ITV

Tag: new chairman

  • ASCI appoints Ram Poddar as new chairman

    MUMBAI: The Tobacco Institute of India chairman Ram Poddar has been unanimously elected chairman of the Board of The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI).
     

     
    Poddar, who was elected by the board on 8 September, has been a member of the board of governors since November 1998 and has provided active support to the Self-Regulation in advertising movement.

    Besides being the vice president of the Indian Chamber of Commerce, he is also on the Governing Bodies of the Indian Council of Arbitration and International Chamber of Commerce and is also a member of various committees of FICCI and CII.

     
     
    Cadbury (India) Ltd. managing director Bharat Puri was elected vice chairman and HPC of Hindustan Lever Ltd. managing director Arun Adhikari has been appointed the treasurer.
     
     
    The other members of the new Board of Governors are: Advertisers: Rajiv Dube (Tata Motors), Shantanu Khosla (P&G Hygiene and Health Care), Media: Bhaskar Das (Bennett Coleman & Co), Vikram Kaushik (Space TV), G Krishnan (TV Today), N Murali (Kasturi & Sons), Ad. Agencies: Sam Balsara (Madison Communications), Madhukar Kamath (Mudra), Pranesh Misra (Lintas), Arvind Sharma (Leo Burnett). Allied Professions: Dilip Cherian (Perfect Relations), Dhananjay Keskar (ICFAI Business School) and Partha Rakshit (AC Nielsen Research Services).

    During the year 2004-05, the Consumer Complaints Council of the ASCI upheld 66 per cent of the 157 complaints received, and over 72 per cent of ASCI’s rulings were complied with by the ad industry.

    The Council made representations to the Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, and to the Secretary and Additional Secretary, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, at their meetings held in February and April 2005, to ensure stronger support for the Council and its self-regulation movement, so that the advertisements contravening the ASCI Code, are stopped.

    Both the Ministries appreciated the self-regulatory work being done by the Council and confirmed Government’s support by mentioning that in future, complaints against any advertisements received by them will be directed to the Council.

    The Council is represented on three Committees notified by three separate Ministries, through which it has been able to influence government’s policy making on advertising content and to obtain support for the Self-Regulation movement. The I&B ministry committee has decided to recommend a change in the Cable TV Rules by which, contravention of the ASCI Code by any TV commercial, will be considered as a violation of the Cable TV Act.

    Poddar stated that the focus of the year would be to get every advertising industry body such as the AAAI, IAA-India Chapter, INS, ISA and IBF, to become even more actively involved with the vital issue of self regulation of advertising, so that Indian advertising continues to set high standards to enhance the confidence of consumers, in advertised products and services particularly those directed at children and women.

  • Bata plans overhaul; PM Sinha new chairman

    MUMBAI: Batanagar estate, situated in West Bengal, where the oldest and largest factory of Bata India is located, is poised for a major make over. Bata Shoe Organisation (BSO)
    chairman Thomas G Bata, on his recent visit to India, announced major initiatives for the rejuvenation of the Indian arm.

    Also as a step towards rejuvenating Bata India, PM Sinha, former Pepsi India chief, was appointed as chairman of the company at its board meeting held in Kolkata.
     
     

    Speaking to newspersons in Kolkata yesterday, Bata said, “The redevelopment project of Batanagar reaffirms our sincere commitment to the people of West Bengal.”

    He also announced major initiatives to revamp the company image and operations which will be highlighted by an important modernisation of its retail network and the introduction of new categories of footwear in addition to updating its classic and traditional ranges.

    The company proposes to bring about a qualitative change in the environment of Batanagar to evolve it as a satellite township in due course. The development project offers quality healthcare, education, sports and recreation and efficient utilities to the city of Kolkata.

    The project is being undertaken with Calcutta Metropolitan Group Ltd.

    “Apart from offering healthcare, education and housing facilities, the project will generate employment opportunities and as well as attract substantial outside-investment for such infrastructure development work,” said Bata.

    Bata said that a greater focus would now be on specialty-manufacturing. The company is also developing a state-of-the-art integrated retail management system in partnership with Infosys.

    This multi-million dollar investment by the group will be piloted in France this summer with a worldwide roll-out schedule starting in Q4 2004, informed an official release.

    PM Sinha takes over as chairman from Constantin Salameh, who was appointed as the acting chairman of the company recently. The appointment of the new chairman is expected to add a fresh impetus to the company’s new vision and initiatives to bear fruit in the coming years.

    On his appointment as chairman, the official statement quoted Sinha as saying, “Bata India Limited, an integral part of the country’s footwear industry, has always been known and recognised as one of the best brands that has been a part of everyone’s life at some point of time.

    “To face the challenge of a competitive environment and the ever-evolving preferences of the consumers, Bata India today wishes to reposition itself as a market driven, fashion conscious lifestyle company and I am pleased to be a part of the team driving the company towards its goal.”

    Keeping in sync with Bata’s new avatar as an international retailer of repute, new footwear range reflecting global trends is being introduced every week. The new contemporary designs are being launched for men, women and children, in both lifestyle and sports category.

    The conceptualisation of retail segments into flagship/city, family and bazar/factory outlets will enable retail division to focus on a variety of customer groups in India and will offer contemporary shopping experience, with exclusive range of footwear targeted at that segment.

    Two of the new generation Signature Flagship stores are already operational in Mumbai and Gurgaon.

    Bata India, better known for its men’s range of footwear earlier, will also be giving special emphasis on ladies and children’s range of footwear now, on a competitive price range. The first quarter of 2004 has already witnessed a significant increase in Bata’s retail business by eight per
    cent, said the release.

  • ASCI elects Goutam Rakshit as new chairman

    MUMBAI: At its first meeting of the newly elected Board of Governors of the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) for the year 2004-05, Advertising Avenues managing director Goutam Rakshit was unanimously elected the chairman of the board.
     
     
    Goutam Rakshit

    The outgoing chairman – The Hindu joint managing director N Murali stated that with Rakshit at the helm, the further strengthening of ASCI as the self regulatory body of the Ad Industry was assured. Rakshit has earlier been chairman of associations such as the AFAA, AAAI, ABC and NRSC.

    F.S.A.S., Ltd. managing director Ashoke Bijapurkar was elected the vice-chairman and Hindustan Lever Ltd managing director HPC Arun Adhikari has been appointed the Honorary treasurer.
     
     

    The new Board of Governors comprises: Advertiser: Tata Motors’s Ravi Kant, P&G’s Bharat Patel, Cadbury’s Bharat Puri, Media: The Statesman’s CR Irani, Chitralekha’s Bharat Kapadia, TV Today’s G Krishnan, Kasturi & Sons’ N Murali, Agency: Madison Commnunications’ Sam Balsara, Mudra’s Madhukar Kamath, Everest’s Ram Sehgal, Allied Professions: Aaren’s Urmila Jain, ICFAI’s Dhananjay Keskar, Tobacco Institute RA Poddar.
     
     
    During the year 2003-04, the Consumer Complaints Council of the ASCI upheld 67 per cent of the complaints received, and over 80 per cent of ASCI’s rulings were complied with by the ad industry.

    ASCI’s media campaign for raising awareness among the general public, of ASCI’s role in ensuring truth in Indian advertising and adherence to social norms, has gained widespread support from media.

    ASCI has also created its own website: www.asci.co.in, which invites the public to write to the ASCI on any ads that they consider improper, and which they would like ASCI to review.

    Rakshit stated that the focus of the year would be to get every advertising industry body such as the AAAI, INS, ISA and IBF to become even more actively involved with the vital issue of self regulation of advertising, so that Indian advertising continues to set standards for the rest of the world.