Starting this one, let’s try do an industry round up every fortnight or every week depending on the number of news available. If you have find any interesting news developments, please forward them to me at hobbit.hob at gmail.com 

Here’s the first lot. There are some not so new ones, but important to be noticed: 

1. Adfactors partners with Waggener Edstrom: They have entered into an affiliation agreement to collaborate in the technology public relations and communications field. This agreement builds on Adfactors PR’s initiative to provide its clients access and visibility in key international markets.

2. MD of Percept Holdings held at Dubai airport on charges of drug possession: His lawyer said he had been told by his client that 0.06 gram of ecstasy was found in his bag.

3. Coke Accused of ‘Greenwashing’ its Image in India: The Coca-Cola company has been charged with illegally seizing lands communally owned by small farmers and indiscriminately dumping sludge and other industrial hazardous waste onto the surrounding community. This comes as the multinational beverage giant announced a new effort Tuesday to protect rivers on four continents.

4. Hanmer & Partners bags AIRIA PR business: KT Thomas, President, AIRIA, said, ‘AIRIA aims to improve the competitiveness of the Indian rubber industry as a whole. To that effect, it has undertaken the services of Hanmer & Partners to be able to communicate with its target audience and stakeholders on a sustained basis.’ 

5.  Railways wants PROs to improve media skills: Rail Bhawan has decided to send 100-odd officials to the country’s premier media training institute, the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC) in New Delhi, to learn what it takes to manage and interact with the media. Riding high on its recent money-making run, finances seem to be the last thing on Rail Bhawan’s list of concerns. Railways is shelling out Rs 45,000 per official to enroll them for the month-long “Media Communication Course”.

6. UTV-Astro’s BINDASS Appoints IPAN as its Public Relations Agency: Zarina Mehta, CEO – BINDASS says, ‘Bindass is all about being Fun, Frank, Fearless, and valuing Freedom in all its form. It is a celebration of being young in India. The zeal and thought process of the agency was completely in sync with our brand strategy. We look forward to IPAN partnering with us in positioning the Brand BINDASS and communicating its unique values within the media and the target group’.

7. Fleishman-Hillard enters India: As the international business community’s interest in the Indian market continues to rise, assignments from Fleishman-Hillard’s North American, European, Middle Eastern, Asian, and South African clients will be consolidated through the firm’s Mumbai office and executed with the help of its partner agencies.