"Let's make DD a success again. Let's re-energise All India Radio!": Prakash Javadekar, I&B Minister

Some gems from the recently appointed minister of Information & Broadcast.

Journalists and photographers went into hyper-alert mode when Prakash Javadekar, newly appointed I&B Minister, made a grand entrance at Goafest 2014, on Day Three.

Care for some pseudo-trivia?: At some point during his talk, Javadekar used Lowe's 'No Ullu Banoing' tagline as a reference for something. Amer Jaleel, Arun Iyer... take a bow.

Edited Snippets.

• "Ab ki baar, Modi Sarkaar' is a magical line created by the advertising industry. 'Modi Sarkaar' has become a name in itself."

• "You don't need advertising to sell a good product. It sells itself."

• "The message is the most important thing in any ad. There was a half-page or full-page print ad in which only a picture of Modiji and me was there. When I saw it, I asked, 'This okay.... But, where is the message?' Then I dictated a few lines about how overall growth, development and progress, and a healthy environment can co-exist in the country."

• "You cannot produce a good message with a bureaucratic mindset."

• "I appeal to all the young creative minds out there; you are all equal stakeholders in the new government! I want your co-operation and participation so that together we can send out the right message to the people. I want your help in my nation-building exercise. It is all of you (young creative professionals) who can generate messages that reflect the aspirations of young India. Social media is a great platform to send these messages. My team is focused on making social media the new hub..."

• "'New India' to me is all about the assurance of complete freedom to the media. The media has full liberty to send out the right messages. This government will never trample freedom of the press."

• "For the third and fourth phase of digitisation, we will install 11 crore set-top-boxes. Whether these boxes will be imported or whether local industries will be given an opportunity is yet to be decided. We are in conversation with the finance and commerce ministries regarding this."

• "Before taking any decision in the days ahead, I assure you, I will first talk to/consult all the stakeholders in the media industry, including ASCI (Advertising Standards Council of India)."

• "TAM seems to have a highly specialised skill in marketing its product; every channel can claim 'We are No. 1'."

• "The ASCI ensures the Indian advertising industry has a sense of 'Swayam Shistaa' (Marathi for self-discipline). "With ASCI-like institutions around, I see no role for the government in this area... there is no need for the government to interfere in the advertising industry..."

• "My passion is to re-energise All India Radio!"

• "We will solve all pending issues regarding ratings and cross-media ownership. We will meet all the stakeholders - digital media, print media and electronic media - and discuss all the pending issues."

• "Let's make Door Darshan a success! Let's make DD a competitive and prominent channel. I have told all cable operators that their issues and grievances will be discussed only after they start showing DD on all mainlines."