newsprint by government mills.

Indira Gandhi when she became PM after the sudden death of prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri initially did not have power; it was wielded by her appointees in the party. But she acquired it by sheer dint of her determination and wielded it demonstratively. The academic literature on Power states that power is rarely given;It has to be acquired and exercised and make other feel it in action.She brought that into  full play in the months leading upto the Indo-Pak confrontation over Bangladesh. The crisis was an opportunity for Indira Gandhi to established herself as a leader to be reckoned internationally.Her face off with US President Nixon and secretary of state Henry Kissinger are well documented. The Indo-USSR 20 -year agreement for peace and friendship singed a little before the Indo-Pak war of 1971 was a diplomatic coup that unsettled both the US and China that were siding with Pakistan. This pact, according to some commentators, stopped the US from sending a contingent of its 7^th Fleet into Indian ocean to brow beat India.

Many Indians love Indira Gandhi for what she stood for and what she did. Many Indians shun her memory for what she did between 1975-77.But her imprint on post-independence history of India is indelible. In the government policy area, the shadows of her polices linger though unacknowledged. Her signature was leadership.