AIRLIFT – an untold Air India story

Read about the great PR exercise 

in pre-Google and Internet Days!

A Flashback 
By Jitender Bhargava

The film 'Airlift' has brought the evacuation of over 1.17 lakh Kuwait-resident Indians once again on the centre stage after 25 years. How did the feat get listed as a record in the Guinness book makes for an interesting reading!

I, as the head of Public Relations Department, was issuing press releases on a daily basis to inform the media about the number of flights operated in the past 24 hours; number of stranded passengers safely brought from Amman in Jordan to various Indian cities, next day's plan of flight operations, etc.

It struck me after about 20 odd days, by which time only about a third of the total had been evacuated, whether we had in the process created a record.

Since it wasn't the era of Google which enables one to source information easily, I walked from my office in Air India building to the book store in Eros cinema complex near Churchgate in Mumbai; picked up a copy of the Guinness Book of World Records to access the address of the editor/publisher of Guinness book.

Armed with the address, I posted (email did not exist then) a letter to Guinness Editor enquiring if any record of evacuation by a civil airliner existed? A fortnight later Guinness replied through a letter that it did not have a record in their book.

In the meantime, evacuation continued at a brisk pace with Air India deploying as many aircraft as possible and Indian Airlines and Indian Air Force extending a helping hand with their aircraft to bolster capacity to meet the growing demand. After the evacuation operation was completed, I sent a comprehensive letter to Guinness providing details of total number of passengers carried, flights operated, duration of the entire exercise, etc. Guinness accepted the record and duly intimated us through a letter.

It was only after a few months that the new edition of the Guinness Book of World Records was published with Air India's achievement duly listed.

I once again walked to the same book store from where I had sourced the Guinness address to buy a copy of the book for our company's archives.

The Emergence of Emergency and media gag

Political communication is the oxygen of an open democracy like India. In the nascent nation’s life, a turning point had arrived when the government had to impose the first national emergency and Defence of India rules in the wake of Chinese attack on India in 1962. Read all about the beginning of gagging the Press in Part-VII of series on Political Communication by S Narendra, former adviser to PMs and ex-PIO and Govt Spokesperson.

Chow-En-Lai with Nehru - the Great Betrayal 

The Constitution of India provides national emergency declaration  when there is an external threat to national security under Art:356. When such an emergency was proclaimed in 1962, it was accompanied by the Defence of India Rules and Media Censorship. Unlike the blanket censorship that was imposed in 1975 internal emergency, particularly on political communication and dissent, censorship under DOI were limited in  scope and covered  matters that could pose a threat to national security. The Armed Forces Information Office, a wing of the Press Information Bureau, was strengthened for dealing with media censorship.

Fortunately for the government, the media of those days meant only the Press and two news agencies and official All India Radio. The media itself enveloped by patriotic fervour, practiced self–censorship. The air was filled with patriotic exhortations, national songs and public demonstrations of national unity, reminding one of the freedom movement days.

In Mysore, where I lived, foot-falls in restaurants increased during AIR main bulletin timings. People would gather at restaurants’ to listen to the  AIR news. The sense of emergency was brought closer whenever an ARP (air raid precaution) drill was done, with police vans wailing  sirens and making announcements asking people to take precautions in the event of an air raid. 

Please click on this video clip and enjoy the patriotic fervour

The ever green Aye Mere Watan Ke  Logon sung by Lata Mangeshkar  (reportedly brought tears to Nehru)  was a product of this time; so also Chetan Anand’s Haqueekat. The Chinese attack seems to have jolted some of the political parties like DMK that were agitating of their states’ independence.

The government set up the National Integration Council for undertaking programmes all over the country for strengthening national solidarity. The Congress party subtly used the outpouring of nationalistic fervour for stemming the mounting criticism of PM Nehru’s China policy. The Defence minister Krishna Menon, Nehru’s favourite, had been forced out of the government..

Media Control And Propaganda: As far as the government move to control the media through censorship was concerned, 1962 was not the first time when this was done. As the home minister, Rajaji had introduced the  prevention of objectionable matters Act in the face of  left wing insurgency. The government was getting worried about the concentration of newspaper ownership and monopolistic tendencies which posed a danger to plurality of media. The mismanagement of Bennet Coleman Company publishing the Times of India, Illustrated Weekly group of newspapers had allowed the government to supersede its management. AINEC or all India Newspaper Editors Conference was a powerful body that often sought the government help in preserving the position of the independence of the editor in a newspaper.

Also, the government’s Working Journalists (1955) had not gone down well with the owners. An unstated but obvious trigger for the government to be alarmed was the big newspapers’ enthusiasm for the new Swatantra Party founded in 1959 by Rajaji with its free market philosophy that  challenged the Congress Party’s socialistic ideology. The big newspapers’ owners also owned general insurance, banks and industries. A large number of small and medium newspapers run by individuals and trusts motivated by missionary zeal had sprung up during the freedom movement but in post-independence India they were facing ‘unfair’ competition from big newspaper chains that were offering supplements, free of cost.

The Author

By increasing the number of pages they were able to pull in most of the advertising space as well. For countering this trend, the official advertising policy favoured small and medium (especially the language ones) papers. But since AIR shunned commercial advertising, the flow of such ad money from businesses went  to big newspapers chains.

Price–Page Schedule Act: Against this background, the government invoked out of the blue a dormant law – the Newspapers (Price and Control) Act 1956 - compelling newspapers to charge cover price according to the number of pages offered.

The Sakal group of newspapers (founded by Parulekar, the first formally trained Indian journalist) successfully challenged this Law before the Supreme Court. The government had argued that this Order was based on a suggestion made by the first Press Commission. Upholding the petitioner’s argument that the relevant Law and the subsequent Order impinged upon the citizen fundamental right to profession guaranteed under Art:19 of the Constitution, the Court struck down the law. (Next: Ban on Radio Advertising)

PrezSpeak: Perfect PR - learn it from Beating the Retreat!

Please play this video clip before you start reading this piece!

You may wonder as to why I am posting Beating the Retreat video clip on a PR e-mag!

As an observer of military band music for decades, from the days of my Daddy’s army life, I have been observing the perfect way in which the formations take place and band masters conduct the orchestra.

Today, recalling all this experience I come to conclusion that Communication is all about perfection. You need to plan your strategies perfectly, execute them perfectly.

Please take couple of minutes to watch the clip and then join me in thinking about orchestration.

Pardon me if I started sounding like a preacher?

The idea is not to preach but to join this discussion on the importance of orchestration which is even more challenging today.

The audiences or target groups are very discerning today than ever before. Whether you sell real estate ideas or social causes, you are bound to face stiff competition and even resistance. Your planning becomes so much more difficult.

Each and every element of your communication has to be perfect to attain that symphony else you will land up in a cacophony with the right not knowing what the left is doing!

From media relations to digital media the challenges are many.

With so many veterans with us, I think, PRCI should be able to play an important, leadership role – like the band master you see in the video clip - in orchestrating perfect communication.

While we do well in our chosen areas of operation, we must join ranks and help the profession march ahead without missing a step or a note.

Let us work towards skill development, passing on the knowledge to young communicators through our Guest Faculty Pools and broaden the scope of the Knowledge Forums.

Let us start taking up these projects at all our chapter levels and three to four months down the line we will see PRCI flag flying in the horizon of knowledge world.

As our Chairman Emeritus and Chief Mentor Jayaram  says always that more and more chapters need to be created and even more and more chapters need to have activities at the rate of once in two months, if not once a month.

Like other social clubs, we can plan PRCI activities over the week-ends by spending an hour together and brainstorming. Let us share ideas on taking this movement called PRCI ahead. Almost every city has colleges teaching mass communication. The simplest way to spread the buzz about PRCI is to tie-up with them for knowledge activities, case study competitions, debates, communication skills (both spoken and written).

In Mumbai alone, we have over 80 colleges teaching BMM and we have started initiating activities. Bangalore and Mysore Chapters are also doing well.

But, Yeh Dil Mangay More.

Let the PRCI symphony spread across all 28 Chapters – we have Roorky and Jalgaon as the latest entrants to PRCI fold.

Let us start writing ourselves. Let us pen down our thoughts and post them on PRapport. Let us write in our magazines – CHANAKYA and Kautilya.

All of us know that content is the king of communication.

Let us enhance our own content and give it to the world.

We owe it to the society in general and GenX in particular.

Give me content and I will give you a magazine to read!

Please take care of yourselves!

BUSINESSWORLD chosen Magazine of the Year

Go tech or perish - caution to Communication Professionals

Masterstroke Interview with Ajay

Pawar, Head, Corporate Communication, 

Godrej Properties, and  recent

entrant to PR Hall of Fame

By Richa Seth 

Technology will play a massive role in revolutionizing PR campaigns in the coming years and PR professionals will have to quickly adapt and learn the required skills to stay relevant says Ajay Pawar, an industry veteran with over two decades of experience in the marketing communications space. Mr. Pawar is currently the Corporate Communications Head at Godrej Properties, he was recently bestowed with the prestigious ‘The Hall of Fame’ Awards at  PRCI Awards. In a tete-a-tete with Richa Seth of Vickypedia, Mr.Pawar, talks about his enriched experience and vision for the PR industry.

1. You recently won The Hall of Fame Award at PRCI, tell us more about it, why was this award given?

This award recognizes people who have excelled in the PR domain on a consistent basis and made significant contribution and service in the profession of corporate communications. I feel extremely honored and humbled on being inducted in the Hall of Fame and thank PRCI and the jury members for it.

2. With an enriched experience of 22 years in marketing communications, could you share the top five qualities absolutely necessary for running successful campaigns for clients?

I would not like to make it an agency v/s client outlook and keep to the best 5 qualities,

• Be completely involved – Understand the objective, ask relevant questions, update, involve and motivate your team and listen to everything about the project.
• 
  
• Plan every detail – even the smallest details should be thought through and have process owners.
• 
  
• Think different – never let monotony set it. That’s the worst thing any project can have. Think of different ways to do things – use technology, weigh in and implement new suggestions and ideas. Make the project interesting for the team doing it and more importantly for the final customer.
• 
  
• Visualize the outcome – and share this vision with the team. This brings in tremendous energy in any project and there is immense gratification when you achieve the results.
• 
  
• Always have a backup plan – things can go tangential when multiple people and activities are involved. It’s important that you break a project in smaller units/ stages and have back up plans for each unit/ stage. Make it a point of getting it signed off by all stakeholders involved so there are no last minute surprises.

3.  Please can you share your experience of a successful PR/Integrated communications campaign that has been one of the great achievements in your PR career?

Ajay Pawar receiving the PR Hall of Fame honours from Swami Jitatmananda, Vice President Ramkrishna Math, as PRCI Chairman Emeritus and Chief Mentor M B Jayaram and Governing Council Chairman R T Kumar look on. (Pic: BNK)

There are several projects that hold a special place. One project that I would like to mention will be the IPO campaign of Godrej Properties. It was the first time I got an opportunity to work on something that had so many stakeholders – management, regulatory bodies, bankers, legal advisers, investors, media, agencies, the list just goes on. The financial market, then, was not conducive to investments and planning and executing the campaign was a little more than a challenge. It was an amazing moment when our stock was listed on BSE.

4.  Could you share learning’s from your greatest failures in the PR experience?

Failures are a part of life & work and no one can be successful all the time. Accept the mistake, look at why, where, how or when it crept in and build processes to ensure it does not happen again. Don’t sulk over it. Every moment is new and you should do the best you can – let the person in front of you (could also be your own image in the mirror) feel a positive and bright vibe about you.

5.  What are your Top 3 wishes from the consultancies that manage your account?

1. Excellent rapport with media

2. Excellent content creation capabilities

3. Energetic & focused team members.

6. What has been your success mantra and what is that you would like to recommend to youngsters who are planning to join corporate communications?

There is no one mantra. I have learnt so many unique things from the people that I have and continue to work with. A couple of things that I try to live by are,

Passionate teams almost always exceed expectations. Equip and align your team and keep them motivated. Extraordinary results are but a natural outcome.

Everyday brings in a new thing to learn and do, a new opportunity to meet people and a new opportunity to explore. So live in the present and make the best of it. Today is more important than yesterday. Never let your past baggage tire or hold you back. Be alert, be nimble and aim for the best.

For the youngsters wanting to make a career in corporate communications (or for that matter any chosen trade) a couple of suggestions,

– Join it only if you love it – not because you have to.

– Every aspect of work is important so get into the details while focusing on the bigger picture. There may be times when you may need to ask someone to show you the bigger picture. Go ahead and ask.

7.  What is your vision for the PR industry in the next 5 years?

Gone are the days when people would read news in the next day’s papers. Today and in the days ahead, people will read news or get information when they want to – and it means minutes, if not seconds, after an event. Images will be made and broken in real time. This change in consumption presents a huge opportunity and a huge challenge for the PR fraternity. Technology will play a massive role and people will need to be not just aware but fluent in its usage. PR professionals and agencies who are ever learning and adept at change management will be in demand and hugely sought after. (By arrangement with Vikypedia)

Hail Sobhagya, PR agency of the year!

Here is a collahge of media coverage for Sobhagya which has been awarded PR Agency of The Year at PRCI awards during the 10th Global Communication Conclave held at Kolkata on Jan 22 & 23, 2016.

Breaking News @ PRCI Conclave: Railway broadband to reach 500,000 homes in 2 years

This story by IANS on our 10th Global Communication Conclave has been well received by media from across the world with over 2,400 web sites carrying it.

RailTel Aims to Connect 500,000 Households With Its Broadband Project

Indo-Asian News Service , 27 January 27il

Carving a niche for itself in the Connected India-2020 project, Railtel Corporation's broadband will reach 500,000 households through its Railwire network providing a host of services at the block level in the next two years, a top railway official has said.

The Broadband Highway will involve a three-layer network - state capitals to district headquarters, district to sub-divisional and then to gram panchayats which will be joined to the National Optic Fibre Network (NOFN), Pradeep Kumar, executive director (East) of RailTel Corporation of India, told a Global Communication Conclave in Kolkata.

The Conclave, 10th in a series organised by the Public Relations Council of India (PRCI), conducted a knowledge forum with the theme 'Digital Now- What Next'.

(Also see:  Google, RailTel's Free Public Wi-Fi Service Launched at Mumbai Central)

Pradeep Kumar said Railwire network architecture provides the answer for 'What Next' as it will empower the people at village level with knowledge, skill development and core competencies. "This will lead to good governance and transparent, corruption-free governments."

RailTel's pan-India optic fibre network covers 4,400-plus railway stations across 44,300km.

Railwire has also begun to tap the local cable operators focussing on pure-play broadband and VPN services, content and application-driven network. "Our aim is to become a hub of local information and tool for rendering communication, infotainment, education, health and community services to the masses," Pradeep Kumar said.

In Eastern India alone, RailTel seeks to cover 36,000 gram panchayats and the broadband services include emails, online newspapers, online passport application, tele-medicine, examination results and net surfing for students with a minimum 2Mbps speed.

The company's pilot projects at Panisagar and Girania in Tripura have aroused a lot of interest and enthusiasm, Pradeep Kumar said.

For the Railways itself, RailTel provides mission-critical services such as computerised passenger reservation and ticketing system.

West Bengal Women's Welfare and Child Development Minister Sashi Panja, who inaugurated the two-day conclave, focussed on communicators' role in ensuring the safety of women and children. In this context, she appreciated PRCI for setting up an internal compliance cell as the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act makes it mandatory for all organisations to have such cells.

Explaining the significance of the conclave theme, PRCI national president and veteran media professional B.N. Kumar said it was important for communication professionals to keep themselves updated with the latest technology trends to be able to meet ever-increasing challenges.

PRCI also focuses on skill development for communication professionals by expanding its operations and network not only across India but globally as well, he said.

PRCI chairman emeritus and chief mentor M.B. Jayaram said it was high time that the PR professionals thought big, embraced emerging challenges and converted them into opportunities and moved towards a digital-first approach. The organization will soon initiate collaborative programmes with various business and technology forums to help the professionals upgrade their skills.

PRCI, on the occasion, felicitated national achievers from among communication professionals with its coveted Chanakya awards, inducted senior practitioners into PR Hall of fame and presented a host of collateral awards at the conclave.

Ujjivan Financial Services won the Corporate Citizen award, while Apollo Gleneagles Hospitals was given the innovative leadership award. Dainik Bhaskar Bhopal was given the excellence in social leadership award while Businessworld fortnightly was adjudged the Magazine of the Year.

The World of PR in City of Joy

                         10^th Global Communication Conclave attracts good traction

KOLKATA: The two-day 10^th Global Communication Conclave hosted  by Kolkata, the City of Joy, was indeed a joyous experience.

Held on January 22 -23, 2016, the Conclave had a large number of PR, media, HR, Advertising professionals, mass communication academicians and students attending.

West Bengal Minister for Women Welfare and Child Development Ms Sashi Panja was the chief guest who along other dignitaries  such as Swami Jitatmananda Maharaj, Vice President, Ramkrishna Math, lighted the traditional lamp to mark opening of the Conclave.

The Conclave paid glowing tributes to late PRCI Governing Council Chairman N D Rajpal who passed away recently. His daughter Shweta fondly recalled his memories and said he was a great family man while he was always busy with his professional commitments. The delegates observed silence as a mark of respect to the departed soul.

Conclave vice chairman and PRCI East Zone Chairman B K Sahu and organising committee chairman Ravi Mahapatra, who also heads Kolkata chapter of PRCI, welcomed the guests.

Ms Sashi Panja, West Bengal Women welfare and child development minister, who inaugurated the two-day conclave, focused on the communicators’ role in ensuring the safety of women and children.

In this context, she appreciated PRCI for complying with the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act makes it mandatory for all organizations to have Internal Compliance Committees.

PRCI Chairman Emeritus and M B Jayaram referred to the Conclave theme – Digital Now-What Next – and stressed the need for all PR professionals to be abreast with the fast developing technology to be able to meet ever increasing communication challenges.

PRCI Governing Council chairman R T Kumar said the organization is spreading its pan-India network and at the time spreading wings globally. ORCI recently formed its UAE chapter and will soon set up units in Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, Germany and the US.

PRCI National Executive president B N Kumar disclosed that the Guest Faculty Pool set up by the Council is becoming popular among institutions teaching mass communication. PRCI will focus on skill development among upcoming communication professionals and periodic knowledge forums.

YCC Chairperson Geetha Shankar said the organization has launched a special drive to involve the student community and planned youth summits in Mumbai, Bangalore and Mysore.

Kolkata Calling - on You Tube

Here is the video slide show of select pix taken during the 10th Global Communication Conclave, taken from my ipad Mini.

Pl allow some time for the pix to download (by clicking on the play button). For better view, select Cinema Mode (the second icon from the right, on your screen) and for sharp quality pl select HD by clicking on options (the wheel icon).

Now enjoy viewing.....larger pic on Youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpJUuX0_nsQ

Percussionists in action at Kolkata Conclave

And the Chanakya Awards go to.....also PR Hall of Fame List - 2016

Here is the list of the coveted Chanakya and prestigious Hall of Fame awards presented at the 10th Global Communication Conclave held at Kolkata on January 22 & 23, 2016

National Chanakya Awards 2016

S No	Chanakya Award	Organisation/Person	Designation
1	Corporate Citizen of the Year	Ujjivan Financial Services, Bengaluru
2	Excellence in Project Management	NTPC Ltd, New Delhi
3	Innovative Leadership	Apollo Gleneagles Hospital, Kolkota
4	Media Personality of the Year Print Media	Susmita Mukherjee	Senior  Editor Times of India, Kolkota
5	Communicator of the Year- Corporate Communications	Mr.Indrajit Bose	Executive Director (Corporate Communications &Branding) IndianOil, Marketing Division Mumbai
6	Communicator of the Year- Documentary Films	Maya Chandra	Maya Films Bengaluru
7	Communicator of the Year- Art & Culture	H.A. Anil Kumar	H.O.D, Department of Art History, Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath, Bengaluru
8	Social Leadership	Dainik Bhaskar	Bhopal
9	Entrepreneur of the Year	Dr. Mohan Krishna	Founder, Cheers Group
10	Business Communication Trainer   of the Year-International	Vinod  Menon	Art of Living International Center, Bengaluru
11	Business Communication Trainer   of the Year- National	Dr. K.V. Nagaraj	Professor,Mass Communication, Mizoram University MIZORAM
12	Business School of the Year	International School of Business&Research	Bengaluru
13	Business Leadership of the Year	Canara Bank	Bengaluru
14	Magazine of the Year	Business World	MUMBAI
15	Publisher of the Year	Delhi Press Magazine	NEW DELHI
16	Academic Excellence of the Year	Telangana Academy for Skill and Knowledge	Secunderabad
17	Best PR Agency of the Year	SOBHAGYA Advertising	Kochi
18	Most promising PR Person of the Year	Sanjoy Kumar Mukherjee,	Senior Public Relation Officer, Kolkata Port Trust, Kolkata
19	Most promising PR  Agency of the Year	PR 24X7 Network Ltd	Indore
20	Most promising young Entrepreneur of the Year	Saurabh Uboweja	Founder, CEO & Chief Brand Strategist  Brands of Desire Delhi
21	Juries Special Award Communication through Yoga	Aurum Media Pvt Ltd	Lonovala
22	Juries Special Award  PR Person –Corporate Communication	Latha	PRO KSRTC Bengaluru
24	Juries Special Award for International Academic Excellence	Sunil Kannath	Director & CEO  Europe Study Centre Pvt. Ltd Kochi
25	Excellence in HR	Sunil Munshi	Director (Personnel)  Andrew Yule and Co. Ltd Kolkata
26	Communicator of the Year- Crisis Communication	Prashanth Pathrabe	Director Film&Television Institute of India, Pune
27	Juries Special Award for Photo  Journalism	Amitabha Bandyopadhyay	Special Correspondent, Ananda Bazar Patrika, Kolkata
28	Juries Special Award for Business  Journalism	Shri Dilip Bisoi	Special Correspondent, Financial Express, Bhubaneshwar
29	Juries Special Award for Economic Journalism	Shri Jyant Gupta	Assistant Editor, Times of India, Kolkata
30	Excellence in good governance and Administration	Dr Shalini Rajneesh IAS	Principal Secretary, Backward Classes Welfare Department. Govt of ktka,  Bengaluru
31	NRI Awards Indians who brought name to the country abroad	Biju Kassim	Managing Director Gadgets International& Sirius Retail Solution, Dubai
32	NGO Of the Year	IDL Foundation	Bengaluru
33	N.D. Rajpal Memorial Award Communicator of the Decade	Deepak Jolly	Vice President Venturing and Emerging Brands Coca Cola India&South West Asia
34	Dr K.R. Singh Memorial Award	L.R. Sailo	Former Director of Information& Public Relations, Government Mizoram, Aizwal
35.	Media Personality of the Year Electronic Media	Ms Shweta Rajpal	NDTV, NEW DELHI

HALL OF FAME 2016

S.N	Name	Designation
1	Ajay Pawar	Senior General Manager (Corporate Communications) Godrej Properties Ltd.
2	B.K. Asmita	Facilitator- Brahmakumaris
3	Ajay Sharma	Founder & CEO Storynomics
4	Asok Kumar Gangopadhyay,	Senior Public Relations Officer  Eastern Railway
5	V. Chandrasekar	Ex Senior Assistant General Manager, Air India
6	Himanshu Kapadia	Sr. Vice President, Corporate Communications and CSR, Aditya Birla Group.
7	Naresh Kumar	Asst. GM, Corporate Communications (POWERGRID)
8	Sanjay Tripathi	Mr. Sanjay Tripathi, Dy. General Manager (Corporate Communications), IndianOil, Western Region
9	Sabitha Natraj	Head of Corporate Communications, Southern Region, IndianOil