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Tag: A Surya Prakash

  • Prasar Bharati bids farewell to chairman A Surya Prakash

    Prasar Bharati bids farewell to chairman A Surya Prakash

    MUMBAI: Pubcaster Prasar Bharati bid adieu to chairman A Surya Prakash in its 159th board meeting. Information and broadcasting minister Prakash Javdekar expressed his thanks and appreciation on Prakash’s completion of two consecutive terms in the office & felicitated him by remembering his valuable contribution to the organisation.

    The pubcaster's CEO Shashi Shekhar Vempati expressed, “On behalf of the entire @prasarbharati family would like to thank Chairman Dr A Suryaprakash for his leadership, mentorship, sagely wisdom and uncompromising commitment to the Institutional Integrity of Prasar Bharati over the past several years.”

    He further said, “India's public broadcaster was adrift for more than a decade after it came into being as a statutory autonomous corporation. It was only after Prakash’s chairmanship that it has been firmly put on the path of modernisation as a 21st Century Public Media Corporation. This has been possible singularly because of Prakash’s progressive creed to infuse professional talent into the public broadcaster and his forward thinking on the need for the public broadcaster to be come digitally savvy.”

    Vempati also expressed that many of Prasar Bharati's long pending knotty problems have been solved under his stewardship over the past few years with the board, ministry and management working in synergy with the oneness of mind and purpose. He will always be remembered for having stood like a rock in preserving Prasar Bharati's autonomy during testing times with the Institution emerging ever stronger as it strives to modernise and transform itself.

    “Personally Prakash was a source of strength during turmoil and a voice of caution during impetuous moments. He will be sorely missed as he looks ahead to his next innings in public life with several more books and columns waiting to flow from his pen. Our best wishes to him and thanks and regards to his family who were kind enough to spare him for the cause of Public Service Broadcasting over the past several years,” Vempati concluded.

    Prasar Bharati twitted, “Prasar Bharati Parivar conveys its warm wishes to its Chairman @mediasurya, who served two consecutive terms as the head of the Board. CEO @shashidigital & Member (F) @raj3eev felicitated him with a token of appreciation."

  • How Doordarshan aims to fill void of GECs’ exit from Free Dish, FTA space

    How Doordarshan aims to fill void of GECs’ exit from Free Dish, FTA space

    MUMBAI: Public broadcaster Prasar Bharati, during its 154th board meeting, gave Doordarshan a major shot in the arm as it approved, in principle, significant investment in new and quality content during the year 2019-2020. The meeting was chaired by Prasar Bharati chairman A. Surya Prakash in the presence of the CEO Shashi Shekhar Vempati and member Rajeev Singh.

    According to Vempati, the plan for new content on Doordarshan will be finalized in the next few days. This infusion of fresh content by Doordarshan should fill the vacuum from the exit of several GEC channels from the free-to-air (FTA) space in general and from DD Free Dish in particular, Vempati hopes.

    While BARC India has not been making its viewership data public in recent weeks, the importance of DD Free Dish as a platform has become abundantly clear going by the measurement since 1 March. This underscores the opportunity for Doordarshan to regain its space in GEC genre, Vempati added.

    Post the implementation of TRAI tariff order, several major broadcasters like ZEE and Star India have converted their FTA channels into pay and taken off popular channels from Doordarshan's FTA DTH platform Free Dish.

    The planned investment in new content on Doordarshan will be targeted towards capturing this opportunity, Vempati stated.

  • MIB calls for ‘fiscal prudence’ in Prasar Bharati

    MIB calls for ‘fiscal prudence’ in Prasar Bharati

    NEW DELHI: The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) on Friday justified certain government directives to India’s publicly funded national broadcaster Prasar Bharati Corporation by saying “fiscal prudence” was the need of the hour, while reiterating its commitment to safeguard interest of the organisation’s employees.

    “Fiscal prudence and accountability is the very fulcrum of the functioning of any government organisation. Prasar Bharati is as much bound by the general financial rules (GFR) of the government of India as any ministry or any organisation receiving grants-in-aid from the government,” MIB said in a statement, which, apparently, looks like a rebuttal to a report appearing in news website The Wire that questioned certain decisions of minister Smriti Irani.

    MIB also termed the story, without directly referring to it, as a “deliberate, sinister (and) motivated campaign” to “tarnish” its image by putting out a report that was “based on ill-will and incorrect appreciation with half baked facts”.

    “As per the provision of GFR, any autonomous organisation receiving grant-in-aid must sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the ministry, clearly bringing out the physical and financial targets with timelines for activities to be done by utilising the said grant during that financial year,” MIB clarified further, adding, “For the record, irrespective of repeated reminders from the ministry, no MoU has been signed by Prasar Bharati.”

    In a news report, headlined ‘Angered by Prasar Bharati’s Defiance, Smriti Irani Blocks Salary Funds for DD, AIR’, which went viral on social media over the last few days, The Wire quoted Prasar Bharati chairman Surya Prakash, serving his second term, as saying contingency funds were utilised to pay salaries to employees for the month of January and February 2018. It also concluded that if the standoff continued, the pubcaster will run out of money by April.

    The story’s reporter, a freelance journalist who’s also written a book on BJP’s online troll army, highlighted that the federal government earmarked around Rs 2,800 crore in 2018-19 towards Prasar Bharati where the allocation is routed through the MIB, which releases monthly installments for the salaries of its approximately 5000 employees.

    The report went on to state, quoting unnamed sources in the pubcaster, that the ministry had been “raising queries and creating problems” before releasing funds and, since December, has “not released money for salaries, forcing a drawdown of contingency funds”. The crisis, the report quoted the sources as saying, began when Prakash started questioning some of  Irani’s actions.

    It must be stated here that Indiantelevision.com is not in a position to independently verify the allegations made in The Wire report and has based its present news story on an official statement put out by MIB on the website of Press Information Bureau on a day when majority of Indians took a public holiday to celebrate the festival of colours – Holi.

    However, illustrating how fiscal accountability led to “curbing of wasteful expenditure” in the Prasar Bharati, which controls Doordarshan and All India Radio, MIB said, “By bringing in Human Resource Information System in Prasar Bharati, at repeated insistence of the ministry, exact amount of expenditure on employees has been worked out and this has resulted in savings to the tune of nearly Rs 30 crore per month for the salary head (Rs 360 crore a year). The Sam Pitroda Committee had also suggested a number of measures such as manpower audit etc. to enhance financial discipline. Hence, we are hopeful that following similar footsteps, together a lot can be done to enhance transparency and accountability.”

    At a media conference last week Irani had publicly questioned Prasar Bharati management’s ability in generating additional revenues. “The tragedy was that private broadcasters grew at the cost of [pubcaster] Prasar Bharati [riding DD’s FTA FreeDish platform],” Irani had said, adding, “How can we leverage the infrastructure that taxpayer has paid for so that good content is available [and] there is increased ad spend because of sheer power of reach of Prasar Bharati?”

    Meanwhile, according to a report in The Economic Times, the MIB is scrutinising the pay packages given to senior officers in Prasar Bharati and pointing out cases of mismatch in positions to pay. Being an administrative ministry, it claims to have more power in deciding the pay for current and retired employees, superseding the directive of Prasar Bharati.

    In one particular case, Rajeev Singh, an officer at the additional secretary position in the finance wing, is drawing the salary of a secretary. This leads to a difference in pay of Rs 20,000. Seven other employees in the rank of additional director general are being probed with regard to their appointments.

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  • Prasar launches music auditions online application, FreeDish slot auction suspended

    Prasar launches music auditions online application, FreeDish slot auction suspended

    MUMBAI: Prasar Bharati chairman A Surya Prakash has launched an online application system for music auditions across all genres for the All India Radio (AIR).

    The aspirants who wanted to apply and get themselves graded would now have a better experience in terms of accessibility and availability, the release added. The AIR conducts auditions in different genres of music, including classical, light, folk, tribal and western, and award suitable grades to them.

    Meanwhile, the information and broadcasting ministry has reportedly suspended auction of slots on FreeDish, and would review the channel slot auction process of the air DTH platform. The ministry has asked the pubcaster to suspend e-auctioning of slots on FreeDish until further notice, sources told Mint.

    Doordarshan holds e-auction once in a couple of months to award channel slots on FreeDish to private broadcasters. The platform carries 80 channels, including private channels such as Sony Pal, Star Utsav, Zee Anmol, Rishtey and news channels — ABP News, Aaj Tak, and News 24.

  • Govt’s digital channel to tell ‘India story’, Rs 75 cr investment planned

    MUMBAI: The Modi government is reportedly planning to launch a digital platform which will report on international news to a global digital audience with an India perspective. It will “challenge the anti-India narrative” and present “India’s perspective on global events.”

    The concept, approved by the Prasar Bharati Board, was discussed by a committee that included Prasar Bharati board members Sunil Alagh and Shashi Shekar Vempati, and Prasar Bharati interim CEO Rajeev Singh.

    The 24×7 operational digital platform, with an investment of Rs 75 crore, will have correspondents across the globe. Targeted at English-speaking audience, the Indian diaspora and the global opinion makers, the channel will change the narrative that presents India as a “constant point of conflict between Hindu nationalists and so-called secularism.”

    If the information and broadcasting ministry agrees to a proposal by Prasar Bharti, the country will soon have a digital channel to tell the “India story”.

    Prasar Bharati chairman A Surya Prakash said that the idea was discussed by the United Progressive Alliance government.

    The objective of this digital channel over the next three years will be to reach 10 million to 100 million page views a month, a million mobile app downloads and YouTube subscribers each.

  • Govt. in favour of a fully autonomous Prasar Bharati: Rajyavardhan Rathore

    Govt. in favour of a fully autonomous Prasar Bharati: Rajyavardhan Rathore

    NEW DELHI: Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Rathore today said that the government was in favour of Prasar Bharati becoming “fully autonomous.”

     

    Rathore expressed satisfaction that the pubcaster was keeping public service ahead of commercial gains and reaching the nook and corner of the country, adding that it was a broadcaster, which could not be compared to any other broadcaster in the world or within India.

     

    Prasar Bharati had also encouraged new talent from every part of the country including tribal and rural areas.

     

    The Minister, speaking at a symposium on the ‘Role of different communication media in emergence of a new India,’ organized by All India Radio to mark Indian Broadcasting Day.

     

    Broadcasting began in July 1923 with programmes by the Radio Club of Mumbai and other radio clubs. According to an agreement of 23 July, 1927, the private Indian Broadcasting Company Ltd (IBC) was authorised to operate two radio stations: the Mumbai station began on 23 July, 1927, and the Calcutta station followed on 26 August, 1927.

     

    On 1 March, 1930, however, the company went into liquidation. The government took over the broadcasting facilities, beginning the Indian State Broadcasting Service (ISBS) on 1 April, 1930 (on an experimental basis for two years, and permanently in May 1932). On 8 June, 1936, the ISBS was renamed All India Radio. 

      

    The Minister said radio was a non-intrusive medium, which had become a part of every Indian. In fact, it increased the efficiency of the listener without intruding. Every Indian got information and entertainment from the medium as it was neutral and unbiased.

     

    He welcomed the entry of FM and community radio, as these could fill the communication gaps.

     

    Rathore also noted that persons like Jasdev Singh and Ameen Sayani had got recognition because of the medium.

     

    Prasar Bharati chairman A Surya Prakash said that people could swear by news on All India Radio and Doordarshan as they were more credible than any other channel. However, he added that Prasar Bharati would not lose track of its role as a public service broadcaster. He said it was this consciousness that had led to its major contribution in making India polio free, and the pubcaster was now playing a similar role in Swachh Bharat.

     

    Prasar Bharati CEO Jawhar Sircar said that radio continued to be a vibrant non-intrusive medium, which has brought emotional and linguistic bondage in the country, broadcasting in thirty languages.

     

    “Millions of Indians today understand the nuances and importance of classical music because All India Radio has kept this alive in the face of the more popular film music,” Sircar said.

     

    He also referred to the role of AIR in 1923 in the era of princely states and provinces when it provided leadership, but said the real challenges came after independence.

     

    Member of Parliament and journalist Tarun Vijay said radio has been the informer from childhood and AIR taught him the nuances of language. “FM Gold and the AIR channels continue to stand out in the cacophony of private FM channels which had ruined values and language,” Vijay said.

     

    Vijay also commended Prime Minister Narendra Modi for giving a new vitality with his ‘Mann Ki Baat.’ “The credibility of AIR remains higher than any other channel – be it television or radio,” he said.

     

    Referring to the deterioration of the print media, he said that it was difficult to differentiate news from editorials. “The editor has no importance in today’s age,” he lamented, adding that most newspapers today had become “ad rags.”

     

    Calling out to AIR to start a World Broadcasting Channel in order to reach out to the diaspora and the world, Vijay said he wanted Prasar Bharati to strengthen the infrastructure to reach out to countries in south east Asia.

     

    Senior journalist Madhukar Upadhyay regretted that AIR appeared to have become complacent because it had the largest reach. He also asked why private FM channels should not be permitted news when television channels could do so.

     

    Senior journalist Amit Baruah suggested the introduction of licence fee as he felt “that gives us all a stake in the broadcaster.” Mediaperson Pranjal Sharma said AIR has to keep in view the fact that social media is free with no bondages.

     

    Eminent litterateur Anamikas said that AIR had helped the unity of the country through language and noted that Hindi which had accepted words from other languages had now become a truly Indian language.

  • Doordarshan to air tribute to Mukesh in ‘Sapne Surile Sapne’

    Doordarshan to air tribute to Mukesh in ‘Sapne Surile Sapne’

    NEW DELHI: When he passed away suddenly on 27 August, 1976, one of last century’s foremost filmmakers Raj Kapoor had lamented, “I have lost my voice.”

     

    This was because a majority of songs rendered on screen by Kapoor had playback by Mukesh.  

     

    To pay tributes to this legend who was born on 22 July, 1923, Doordarshan will telecast a nine-part series called Sapne Surile Sapne from 21 July primarily featuring a musical programme held earlier this month to honour this Delhi-born singer.

     

    The programme was organized by the Delhi Kendra of Doordarshan in association with the Directorate of Film Festivals on 5 July. The show will be telecast on DD National at 8 am and 4 pm, except on Saturdays and Sundays. It is also scheduled to telecast on DD Bharati at 10 pm the same day.

     

    The programme was attended by Prasar Bharati chairman A Surya Prakash,   Information & Broadcasting secretary Bimal Julka, Law Commission chairman Justice A.P. Shah, the singer’s son Nitin Mukesh, playback singer Manhar Udhas and other notable guests. 

     

    Nitin Mukesh and Manhar Udhas rendered some selected songs of Mukesh on the stage, thoroughly enthralling the audience. 

     

    The selection of other participants for the show was done by auditions after wide publicity on Doordarshan. Hundreds of people from different parts of the country came to Doordarshan Delhi’s studios at Mandi House to participate in the auditions. The aspirants included all strata of people from painters to vegetable sellers and from tea vendors to rickshaw pullers.  

     

    The auditions were judged by a panel of judges including Delhi Police special commissioner of traffic Muktesh Chander, who is an established and talented flautist, Ghazal singer and composer Jitender Singh, Sufi singer Mahendra Pal and semi classical singer Pradeep Pallavi including others. 

     

    The orchestra for the programme series was the ‘Do-Re-Me Orchestra’ conducted by Satish Popli. 

     

    Doordarshan Delhi also utilized the services and expertise of singer Gururaj from Bangalore who has been helping to coordinate and manage the orchestra for the Delhi shows on the lines of the shows done in DDK Bangalore. 

     

    The musical tribute was inaugurated by Udhas along with Nitin and Namrata Mukesh. Law and Justice Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda and Justice Shah were the special guests for the evening along with chief guests Surya Prakash, Julka and Delhi BJP president Satish Upadhyaya. Former Test cricketer and legendary leg spinner B.S. Chandrashekar, who is an ardent Mukesh fan, was the guest of honour along with Dr Rajeev Shrivastav biographer of Mukesh and Doordarshan DG C. Lalrosanga. 

     

    The first programme in the musical tribute series produced by Delhi Doordarshan was   Tum Mujhe Yun Bhul Na Paoge on the legendary Mohammed Rafi and was recorded in FICCI auditorium on 26 July 2014. This was followed by Smarananjali, a special musical tribute to our Martyrs on 30 September 2014 at the Siri Fort Auditorium.  Gaate Raha Mera Dil dedicated to Kishore Kumar was then organized at the Manekshaw Auditorium, Delhi Cantt on 30 November 2014. This was followed by Tujhko Chalna Hoga, a tribute show for Manna Dey at Siri Fort Auditorium on 12 April 2015. 

     

    The Delhi Kendra of Doordarshan has been planning and recording musical evenings and telecasting them as a series coinciding with important dates in the life of music legends. 

     

    The programmes are being produced in fulfilment of Doordarshan’s role as a Public Service Broadcaster and in order to improve its image, encourage new talent, strengthen Doordarshan’s viewership base. These efforts are part of Delhi Doordarshan’s strategy to reach out to the people, provide them a platform to showcase their talent.

     

    The idea for these shows emanated from DDK Bangalore’s popular music show series Madura Madura Vee Manjula Gana and is the brain child of Doordarshan additional director general Mahesh Joshi who is now based in Delhi. Joshi feels that in today’s changed scenario, where the public has more than 500 channels to choose from, special efforts are required from Doordarshan to remain in the public eye. He believes Doordarshan has to become Samik Darshan and reach out to the hearts and minds of people.

  • Prasar Bharati Board capable of appointing full-time DGs: I&B sources

    Prasar Bharati Board capable of appointing full-time DGs: I&B sources

    NEW DELHI: The Prasar Bharati Board has the requisite quorum for appointing a full-time directors-general in Doordarshan and All India Radio and need not resort to interim appointments.

     

    Stating this, an Information and Broadcasting Ministry (I&B) official told Indiantelevision.com that the process of filling the four vacancies of part-time members will commence soon.

     

    Nonetheless the Ministry clearly feels that the present strength of the Board is enough for full-time appointments and is surprised at this interim arrangement.

     

    However, according to a Prasar Bharati official, Board chairman A. Surya Prakash is of the view that the present strength of the Board is mostly of government-appointees, and therefore any full-time selection would not be fair. He therefore wants the process of constituting the entire Board to be completed before proceeding with any full-time appointment.

     

    Veteran broadcaster C. Lalrosanga has been appointed interim director general of Doordarshan following the retirement of Vijayalakshmi Chhabra.

     

    Until now, Lalrosanga was holding charge as an additional director general in All India Radio.

     

    Chhabra was named interim DG of Doordarshan in July 2014. She had earlier been ADG Programmes in AIR.

     

    According to information available with this website, contenders for the post of DG include current interim AIR DG F Shehryar, Aparna Vaish, Deepa Chandra, Dr Rajshekhar Vyas, Mukesh Sharma and Mahesh Joshi.

  • Broadcasters need to come together to resolve copyrights issues by private parties

    Broadcasters need to come together to resolve copyrights issues by private parties

    NEW DELHI: Describing the ‘absymal ignorance’ about copyright issues as a ‘paralysis of analysis’, Prasar Bharati CEO Jawhar Sircar today asked broadcasters to interact with each other to overcome hurdles instead of living in fear of copyright rights.

     

    He said that Internet rights holders never had these problems because they interacted with each other. There was need for broadcasters to ‘come out’ and talk, since fears about copyright rights were unfounded.

     

    Sircar also stressed on clarity of purpose and not mere convoluted jargon with regard to copyright, while addressing the 21st Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union Copyright Committee Meeting and Forum here.

     

    He said there was need for interlocutors such as the ABU to resolve these issues, and India was ready to support the initiative.

     

    Prasar Bharati chairman A Surya Prakash emphasized the challenges related to copyright, piracy and intellectual property rights. He referred to the treasure that digitization was helping to revive and retain but the issue of copyright often cropped up here.

     

    All India Radio director general F Sheheryar said copyright issues were growing by ‘leaps and bounds’ and therefore it was necessary to know the copyright laws.

     

    ABU secretary general Javed Mottaghi said it was vital for broadcasters in the region to talk to each other and sort out issues.

     

    He said ABU fully supported the World Intellectual Property Rights Organisation Treaty and this would be stressed in the next session on WIPO at Geneva.

     

    ABU was planning to increase its support to the Copyright Committee but the Committee must come out with a long-term plan, which ABU will support financially in the next financial year beginning in July.

     

    ABU has 180 active members and many of them have common points. He referred in this connection to a meeting of broadcasters from the Pacific Ocean lslands held in Samoa.

     

    The meeting of ABU in Tashkent will also take up copyright issues, he added. The ABU General Assembly will be in Istanbul in October. The Union will also enhance its online presence and enable webinars amongst members.

     

    There would be an important ABU Radio meet this year and there was need to support the community radio stations.

     

    He said the Union wanted to enroll more members as the African Union of Broadcasters had done.

     

    One way of resolving copyright issues was to form a national pool in every country to have a common voice. ABU had already drafted a model for this and could be accessed by members.

     

    Referring to issues raised with regard to problems created by sports rights holders, he wanted a regulatory framework to be built.

     

    A list could be drawn up of the sports events that people are interested in and for which there is need to obtain broadcast rights by public service broadcasters from the private rights holders. The ABU Sports Department could help in this regard.

     

    He was responding to points made by Doordarshan deputy director general Rafiq Masoodi and All India Radio additional director general Rajiv Kumar Shukla, who both felt private players often created hurdles, even as they referred to the Manadatory Sharing of Sports Signals with Prasar Bharati Act, which had made things easier.

     

    Shukla also lamented that radio was often not given the kind of imporetance that television received.

     

    MTV Sri Lanka group director Suranga Jayalath said there was need for a joint approach on the issue. He felt that traditional forms of advertising including radio and television remained dominant despite multi-platforms emerging in broadcasting.

     

    CCTV China deputy director of the Copyright Management Department Yan Bo said that a meeting on sports copyright issues was slated to be held in Beijing this year. The ABU Copyrights Committee was very active in this regard. 

     

    The committee members of the Forum are of the opinion that to ensure protection of copyrights, constant and timely discussion with government is necessary.

     

    The Copyright Committee meets annually to discuss, share, analyze and to inform members on copyright, intellectual property rights, broadcasting rights, piracy, and various other related issues and case studies from the Asia-Pacific region and beyond. Experts from this field gather every year to advise the members on the changing trends in the broadcasting industry, as to how we can protect our rights. Stakeholders involved in this forum are lawyers, copyright practitioners and specialists. The committee urges the members to attend this forum to deliberate on the copyright and protection related issues, to further gain support for the broadcasters treaty intended to protect them from piracy.

     

    The core discussion points across the three day Forum will be WIPO Standing Committee on Copyright & Related Rights session; Broadcast Laws and Protection Report; Future Projects and Suggestions; Legal Challenges and Directions for Broadcasters in the Digital Era; and the Cloudy Business of Copying (Panel Discussion).

     

    The meeting is being attended by more than fifty representatives from overseas apart from those from Prasar Bharati, Doordarshan and AIR.

     

  • Race for TRPs is blood pressure raising points, says Prasar Bharati chairman

    Race for TRPs is blood pressure raising points, says Prasar Bharati chairman

    MUMBAI:  Describing the race for TRPs among some private television news channels as ‘Blood Pressure Raising Points (BRPs)’, Prasar Bharati chairman A Surya Prakash kicked off the two-day conference of the Global Communication Association (GCA).

    Communication professionals from across the world gathered in Bengaluru for the conference with the theme of ‘Breaking Barriers – Creating new communication horizons’.

    Prakash went on to say that certain news channels keep having eight to 10 panelists debating at the top of their voices. “No other country in the world seems to have this kind of a maara maari on TV news channels,” he said and called upon the viewers to switch over to Doordarshan, if they get fed up with the private channels.

    “We do not ape the west, we are very much Indian,” he remarked describing the ethos at Doordarshan.

    Pointing out that mass media in general has been experiencing an exponential boom in the country, Prakash called for ‘our own solutions’ to meet the challenges of growth.

    Echoing the same sentiments, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramiah, who was the chief guest, said some electronic media channels appeared to be in a great race to meet deadlines. This was why, he said, sometimes the viewers might not see anything big in the so-called “breaking news”.

    He suggested that steps should be taken to curb monopolies among media houses and even private treaties. The role of the Press Council should be redefined to cover TV news channels as well, he said while emphasising that he always stood for the freedom of the press and constructive criticism.

    In his keynote address, Shell India former director of corporate affairs and communication consultant Deepak Mukherji, dealt with challenges in breaking barriers of communication and said the professionals ought to differentiate between trustable and trustworthiness. “We all seem to be experts in publicising promises and not what is delivered,” he said and called for an increased focus on the trustable element rather than talking about mere transparency among corporates.

    Conference curator and organising secretary Krishna B Mariyanka said the two-day event will focus discussions on faltering media social responsibilities, communication CSR through media, news distribution in social  media, communication for PPPs, sustainability communication, branding, new digital journalism, challenges in multi-cultural communication, political communication, digital privacy, healthcare communication, and so on.

    Achievers in various sectors will be felicitated with the AP Chowdappa memorial award for excellence in communication at the end of the conference.