MAM
EC to screen govt ads; PM photo on hoardings disallowed
NEW DELHI: Even as the Election Commission has set up committees to screen and clear government advertisements in various forms in the five poll-bound states, it has asked the cabinet secretary to remove the prime minister Narendra Modi’s photograph from hoardings at petrol pumps in Goa and gas consumer certificates in Uttarakhand.
These committees will examine all ads including those for audio-visual media including television and radio.
“The Commission had received a complaint that, in Goa, hoardings with photographs of the prime minister were displayed at petrol pumps. The Commission had issued necessary directions on 6 January,” said a letter to the cabinet secretary.
The Commission said it had also received a press clipping showing that certificates bearing the prime minister’s photograph were being distributed by oil companies to the LPG consumers in Uttarakhand who had surrendered gas subsidy.
“This is not permissible under the Model Code of Conduct or under the ECI instructions. You are requested to ensure that the instructions are brought to the notice of all concerned for strict compliance in letter and spirit,” the Commission said.
Earlier this week, the EC had reminded all concerned about its 2004 order that government-funded advertisements which publicise achievements of political functionaries or parties violate the Model Code of Conduct guidelines.
The Commission had said the posters that publicise achievements of political parties or their functionaries should be either removed or covered suitably in the poll-bound states. Only those government hoardings with general messages on social welfare schemes and awareness campaigns are allowed.
ALSO READ: Schedules fixed for broadcasts in five poll-bound states
ALSO READ: Poll schedule on social media shows unprecedented reach
MAM
Sameer Nair shares heartfelt note as he exits Applause Entertainment
After nine years building the streamer’s content engine, one of India’s best-known TV men is moving on
MUMBAI: Sameer Nair is out. The chief executive of Applause Entertainment, the content studio backed by Kumar Mangalam Birla’s media empire, has announced his departure after nearly nine years at the helm, closing the chapter on one of Indian entertainment’s more quietly consequential careers.
Nair, who built Applause from the ground up in its current avatar, oversaw a slate that spanned Indian originals and international adaptations, threading together a hub-and-spoke business model that partnered with streaming platforms, broadcasters and production houses alike. The results were uneven, as they always are in content, but the ambition was not.
In a post on LinkedIn, Nair was generous to his outgoing patron. He thanked Birla for being an “inspirational boss and a great patron of the arts,” and signed off with a cheerful “Au Revoir” and a promise to remain Applause’s biggest cheerleader. Whether that sentiment survives the next chapter remains to be seen.
No successor has been named. Applause Entertainment did not immediately comment.
Nair built the machine. Now someone else has to run it — and in a streaming market that is simultaneously consolidating and convulsing, that is no small ask.
