MAM
Pan Masala ads featuring celebrities violate ASCI’s code
MUMBAI: Continuing with the mission to address misleading, vulgar, hazardous and unfair advertisements, the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) is set to investigate advertisements by ‘Pan Masala’ brands featuring celebrities as they violate ASCI’s code of self-regulation in advertising content.
This comes in the wake of the recent appeal by the Health Department of Delhi Government, to not have celebrities appear in such products’ ads.
ASCI secretary general Shweta Purandare said, “At this juncture, we would like to educate the consumers and the advertisers that while products like Pan Masala and Supari are not banned for sale or from advertising by law, the ASCI code does not permit the use of celebrities in advertisements of products, which by law require health warning on its pack or cannot be purchased or used by minors. Complaints against such advertisements have been received by ASCI and are being looked into. ASCI will approach the concerned advertisers to take necessary corrective action post decision by our Consumer Complaints Council.”
According to the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) Rules and Regulation, statutory warnings like ‘Chewing of Pan Masala / Supari is injurious to health’ are mandatory to be printed on the pack as well as for the advertisements. It has been observed that a large number of Pan Masala brands are in potential contravention of the advertising codes under ASCI’s Chapter III (to safeguard against the indiscriminate use of advertising in situations or of the promotion of products, which are regarded as hazardous or harmful to society or to individuals, particularly minors, to a degree or of a type, which is unacceptable to society at large). More specifically, Clause 2 (e) under Chapter III states: advertisements should not feature personalities from the field of sports, music and cinema for products which, by law, either require a health warning in their advertising or cannot be purchased by minors.
MAM
Beacon Group appoints Dr Rajesh Patel as Group CEO
36-year healthcare veteran to lead Beacon Diagnostics, Vector Biotek, Biogeny.
MUMBAI: A new chief, a fresh diagnosis and a sharper prescription for growth. Beacon Group has appointed Dr Rajesh Patel as its Group Chief Executive Officer, effective April 1, 2026, signalling a decisive push to scale its presence in the diagnostics and IVD space. Patel steps into the role with 36 years of experience across the healthcare and diagnostics industry, bringing a career shaped by leadership roles spanning sales, marketing, business development and operational strategy. His mandate is both expansive and precise: to steer the group’s overall strategic direction while tightening coordination across its three core entities Beacon Diagnostics, Vector Biotek and Biogeny Diagnostics.
In practical terms, that means driving cross-company synergies, accelerating market expansion and strengthening organisational capability areas increasingly critical as diagnostic players compete for scale in a fragmented yet rapidly evolving healthcare ecosystem. The group is positioning itself to capture unmet demand across chain laboratories, key accounts and standalone labs, segments that remain underserved despite growing diagnostic needs.
The appointment comes at a time when the In Vitro Diagnostics (IVD) sector in India is entering a more competitive and innovation-led phase, with companies focusing not just on product pipelines but also on service delivery, integration and customer-centric models. Beacon’s leadership appears to be betting that Patel’s execution-focused approach can help translate ambition into operational momentum.
Welcoming the appointment, Chairman Dr D K Joshi described Patel’s induction as a strategic move aligned with the group’s long-term vision, emphasising the role of leadership depth in navigating the next phase of growth.
For Beacon Group, the message is clear, in a sector where precision matters, leadership is the new differentiator—and this appointment is intended to set the tone for what comes next.
