sreedharan_ck

Indian Advertising- Falling Standards   The Indian advertising market was valued at nearly INR 670 billion in 2020. This market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 11% during the forecast period of 2021-2026 and to reach INR 1253.2 billion by 2026. Indian advertising industry has come a long way from the time the first product was advertised on television. The product was Gwalior Suitings and that appeared on 1 Jan, 1976. Soon, several advertisements started appearing. Majority of these advertisements were watchable and could connect with the viewers. During the 1980’s, the following seven product advertisements became popular and were considered outstanding: 1.       Maggi noodles-  Woman preparing Maggi and assuring the kids that it would be ready in just two minutes,  a jingle in the backdrop ending with – Maggi, Maggi, Maggi 2.       Liril – A model taking bath in a natural water fall, with a jingle in the background - la...

‘Police is your friend’- proclaims a banner prominently placed outside a police station. But, what an ordinary citizen thinks, expecting police to be friendly would be too much and let them at least treat the common man as a human being.   Two men, father aged 58 years and his son aged 31 years were arrested by the Sathankulam police for allegedly violating lockdown norms on business hours by their mobile phone shop, died at a hospital in Kovilpatti on June 23, 2020. Relatives alleged that the policemen had severely beaten and manhandled them at the Sathankulam police station, Tamil Nadu.   Initially two policemen were suspended and others were transferred. The state government had awarded compensation of 10 lakh to the family of the victims. When the news of the police torture sparked a state-wide outrage, the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu was forced to transfer the probe to CBI. On June 29, 2020, the Madras High Court cleared the decks for a CBI probe into the custodial d...

     The entire world is facing a worst healthcare crisis of COVID-19 as never before. The pandemic has already accounted for tens of thousands of deaths and is expected to affect more. While a large number of health care providers have risen to the occasion and extending a yeomen selfless service to the victims, there are several cruel, insensitive private health institutions in the country which have exploited the pandemic for profiteering at the cost of the hapless patients. Some unscrupulous private healthcare institutions are fleecing the patients by considering the outbreak as a one time business opportunity.       In connection with the above unfair practice, I would like to mention four specific cases, which were reported on social media: 1.       A 60 year old was admitted to Sir Ganga Ram Hospital in Delhi with Covid-19 in April. After about 30 days of hospitalization, the family received a whopping bill of...

Transparency International has rated India as the 80 least corrupt nations out of 180 countries (also called as Corruption Perception Index) for the year 2019. W ith a score of 41, India is at the 80th spot. The rank is also shared by China, Benin, Ghana and Morocco.  Corruption is present in Indian society from time immemorial. Indian history is replete with innumerable instances of people being bribed or influenced to turn into traitors. Several kings were dethroned; kingdoms were ruined and battles were lost due to the lure of money. Indian society has accepted corruption as a way of life and bribery as a shrewd strategy. Corruption in India is systemic and is well anchored.   The corruption monster has engulfed practically every activity and has become almost uncontrollable. Corruption has taken many forms. For simple understanding it can be classified into three categories- political, corporate and individual. Political corruption is where those in power swindle ...

It is common for Indian politicians, cutting across political parties to splurge precious resources to build monuments to further their political careers at the cost of the hapless needy poor. ‘In the absence of affordable accommodation, the poorest of poor patients taking treatment at Tata Memorial Hospital in Parel, Mumbai have made the space under Hindmata bridge their home. The Hindmata flyover is almost like a post-operative ward of Tata Memorial,’ Mumbai Mirror reported prominently on 15 January, 2020. Tata Memorial, one of the largest cancer treatment institutes in India, gets 65,000 new cancer patients every year and another 4,50,000 for follow ups. As per Dr. Shripad Banavali, director, academics and professor of paediatric and medical oncology, Tata Memorial, over 80 percent of the hospital’s patients are from states other than Maharashtra and nearly all of them are poor. Dr. Banavali also said that with the support of various organizations and generous donors t...

16 January, 2020 Regulating the regulators On 11 January, 2020 at least 8 persons were killed and several others were injured, six of them grievously, due to a massive blast that occurred at ANK Pharma, MIDC, Boisar, 100 km from Mumbai. The factory manufactured ammonium nitrate, an explosive and a combustible substance used to produce fertilizer. The disturbing fact is, though there were four regulatory authorities- special planning authority under MIDC, labour department, MIDC fire department and Directorate of Industrial Safety and Health, to implement the guidelines related to industrial safety and labour norms as per Factory Act, 1948, this worst accident happened. Major accidents keep happening at alarming intervals, not only in Maharashtra but also in other states. As per Labour and Employment Ministry, everyday 47 factory workers are injured and 3 die in accidents. In three years, 2014 to 2016, 3562 workers lost their lives and 51,124 were injured in accidents that...