Sultan of the stage Maniesh Paul to host the 10TH season of Indian Idol.

Singing reality show Indian Idol, which is like a boon for all the aspiring singers, is back again with its 10th season. And the icing on the cake this season is that the show will be hosted by the most entertaining television host - Maniesh Paul.

After giving a new Punjabi single hit “Munde Town De” which has crossed one million views on YouTube in no time, our Punjabi dude aka Sultan of the stage will now be busy shooting Indian Idol.  

Maniesh, who is known for his exceptional sense of humour and splendid personality is all pepped up to set the stage on fire with his ecstatic charisma which definitely will attract eye-balls to the show when it’s live.

He was recently in Kolkata for the first round of auditions and will fly down to Hyderabad soon for the same.

MANISH QUOTE:

I am very excited to assume the role of a host for the 10th season of India Idol. Moreover, it is the very first time that I have been brought on board as a  host in Indian Idol. So yes experience is going to be an exclusive one. There is no doubt that it's one of the finest format on Indian television which provides  a platform  to all  the aspirants, just  on the  basis  of  their performance and their talent.

Vidya Balan joins Arpan as their Goodwill Ambassador

Mumbai-based leading non-profit organisation working on the issue of Child Sexual Abuse has engaged Bollywood star Vidya Balan as their goodwill ambassador. She had played the role of Durga Rani Singh a survivor of child sexual abuse, in the movie Kahaani 2, where she saved another child who was being sexually abused by her uncle.

Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) is a startling everyday reality for as many as half of the country’s children (National Child Abuse Study 2007). With the ever-increasing reports of child sexual abuse, we know that the scenario is not too different even today. Yet it is still an issue that is barely addressed. There is a limited acceptance that CSA happens and that it has a significant impact on children. CSA can lead to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), depression, anxiety, addictions, and suicidal thoughts and can continue to disrupt the child’s life during adulthood if not healed.

Based in Mumbai, Arpan is one of the largest NGOs in India with over 100 social workers and counsellors providing prevention and intervention services to children and adults to address the issue of CSA. Over the last 10 years, Arpan has reached out to over 188,000 children, adolescents and adults directly. Arpan has also trained over 3,500 professionals across India and impacted over 4,60,000 children and adults. Arpan works on prevention of CSA through the Personal Safety Education Programme conducted in schools and communities, Training Programmes for relevant stakeholders, Policy Advocacy to bring in systemic change and healing through their Counselling Services to survivors of CSA.

Talking about her association with Arpan, Vidya said "I first connected with Arpan during the filming of Kahaani 2 to understand the issue better and get into the skin of my role. I was amazed by the kind of work Arpan does on the issue especially working with children across age groups and their caregivers to prevent Child Sexual Abuse and heal survivors from the trauma of such an ordeal. As a society, it is critical that we look at how such a social evil can be prevented and how each of us can play a role in keeping children safe. Given the current scenario in our country, now more than ever there is a need for all us to step up and work towards preventing Child Sexual Abuse.”

 Ms Pooja Taparia, Founder and CEO of Arpan said "It is an honour for Arpan to have a celebrated actor like Vidya Balan as our Goodwill ambassador. Vidya’s roles have always been inspiring and action-oriented. It was a privilege working with her during the making of Kahaani 2. Her role in the movie as Durga Rani Singh, a survivor of child sexual abuse was a powerful one. She wasn’t a silent bystander, but actually took action to protect a girl from Child Sexual Abuse and that’s an inspiring message for all of us. Much like her role in the movie, over the years, Arpan has played a very important role in the lives of numerous children and adults in the prevention of Child Sexual Abuse. With Vidya Balan as our goodwill ambassador, we hope to influence many more people to speak up for prevention of child sexual abuse and to play an active role in creating a safe environment so that our children, the future of our nation, do not become victims of Child Sexual Abuse or have traumatic childhoods but have safe and happy childhoods.”

When asked what her message on the issue of Child Sexual Abuse is, Vidya said “My message to everyone is that don’t think that Child Sexual Abuse is something that happens to other’s children. The unfortunate truth is that it could happen to your child or it could be happening to your child. We all need to be vigilant. We all need to be aware and acknowledge when we see the signs. We need to educate our children so that when they experience an unsafe situation, they are empowered enough to get away and seek help from a trusted adult.”

What started in 2008 as a nascent organisation that reached about 600 people in a year, has now grown to an organisation that reaches over 56,000 people annually with the vision of a ‘World Free from Child Sexual Abuse’. Arpan is supported by Mr. Rakesh Jhunjhunwala (India), Mr. Karl-Johan Persson (CEO, H&M Worldwide, Sweden), Goldman Sachs (India), Eros International Media (India), The Marshall Foundation (France), GMSP Foundation (UK), The Global Fund for Children (USA), Azim Premji Philanthropic Initiatives (India), A.T.E and Chandra Philanthropic Foundation (India), British Asian Trust (UK), Reliance Foundation (India), Aditya Birla Finance Limited(India), Bajaj Auto Limited (India) amongst others. With Vidya Balan as a goodwill ambassador, here’s hoping that Arpan grows manifold in being able to amplify conversations around the issue Child Sexual Abuse while working diligently on its prevention and healing at the grassroots and systemic level.

ALTBalaji ropes in Bollywood actress Sandeepa Dhar for their crime drama ‘The Family – It’s a bloody business’

ALTBalaji’s next show titled ‘The Family – It’s a bloody business’ has some big faces hailing from, both film and TV industry. After roping in the talented Vivek Oberoi, Ravi Kishan and Rithvik Dhanjani to play the leads, the makers have now signed up Bollywood actress Sandeepa Dhar.

Sandeepa, who has been part of films like ‘Heropanti’ and ‘Dabangg 2’ is making her digital debut with the show and will be seen essaying the role of Shweta, who is Ravi Kishan and Vivek Oberoi’s sister. 

Owing to the popularity of crime dramas in the International digital space, ALTBalaji is the first Indian OTT platform all set to explore the genre that focuses on the dark world of the mafia land. Starring Vivek Oberoi, Ravi Kishan and Rithvik Dhanjani in pivotal roles, the shoot for the show has begun and is surely a one to look out for on the ALTBalaji app and the website.

Learning and Development in Asia be a part of Change

“Learning, learning and continuous learning, ladies and gentleman, is the key differentiator to become a successful organisation.” These words were very powerfully and animatedly stated by the Head of HR of a large Indian Conglomerate at an L&D conference, in Mumbai.

Almost all organisations talk about the importance of learning and development, however few do much about it. It is not because they do not believe in L&D activities; it is because the benefits of learning are difficult to measure. Rather it is very difficult to measure learning.  Therefore, learning and development somehow hovers in the abstruse realm of management. The last to receive budgetary allocation and the first to experience austerity drive.

The economic landscape has drastically changed and is changing with an unprecedented speed. This is both an Indian and global phenomena. The core of this change is advancement in technology –especially computing technology. Massive pools of data can be processed in seconds and this ability of big data analytics is able to provide inferences in real time. This results in quick decision making as well as the need to execute quickly. Now marry this ability to compute quickly, correlate abstract data and provide meaningful, analysed data with learning and there you have birth of ‘true’ digital learning. Add to it the developing science of Artificial Learning and Machine learning - making digital learning effective, efficient and engaging.

Digital learning is there – from basic Learning Management Services (LMS’s) to high end assisted learning intelligence platforms, but the question is ability of the businesses to adapt to digital learning. Anything and everything on a digital device is not digital learning. With this definition, Computer based learning has been there is some form or other since 1970’s and it later avatar of eLearning since early 1990’s.

I would like to share some facts which came up with some interesting findings (based on 189 clients that we have worked with). Some of them are:

Up till 2012 – 80% of the core training was in-person and classroom lead. Where average classroom training averaged 56 training hours a year out of a classroom learning opportunity of 80 hours. Getting 8 hours of eLearning was a challenge, being limited to product and process knowledge or induction programs.

An average program (classroom) lasted for 2 days in 2012.

In 2017 – the average classroom came to one day. With consistent demand for classroom programs not exceeding 4 hours or half a day sessions. With eLearning consumption increasing up to 19 hours a year –from an average eLearning opportunity of 300+ hours (based on custom made and ready to use libraries)

The attention span has dropped considerably to less that 5 minutes and is reducing all the more. This is more due to the choices that a learner has and multiple sources for getting information affecting the ability to concentrate.

The workforce that is now comprising more of millennials, desire for more personalized input, on the go and self-paced learning opportunities. 89% of respondents in a survey conducted by SKILLDOM stated that they find the classroom training uninteresting and that they can better use their time learning the same thing through online medias.

100% of stakeholders were challenged and struggling to measure learning effectiveness and efficiency in 2012 and 100% of stakeholders are still challenged on the same issue in 2017. Nothing much will change in 2018 – until organisation start adapting to intelligent digital learning platforms.

In the same survey conducted by SKILLDOM, 79% of the learners wanted classroom sessions to be skill building sessions, where they could interact and do activities and exercises that helped them become dextrous or sensitive to a certain subject / competency.  74% of the respondents said that micro learning would be better as they can collate mentally concepts and probably apply them at work as and when needed. Both the business and the learner wanted to know – how much I have learnt in the end.

Now on analysing these points the major inferences are :

Classroom learning is important, but needs to be focussed on skill building…

Digital learning is the need of the hour to provide personalized, on the go, self paced and measured learning.

The advantage that digital learning platforms bring is immense. Think of a large bank or a pharma company or a multiband retail outlet that employ probably 1000’s of people. Reaching to every learner is a challenge and reaching in real time is all the more difficult, forget about providing learning opportunity consistently and regularly (I am sure given the current focus on monies, the logistic cost itself will be a major road block).  A digital learning platform can provide all this at a cost that is significantly less than spend which the organization does on coffee per employee per month. Moreover, it is able to measure learning, as it is able to record minute transactions that correlate with learning. Learning content is sourced from the knowledge repository of the organization and curated content from internet that probably has millions of content pieces on the most common competencies that are associated with a role. Which means you can actually measure the learning that a learner is doing. Hence you know what is the ability and all that is left for the business or the learner’s immediate manager to do is bring in the ‘human touch’ to influence the ‘willingness” part.

With improving bandwidth, digital learning is possible and it is here to stay. Even in remotest part of the country, you will find not only the youth but people across a broad demographic spectrum happily hooked on to YouTube and Facebook. The only challenge is to engage with a digital learning platform that can be as interesting as Facebook or YouTube. 

So when I hear the words “learning, learning and continuous learning” from the head of HR of an Indian conglomerate and I know it can happen. But to make it happen the core way of functioning and looking at the learning function has to dramatically alter. Adapting digital learning platforms that operate on new age technology is critical. Only when this learning change is initiated will business organisations of today start becoming successful.

About- Anirudh Gupta, Skilldom

In his current role, Anirudh oversees the Learning Strategy function at SKILLDOM and guides the development teams to provide the best-possible learning solutions to clients. As a Learning & Development/Organizational Development (L&D/OD) specialist with over 15 years of work experience, he ensures every learning need is addressed optimally. A graduate in English literature from the University of Delhi, Anirudh also holds a management degree from SIMSR, Mumbai. He has additional certifications to his credit in the areas of Organizational Development, Psychology, Instructional Design, Adult Learning Theories, HR Processes from premium institutions in the country and abroad. Further, Anirudh is formally certified professional in the application and interpretation of psychometric tools such as MBTI, 16PF, FIRO-B and TKI.

In his previous positions, Anirudh has led the L&D function for companies such as Wockhardt Limited, ICICI Prudential Life, MetLife India and Glenmark. As a seasoned trainer, he has also conducted various workshops for managerial skills development, leadership development, personality development, culture, diversity and conflict.

Social and Digital Media Determiner of ‘Market Trend’ and ‘Political Path’ - Atul Malikram

In the course of changing time, we have seen various trend related to Advertisement, Marketing and Branding which gives a new hope in upcoming days. The important aspects are that the Digital Media, Social Media and Influencer Marketing are its foundations. The Importance of Increase in new trends on the advertising market and effect of Technology in Advertisement is important. Now Advertisement is not limited to newspaper and Television. A new trend is all about advertised your product on Social Media and in Digital Media. Statistics show that Print Media, Television and Social/Digital Media are increasing by 8%, 12% and 24% annually. In upcoming years the Digital Market and Social Media will see an increase. The Reason is very clear where ever the advertisement agency found their customer the agencies will try to attract them. This shows that in 2018 it will be the dominant area.

In 2018 all the hot brands will have their focus on Digital and Social Media. Digital Media will be the most expanded area. According to the atmosphere what we have seen in 2017, there will be the dominance of Digital, Social and Influencer Marketing. In 2018 there will be an effect of ‘ART’ i.e. 'Augmented Reality Technology in Advertisement Market. Advertising World will see interference in an increase of videos in upcoming years which already have started in Social Media. Due to which distance have decreases between Brand and the customer, and we are about to see regional players in it very soon. But every brand will have its focus on Digital Media. The decreased in distance between Brand and Consumer is due to uses of Smartphone. There is estimation that digital media will increase 25%-30% in 2018 because now Brands are now able to reach the customers easily.

There are approximately 12 to 15 crore people in the country who uses the Internet on which 3 crore people are daily online users. Other than this there are 5-6 crore people who use the social networking sites and mainly are Facebook and Linkedin users. Among the Internet users, 70% people watch the videos of Reality shows, Movie Trailers and Advertisement etc. There are more than 10,000 internet cafes in a country. Other than this, there 20 crore mobile phone connections of which 15% are Smartphone which has internet facilities in it. These figures are very comprehensive but as compared with the population of 1.2 billion its seems to be less, that why when we see Digital Media as a Supporting Medium there is no surprise on the fact. However, it’s a matter of thinking that, Are we having any parameters to scale this? And in case of access, will the digital media adopt a bigger format soon?

It is very surprising that the format of Media Market is changing very soon. When we see backwards in 80’s there was a dominance of print media in India and there was only two Government Television Channel which is owned by Doordarshan. The 90’s is the era of Liberalisation of an economy in a country, which increases the dominance of Television in the world of Media. In new Century up to the rise of Luxury and Premium brand, creative people of print media have reduced to the only promotional advertisement. Until the end of 90’s mobile phones are been used by only some class of people and now we can see every person with mobile in his hand. Now it is very common to send SMS to respond to an event. If we define Digital in Large-scale with the inclusion of mobile and internet, then the scene of entire communication seems to be changed and can be related exactly what had happened in 90’s with the immerse of television. This change can be occurring at any time. The screen of Mobile and Computer can be the dominant medium of communication and mutual discussion.

Most number of Marketers has major work of spreading messages to the most number of customers. In last two decades with the power of mass, media branding has helped them a lot. At the time of immersing of the internet, the people related to mass media consider it the best way of keeping in touch with the customer personally but its power is more than this. Roadies is the best show, especially for youth on M TV. It has started as reality show 10 years ago. In 2008 considering youth, Roadies had decided to take a help of Social Media. Today Roadies has 37 lakh followers on its Facebook page. ‘Roadies background’ has started with the facility by which everyone can be connected even when the show is not broadcasting. It was able to make its own identity. The success of Roadies is the best example where Digital and Social Media can be reached.

Digital Media in Politics  

In Politics now PR (Public Relation) Agencies and Digital Companies are deciding the victory or defeat of anyone. They are now teaching the politicians how to make Public Relation Campaign and art of capture public pulse. It is said that Political players are quite clever. But now the real strategies makers are coming forward said to be cleverer than the politicians. Now Digital and Social Media Company are helping out the politicians. It seems to be odd for the Politics but as per current increase in the youth population, there is a need to change the current trend of the politics. Because, when every sector of life is being corporatized, it is necessary to put politics out of the old fashion.

Branding and Image Building is the main work of PR (Public Relation) Companies. By making the positive image of Political party and Politicians in a society, their ‘electoral fair can find its sea-shore. Talking about work procedure of PR Companies, they are able to make a positive image of their political client in front of Public or Target Audience. Until now voters only have the knowledge name and face of their Leader, but these companies show the positive side and their activism to the public, which is very necessary. And these both are done with the help of Social and Digital Media. The Party and Politicians get major benefit from it, as the public came to know about the Program, Image, Thinking, their Activeness, and Viewpoint. There will be no surprise if, in upcoming years, elections will be held through Digital and Social Media.

Writter Atul Malikram is the director of Building Reputation, PR and Digital Communication Company since 1999 and Political Analyst.

Public Relation PR companies- The Master in making Public Image of Parties and Leaders. - Atul Malikram

Nowadays there is an increase in competition among the companies. Marketing is been done to promote their product best in the market, that why in a strategic point of view there is an increase in Public Relation Companies. In India as per estimation make by ‘Assocham’ an Industrial Organization, the business of Public Relation are increasing at the rate of 32% annually. In 2008, PR Industry had an annual turnover of $300 crore which has now reached $1000 crore. The logic behind this increase is that in the era of economic boom, every company is trusting ‘Public Relation’ to grow their sales and turnover. But ‘Assocham’ worry about the lack of versatile people in this fast-growing industry.

These PR companies are now working in the political field also. Now for winning the election and taking advantage over their Political opponent, many Political Parties and Leaders are taking the help of PR Companies. Doing Public Relation Campaign and making a grip on Public Pulse this work is also given to Public Relation Company. In 2014 Lok Sabha election, Bhartiya Janta Party openly commences election campaign with the help of PR company. These companies show their abilities and Narendra Modi gets benefits because of this. To fight against its Political Opponent Congress Leader Rahul Gandhi has taken a help of PR Company. This company helps to increase shares and like in its Social Media Account.

In Next election, every Political Party is going to take help of PR Company. Party Leader confirms that no one wanted to give 4-5 hours at the Party Office to make a future strategy. So Political Parties are helpless and have to take help from PR companies. From making slogans, preparing promotional material for the party and their leader to brightening the Leader image all work are now been done by these PR companies and Party Leaders have to follow their plan according to PR companies.

The effect of PR companies on election cannot be ignored. Now Big Political Parties are not hesitating to take help of PR Companies. The PR Companies which are working for Political Parties have started their homework much before the election. PR companies built a Positive image of the candidate in front of the Public. With Image Building, company makes impression on the mind of the public by conducting various campaigns.

In this era of Public Relation and Digital Marketing, the PR companies have to make the election work fully planned and managed. All the work of election is been manage by PR companies in their own way. They are making a positive environment for Candidate through Digital Campaign, Social Media Promotion, by E-Mail and SMS marketing. By Digital Campaign, the Candidate speech is been broadcasted and recorded, further, these recorded speeches are been reaches out to every person. From the content of speech to their body language all studied are been done through recording the speech. Other than this regular contact are been made by sending various E-Mail and SMS. At the time of the election, one can reach out its voters and attack opposition by delivering the quality speech only. That the reason now PR Companies are deciding the Speech of Leader according to their strategies.

Writer Atul Malikram is the director of Building Reputation, PR and Digital Communication Company since 1999 and Political Analyst.

Gionee adds more smiles to the Smile Squad initiative; Offers top performing devices in an attractive price range!

Smile Squad observed participation from brand loyalists across 28 cities

India, February19th, 2018:With the onset of New Year, Gionee India, country’s leading smartphone player to strengthen its pledge to add cheers amongst its users today announced significant special prices on a range of devices. In the light of the recent budget announcement of a custom duty hike, while brands are rearing to jump the prices, Gionee on the other hand for its brand patrons and users is offering its products at steal-away price points

Against the backdrop of the recent restructuring process announced by Gionee India, the value proposition offering a varied price range on an array of devices is the first step by the brand to add more cheers to its loyal user base. This value addition is also an extension of the Smile Squad initiative which is an exclusive community of Gionee users formed with an objective – to spread smiles and enrich the lives of brand loyalists with exciting goodies and gifts.The program has enabled Gionee to reinforce the brand philosophy to spread smiles and stay true to their commitment

The campaign commenced on December 10th, 2017 has been extended till 28th February from 31st January, given the overwhelming response to the initiative. With every new Gionee purchase all customers, existing and new, get a chance to win bumper prizes such as couple trips to Thailand or brand-new bikes. Additionally, a customer also gets a scratch card with an assured discount coupon of up to Rs.500; redeemable on the next purchase or, gets a chance to win exciting gifts like gold coins and Gionee smartphones. Gionee India has recently felicitated winners with brand new bikes from Chennai, Ahmedabad and Bhatinda and looks forward to further enthusiastic participation in the days to come.

For further information please visit: https://gionee.co.in/smilesquad

About Gionee India:

Gionee established its operations in India in 2012 and is headquartered in New Delhi. The company has a patron base of 1.25 crore in India and over 6% market share of the Indian smartphone market. Gionee manufactures all devices for the Indian market in India. The company today has a presence in over 42,000 retail outlets across 2200 cities in India. Guaranteeing a turnaround time of 72 hours to its customers, Gionee has invested in 555 exclusive service stations with plans to expand to 600 enhance its after sales relationships with the customers.

For more information, please contact:

Atul Malikram@9755020247

breakfastnews@pr24x7.com