below the line

Powerless about publicity

Power Minister Piyush Goyal was in Goa for a power ministers’ conference to review the sector. No invitations were sent out for the event, although there was a press release, and the ministry did expect Mumbai bureau correspondents to attend. Imagine the shock when only PTI’s local Goa representative showed up! Frantic calls were made on the 16th, literally begging journalists to fly in to Goa asap, with the promise of exclusives with the power minister, and travel and stay covered. This is the boot being on the other foot!

Defensive play

Journos looking to quiz the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on the first-ever address of a Prime Minister to joint revenue boards, were disappointed when the minister skipped the press conference, and Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia stonewalled their questions. “It is only ten minutes since the Prime Minister gave his address,” Adhia replied to tricky questions on black money and on whether rich farmers will be taxed to increase the taxpayer base.

Kabali in Kerala

Kabali appears set to break records on its way to a spectacular release across 5,000 screens across the world later next month. In Kerala, though, it has failed to excite distributors given the ₹7-crore (unofficial) tag the rights for the film carry in that territory. Some distributors have apparently burnt their pockets after toying with the rights for big Tamil grossers. The Vijay starrer, Theri , , at ₹5.60 crore, holds the record for the highest price commanded by other language movies released till date in the State, led to a loss of ₹1.5 crore for the distributor. It’s a matter of conjecture what will become of the SS Rajamouli’s Bahubali sequel, The Conclusi on — among the most anticipated releases — when it comes up for grabs. Bahubali — The Beginning was a blockbuster, having been distributed for ₹3.25 crore, including for Malayalam television rights. 

Food for thought

The word annadata (provider of food) used by Narendra Modi and Nitin Gadkari to describe farmers, did not go down well with sugarcane farmers at a workshop in Delhi. Commenting on “thousands of crores” of unpaid cane arrears, a farmer said: “The Government should ponder why  annadatas  are being reduced to beggars.” As for Gadkari’s ambitious plan on waterways and river interlinking, the farmer said: “Only if rivers survive can they be inter-linked and waterways made.”  

Back to the past

At a panel discussion organised by Uber about whether the Karnataka government’s regulations for on-demand transportation technology aggregators are in line with new business models and technology in the transport industry, Bhavik Rathod, the GM of Uber, said the regulations are regressive and take the country back to the analog era. Inviting journalists to his office, he said they would not believe Uber was a technology firm in the digital era because of the stacks of files all over the office, all copies of documents submitted to the government for compliance.

P(l)aying safe!

Ambassador of Israel to India Daniel Carmon recently held a press conference where he spoke eloquently on his country’s initiatives and projects to develop India’s agricultural system, water technology, and development of smart cities.

However, the journalists were anything but impressed as they wanted him to speak about terrorism, defence and security issues. Asked if he feels safe in India, he said yes, even though an official from his embassy was once targeted. He then said it was beyond his ‘pay-grade’ to explain further.

Optimising PR skills

Taking a cue from the media buzz generated by various ministries to mark two years of Modi rule, a top global real estate brokerage and consultancy firm sent a PR pitch to a publication for a story on the completion of two years of the publication’s India desk. Strategic operations?

COMMENT NOW