Times of India makes you forget your duty

Best selfies of 2015?

Ethnic cleansing

In the interview with H S Phoolka ( TOI 23^rd Nov. 2015) Rohit E David prompts him with his question “ you draw a link between 1984, Gujrat riots and Dadri lynching in current times”. 

I am reminded of “A tale of two ethnic cleansing in Kashmir” (January 18, 2015 Swaminonics TOI”.

I quote:

“Recently, an ex-general — also a Pandit — told me the Indian media had underplayed the tragedy of his tribe. I agreed, but added that the media has also ignored the earlier mass expulsion of Muslims from Jammu. This surprised the ex-general: I’ve never heard of that, he declared.

He is not alone. Although our media pride themselves on free and bold speech, they maintain a conspiracy of silence on some issues relating to the supposed “national interest.” This includes the mass killing and expulsion of lakhs of Muslims from Jammu in 1947. That story should be recalled on this somber anniversary.

Today, Jammu is a Hindu-majority area. But in 1947, it had a Muslim majority. The communal riots of 1947 fell most heavily on Jammu’s Muslims; lakhs fled into what became Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. That turned Jammu’s Muslim majority into a Hindu majority. In sheer scale, this far exceeded the ethnic cleansing of Pandits five decades later”.

Shining India

 India was shining then and they say, will shine again.
1 All prices will come down.
2 Since  all prices will come down salaries of all Govt. and PSU employees will be reduced accordingly.
3 Naxals will be wiped out.
4 To end terrorism training camps across the border will be bombed. Pak occupied Kashmir will be liberated.
5 Article 370 will be scrapped.
6 Chinese soldiers will withdraw from Arunachal border.
7 Bangladesh infiltrators  will be sent back.
8 Uniform civil code will be introduced.
9 Srilankan  Tamils will have autonomous state.
10 India will be permanent member of security council.
11 Corruption will vanish.
12 All black money will be white.
13 Ram mandir will be built.
 

      This time also projections are wrong. BJP, sorry Modi will get two third majority.

 I personally think Modiji should be next PM. An upper caste organization wants a shudra
(a low rung shudra) to be a PM. It is a kind of revolution.

175 years of Times of India

Times of India is celebrating its 175 years. This is how they reported about our freedom struggle calling it ‘flames of insurrection’.  

I am interested to know their reporting on Gandhiji, Paditji, Patelji and Maulana Azad. Please, let us have a look at what was reported. If not, just celebrate your existence since independence.

Budget 2010-11

Feb.27, 2010, a day after the union budget was presented, The Times of India proclaimed, “Time to shine” and also said “ investors richer by Rs. 70000 Cr”. But also contradicted by saying, “ No pay-offs for Mr. 10 per cent”. They did not go below Mr. 10%. The editorial ‘Going for feel-good budget’ was a crowning glory with ‘budget is a well-rounded effort at economic management'.

Deccan Chronicle was not far behind. It proclaimed, ‘ joy on the home front’, 'saving spree for tax payers’ and ’60 percent of tax payers sing FM tune’. The editorial said, ‘feel- good budget for growing India’.

Only Jayanti Ghosh in DC wrote, ‘FM has ignored 95% Indians’.

I have a few questions:
1) What percentage of Indians are investors?
2) What percentage of Indians has income enough for tax payment?
3) How did someone arrive at 60% of taxpayers being benefited?
4) How will the people who earn less than 1.6 lacs a year manage increase in excise duty? As Jayanti Ghosh says 95% are ignored.

Intentions of the government may be good so far as expenditure part is concerned. Ofcourse it is not done to talk of defence expenditure.

Minimum wages act is a state subject, but where Congress is in power minimum wages can be raised to the level of junior most worker of PSUs.

Only intentions are not enough, there must be justice as well.

Usage of verbs in English

These days it is very common to come accross expressions such as "he passes away', 'he dies' in news papers and on TV news channels. Does he pass away or die regularly? The expression 'he dies every day' has a different meaning. Simple present denotes continuity--he goes to school, he goes for a walk.

Another verb that is used in progessive tense is 'continue'.words like continue, hate, love contain in themselves the notion of continuity.

It is not appropriate to say, 'I am hating him' or ' I am loving him'.

Afterall Raju is 'manavadu'

Today is Sunday the 8th Feb 2009 and Sunday Times carries three headlines on satyam:
1)Satyam fudging well planned. Dozens of Managers attended Scores of fudge meetings. (First page top headline)
2)Rajus get comfy in jail (second page)
3)Rajus in ‘proactive’ custody: Ex-Sebi chief. (third page prominent headline).


Contrast this with reporting in Deccan Chronicle of the same day.
A small column on front page, 'Raju gets jail till Feb.21' continued on page two summerising all that TOI did, in just a small report and in a very light vein. Is DC sympethatic to Rajus? Is it ‘manavadu’ feeling or is there something more?
I thought everyone was equel before law but police and judiciary possibly think otherwise.

The following is reported in the Statesman,which also shares my doubts.
Raju in ‘protective custody’, says Damodaran
Press Trust of India
AHMEDABAD, Feb. 7: In a biting criticism of Andhra Pradesh police's handling of the Satyam case, former Securities and Exchange Board of India chief, Mr M Damodaran today said the firm's founder Mr B Ramalinga Raju and other officials were in fact in “protective custody.”
Mr Damodaran, who demitted office as chairman of Sebi last year, suggested that there was no other way of looking at it given the weak resistance the police put up when the court remanded Mr Raju to judicial custody.
“Instead, the police happily handed over them (Raju brothers) in judicial custody, so that Sebi needs to get the court's permission first (to quiz them),” he said during a seminar at the IIM-A here.
When a Sebi probe team approached a magistrate court for permission to interrogate the Raju brothers, the petition was dismissed on technical grounds. As AP High Court too did not give early relief, the regulator had to finally move the Supreme Court.
The Sebi team yesterday finished questioning the Raju brothers on the accounting fraud in Satyam Computer.
“This is what I call protective custody of the Raju brothers and (former) Satyam chief financial officer, Mr Srinivas Vadlamani,” Mr Damodaran said.
“I don't know how the law will help when the state decides to provide protective custody,” he asked.
“This is a peculiar case in which the police produced a person before the court and (he) was granted judicial custody, not police custody,” Mr Damodaran noted, adding that normally policemen insist on securing custody of the accused in order to talk to them first and extract vital details. That is why they arrest people.”
On reports that Mr Raju was seeking special status and also mosquito nets in jail, he said sarcastically: “I don't know how brave the mosquitoes are to go near him.”
The matter of special status is still pending before the court.
On the rejection of Sebi's plea on technical grounds, Mr Damodaran said: “The lower court took a preposterous position that it was not a court that handles cases related to securities law. The Sebi application did not say that a case of securities law needed to be judged by that court.”
I have taken this Statesman report online because TOI online did not carry this report whereas their print edition did.

Media

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Not even a 'sorry' from The Times of India.

Media-upper middle class?

Television is a great medium. They investigate, prosecute and even pass judgement in any given case. I am talking about news channels.

And as Justice B Sudarshan Reddy of Supreme court criticised upper middle class (media consists of upper middle class)* for reacting only when a tragedy was affecting them and keeping mum when the same was badly hitting the poor and the masses of the nation.
In the words of Justice Reddy’: "Where were these protestors when the rivers were polluted by the effluents, when the rural poor children were dying even before reaching the age of five, when the criminal justice system systematically failed the poor?' He also said, ‘the recent reaction to the Mumbai terror attack was highly urban-centric, he wondered why these protests were not seen when similar terror strikes had hit places like Gokul Chat, Lumbini park, Mecca masjid and in Mumbai trains which were frequented by the lower middle class and the poor’.
My answer is: Media, Justice Reddy, did not show interest.

Most of these protesters are media created through their wonderful system of SMS polls.
By the way SMS polls also give the media money. Some one should come out with facts and figures about SMS polls and the money earned by the media.


Aziz Mirza was only peeping into the future of television when he made his film ‘ phir bhi dil hai Hindustani’. Understandably the film was just rated average by the media. I must say he was prophetic.
Media manufacture public opinion through their SMS polls. Great!
Their talk shows are really grrreat! Take Barkha Dutt. She wants to talk more, though there are guests who are experts. She takes her own time framing a question. Even before the guest completes his or her sentence she inturrupts and starts giving her version of the guest’s non-completed answer. Then she switches to another guest and repeats what she did with the first. Then she goes on. Often she becomes hysterical. She often says ‘paucity of time’ which does not apply in her case. After saying that she goes on to speak for at least a minute before the commercial break. I think she need not ask guests any questions, instead have a monologue giving the views of guests and occasionally turning to guests to get their nod. Afterall, as it appears, guests merely want to be seen on TV.

It was sad watching Barkha Dutt yelling hysterically and some other journalist lying on the floor and reporting on Mumbai terror attack.

Reference: Report in the Times of India of 28.12. 2008 ‘Growing apathy to woes of the poor, notes SC judge’

* mine.

USA and our media

Our media gets extatic when USA makes any favourable comments about us. It happens every time. The latest is Rice’s statement. Following is her statement as reported in the times of India of 4th Dec. 2008.


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Then she made a u turn while in Pakistan. Times of India of 5th Dec., 2008.


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President Clinton took credit for Kargil 'withdrwal'.

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Our forces gallantly fought and pushed back the occupiers.
USA has its own interets to serve.