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.

Kochi set for Press Club-PRCI media & PR Awards

The second Edition of NIB Awards jointly promoted by Ernakulam Press Club, the oldest Press Club in India and Public Relations Council of India ( PRCI ),Kerala Chapter ( the largest organisation of Communicators in India with 26 Chapters ), will happen at Hotel Raddison Blu, Kochi on 20th February 2016.

The Media Awards are given to Reporters, Presenters & Photographers who have proved their mettle in Print and Electronic Media.

The PR Awards are given this year to:

Dr Siddeek Ahmed,( Chairman & Managing Director of Eram Group, UAE )         Business IKON of the Tear

Dr Majeed Muhammed  ( Sami Labs )                                                                          Global Innovation & Excellence

Mr P H Kurian IAS  ( Secretary to Industries & IT, Government of Kerala )             Excellence in Public Administration

Mr Boby Chemmanur  ( Chemmanur International )                                                  Excellence in Social Service

Mr K R Pramod  ( Chief PR Manager, Mathrubhumi )                                                 PR Manager of the Year

The Awards in Collateral ( House Magazine, Newsletter & e- magazine ) will be presented in different categories to 36 Institutions including Indianoil ( Kolkata, Panipet, mumbai & Chennai ), Western India Coal Fields, BHEL, NTPC, BMEL, Bank of India, Yes Bank, KIMS, JK Group, NSIDC, FACT, BPCL, KSRTC etc.

Hon. Union  Minister for Health J P Nadda will be the Chief Guest. Mr V K Ibrahim Kunju, Hon. Minister for Public Works, Government of Kerala will preside. PAC Chairman Prof. K V Thomas MP, Ex MP Rajeev P, Hybie Eden MLA, Benny Behnan MLA, BJP Past President V Muraleedharan, PRCI Chief Mentor & Founder Chairman M B Jayaram, Press Club President K Ravikumar, secretary S Unnikrishnan, PRCI Kerala Chapter Chairman U S Kutty, Secretary T Vinay Kumar will felicitate.

A Media & Pr Conclave is conducted in connection with the NIB Awards in the morning at International Hotel at 10 am. Worshipful Mayor of Kochi Ms Soumini Jayan will Inagurate the Conclave. Mr K Raveendran, Secretary General of PRCI will felicitate. Mr S Biju, Associate Editor of Asianet, Mr Manoj K das, Editor Times of India, Kerala, Mr R K Nair, Former Executive Director Corporate Communication etc, will lead the Conclave. Mr B N Kumar, President national Council of PRCI and Director Concept PR will be the Moderator. Apart from Delegates students from Kerala Media Academy and other B Schools will attend the Conclave.

Mumbai Press Club REDINK Awards - Deadline for entries is Feb 29

Mumbai: Mumbai Press Club invites entries for the prestigious National Red Ink Awards for Excellence in Journalism–2016. In the sixth year now, the Red Ink Awards have been instituted to promote best practices among journalists and encourage good quality writing, fair play and high ethical standards.

Entries must be submitted by February 29, 2016.

Entries in the form of articles or stories published in the print & digital medium and television stories broadcast during calendar year 2015 [Category 1-9] and impactful photograph of the year [Category 10] published in the print or digital medium in 2015, are invited from Indian Journalists in the following categories:

1.                Business

2.               Crime

3.               Environment

4.               Health & Wellness 29, 2015

5.               Human Rights

6.               Lifestyle & Entertainment

7.               Politics

8.               Science & Innovation

9.               Sports

10.            The Big Picture (Photograph of the year)

Mumbai Press Club will also honour the outstanding journalist by the following award:

11.            ‘The Journalist of the Year’ Award will be for a body of work in calendar 2015 that contributed to creating a lasting impact in any streams– print, digital or TV

12.            ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ is for a senior journalist who has contributed substantially to the growth and strengthening of the profession

The selection will be made by a special jury from amongst a shortlist drawn up by the Managing Committee of Mumbai Press Club. Responses from journalists will also be taken into consideration. The winning entry in each category will be awarded a cash prize of Rs. 1 Lakh, a trophy and a citation.

The broad guidelines for the contest are: 

1.                     The contest is open only for Indian citizens.

2.                     A copy of the published Article (print or digital) or broadcast story needs to be sent along with the entry form.

3.                     Individual entries must be accompanied by an entry form that can be downloaded from www.mumbaipressclub.com (also attached herewith) giving details of the journalist and accompanied by a recent photograph.

4.                     Entries should have been published / broadcast in calendar year 2015 only.

5.                     The various award categories should be studied carefully, and applications marked specifically for the category they fit into.

6.                     An applicant is allowed a maximum of 3 entries across all categories.

7.                     Entries will need to be authenticated (supported/recommended) by the Editors/Media Heads of respective media platforms. 

8.                     Entries not in English will have to be accompanied by an English translation. 

9.                     Entries must have been published in registered print publications like newspapers or magazines or web-based publications / television networks; Writings on blogs however are not eligible for entry.  

10.                 Entries of published articles/stories must be accompanied with a scanned copy (print medium) or print out (digital medium).

11.                 Entries in the various Television categories must be sent on pen drive or DVD in mpeg format. Television entries must carry a brief text on the story and its impact.

12.                 Entries must be mailed not later than 29th February, 2016 to:redinkawards@pressclubmumbai.com with a subject ‘Category Name’ for example : Sports – Print or Sports - Television.

13.                 Entries can also be sent via post and should have ‘RedInk Awards-2016’ followed by the category name mentioned in bold and addressed to: The Secretary, Mumbai Press Club, Glass House, Azad Maidan, Mahapalika Marg, Mumbai–400001.

14.                 A distinguished panel of judges in each category, appointed by the  Mumbai Press  Club, will decide the winners.

15.                 The decisions made by the Judges and the Mumbai Press Club will be final.

16.                 Winners who are not residents of Mumbai will be provided travel and accommodation for the Awards Ceremony by The Press Club.

17.                 If a multi bylined article wins the Award, all the contributors will share the prize money.

18.                 No claim shall be entertained if the winner fails to collect prize at the award ceremony.

19.                 Please read the terms & conditions before entering the contest.

The Mumbai Press Club urges Editors/Media Heads to share this Awards information with their teams. Editors and Media Heads are also requested to nominate outstanding stories/articles for consideration under each category.

We thank you for your time and interest and look forward to your continued participation with the Red Ink Awards. For details, updates and information on the Awards, visit to www.mumbaipressclub.com. For further details contact: Mrityunjay Bose - 98925 41019 or Rajesh Mascarenhas– 95940 88999

Thanks & regards,

Secretary

Mumbai Press Club

January 20, 2016

RedInk Awards - 2016: Terms and Conditions

Mumbai Press Club (MPC) will not be responsible for incomplete, illegible, unviewable, lost and late entries, all of which will be disqualified. MPC reserves the right to disqualify any entries by persons determined by MPC in its sole discretion to be tampering with or abusing any aspect of the Contest. MPC further reserves the right to disqualify any entry that is alleged to infringe on any third-party's intellectual property or other rights, or that MPC deems to be, in its sole discretion, obscene, offensive or otherwise inappropriate for viewing by a general audience. By entering the Contest, each contestant agrees that MPC and its licensees may publish his or her story or photograph or video in the related content of RedInk Awards and exhibit, copy, publish, make derivative works from or otherwise use his or her entry and other entry materials for any purpose, in any media, in perpetuity, without limitation or additional compensation.

By entering the Contest, you agree to MPC’s and its licensees' use of your name, likeness and biographical information in any media for non-commercial purpose without limitation or further compensation, unless prohibited by law. By entering the Contest, you further agree to release and hold harmless MPC, from any and all liability, claims, injuries, losses or damages of any kind arising from or in connection with your participation in the contest. MPC, in its sole discretion, reserves the right to suspend, modify or terminate this contest if it determines in its sole discretion that tampering, fraud or any other cause beyond the reasonable control of MPC has corrupted, compromised or impaired the security, integrity, fairness or proper operation of the contest. The Mumbai Courts shall have exclusive jurisdiction to settle any disputes which may arise out of or in connection with the RedInk Awards 2016.

From All India Radio to All Indira Radio - the emergence of a powerful medium

Please click on the video clips to thoroughly enjoy the excellent piece - Editor

Political communication or PC is the oxygen of democracy like India. Soon after the Independence, PC, wore many hues as the government pursued its series of nation building and political objectives. Official media, particularly AIR, unknowingly transformed itself into common-man-friendly mass medium only after 1962 Chinese attack. Please read to understand the untold story of the national broadcaster – a seventh in the series by S Narendra, former adviser to PMs and PIO and ex-Government of India spokesperson who weathered many a storm! This is the story of the bygone era when we didn’t even hear about FM. We just AM and SW (Short Wave)

Until 1967, commercial advertising was banned on All India Radio (AIR), the most powerful mass medium channel under government control since its inception in 1930s. Why or how radio advertising was banned are some of those unresolved questions. It may not be very wrong to surmise that commercial advertising,  ubiquitous symbol of  a free market-oriented and consumption-led  economy, did not fit in with the ideology of state controlled, socialistic economy embraced by the political establishment of the time. Anyway, the post-war scarcity economy did not offer people much to consume.

This commercial void was very adequately filled by Radio Ceylon (now Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation)  and Radio Goa (under Portuguese rule up to 1962) drawing away Indian advertisers. The famous Binaca Geetmala anchored by Ameen Sayani broadcast from Radio Ceylon was a hit with Indian masses. Unlike AIR that occasionally played melodious Indian film music, these two broadcasters used Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and other language film music as their staple fare from 6.45 AM to midnight. The most prominent brands that rode on film music were: the ones such as Woodward’s Gripe Water (ajwan water for infants), baby food by Glaxo, Ovaltine drink promoted for strength, tooth-pastes like Kolynos with chlorophyll, McCleans, Bayer’s aspirin.

The most coveted Swiss watch - Favre Leuba - and 7’O clock razor blade kept the radio time. The symbols of good grooming were Afghan snow, a first Indian competitor to  Pond’s, Brilliantine for hair. Toilet soap Lux for beauty led the field, followed by Lifebuoy for cleanliness. The Indian brands making radio noise from Colombo  were the likes of Dongre’s Balaamrut and Amrutanjan.  It won’t be an exaggeration is I say that we came to know of our own films in the making from Radio Ceylon.  

The Chinese attack in 1962 indirectly affected the fortunes of Radio Ceylon and AIR differently. Suddenly the Indian government and the people discovered that the defence forces serving in far-flung border areas need to be connected with the rest of country. Also, there was realisation that they needed some element of entertainment.  Besides sending troupes of film-folks to border areas for entertaining the troops, the government allowed AIR to introduce twice a day one-hour  long  ‘Fauji Geet Mala’ with Hindi film music. By entrusting the anchoring of such film music slots to prominent film personalities, AIR   suddenly pulled in huge audiences. Without the government realising it, it had opened a channel that united Indians like never before and went on to serve the cause of national solidarity as well as that of the Hindi language. In fact, film music on radio and later Chitrahar programme on Doordarshan (1980s) served the cause of Hindi much more than the Official Hind Language department of the government.

Until Hindi film music came to dominate, AIR was an elite media that patronised classical Hindustani and Carnatic music, emerging as an unparalleled repository of music of this genre. The introduction of dedicated hours for popular film music changed the social base of AIR audiences and placed it on the path  to become a truly mass media by beaming film music on medium wave transmission through networking of its low-power transmitters. However, this path faced a big hurdle, since  radio sets cost a princely sum of Rs  400 or more  that was beyond the income of most households.

In fact, there used be celebration and many an eyebrow would be raised when anyone acquired a radio set. Village Panchayats had radio sets playing farmers programmes and regional news.

Another significant change in communication scene coincided with AIR embracing commercial advertising. India of 1960s was literally eating ‘from ship to mouth’, that is, massive American wheat imports coming in as aid was under PL-480 given to people from ration shops. From 1964, the government had initiated Intensive Agriculture Development Programme or green revolution by spreading new crop technology to farmers.

The musical instrument Harmonium had been   banned on AIR, since 1952,as the then I&B minister B.V.Keskar, another elitist inclination against this common  musical accompaniment present in most film music of those days. When Fauji Geetmaala was introduced on AIR, this ban on harmonium also disappeared. While the filmy music emerged as a strong unifying element, another development went u8nnoticed. All India Radio as a mass medium airing commercial advertising was perhaps the first step in transforming India as one single common market in a virtual sense. In a virtual sense because while people got to hear about brands with all-India marketing aspirations, the  relative lack of physical infrastructure like air, rail, road  transport and telecommunications limited the marketers’ reach as well as consumers’ access to brands. India as a single common market took its full physical shape only after 1991-onward economic reforms which opened the economy.

Then we had the Bharat Electronics (BEL) developing a radio set costing Rs 80. Such radio sets  were distributed free to Radio Rural Forums. Farm experts communicated with farmers via AIR. Soon these low cost radio sets entered millions of homes. This was an unprecedented successful experiment in development communication.

Radio from now on came to be referred to as transistors which could be found even with street vendors. This media revolution went on to become the most potent political weapon when prime minister Mrs Gandhi split the Congress party and launched her economic  revolution through ‘garibi hatao’.

The high voltage political drama satiated the people’s appetite for news. The Congress party in 1967 had lost power in several states and, for the furst time, the opposition strength in Parliament had crossed 200 members. Suddenly, the misuse of AIR, especially its news, by the government became a hot topic of political debate.

Indira Gandhi’s critics often referred to AIR as All Indira Radio as its news bulletins would invariably begin with: “The Prime Minster said today that....” and in Hindi: “Pradhan Mantri Ne Aaj Kaha Hai ki.....”

Power Grid Naresh Kumar in PR Hall of Fame

                                                                   The Hindustan Times Clip 

CHANAKYA - Read the maiden issue here

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.

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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)