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ICS 2025: Steering Reputation in a VUCA World

ICS 2025: Steering Reputation in a VUCA World

Time of India14-05-2025

The 7th edition of the India Communication Summit (
ICS
), organised by ETBrandEquity, is set to take place on 15 May at The Leela Ambience, Gurugram. The event will feature over 50 speakers representing some of India's most admired and exciting corporate houses.
The aim of ICS is to bring together the movers and shapers of
corporate reputation
and
public relations
under one roof, and to help shape the future of the industry. The event will feature engaging sessions on key
communication trends
and themes, along with unparalleled
networking opportunities
.
This year, ICS will be inaugurated by Shri Dilip Kumar, Executive Director (Information & Publicity), Indian Railways, who will deliver the opening keynote address on 'Lessons in
Crisis Communications
from Indian Railways'.
Arpana Kumar Ahuja, EVP & Head, Corporate Brand and Communications, Jindal Steel, will deliver a keynote address on 'Adapting Communications for a VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous) World'.
The final keynote will be presented by Sanjeev Handa, Senior VP, PR & Communications, Maruti Suzuki, on the topic 'Shaping Go-To-Market Strategy: A Comms Leader's Perspective'.
ICS 2025
will explore the key themes transforming the communications landscape, including AI and reputation management, purpose-driven communication, influencer-led narratives, navigating the trust deficit, crisis communications, advocacy, influencing key stakeholders and priming audiences.
These themes will be addressed by seasoned practitioners from leading brands such as Nestlé India, Axis Max Life Insurance, Tata Consumer Products, Bajaj Allianz General Insurance, MakeMyTrip, Hyundai Motor India, Reckitt, Colgate-Palmolive India, ITC, OYO, Myntra, Axis Bank, Panasonic India, Motilal Oswal Financial Services, Apollo Hospitals, Paisabazaar, Zupee, Mars India (Petcare), BVLGARI, PepsiCo India, ASUS India, Tech Mahindra, Games24x7, RPG Group, Ericsson, GE HealthCare, CoinDCX, Lenovo, Cognizant India, Snap Inc., Deloitte, BCG, and many others.
The penultimate session of the day-long conference will feature a fireside chat with Nikhil Taneja, Co-founder & Chief, Yuvaa, who will address the growing mental health crisis in the country.
As the curtains draw to a close on ICS 2025, the excitement will peak with the
Kaleido Awards 2025
, which will honour outstanding communication and public relations campaigns and the storytellers behind them. The nominations have been thoroughly evaluated by a distinguished jury panel led by esteemed jury chair Rohit Bansal, Group Head – Communications, Reliance Industries.
This edition of ICS would not be possible without the support of 'Powered By' partner Kaizzen and 'Co-partners' AVIAN We. and Consocia Advisory.
You can find the complete agenda for ICS 2025 at:
https://brandequity.economictimes.indiatimes.com/india-communication-summit

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Uneconomical, impractical: Experts on Railway's decision to cap passenger waiting list at 25%
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The Hindu

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Uneconomical, impractical: Experts on Railway's decision to cap passenger waiting list at 25%

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Experts call 25% cap on railway waiting list 'uneconomical, impractical'
Experts call 25% cap on railway waiting list 'uneconomical, impractical'

Business Standard

time2 hours ago

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Experts call 25% cap on railway waiting list 'uneconomical, impractical'

The Railway's decision to limit the passenger waiting list to 25 per cent of the capacity of each class has been flagged by reservation supervisors, ticket booking clerks and some senior commercial officers as uneconomical for the railways and inconvenient for travellers. The ministry, however, has justified the decision, saying less than one-fourth of the total number of waiting passengers get confirmed berths on an average and the 25 per cent cap has been placed in view of that. "The decision was made after meticulously studying the waiting list confirmation pattern," said Dilip Kumar the Executive Director of Information and Publicity, Railway Board. He highlighted that earlier, there was an allegation that the Railways allowed a lot of passengers to book berths in the waiting category which led to crowding in trains. "It was also alleged that the Railways earned money on ticket cancellation." Refuting the charge, Kumar stressed the Railways was more concerned about passenger comfort than monetary benefits. The Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS) implemented the 25 per cent cap decision on June 16 for trains with reservation facilities. This come around two months after the ministry, through a circular, conveyed its decision on the matter to all principal chief commercial managers and the CRIS managing director. The April 17 circular stated, "The matter has been reviewed and it has been decided that the maximum current waiting list limit will be revised to 25 per cent of the redefined capacity of each class available at originating as well as roadside stations." It added, "This logic will also be applicable for issuing of waitlisted tickets from remote locations as well as tickets booked under Tatkal scheme. This waiting list limit shall, however, not be applicable to the tickets issued on concessional fares, warrants etc." The circular directed CRIS to "make necessary modifications in the software and inform the date of effect to all zonal Railways". Railway officials said such a cap was in place earlier as well but more and more people were allowed to reserve seats/berths in the waiting category. According to a 2013 circular, the waiting list cap on AC/EC and 2 AC classes was 30 and 100 respectively. Similarly, the first class, 3AC/Chair Car and sleeper class had 30, 300 and 400 waiting limits, respectively. Over a week after the implementation of new waiting norms, a section of experts as well as reservation officials termed the decision "impractical". "Waiting lists give a demand trend based on which we make decisions to run special trains. How will we do it now when the waiting lists of all trains will be capped at 25 per cent?" said a retired senior railway commercial officer who termed waiting lists valuable data to make future decisions. Reservation supervisors said there have been cases in which due to bulk cancellations, trains departed with some available seats and despite giving confirmed berths to all waiting list passengers, some remained vacant causing a loss to the Railways. "On one hand seats/berths remain vacant and on the other needy people are unable to travel," a supervisor said. "Agents often do bulk booking on routes high on demand. They go for cancellations before 48 hours of a train's departure so that they have to pay just the nominal cancellation charges. In such cases, there is a high possibility that availability of seats/berths will be created before the train's departure," another reservation supervisor said. He added, "This will create opportunities for brokers and touts operating at the current booking window at stations to mint money for passengers as they have prior information of berth positions due to their nexus with lower-level ticket booking staff." Some experts wondered how the Railways arrived at the 25 per cent cap for roadside stations where the berth quota is two or three seats and supposed that it was decided randomly. "It is an ill-conceived decision to minimise the perception of crowding in trains by capping the waiting limits. Even if the aim of it is to minimise crowd in AC classes, it will not help as a prospective passenger can buy a general counter ticket and travel in AC classes. Normally, E-ticket waiting list passengers do the same," a senior commercial officer said. He added, "The Railways should introduce more trains on busy routes rather than bringing all these measures to hide actual demand of travellers. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Uneconomical, impractical: Experts on Railway decision to cap passenger waiting list at 25%
Uneconomical, impractical: Experts on Railway decision to cap passenger waiting list at 25%

Time of India

time3 hours ago

  • Time of India

Uneconomical, impractical: Experts on Railway decision to cap passenger waiting list at 25%

Indian Railways capped waiting lists at 25 per cent. Reservation staff find this uneconomical and inconvenient. The Railway Board defends the decision, citing low confirmation rates. They aim to reduce crowding and cancellation revenue. Critics say it hinders demand assessment for special trains. Vacant berths and potential broker exploitation are concerns. Experts suggest more trains instead of caps. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads The Railway's decision to limit the passenger waiting list to 25 per cent of the capacity of each class has been flagged by reservation supervisors, ticket booking clerks and some senior commercial officers as uneconomical for the railways and inconvenient for ministry, however, has justified the decision, saying less than one-fourth of the total number of waiting passengers get confirmed berths on an average and the 25 per cent cap has been placed in view of that."The decision was made after meticulously studying the waiting list confirmation pattern," said Dilip Kumar the Executive Director of Information and Publicity, Railway Board He highlighted that earlier, there was an allegation that the Railways allowed a lot of passengers to book berths in the waiting category which led to crowding in trains. "It was also alleged that the Railways earned money on ticket cancellation."Refuting the charge, Kumar stressed the Railways was more concerned about passenger comfort than monetary Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS) implemented the 25 per cent cap decision on June 16 for trains with reservation facilities. This come around two months after the ministry, through a circular, conveyed its decision on the matter to all principal chief commercial managers and the CRIS managing April 17 circular stated, "The matter has been reviewed and it has been decided that the maximum current waiting list limit will be revised to 25 per cent of the redefined capacity of each class available at originating as well as roadside stations."It added, "This logic will also be applicable for issuing of waitlisted tickets from remote locations as well as tickets booked under Tatkal scheme. This waiting list limit shall, however, not be applicable to the tickets issued on concessional fares, warrants etc."The circular directed CRIS to "make necessary modifications in the software and inform the date of effect to all zonal Railways".Railway officials said such a cap was in place earlier as well but more and more people were allowed to reserve seats/berths in the waiting to a 2013 circular, the waiting list cap on AC/EC and 2 AC classes was 30 and 100 respectively. Similarly, the first class, 3AC/Chair Car and sleeper class had 30, 300 and 400 waiting limits, a week after the implementation of new waiting norms, a section of experts as well as reservation officials termed the decision "impractical"."Waiting lists give a demand trend based on which we make decisions to run special trains. How will we do it now when the waiting lists of all trains will be capped at 25 per cent?" said a retired senior railway commercial officer who termed waiting lists valuable data to make future supervisors said there have been cases in which due to bulk cancellations, trains departed with some available seats and despite giving confirmed berths to all waiting list passengers, some remained vacant causing a loss to the Railways."On one hand seats/berths remain vacant and on the other needy people are unable to travel," a supervisor said."Agents often do bulk booking on routes high on demand. They go for cancellations before 48 hours of a train's departure so that they have to pay just the nominal cancellation charges. In such cases, there is a high possibility that availability of seats/berths will be created before the train's departure," another reservation supervisor added, "This will create opportunities for brokers and touts operating at the current booking window at stations to mint money for passengers as they have prior information of berth positions due to their nexus with lower-level ticket booking staff."Some experts wondered how the Railways arrived at the 25 per cent cap for roadside stations where the berth quota is two or three seats and supposed that it was decided randomly."It is an ill-conceived decision to minimise the perception of crowding in trains by capping the waiting limits. Even if the aim of it is to minimise crowd in AC classes, it will not help as a prospective passenger can buy a general counter ticket and travel in AC classes. Normally, E-ticket waiting list passengers do the same," a senior commercial officer added, "The Railways should introduce more trains on busy routes rather than bringing all these measures to hide actual demand of travellers."

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