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PM Modi wins ‘first ever’ Philip Kotler Presidential Award, gets mocked

Published

7 years ago

January 15, 2019

PM Modi wins ‘first ever’ Philip Kotler Presidential Award, gets mocked

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]An award to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday, Jan 14, made him as much a butt of jibes as of congratulatory messages he received from his juniors and faithful followers.

This was the “first ever”, and hence unheard of, Philip Kotler Presidential Award by the World Marketing Summit (WMS) India, whose event here in December was co-sponsored by a public sector company, GAIL India, and partnered, among others, by Baba Ramdev’s Patanjali group and Republic TV (co-owned by BJP MP Rajeev Chandrashekhar), pointed out a report by The Wire.

The WMS has previously only given awards to recognise achievements in advertising and marketing. The awards are named after a celebrated marketing and management guru, who is also the founder of the World Marketing Summit (WMS) Group.

There is no mention of the brand-new Kotler Presidential Award on the websites of either WMS18 – the Delhi ‘summit’ – or its parent body, the WMS Group, or anywhere else prior to Indian news articles published today, The Wire reported.

Moreover, the government’s press release makes no mention of jury members, nor the organisation behind the new award.

While the other five honours were bestowed by individual countries (Saudi Arabia, Palestine, South Korea and Afghanistan) and the UN, little information has been shared about the origin of the latest award, or the organisation presenting it.

As for the award to Modi, neither Philip Kotler or Professor Jagdish Seth, who presented the award to the PM at 7 Lok Kalyan Marg, have tweeted or shared information on their websites about participating in the jury, The Wire reported.

However, the certificate presented to Modi bears Kotler’s signature, presumably as part of the 2018 agreement to use his name for awards.

Dr Pramod Pathak, IIT (ISM) Dhanbad – named on the WMS website as a supervisor of the award committee – told The Wire he had nothing to do with the award for Modi, and added that Tauseef Zia Siddiqui was the point person for it.

He said the Kotler Marketing Excellence Awards are decided and presented by a separate process from the Kotler Presidential Award given to Modi.

The person he referred The Wire to, Siddiqui, is reportedly founder of Suslence Research International Institute Pvt Ltd, and described himself as a representative of Philip Kotler based in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.

Siddiqui was on the award committee for WMS18’s Marketing Excellence Awards, but declined to share any details about the judging process behind the Presidential Award bestowed on Modi. “It’s a very confidential award,” he told The Wire.

Senior BJP leaders and ministers, including Piyush Goyal and Smriti Irani, chief minister of Manipur N Biren Singh, and former chief ministers Raman Singh and Vasundhara Raje, rushed to congratulate PM Modi over social media for his achievement in winning the new award especially instituted this year.

Even the publicity wing of the government, the PIB, was brought into the social media campaign to drive home a point about Modi’s recognition abroad.

A tweet from twitter handle of Prime Minister’s Office, PMO India said: “PM @narendramodi received the first-ever Philip Kotler Presidential award. The Award focuses on the triple bottom-line of People, Profit and Planet. It will be offered annually to the leader of a Nation.”

In a series of tweets, Goyal listed out six “prestigious accolades” Modi has accumulated from the international community since becoming prime minister. He said: “The Philip Kotler Presidential Award adds to a long list of prestigious accolades received by PM @NarendraModi from the International community, reflecting the effectiveness of his style of governance and the far-reaching impact he has made throughout the globe”

Smriti Z Irani said: “Congratulations to PM @narendramodi ji for receiving first-ever Philip Kotler Presidential award. It is a matter of great pride for India that the award focusing on triple bottom-line of People, Profit & Planet is conferred to our PM for outstanding leadership & selfless service.”

Minister of state for information and broadcasting Rajyavardhan Rathore called it “a momentous achievement, and a proud day for all Indians.”[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1547554978073{border-top-width: 10px !important;border-right-width: 10px !important;border-bottom-width: 10px !important;border-left-width: 10px !important;padding-top: 10px !important;padding-right: 10px !important;padding-bottom: 10px !important;padding-left: 10px !important;background-color: #d1d1d1 !important;border-radius: 10px !important;}”]PIB India, under Rathore, tweeted: “PM @narendramodi receiving the first-ever Philip Kotler Presidential award in New Delhi today. Details▶️ http://www.pib.nic.in/PressReleseDetail.aspx?PRID=1559823 …”

Its press release said:

First-ever Philip Kotler Presidential award presented to PM

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, today received the first-ever Philip Kotler Presidential award, at 7 Lok Kalyan Marg, in New Delhi.

The Award focuses on the triple bottom-line of People, Profit and Planet. It will be offered annually to the leader of a Nation.

The Award Citation says:

“Shri Narendra Modi is selected for his outstanding leadership for the nation. His selfless service towards India, combined with his tireless energy has resulted in extraordinary economic, social and technological advances in the country.”

The Citation adds: “Under his leadership, India is now identified as the Centre for Innovation and Value Added Manufacturing (Make in India), as well as a global hub for professional services such as Information Technology, Accounting and Finance.”

The Citation also mentions: “His visionary leadership has also resulted in the Digital Revolution (Digital India), including the Unique Identification Number, Aadhaar, for social benefits and financial inclusion. It is enabling entrepreneurship, ease of doing business, and creating a 21st century infrastructure for India.”

The Citation mentions initiatives such as Make in India, Startup India, Digital India, and Swachh Bharat, “which have positioned India as one of the most lucrative manufacturing and business destinations in the world.”

Prof. Philip Kotler is a world renowned Professor of Marketing at Northwestern University, Kellogg School of Management. Owing to his ill-health, he deputed Dr. Jagdish Sheth of EMORY University, Georgia, USA, to confer the award.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]But if there were bouquets, there were brickbats galore, too.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi took a swipe at Modi, tweeting: “‏I want to congratulate our PM, on winning the world famous “Kotler Presidential Award”! In fact it’s so famous it has no jury, has never been given out before & is backed by an unheard of Aligarh company. Event Partners: Patanjali & Republic TV :)”

CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury said: “‏My personal congratulations to Narendra Modi for winning the world’s ‘first-ever’ ‘very confidential award’. No one else could have won this award.”

RJD leader and former deputy chief minister of Bihar, Tejashwi Yadav, tweeted, “Plenty of congratulations to our honourable Prime Minister for winning an unprecedented, unique and remarkable award.”[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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Centre pushes states to cut levies to boost PNG adoption

The Centre has asked states to reduce local levies and streamline approvals to accelerate PNG adoption and city gas infrastructure growth.

Published

12 mins ago

March 18, 2026

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The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has urged states and Union Territories to ease local levies and procedural barriers affecting City Gas Distribution (CGD) projects, in a bid to accelerate the adoption of piped natural gas (PNG) as a cleaner fuel alternative.

In a communication sent to Chief Secretaries, Petroleum and Natural Gas Secretary Neeraj Mittal highlighted that high right-of-way charges, road cutting fees, lease rentals and other local levies imposed by urban bodies are discouraging investments in CGD infrastructure.

High costs slowing expansion

The ministry pointed out that the CGD sector, particularly PNG supply to households and commercial establishments, does not receive direct subsidies. As a result, it depends heavily on viable returns, which are being impacted by excessive and inconsistent local charges across states.

It noted that these financial and procedural hurdles are slowing down infrastructure expansion and affecting the broader adoption of natural gas.

Gap between connections and usage

According to the government, while around 12.63 crore PNG connections have been recorded, only about 1.6 crore are currently active. The ministry stressed that improving ease of doing business at state and local levels could help bridge this gap and expand the consumer base.

Officials believe that rationalising levies may initially reduce local revenues but could lead to higher long-term gains through increased gas consumption and economic activity.

LPG shortage adds urgency

The push for PNG adoption comes amid supply constraints in liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), linked to ongoing tensions in the Middle East. Oil marketing companies are currently supplying only 20 per cent of normal commercial LPG demand to states.

To address this, the ministry has proposed increasing LPG allocation to 30 per cent for states that implement reforms supporting PNG and CGD expansion.

Reform-linked incentives for states

The Centre has suggested a set of measures that states can adopt to qualify for higher LPG allocations. These include:

Setting up empowered state and district-level committees for faster approvals
Introducing single-window clearance with deemed approvals within 24 hours
Implementing a dig-and-restore model using bank guarantees instead of restoration charges
Eliminating annual rental or lease charges for CGD infrastructure

The ministry said compliance with these reforms would be verified before granting additional LPG allocations.

Industry support measures

The communication also noted that GAIL and its subsidiaries have already allocated full gas supply to the commercial PNG segment to support businesses affected by reduced LPG availability.

The government reiterated that expanding natural gas usage aligns with its broader push for cleaner and domestically sourced energy.

India News

BJP seals Assam seat-sharing pact, Modi to hold 3 rallies in April

BJP has finalised its Assam seat-sharing plan with allies and is gearing up for an intense campaign led by PM Modi and Amit Shah.

Published

22 mins ago

March 18, 2026

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The Bharatiya Janata Party has finalised its seat-sharing arrangement for the upcoming Assam Assembly elections, firming up its strategy alongside National Democratic Alliance partners as campaigning gathers pace in the state.

Under the agreement, the BJP will contest 89 seats, while its allies — Asom Gana Parishad and Bodoland People’s Front — will field candidates in 26 and 11 constituencies respectively. The distribution has been decided after internal deliberations, with the focus now shifting to candidate announcements and campaign execution.

Campaign push led by top leadership

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to address three rallies in Assam during the final leg of the campaign. Tentative dates for the rallies are April 1, April 3 and April 6, with events likely to be held in key constituencies.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah is also set to spearhead an extensive campaign across the state through March, aiming to energise party workers and strengthen voter outreach.

Candidate selection underway

The party’s Central Election Committee is currently meeting to finalise candidates. Sources indicate that approvals for most constituencies are expected soon, and the BJP may release its complete list of candidates within the next two days.

Ticket distribution remains a crucial exercise, with internal discussions highlighting its potential impact on local political dynamics. Party leaders have also touched upon the proposed delimitation exercise scheduled for 2027, which is expected to have long-term implications for Assam’s electoral landscape.

Polling and counting dates

Voting for all 126 Assembly seats in Assam is scheduled for April 9, while the votes will be counted on May 4.

India News

Delhi Palam fire leaves 6 dead, massive rescue operation underway

Six people died after a fire broke out in a residential building in Delhi’s Palam. Firefighters continue rescue efforts with 30 tenders at the spot.

Published

7 hours ago

March 18, 2026

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A tragic fire incident in southwest Delhi’s Palam area on Wednesday morning claimed the lives of six people, triggering a large-scale emergency response.

According to officials, the blaze erupted in a residential building, prompting immediate action from fire and police authorities. Around 30 fire tenders were rushed to the spot to control the flames and carry out rescue operations.

Authorities said they received a distress call at approximately 7 am reporting the fire at a house within the building. Firefighters were deployed swiftly amid concerns that several residents could be trapped inside the structure.

A fire services official stated that initial information suggested people might still be inside, leading to an intensive search and rescue effort. Emergency teams, including police personnel, reached the congested locality to assist in evacuation and crowd management.

The firefighting operation was still ongoing at the time of reporting. The exact cause of the fire has not yet been determined, and further details are awaited as authorities continue their investigation.