Amitabh Bachchan steps down as face of paan masala brand
Mumbai, Oct 11: Megastar Amitabh Bachchan has withdrawn from an advertising campaign of a paan masala brand and said he has returned the money he received for promoting it.
The 79-year-old actor had faced backlash for featuring in an advertisement of a paan masala brand. Several fans of the screen icon had expressed their displeasure over the actor's decision.
A blog post, addressed by "the office of Mr Amitabh Bachchan", on Sunday night informed that he is no longer associated with the promotions.
"A few days after the commercial was aired, Mr Bachchan contacted the brand and stepped out of it last week. Upon checking why this sudden move - it was revealed that when Mr Bachchan became associated with the brand, he wasn't aware that it falls under surrogate advertising.
"Mr Bachchan has terminated the contract with the brand, has written to them his termination and has returned the money received for the promotion," the post read.
Last month, the National Organization for Tobacco Eradication (NOTE), an NGO, had also appealed to Bachchan to not be part of advertisements that promote paan masala brands.
In an open letter, NOTE president Dr Shekhar Salkar had said that the actor should withdraw from "surrogate" paan masala advertisements and support the cause of the anti-tobacco movement.
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Karnataka Assembly Speaker seeks probe after Aadhaar cards found on riverbank in Mangaluru
Mangaluru (Karnataka) (PTI): Karnataka Legislative Assembly Speaker U T Khader on Wednesday sought an inquiry after a large number of Aadhaar cards were found on the banks of the Nethravathi River here.
The cards were found at Farangipete in Pudu village of his Mangaluru Assembly constituency.
Khader, in a note to the Project Manager of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), Bengaluru, sought immediate intervention and necessary action against those responsible.
In the note dated March 4, he said that local residents noticed the Aadhaar cards along the riverbank on March 3.
Following information received from the public, the Pudu Gram Panchayat president and villagers collected the Aadhaar cards found scattered in the area. They subsequently brought the matter to his attention and the concerned authorities, he said.
Expressing concern over the incident, the Speaker has directed that a thorough investigation be conducted to ascertain how such a large number of Aadhaar cards ended up on the riverbank and to identify those responsible.
He instructed officials to initiate appropriate legal action through the concerned department at the earliest.
