Goonj Labs, a mass media research startup, has tracked down the trends, popular mentions, Google searches and YouTube viewership to map the popularity of Brands in India. In a report called ‘The Goonj India Index 2015’ Facebook was the most wanted brand in India in 2015 with 24,505.93 GPM (1 GPM = Estimated reach of 1,00,000 on Digital Media). Airtel meanwhile saw itself at the bottom as the most hated brand with 137.03 GPM. Among other popular brands were Dainik Bhaskar and TOI with 808.30 GPM and 662.06 GPM. » Taking advantage of the ‘odd-even scheme’ in Delhi, Radio City 91.1 has launched a clever campaign themed ‘Odd ya Even, Gaadi Dega Radio City 91.1’, providing free cab service to the selected lucky listeners. With this initiative Radio City is not just offering convenience, but also facilitating carpooling and encouraging listeners to contribute their bit to ease pollution ridden Delhi. » As New Year resolutions go, we all have our own goals set for the year. Some decide to read more while others decide to build ‘artificial intelligence’, well at least Mark Zuckerberg does. The Facebook billionaire in a recent post revealed that his personal challenge for 2016 is to build a virtual assistant to help run his house and assist him at work, “kind of like Jarvis in Iron Man”. Zuckerberg is known to take such personal challenges every year, last year it was read two books a month and learn Mandarin before that.
Mark Zuckerberg
Internal Furore
A controversial article in the Congress party’s mouthpiece magazine – Congress Darshan has caused internal furore. Questioning Jawaharlal Nehru’s policy in Kashmir and claiming that Sonia Gandhi’s father was a ‘fascist’, the in-house magazine’s editor Sanjay Nirupam apologized for the “irreparable mistake”. Meanwhile the content editor Sudhir Joshi, a freelance journalist has been sacked. » Mark Zuckerberg continues to urge India to approve the controversial Free Basics. Finding it rather surprising that there’s been a big debate about this in India, he said “Instead of wanting to give people free access to basic Internet services, critics of the programme continue to spread false claims – even if that means leaving behind a billion people.” In yet another marketing blitz, Zuckerberg himself appeared in a video to ‘decode’ the service along with writing a personal appeal in The Times of India.
The Paris Agreement
Nearly 200 nations have adopted the first ever global pact to fight climate change. The “Paris Agreement” commits countries to keeping the rise in global temperatures by the year 2100 compared with pre-industrial times “well below” 2 degrees Celsius along with getting greenhouse emissions to start falling “as soon as possible”. » Hacktivist group – Anonymous on an ISIS mocking spree has now targeted Donald Trump. Calling their campaign #OPTrump, the group took down the presidential candidate’s online footprint for suggesting a ban on Muslims traveling to USA. “This is what ISIS wants. The more Muslims feel sad, the more ISIS feels that they can recruit them — the more United States appears to be targeting Muslims, not just radical Muslims,” said a masked Anonymous representative in a video. » After Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, Google’s CEO Sundar Pichai has penned down an open letter supporting Muslims. Pichai made a reference, albeit indirectly, to the Donald Trump controversy, stating that it is “disheartening to see intolerant discourses on the news”. » The Hamburg office for Facebook was vandalized overnight by an unidentified group. Smashed glass, paint thrown on the walls and a graffiti of “Facebook dislike” was found on a wall by the police with the possible motive of the vandalistic act still unknown.
Breathless Delhi
The Delhi government has tapped technology major IBM to study the effect of vehicular traffic on the quality of air in the national capital. IBM will join hands with Delhi Dialogue Commission (DDC), a think tank of the state government, for a three month pilot programme that will provide the government with relevant insights and recommend suitable policies to improve air quality of the city where air pollution levels have shot up to ‘severe’ warning category. » Mark Zuckerberg came to the support of Muslim community. “If you’re a Muslim in this community, as the leader of Facebook I want you to know that you are always welcome here and that we will fight to protect your rights and create a peaceful and safe environment for you,” wrote Zuckerberg in a Facebook post. Zuckerberg’s comments come after a rash of anti-Muslim sentiment following the attacks in Paris and the massacre in San Bernardino.
The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative
Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan have vowed to donate 99% of their Facebook shares for charitable purposes. Pledging in an open letter to their newly born daughter, Max, the couple said that they were forming the ‘Chan Zuckerberg Initiative’, to manage the money, through an unusual corporate structure. “Our initial areas of focus will be personalized learning, curing disease, connecting people and building strong communities,” they wrote. » Twitter users have united to help people affected by the Chennai rains. Using the hashtag #ChennaiRainsHelp, people are offering free food, shelter and transport services to the citizens of Chennai. The Army has also been called again to carry out rescue operations in the flood-hit areas. » The Express Group is set to kick off its unique initiative from its business publication – the 3rd edition of Express IT Awards. Honoring both companies and IT professionals for cutting edge technology innovation, the IT Awards will take place on 4th December at Marriot Whitefield, Bengaluru. » Yahoo is considering putting itself or its core businesses for sale. Still considering options, Yahoo could either sell off its internet business, its shares in Alibaba, or both. Whichever choice they make, the move will lead to a weaker Yahoo, making it harder for CEO Marissa Mayer to make a turnaround possible.
Protesting Intolerance
Ten leading filmmakers including Dibakar Bannerjee and Anand Patwardhan have returned their National Awards. Questioning the government’s commitment to protect freedom of expression, they also expressed solidarity with Film and Television Institute of India students who ended their strike earlier. » Narendra Modi has made it to the list of the world’s most admired personalities. A World Economic Forum survey revealed that he ranked 10 globally. Nelson Mandela topped the list while Mahatma Gandhi featured on 4th position. » Answering rather vaguely when asked about net neutrality, Mark Zuckerberg at IIT Delhi emphasized that Internet.org and Facebook fully supported the issue. He went on to say that those pushing for net neutrality already have access to the internet adding that “We all have a moral responsibility to look out for those who don’t have access.”
India Steps Up!
India moves up 12 places in World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business report. The implementation of the ‘elimination of minimum paid-in capital’ and a ‘certificate to commence business operations’ caused the jump from last year’s 142nd spot to 130. Considering India’s mammoth economy, World Bank’s Chief Economist & Senior VP Kaushik Basu called it a ‘remarkable achievement’. » Facebook’s Townhall meeting is set to take place at IIT Delhi today. To be hosted by CEO Mark Zuckerberg himself, 900 students are expected to attend the Q&A session. Posting about the event earlier this month on his page Zuckerberg said, “More than 130 million people use Facebook in India. I’m looking forward to hearing directly from one of our most active and engaged communities.” » Telcos have a new move up their sleeve in their petition against TRAI to roll back its “coercive and grossly unjust” order of paying penalties for call drops. Top operators Airtel, Vodafone, Idea and Reliance have grouped up claiming that “to recover this cost of compensation, telecom operators will have to increase tariffs, leading to customers spending more to purchase telecom services.”
Gatekeeper FB
Free Basics, the latest offering by Facebook with regard to Internet.org is raising eyebrows. Violating Net Neutrality, the program establishes Facebook as a global gatekeeper for internet connectivity, affecting billions of peoples’ ability to connect to the free and open internet. » PM Modi’s Townhall Q&A at the Facebook HQ with Mark Zuckerberg was one to remember. Discussing various topics, Modi revealed that social media “brought about a big change in his way of thinking”. “We used to have elections every five years, now we have them every five minutes”, he said. Sharing stories about his engagement with other government leaders on social media, Modi said “I don’t think anyone ever thought this is what diplomacy would look like.” “Social media was changing relationships between whole governments”, he added. » Two journalists who survived the attack on Charlie Hebdo are leaving the organization. Artistic director Luz has made known that next week would be the last day of his career as a Charlie Hebdo cartoonist. Writer Patrick Pelloux also announced that he would be leaving, “probably” in January.
Naga Newspaper
In a historic development, the North-Eastern Naga community got their own local language newspaper on Friday. The Makuilongdi Express, launched in Tamenglong district in Manipur, is the first newspaper in Liangmai, a language with about 50,000 speakers spread across Manipur, Assam, and Nagaland. » During one of PM Modi’s meeting with the America’s media big wigs, speedier digitization of the Indian network was demanded. The CEOs, from 21st Century Fox, News Corp, Star India, Discovery Communications, and more, were all positive about the ‘Digital India’ initiative and keen to ride India’s growth trajectory in the media sector. » “Wrong reportage often leads to trouble for the government”, said Uttarakhand CM Harish Rawat. Addressing mediapersons at the Uttaranchal Press Club, he urged reporters to exercise restraint especially during disasters.
Communal Paranoia
Police in Texas arrested a 14-year old boy Ahmed Mohamed after teachers mistook his homemade electronic clock for a bomb. Hashtag – #ISupportAhmed rapidly became Twitter’s top trending topic with support pouring in from a number of people including Hilary Clinton, Barack Obama and Mark Zuckerberg. » Mumbai-based journalist John Dayal has allegedly received death threats over Twitter posts. Tweeting about the arrest of St. Xavier’s School’s Principal’s molestation case, he commented that the owners of the school were connected to the ruling party. » The Cyberabad Police have launched a ‘Social Media Management Center’ at their HQ in Gachibowli. Anurag Sharma, DGP stated that such initiatives are the need of the hour; enabling people to easily reach the police, alerting them about crime instantly with photo or video evidence using social media.
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