The not-so Great Wall

The Beijing Times reports that nearly a third of the Great Wall of China has completely disappeared due to natural erosion, human destruction, and a lack of protection. The lead-in-food scare continues as another top brand- Indo Nissin withdraws its instant noodles brand ‘Top Ramen’ under a directive from the central food safety regulator FSSAI. Expect the launch of five digital products including a Digital Locker, a National Scholarship Portal, and an e-Hospital from PM Modi’s #DigitalIndia initiative set to go live on July 1. The Greek meltdown continues as PM Alexis Tsipras rejects the EU bailout plan and urges Greeks to vote via referendum on the proposal planned for Sunday.

Hindi Rules

At a Cannes session last week on ‘Building for Story-tellers’ and the mobile age we live in, Facebook’s Chief Product Officer, Chris Cox, made several references to India. “Where are the next billion people on the Internet?” he asked. “A third is in India. A fifth is in China. They are not scattered around the world. The next billion Internet users are in very concentrated and specific regions. So we only need to brush up our Hindi.”  Facebook plans to localize its offering even further. An Android app ‘Facebook Lite’ which uses less data and performs better on 2G networks becomes available for users in India and Philippines.  Earlier this app was available only in Bangladesh, Nepal, South Africa, Nigeria, Sudan, Vietnam, Zimbabwe,and Sri Lanka. Watch out for a new app pioneered by a Bengaluru teen-team that was presented at the ‘Technovation World Pitch Challenge’, San Francisco for seed funding of $20,000. The app connects waste producers with recyclers, and creates a marketplace and a mutually beneficial economy for both parties. For instance, tea vendors can alert recyclers about used plastic cups. The recyclers in turn also share the money they collected for the plastic with the vendors.

IBN minus CNN

Network18 terminates its 10-year Brand association with Turner Broadcasting System and its international news channel CNN. As a repercussion, IBN will lose its prefix CNN. Koel Purie Rinchet, actress and current host of ‘On the Couch with Koel’ quits her previous role as whole-time director of TV Today Network as she is appointed as a non-executive Board director.

#MediaMoves

Congrats to Joanna Lobo who takes charge as the principal correspondent at Hindustan Times after a stint with Daily News Analysis (DNA).  Mumbaikar Joanna blogs at ‘My family and other animals!’ and tweets @djoiiii. Biz Journo Anjali Agarwal joins The Economic Times as senior copy editor. Previously with moneycontrol.com, Mumbai based Anjali can be reached @enormouslyy.

PIB Probe

The Economic Times reports that the Press Information Bureau (PIB) accredited close to 2,500 journalists in 2015 without the approval of Ministry of Home affairs (MoH).The MoH wants PIB to monitor journalist accreditation more vigorously. Misuse of a PIB card could be a potential security breach, as PIB card allows an individual to access government offices and documents. Media Houses rejoice as rumours are abound that the government may soon look at hiking the FDI limit in the publishing of newspapers and periodicals dealing with news and current affairs from the current 26% to 49%.

Desi Lingo in Oxford

‘Arre yaar’ makes it into the Oxford English Dictionary — alongside other Indian words such as ‘churidar’, and ‘dhaba’. It defines the two words as denoting anything from ‘hey buddy’ to ‘you got to be kidding me’ in ‘desi’ street lingo. The lexicon hasn’t overlooked India’s foodie delights, as ‘Keema’, ‘Papad’ and ‘Bhelpuri’ grab a spot as well. Arnab Goswami, President – News and Editor-In-Chief of Times Now and ET Now, became the first journalist in the 140-year history of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) to ring the opening bell last week. June 26th, saw the US Supreme Court legalise same sex marriage in the US which is a criminal offence in India. FB is full of profile pictures with gay pride’s rainbow colours.

The WSJ Retreats

The Wall Street Journal plans to scale down its India operations and cease the publication of the Indian edition, as part of global restructuring. The Delhi and Bengaluru operations are being scaled down; however, it will continue to run its India focused blog ‘IndiaRealTime’ for the time being. The Telegraph celebrates its 160th anniversary with a redesign. It is returning to an earlier gothic masthead of The Daily Telegraph (UK) and implementing a new typeface, Austin, for headlines and articles on it. See more. President, Pranab Mukherjee, presented the ‘Punyabhushan Award’ to Pratap Pawar, Chairman of Sakal Media Group, for his contribution to the Indian media industry; the economic development of the region and to public services.

#MediaMoves

Zee News welcomes its new entertainment anchor, Vishakha Rattan who was formerly a news anchor with Sahara India. Connect with the Delhiite, Vishakha @VishakhaRattan. Aditi Gautam joins Times Now as the senior copy editor. Previously with The Indian Express, Indo Asian News Service, and Sahara India, Mumbai based Aditi can be reached @AditiZero.

Pay-day?

Union Minister of State for Labour, Bandaru Dattatreya, is set to comply with the Supreme Court’s order to implement the ‘Majithia wage’ board’s report of 2010. Constituted in 2007, under ‘The Working Journalists and Other Newspaper Employees (Conditions of Service) and Miscellaneous Provisions Act’ (1955), it lays down the guidelines of pay for working journalists and other non-journalist employees in newspapers. Delhi University’s first cut-off list of a perfect 100 score for admissions is being greeted with humour and sarcasm by students. One tweet remarked, “I have a joke on St Stephens. But 99% won’t get it.” Republican Presidential candidate Bobby Jindal kicked off his campaign with controversy when he addressed supporters, by underplaying his ethnic origins, saying, “We are not Indian-Americans, African-Americans, Irish-Americans, rich Americans, or poor Americans. We are all Americans (sic)”. Get rid of your old notes by year-end as the RBI has extended its deadline for exchange of pre-2005 currency notes.

‘Make love, not Ads’

When David Griner tweeted a picture of two ‘love-birds’ throwing caution to the wind, and making love on the Cannes Lions’ red carpet, he didn’t expect it to steal the news at the global event.  Twitterati, including Nikhil Taneja (to whom the quote is attributed), and the media took their hats off to this unknown couple for their ‘YOLO’ attitude.  For more, click here. Netflix, the US based movie and TV net-streaming service may be stepping into India by 2016.  The company which streams original content and a plethora of international shows puts pressure on India’s DTH operators.  With the presidential campaign hotting up, according to Business Insider, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are on top of the social media popularity charts. We think the media mogul may be gaining more interest in his hairstyle than Hillary’s ☺.