Modi govt spending more on ads in Hindi newspapers

Agencies
September 8, 2019

Kathmandu, Sept 8: In a clear message to make deeper inroads into the Hindi heartland, the Narendra Modi government has spent over Rs 890 crore in advertising in Hindi newspapers compared to the over Rs 719 crore in the English newspapers in the last five years, an RTI filed by IANS has revealed.

At a time when print media overall is facing rough weather owing to stiff competition coming from digital platforms -- chiefly Facebook and Google which together share 68 per cent of digital ads globally -- Hindi and regional newspapers across the spectrum (large, medium and small) are defying the trend and flourish in the country.

Leading the pack in the 2014-15 to 2018-19 period was Dainik Jagran that received government ads worth over Rs 100 crore in the given time-frame.

Dainik Bhaskar received ads worth Rs 56 crore and 62 lakh, while Hindustan received government ads worth Rs 50 crore and 66 lakh (approximately) in the reported period.

Punjab Kesari was able to grab government ads worth Rs 50 crore 66 lakh (approx), and Amar Ujala received Rs 47.4 crore in government advertising, revealed the RTI.

Navbharat Times received government ads worth Rs 3 crore and 76 lakh (approx) and Rajasthan Patrika worth Rs 27 crore and 78 lakh (approx).

According to the Indian Readership Survey (IRS) for the second quarter (Q2) this year, Hindi and regional players have been the biggest beneficiaries of the readership growth.

When it comes to total readership, English dailies saw a slight growth from 2.9 per cent in Q1 to 3 per cent while Hindi dailies held its 17 per cent reach.

A recent Registrar of Newspapers for India (RNI) report said that the circulation of Hindi and regional language papers grew at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6 per cent and 7 per cent, respectively, as compared with 2 per cent growth in English-language papers for the FY2009-FY2018 period, according to media reports.

When it comes to English-language newspapers, The Times of India grabbed the biggest pie, grabbing over Rs 217 crore in government ad spend.

The Hindustan Times was second receiving more than Rs 157 crore in government ads, while Deccan Chronicle was a distant third with government ads worth over Rs 40 crore, revealed the RTI.

The Hindu (including The Hindu Business Line) received ads worth more than Rs 33.6 crore in the five-year period while The Telegraph received government ads worth over Rs 20.8 crore.

The Tribune received over Rs 13 crore while Deccan Herald got more than Rs 10.2 crore worth of government ads in the period.

The Economic Times got ads worth over Rs 8.6 crore while The Indian Express with over Rs 26 lakh and the Financial Express with over Rs 27 lakh worth government ads were other English-language outlets.

In the same period, the government spending on Internet ads witnessed nearly a four-fold rise. The spending on Internet advertising jumped from Rs 6.64 crore to Rs 26.95 crore between 2014-15 and 2018-19.

The government spent over Rs 5,700 crore on total advertising between May 2014 and March 2019.

During Modi's first term as the Prime Minister, a total of Rs 5,726 crore was spent in the five years for publicity purposes.

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News Network
June 29,2020

New Delhi, Jun 29: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday paid tribute to the senior doctor of city government-run LNJP Hospital who died battling COVID-19, saying the society has "lost a very valuable fighter".

The 52-year-old doctor served in the front line of the war against the pandemic at the government facility, and died of novel coronavirus infection in an ICU of a private hospital on Sunday.

"Dr Aseem Gupta, a senior doctor of LNJP Hospital succumbed to Covid yday. He was known for going out of his way to serve his patients. We have lost a very valuable fighter. Delhi salutes his spirit and sacrifice...," Kejriwal tweeted.

The chief minister also said in his tweet that he has spoken to Dr Gupta''s wife and "offered my condolences and support".

LNJP Hospital is a dedicated COVID-19 facility under the Delhi government. It recently completed 100 days of being declared a coronavirus facility.

"LNJP Hospital has displayed great fortitude in the face of acute challenges. It''s recovery rate is going up, death rate is reducing, ICU capacity is being ramped up - the hospital is saving so many lives," the chief minister said.

A condolence meeting to pay respect to Dr Gupta has been scheduled at 1 pm in the office of the Medical Director of the hospital, a senior official said.

The doctor, a consultant anaesthesiologist died at the Max hospital, Saket in south Delhi, a private dedicated COVID-19 facility.

"He was a front line anaesthesia specialist who contracted COVID-19 infection while on duty. He tested positive on June 6, when he had mild symptoms and was shifted to a quarantine facility. His symptoms aggravated on June 7 and he was admitted in the Intensive Care Unit of the LNJP Hospital," the LNJP Hospital said in a statement on Sunday.

He was shifted to Max Hospital, Saket on June 8 on his request, it said.

The doctor was battling the disease for the last two weeks at Max Hospital, where he succumbed to the illness on Sunday, the statement said.

He was Specialist, Grade I, in the Department of Anaesthesia at the LNJP Hospital, the statement said.

Several hundreds of healthcare workers have been infected with COVID-19 till date in Delhi.

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News Network
March 5,2020

New Delhi, Mar 5: Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan assuring that the government has the coronavirus crisis under control, is like the Titanic captain telling passengers not to panic as his ship was unsinkable, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said on Thursday.

Gandhi's remarks came after Vardhan's assurance in Parliament that the government is taking all necessary measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 (coronavirus disease) in India.

“The health minister saying that the Indian government has the coronavirus crisis under control, is like the Captain of the Titanic telling passengers not to panic as his ship was unsinkable,” Gandhi said in a tweet.

“It's time the government made public an action plan backed by solid resources to tackle this crisis,” he said.

RMS Titanic was a British passenger liner that sank in the North Atlantic Ocean in the early morning hours of April 15, 1912, after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York.

Gandhi has been raising concerns over the coronavirus infection since long. In a February 12 tweet, he had said coronavirus is an extremely serious threat to “our people and our economy”.

“My sense is the government is not taking this threat seriously. Timely action is critical,” he had said.

Earlier this week, Gandhi had hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the detection of fresh coronavirus cases in the country, saying he should quit wasting India's time “playing the clown” with his social media accounts when India is facing an emergency.

With the message of “Here's how it's done”, Gandhi had also tweeted a video of Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong addressing Singaporeans on how to deal with the coronavirus.

The number of coronavirus cases in India is 29, including 16 Italians, the government had said on Wednesday, adding all international passengers will now be screened at airports, amid growing concern over the spread of the respiratory infection.

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News Network
March 31,2020

New Delhi, Mar 31: At least 24 people staying at Markaz building in Nizamuddin area of the national capital have tested positive for coronavirus, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain on Tuesday.

"All of them are being screened. We are not certain of the number but it is estimated that 1500-1700 people had assembled at the Markaz building. 1033 people have been evacuated so far - 334 of them have been sent to the hospital and 700 sent to quarantine centre. Total 24 positive cases have been found so far," he said while speaking to reporters here.

The minister also slammed the organisers of the religious event saying that they have committed a grave crime.

"The event's organisers committed a grave crime. Disaster Act and Contagious Diseases Act was enforced in Delhi, no assembly of more than 5 people was allowed. Still, they did this. I have written to Lieutenant Governor to take strict action against them. Delhi government has given an order to file an FIR against the organisers," the Health Minister said.

Earlier, the Delhi government had said: "It has come to our knowledge that administrators of Nizammuddin Markaz violated coronavirus lockdown conditions and now several positive cases have been found. Strong action would be taken against those in charge of this establishment. Delhi government will ask the police to register an FIR against Maulana of Markaz, Nizamuddin." 

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