Ads from Airtel, HDFC Bank & Flipkart Under ASCI Scanner

Advertising industry watchdog ASCI has upheld complaints against 54 campaigns for misleading advertisements during September, including those of Bharti Airtel, HDFC Bank and Flipkart.

Customer Complaints Council (CCC) of Advertising Standard Council of India (ASCI) upheld 13 complaints of misleading advertisements from personal and healthcare category, seven in telecom and broadband category and six in ecommerce category during the month. The CCC has upheld five complaints against leading telecom operator Bharti Airtel, in which four was for promotions of its 4G services and one was for broadband service. "The claim offer of, 'Get the same data benefits as your 3G pack and enjoy superfast 4G speeds at no extra cost; Free 4G Upgrade' was found misleading by omission of a disclaimer qualifying that the benefits offered under retail plans are not available to users under corporate plans," ASCI said in its order.

It also found the claim of unlimited calls, unlimited movies, unlimited music and loads of data, offered in Airtel-4G - My Plan Infinity as "false and misleading".

In another matter, the ad regulator said: "The website mentions MyPlan infinity with Airtel-4G plan has many terms and conditions and the calls are capped at 5,000 minutes per month. Therefore the choice of the term 'unlimited' was incorrect. The claim, 'Unlimited Calling, only with Airtel 4G' was false and misleading."

Similarly, Bharti Airtel's claim for its broadband services was found misleading. "The claim in the advertisement,'We at Airtel are giving away exciting surprises to all our broadband users' was misleading by omission of a disclaimer qualifying conditions under which the claim is tenable for the offer," CCC said. Private sector lender HDFC Bank failed to substantiate its claim of loan approval in 15 minutes.

While, e-commerce firm Flipkart was also pulled up for two of its claims by ASCI. Flipkart had on its website claimed the (Maximum Retail Price ) MRP of Tek-Tron velroc safety outdoor shoes as Rs 599, while actual printed MRP on the product was Rs 499 and offered on discounted price.

"This distorts facts and is therefore misleading the consumers as to actual discount being offered," CCC added. FMCG major HUL was pulled for its Lux Scented Gold offer and Dove Elixir. HUL's claim in the advertisement, "Pehli baar scented gold jewellery chupi hai hasaro lux mein" was considered misleading.

HUL's another claim for hair oil Dove Elixir that "Coconut oil penetrates only through one layer in 30 minutes via visual representation" was also found to be "false and misleading".

Godrej Consumer Products was pulled for claiming its Godrej No 1 Soap as the purest soap after it failed to substantiate comparative data of purity of its product. Philips' TVC for modular switches, in which it had shown spraying of liquid on the switches was found violating the code as it was "a dangerous practice which is likely to encourage minors to emulate such acts in a manner which could cause harm or injury."

India police arrest father-in-law over 'honour killing'

The father-in-law of a lower-caste student brutally hacked to death in a suspected "honour killing" in India has been arrested, police said Tuesday.

Three men armed with sickles and sharp weapons attacked the 22-year-old student from the lowest Dalit caste and his wife on a crowded street in the southern state of Tamil Nadu on Sunday, killing him and seriously injuring her.

The woman's father and uncle were among five people arrested over the assault, which was apparently motivated by her decision to marry outside her own caste, police said.

"We have arrested five accused and are looking for five more," A. Dhavamani, an investigating officer, told AFP.

"Three of them were involved in the attack, including the woman's uncle," he said, adding that the others have confessed to conspiracy to kill the victim.

The Press Trust of India news agency said the woman's mother was also among those arrested, although this could not immediately be confirmed.

Her father surrendered to police late on Monday and was formally arrested.

Police said the 19-year-old woman married the Dalit engineering student eight months ago in defiance of her family, who are from the higher Thevar caste.

Marriage outside caste or religion still attracts strong censure in parts of India and can even lead to so-called honour killings, carried out to protect family pride.

Dalits, formerly known as untouchables, are a historically marginalised community who have faced centuries of discrimination in India.

The couple had reportedly faced threats from her family before Sunday's attack that was captured on CCTV, footage from which showed three men on a motorbike stop and attack them as they walked along a crowded street.

There are no India-specific figures on honour killings available, but United Nations statistics say 1,000 out of the 5,000 such killings every year are in India.

India's Supreme Court ruled in 2011 that those involved in honour killings should face the death penalty.

Charcoal : the Lean, Mean, Cleaning Machine

It’s startling to think that charcoal, one of the most basic elements on earth, can be such a powerful cleaning force. Here’s how it works…

Carbon is the sixth-most abundant element in the universe – a fact that should be pretty pleasing to you, given that we humans are, after all, carbon-based life forms. So while you’re patting yourself on the back, don’t forget that apart from being a basic building block of your body, carbon is also a fantastic cleaning agent.

The science of clean

How does this work? Well, the process starts when carbon takes the form of charcoal, a material mankind has worked with ever since we discovered fire. This lightweight black material is highly porous – and that’s one of its super-weapons in the fight against dirt.

Hence why the cleaning experts of the hit UK show How Clean Is Your House have this tip to share: if you’ve got a stinky fridge, fill a baking tin with several charcoal briquettes. Place them in the fridge, and within a few hours they will have absorbed all the nasty odours.

A super-powered black sponge

Activated carbon, which has been treated with oxygen to increase the pore structure, has cleaned up even bigger messes than that. This is thanks to its fantastic property of adsorption. Adsorption is not quite the same as absorption. A paper towel, for example, will soak up or absorb water into its material body.

An adsorbent material, meanwhile, such as activated charcoal, attracts liquids or gases only onto its surface. That’s why the charcoal is often used in the latter stages of oil spills, which are notoriously difficult to clean up. Activated charcoal is also a popular tool in pesticide spills, thanks to its mindboggling ability to adsorb 100 to 200 times its own weight in toxins and grime.

Total cleaning

As such, it’s no wonder that Colgate Total Charcoal Deep Clean toothpaste uses the best properties of activated charcoal. Colgate Total Charcoal Deep Clean- a toothpaste with micro-charcoal particles that cleans deep in between the teeth. Cheers to charcoal!