Ref. : ER/Press/06/eukol34E/AI-dg
Consumer Education and Research Centre (CERC), Ahmedabad, in cooperation
with the European Union - Delegation of the European Commission to
India, has organised a Seminar in Kolkata on 16 September 2006 on
advertisement standards. The topic is “Indian Code of Advertisement
Standards (Draft), Proposed Law for Advertisement Standards Regulatory
Commission and Pre-Vetting of Advertisements Operating in Other Countries”.
The objective of the CERC-EU project is to create public awareness
and opinion on false and misleading advertisements and eventually
work towards the setting up of an Advertising Standards Regulatory
Commission in the country.
The Kolkata seminar will be the third in a series of regional seminars.
One each has been held in Ahmedabad and Mumbai. The last regional
seminar will be held in Chennai on 30 September, to be followed by
a National Seminar in New Delhi next month.
The inaugural function at Kolkata, scheduled from 10.00 a.m. to 12.00
noon, will be open to the public. The technical sessions for speakers
and participants will be held from 12:30 p.m. to 05:00 p.m..
Mr. Narendra Nath Dey, Minister of Consumer Affairs, Government of
West Bengal, will preside over the Inauguration and Mr. S. K. Arora,
IAS, Secretary, Union Ministry of I & B, will deliver the Keynote
Address. Mr. Justice Molay K. Basu, President, West Bengal State Commission,
will deliver the Inaugural Address and Mr. Sudev Roy Chowdhury, President,
Press Club, Kolkata, will present the media viewpoint. Mr. Dinesh
Trivedi, M.P., will be the Guest Speaker. Prof. Manubhai Shah, Chairman
Emeritus, CERC, Ahmedabad, Ms. Mala Banerjee, President, FCAWB, and
Ms. Debjani Sinha, Trustee, CERC, will also address the inaugural
function.
The Seminar will lay stress on the need for (i) a separate legislation,
(ii) sensitising Members of Parliament to the issues, and (iii) setting
up an Advertising Standards Regulatory Commission (ASRC) in India,
modelled on EU lines. It will obtain the views and experiences of
a cross-section of stakeholders on false and misleading ads.
Sharing the common platform will be, among others, consumer groups,
the media, legal experts, academics, industry, manufacturers and service
providers, business organisations, advertisers and advertising agencies.
The Seminar will enable the media to share its experiences and concerns
vis-a-vis the exercise of its Freedom of Expression and the Right
to Information.
The other distinguished speakers scheduled to address the Technical
Session of the Seminar include Prof. Mihir Sinha Roy, Chairman, South
Bengal FCAWB, Mr. Kirti Bhatt, Director-Legal, CERC, Ahmedabad, Mr.
Goutam Prakash Datta, Law Officer, Hindustan Lever, Padmashri Ms.
Sucheta Dalal, Trustee, CERC, Mr. L. K. Chatterjee, former Sr. Central
Government Advocate, Mr. Biplab Sarkar, Scientist and Advisor, Better
Business Bureau, Kolkata, and Prof. D. P. Ghosh, Visiting Faculty,
ICFAI Business School, IIM-C and XLRI Jamshedpur. Mr. Samarendra Bhowmik,
Director, Dept. of Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs, Ministry of
Tripura, will deliver the Valedictory Address after an Open House
Discussion.
The Calcutta Club, 241, A.J.C. Bose Road, Opp. Calcutta Information
Centre, Kolkata, will be the venue for the Seminar, including the
Inauguration.
Date : 14/09/2006
Pritee Shah
Place: Ahmedabad
Editor
Insight-The Consumer Magazine
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