Obama: India-US why try when India-Chini is not bhai bhai!

Sharif D Rangnekar

When it comes to communications and PR, President Obama knows it all and does it all. There are oh so many case studies related to his campaign that a book can be made on it. During his visit to China earlier this week, he cleverly used words on how China would ‘encourage’ better ties between India and Pakistan. While he did not specifically say that China would ‘negotiate’ or ‘involve’ itself in this direction, he virtually gave this large nation a role to play in South Asian politics.

Obama in Japan. *Pic source: The Associated Press

What he also did is ignore China’s investments in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK). What a sentence or two can do is amazing and disturbing given the role a US President plays in global politics. So far the Indian government has close to ignored the statements and is fortunate that the media has not chased it down. A continued engagement with the media would mean keeping the story alive and further embarrassment for the Indian government and nation. According to sources, the PMO intends to maintain one line – a holding statement of sorts – the Indian PM will take the issue up when he visits President Obama a few days from now!

And they’re not even on Parole!

Rohit Sharma

Dont miss Praveen Kumar (left) going at it! Pic courtesy: NewsX channel

Lifestyles of the rich and famous. Photographs from a Hyderabad hotel aired by NewsX, has shown Indian cricket team captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and few of his teammates enjoying the company of  female “admirers” at a party which the channel claimed was held after India lost to Australia by three runs in Hyderabad on Thursday. Manu Sharma and Rahul Mahajan need to be RSVPd on such events people !

 

Goons on the loose

Rohit Sharma

MNS activists rake up another national shame

Meanwhile, Jessica Lall murder accused parties on parole and Sheila Dixit defends it…

Money makes world go around

Rohit Sharma

This one might lead to an online renaissance. Money Control takes the crown for being the second largest financial website of the world. Get these astounding facts- The website has 15 million users visiting per day, spending an average time of 25-30 minutes per day along with 1 million unique users. Money Control follows Wall Street Journal which is the highest visited financial website of the world.

The trend setter in financial information, research and analysis, and the official website of CNBC TV18, moneycontrol.com completes 10 years today.

In a country that has 7% of internet penetration with 81 million internet users (China leads Asia’s online market with 338 million users) – Money Control figures paint a very different picture for the future. Do we see an online revolution ahead or is it just a flash in the pan?

Howzzat?

Rohit Sharma

Picture courtesy: longhop.net

The refurbished look of HT is working for me. The headlines look catchy, the design is different from others and the content (at least of the main paper) definitely scores over its sharpest of competitors. The best section I’d say is the Editorial- they’re juicy, fun and not indulging in analyzing everything mundane and monotonous, everyday (Read these two).

But keeping the flow going each day can be tough. Today, HT commits a front page gaffe. The first report on Diwali traffic jams speak how commuting is becoming knotty for Delhiites. One of the reasons, they say, is the T20 cricket attracting crowds. But another report, right below, speaks about the empty stands at Ferozeshah Kotla grounds with barely few coming to watch matches! One glitch… we can give it to them, right?

Freeway, Nonstop

Moving beyond the usual hullabaloo a PR firm creates at  a product launch, MTS a new telecom operator has found a novel way to make its presence felt in the market. To mark the launch of its services in Noida and Delhi, MTS has provided free access to all the vehicles on the Delhi-Noida DND Flyway today! Vehicles will not be charged any money on the toll gates of Noida and Gurgaon expressways between 9-11am and 5-8pm on Friday.

You save some, you lose some!

Rohit Sharma & Manish Sharma

The sheer hypocrisy of government drips from the two very different stories (one- definitely planted and another- an expose) that appear in The Times of India. The Gandhi family’s option for financial “austerity” has been in top news since last evening. How the Gandhis are traveling Economy class and saving few thousands have media raving about the “austerity drive” and Shatabdi’s new guest. On the other hand, TOI tells us about a Rs 20 crore worth office built for Doordarshan, which has been lying under the layers of dust for the past two years. The expensive office built to accommodate DD’s staff has been lying vacant due to internal politics and administrational mistakes. That’s not all; DD now requires an additional Rs 174 lakh to fix the equipments, as the warranty period expires. The whole infrastructure set up has been lying unused for two years due to red tapism. Read the report here.

We’ve always maintained that the government needs to hire a better PR, which make sure the “austerity” reports don’t come on the side of goof ups worth millions.

Sena at it, again!

Rohit Sharma

Mumbai-based publishing company Magna Publication’s office was ransacked yesterday by Shiv Sainiks. One of the oldest publishing houses, which run film glossy Stardust amongst many other subsidiaries, had one of its lifestyle magazine ‘Society’ come out with an article that speculates about Shiv Sena’s future and made some uncharitable remarks for its patriarch, Balasaheb Thackeray. Article contentiously titled “What after Balasaheb” enraged the party members so much that they broke everything in sight and threatened to assault the staff. The editorial team had to lock themselves in a room out of fear and spread the word through Facebook.* The party has previously expressed their displeasure with the media by vandalizing offices of Zee News and Outlook Magazine.

*Pic Courtesy: IBNLive

Forget media rights, it is to wonder how long the Maharashtra Government will plan to keep mum on the increasing attacks on human rights by a sagging party whose might is limited to one city.

Looking forward to reading Society’s article, which might just establish the future.

*Sources.