Ad mistakes Lankan event for TN
When I saw minister Rishad with PM Modi I thought it is something to do with Lanka. I was really surprised when I immersed deep into ad… saath hai, viswaas hai.. ho raha vikas hai.
To keep their bosses in good humour, the government’s publicity wing often goes all out only to end up embarrassing them.
All major newspapers in the country carried a half-page advertisement on Wednesday issued by the directorate of audio visual publicity (DAVP) on India’s infrastructure development that showed Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagging off a train.
Titled “Securing India’s Future”, the main event shown in the ad has nothing to do with India because it took place in Sri Lanka in 2015. The Prime Minister was flagging off a train in southern Sri Lanka’s Talimannar Pier reconstructed with the help of Ircon International Limited, Indian Railways’ engineering and construction firm.
If you look at the ad closely you can see a board at the upper left side that has Talaimannar written in three languages but sadly the DAVP officials failed to notice it. It seems they might have mistaken it for some place in Tamil Nadu.
To add more to the goof up, the person flanking the PM in the picture is Sri Lanka’s minister for commerce and industries Rishad Bathiuddin, an Indian origin leader whose forefathers migrated to the island nation from north Kerala. Also, a portion of the Sri Lankan flag can be seen on the train engine.
The blooper was first noticed by a distant relative of the Lankan minister hailing from north Kerala’s Kasaragod.
“When I saw minister Rishad with PM Modi I thought it is something to do with Lanka. I was really surprised when I immersed deep into ad… Saath Hai, Vishwas Hai ... Ho Raha Vikas Hai,” the relative, who did not want to be identified, said.
The Kerala government that is busy celebrating its first anniversary committed a similar blunder last week. It issued a full page advertisement making a Kochibased labourer a star. The ad claimed that he built his home with the help of the state government’s new initiative “Life” plan. The man later said he built his house after taking a loan from the district co-operative bank.
External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj came to the rescue of a man from Mumbai, who was stuck in Mozambique.
Anand Krishna Singh, who works in Africa, was allegedly accused of theft and beaten up at gunpoint by his employer and his passport was taken away.
His sister Anita Suvarna wrote and tweeted to the authorities, tagging Swaraj.
Swaraj immediately responded and asked the embassy to contact her. His sister Anita told HT, “I am very happy. The ministry has come as a great help...for us the Acche Din have come...”
JAYPRAKASH S NAIDU