Media Vichar Manch

Welcoming India's first newspaper ombudsman

2006-01-11T10:47:00.000+05:30

The Hindu editor N Ram ysterday announced that his paper will soon have a Readers' Editor, also known as inhouse ombudsman, on the lines of Readers' Editor at the Guardian. He made he annoucement after a talk by Ian Meyes, Readers' Editor at the Guardian. It is really refreshing for an Indian newspaper to have taken such a bold step. The work of the ombudsman (external) that the Times of India had appointed some years ago, remains shrouded in mystery though the person was very eminent - retired chief justice of India. As Meyes said, there is no point in having an ombudsman if he or she is not visible. Meyes' weekly column on readers' feedback as well as daily dose of corrections appear on the edit page. (Gurdian had 1600 of them last year) And the feedback mechanism has reduced the burden of legal department of the paper, he said.

The respect the Hindu commands among its readers was very much visible at the elite gathering at the Teen Murti auditorium. Seated in the front row was K Natwar Singh, who had to resign from the govefrnemnt recently following publication of the Volcker committee report - first reported by the Hindu.

Link to Meyes' speech:

http://www.hindu.com/2006/01/11/stories/2006011107101200.htm

BPO public relations in top gear

2005-10-29T10:40:00.000+05:30

The fallout of BPO stories in HT and other papers continues. The pink press is all out to help BPO and Nasscom in their damage control exercise. Sample this front page anchor in ET of Oct 28, 2005:
"Non-voice in BPOs gain ground over voice processes with 75 % growth"

The opening para says that non-voice business in ITES sector is SET TO OVERTAKE the voice business......has ALREADY SHOWN an overwhelming growth of 50-75% over the last year.

Couple of paras down we are told WIPRO PLANS TO INCREASE THIS NUMBER (NON VOICE BUSINESS) TO 40 % IN A YEAR'S TIME. Then there is quote from HCL BPO , whose current non-voice business is 30 % - THIS WILL INCREASE IN FAVOUR OF NON-VOICE PROCESSES OVER A PERIOD OF TIME.

The headline talks of 75 % non-voice growth, the lead brings it down to 50 to 75 %, and quotes to substantiate the story talk of
40% (Wipro) in a year's time and HCL (no figures given) over a period of time. Then from where did the 75 % figure come, on which basis the reporter saw it a sign of growing maturity of Indian BPO. ( as per the report, Global Vantedge is pllaning to increase non-voice business to 75 % in one year's time - in that case the story should have said so - This one wants to increase to 75% in one year's time, while others will scale up over a period of time)

Will the mandarins of Nasscom and BPO industry, who were trying to teach media a lesson or two in ethics only the other day, object to such "misleading" reports? What is the basis of saying the non-voice segment has seen 75% growth?

The real motive of the story is tucked in the third para, which tries to educate ET readers that non-voice processes are less stressing, workers can work in day time, and attrition rates can come down!!!!

Was wondering if I was reading newsletter of the BPO Forum or front page of India's most rspected biz broadsheeet.....

More on BPO report, business press

2005-10-26T14:52:00.000+05:30

The issue continues to rage. Got a call from an ex-colleague from CNBC TV on Tuesday. "Why did you write this up now when the report came out last year?" , "Is'nt it sensational to say BPOs are sweatshops?", "Dont you think that surviellance is necessary for the critical work they are handling?", "How can you say it is repression of labour?" - I was bit perplexed. Am talking to a journalist from a television channel (with long years of print experience, that too in HT) or a CEO of a BPO from Gurgaon who thinks that call centres are the best things to have happened to Indian youth and economy!

Having worked in a pink business paper and a buiness television channel, I can say that most business journalists tend to think and react to situations like businessmen or so-called corporates. They forget that their primary job is to inform their audiences and not to protect interests of Sector A or Sectyor B, or to boost India's image for FDI investors. This friend of mine asked me: "why this refernce to Roman salve ships?" I said that was part of the report and to leave it out because it would create an image or perception problem for BPO industry, would be journalistic dishonesty. Business journalists have to be constantly reminded that they are in the job of news, and not public relations or advertising.

It is not as if journalistic spirit is dead - a few have told me that they would have written it exactly the same way had they laid their hands on the report. As AKB pointed out in last night's CNBC discussion, as newspaper can not publish any research report in full, selection has to be made and it was done in this case. I still fail to understand why the CNBC and others following up the HT reports are targeting the media or the paper, instead of discussing merits of the issues raised! It is a classic case of shooting the messenger.

Of Roman slave ships, Kiran Karnik and call centers

2005-10-25T16:47:00.000+05:30

I did not expect this kind of reaction to my story on call centers in Hindustan Times (Oct 24 and 25). The mighty information technology industry of India appeared rattled on Monday evening press conference.

"Have they gone and seen how a Roman slave ship looks like?" thundered normally-cool looking Kiran Karnik, the boss at Nasscom at a hurriedly called press conference of 'select' journalists to clarify the position regarding my report in Hindustan Times on labour practices in call centers.

"How can they write such things, when we have contributed so much to the real estate boom in the country?" reasoned another bigwig of the BPO industry. "We are getting invitations from presidents of Romania, South Africa, come and do the same thing here. And within the country, we are being criticised", argued yet another IT ceo specially called to brief the friendly press. Most of the house - barring the reporters from the Hindu, ToI, IE and myself - nodded in silence, taking down quotable quotes from their hosts.

"We follow law of the land", declared Karnik. I interjected "you have been expempted from following labour laws of the land, so how can you say you follow law of the land". But, Karnik said, that is legal. We have been legally allowed not to follow labour laws of the land!!!

"Tell me do media houses have better working conditions?" was another gem from Karnik, which the 'press' gladly took and responded.

"We have not seen the report. But we know it is bad" - it is surprising that Nasscom with all the resources at its command could not get a copy of the report from the labour institute. It was clear that the labour issue has touched raw nerve of the IT industry. Even when there were highly damaging sting operations on identity theft, they did not call a press conefernce but only issued a brief statement. Not even there was half a million dollar fraud in Pune. That time Ramadorai, who was heading nasscom at that time, did not even consider it an industry issue.

One thing is clear - the IT industry likes a friendly press, a press that keeps feeding the same old story of India being an IT superpower in the making. Clearly, PR agencies of all hues are doing a roaring business in Bangalore, Hyderabad and Delhi. Anything that is unpalatable is not only rejected by the industry but also by the "kept" press. I know news values have changed a lot, but did not know that the new equation is news =pr =advertising!

More than the industry response, the press reaction has saddened me.

Redefining news values in India

2005-10-18T11:53:00.000+05:30

Here are some new definitions of news ralted jargon, courtesy P Sainath of The Hindu:

Special Investigation: This means the reporter actually visited the place.

Breaking news: Means we saw it on the other channel and had to move real fast to claw our way back into the game.

Exclusive: It has not ever been carried before on this channel.

.....On television, the sun rising in the East is `breaking news.' Rising in the West would make it `a controversy.' If a building collapse draws the same passion as the tsunami, you have problems. And yet, the intensity can be quite superficial. Very dangerous proposals have been approved for buildings that could truly cause mega-deaths. Not to mention mighty traffic snarls. These have received poor attention. Some papers have not covered them at all.

.........There was also a deluge of Tarannum coverage. Where the issues involved are far less important than who got to Tarannum first. Who got an `exclusive' with her, never mind what she said. (For some channels, even the rain falls `exclusively.') It's a kind of yah-boo competition that can destroy lives. The more so if the target is a soft one. Nothing stokes media bravery more than a target that can't hit back.

Read the full piece here:
http://www.hindu.com/2005/10/14/stories/2005101402261000.htm

Thaksin Shinawatra trying to muzzle press freedom

2005-08-18T11:15:00.000+05:30

It appears Thai PM Thaksin Shinawatra can not tolerate any criticism of his government or any of his cronies, particularly when it comes to the showpiece airport, Suvaranabhumi. A number of corruption charges, including against his sister, have been made in the Thai press recently.

Media groups decry legal blitz on 'Post'

Govt's damages claim 'harassment of media'

International and regional media advocates and leading local English-language dailies have decried the government's decision to sue the Bangkok Post over the airport runway crack report, calling it harassment and intimidation of press freedom.The Southeast Asian Press Alliance (Seapa) denounced the government for bringing a criminal libel lawsuit despite the Post's offer of amends in its publication of a front-page apology and retraction of the story.

In an Aug 16 statement on its website, Seapa said the government's suits and threats go beyond seeking to rectify the mistake. ''It is clear that the government's course of action is to harass the press.''This heavy-handed tactic will have a chilling effect on press freedom in Thailand,'' the alliance said. ''The course that the government has seized on, to send a threatening message to the Post and the rest of the Thai media, may signal the government's growing discomfort with the amount of questions and scrutiny this project [the Suvarnabhumi airport construction] is drawing,'' Seapa added.

The government says the report caused damage to the country's reputation and it plans to seek one billion baht in compensation in a separate civil suit.It is also seeking global clarifications on international media networks with the bill to be footed by the Bangkok Post.Seapa praised the Bangkok Post for displaying responsibility and professionalism in recanting its story and admitting to its mistake. ''This shows the value and power of self-regulation in a free press environment, and demonstrates how crude and obsolete criminal lawsuits are as a recourse for disciplining the media,'' said Seapa executive director Roby Alampay.

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) also condemned the libel charges filed by the Airports of Thailand and New Bangkok International Airport against the Post. ''Using criminal charges to retaliate against the press is deeply disturbing and wholly inappropriate, particularly when it is done by state-owned companies. This case reflects the alarming recent trend in Thailand toward the use of disproportionate legal action against journalists,'' CPJ executive director Ann Cooper said. CPJ is an independent, non-profit organisation which attempts to safeguard press freedom worldwide.The organisation added that prosecuting journalists would only backfire and do more harm than good to the country's name.

On the home front, The Nation questioned the merit of the government filing suit. ''The staggering legal offensive by the Thaksin government is bad news for the entire media community,'' wrote its editor Tulsathit Taptim on the opinion page in an article entitled ''Libel Suits Being Used to Intimidate''.He went on to ask: ''Should false alarms keep ringing, or does everyone prefer the silence unless the real fire breaks out?''

Thai Day newspaper, meanwhile, said in its commentary ''No Cracks Does Not Mean There Is No Corruption'' on Wednesday that the press was only doing its job as a watchdog.The writer of the commentary, Xiang Xao Long, a pseudonym, said he took the side of the press ''not because I want to ruin Thaksin's reputation or that of his government, but because I'm opposed to corruption, particularly in mega-projects like Suvarnabhumi airport.''

Environment journalism and corporate media

2005-08-11T17:19:00.000+05:30

This is an excellent piece by a Guardian journalist,George Monbiot, on the state of environment journalism in the West. Unfortunately, the situation here in India is much the same.

"A journalist who is concerned about the destruction of the environment will by definition find herself at odds with the prevailing media culture. This is because the interests of the men who own the media don't end with the media. Many of them have a direct financial involvement in dozens of different kinds of business. And as the quote about Conrad Black suggests, even if they don't, they associate with those who do. And multi-millionaires who run, for example, extractive industries or public utilities, want exactly what the multi-millionaires who run the media want: complete freedom to swing their fist, whether or not your nose is in the way. They want, in other words, deregulation."

Read full text at:
http://nuclearfree.lynx.co.nz/monbiotSA.htm

Thanks Gopi Sunder for sending this!

Does Indian print media need foreign capital?

2005-07-26T10:23:00.000+05:30

The Indian print media is in for a churn. Circulation and print orders are growing. New newspapers are being launched. Bombay is seeing intense competition after many years. The influence of the market is also growing in all newspapers. The demarcation between news and advertising is getting thinner by day. In such a scenario, what role can foreign investment play? Can it better the situation or worsen it? Who will be the gainer in this game?

Delhi cautious on FDI in newspapers
Government seeks to expand growing newspaper markets to foreign investors
The Bangkok PostFriday, July 15, 2005
By Dinesh C. Sharma
The Indian government recently announced a new policy on foreign direct investment (FDI) in the print media. The move comes after years of discussion and debate in media and political circles on whether print media should be opened to foreign capital. While the well-entrenched print media houses opposed the entry of foreign newspapers, liberals felt there was no point in keeping print media out of bounds to foreign investment when foreign companies own and operate television news networks in India.
Full article at: http://www.asiamedia.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=26816

Caste courts rule in 'democratic' India

2005-07-08T11:33:00.000+05:30

Caste courts deliver medieval justice
Verdicts in summary trials conducted by India's caste courts are becoming a major cause for concern
By DINESH C. SHARMA, Bangkok Post
New Delhi _ Revenge rape, stoning to death, public lynching, naked parades, forced marriage of rape victim to rapists, forced poisoning. It may be hard to believe, but such punishments are still meted out to the so-called guilty in summary trials held by caste courts in northern India.The medieval justice system is still prevalent in many Indian states despite the country boasting a modern, independent and pro-active judiciary and law-enforcement system.

These courts, known as Jaati Panchayats (or caste-based village councils), reinforce the age-old caste system and handle disputes involving members of a particular caste or community.The past month witnessed a spate of ''judgments'' from caste panchayats in Uttar Pradesh state bordering the national capital. In one such case, the caste court directed a woman who was raped by her father-in-law to accept him as her husband. In another similar incident, the rape victim was told not to report the matter to the court.

These are not isolated cases. A few months back, a caste panchayat in Haryana state directed a husband and wife to live as siblings because they belonged to the same sub-caste (people from same sub-caste are not allowed to be married to each other).In another case, a young couple was publicly killed for their inter-caste marriage. There have been instances when caste panchayats have ordered ''revenge rape'' as punishment while hearing rape cases.If a woman belonging to a particular caste is raped by men of another caste, panchayats have ordered men belonging to the victim's community to rape women of the other caste.These self-styled courts also exile men and women out of villages, seize their land and property and order social boycotts _ all in the name of caste justice.In some cases where Muslim panchayats are involved, the matter gets complicated further because they settle disputes citing the Shariat law.

Most of the diktats of these caste courts are directed against women and people belonging to weaker sections or the so-called lower castes. Certain backward castes are recognised in the constitution as Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, and are supposed to be getting special treatment in government schemes.''For the past few years we have come across a number of appalling judgments given by caste panchayats, especially in cases where women have decided to break the caste barrier and made a decision to marry someone outside their caste,'' said Dr Ranjana Kumari, director of New Delhi-based Centre for Social Reserch.
Full article at:
http://www.bangkokpost.com/News/08Jul2005_news34.php

In Bhopal, once again : a shame on welfare state called India

2005-07-01T20:41:00.000+05:30

Was in Bhopal once again - after a gap of more than than six months - to cover the ongoing saga of Union Carbide. Everytime I feel the situation is getting worse, I hear new stories of neglect, apathy and corruption. This time around the issue of cleaning up of toxic waste lying at the factory. Also went to see solar evaporation ponds right behind the closed factory. It is a shame that such a place still exists in this country which prides in calling itself a welfare state. It is astonishing to see that a multinational corporation was throwing its waste in this medieval manner and got away with it for so many decades. Babulal Gaur will do a service to humanity if he can spend Rs 50 crore in remdiating these ponds and save innocent lives from slow poisoning, instead of wasting this money on erecting a monument at the plant site, as he has announced last week. It is criminal even to think of conversing this site into a park. Anyway, here is what I wrote for Bangkok Post and earlier for Hindustan Times:

http://www.bangkokpost.com/News/01Jul2005_news34.php

In Bhopal, the tragedy continues
"Survivors of the world's worst industrial disaster remain at the mercy of a corrupt government and an impotent judicial system"
By DINESH C SHARMA
Bhopal _ The infamous Union Carbide gas tragedy keeps haunting the central Indian city of Bhopal. The issue this time is the cleaning up of toxic chemical stockpiles decaying in the closed pesticide-making plant for the past 21 years. Normally this should have brought some cheer to survivors, but it has not.All these years, residues of deadly chemicals at the factory have percolated into the soil as well as groundwater, polluting them a great deal. Chemical residues have been found in groundwater to a depth of 500 feet at some spots near the factory.An estimated 20,000 people in nearby settlements have been drinking contaminated water. Chemicals have entered the food chain and traces of pesticide have been found in human breast milk.

Scientifically speaking, a remediation plan should cover treatment of chemical stockpiles, buildings and other structures in the factory as well as treatment of contaminated soil including solar evaporation ponds located outside the factory and groundwater.This process could take several years and cost billions of dollars.

The continuation of this toxic legacy is a direct result of governmental inaction. The central or state governments never asked Union Carbide to decontaminate soil and remediate the site, despite persistent demands from survivor organisations.In March 2004, while hearing a petition from survivors, an appeals court in the United States ruled that it could consider remediation if the request comes from the Indian or Madhya Pradesh government.Despite this opportunity, they did not act. It was only after a 19-day hunger strike by activists that the Indian government relented and sent a letter to the US court in June 2004, saying that pursuant to the polluter pays principle recognised by both the US and India, Union Carbide should bear all the financial burden and cost for the purpose of environmental cleanup and remediation.The Union of India and the state government of Madhya Pradesh shall not bear any financial burden for this purpose.

While the liability case was still being heard in the US, the Madhya Pradesh High Court allowed a petition asking the state government to clean up the site. It fixed June 2005 as the deadline for the first stage of the cleanup.Curiously, the government did not tell the court that if it cleaned up, it would vitiate the liability proceedings in the US court.On the other hand, it started the process in right earnest and finished the first stage of cleaning up and even paid for it.This action has thrown the polluter pays principle to the wind and sent clear signals to multinational corporations pollute and escape, the taxpayer will pay up for your mess. Though the government says it will extract the cost of cleaning up from Dow Chemicals, the present owners of Union Carbide, the fact is that the High Court issued the cleanup order after hearing Dow's refusal to bear any liability or be dragged into the case.

Dow Chemicals, with which Union Carbide merged in 2000, has maintained it has no liability for remediation of the site and decommissioning of the Bhopal plant, though it did pay asbestos exposure claims against Union Carbide dating back to 1972.The cleanup begun by Madhya Pradesh government will further strengthen Dow's position on Bhopal.The present cleanup will make India's central and state governments appear not only inconsistent, but ridiculous in the eyes of the US court and others who have been following this case as an important precedent for the future, notes H Rajan Sharma, lead counsel for gas victims in US federal class action against Union Carbide.

Within India also, the hasty cleanup process has exposed double standards adopted by Indian authorities on the polluter pays principle.In May 2003, Hindustan Lever was forced to ship to the United States 290 tonnes of mercury waste from its closed thermometer factory in India. Now it is being asked to pay for remediation of mercury-contaminated soil outside the factory as well.

Several Indian companies have been served notices to pay remediation costs.Surprisingly, the Supreme Court Monitoring Committee on hazardous waste _ which issued some of these notices _ agreed to the Bhopal cleanup without insisting on polluter pays or realising the implications on pending cases of liability against Union Carbide.Legal aspects apart, the way the operation was carried out last week has raised the hackles of gas victims.

Satinath Sarangi of the Bhopal Group for Information and Action, said several hundred people have been affected due to the toxic dust that flew due to crude and unsafe methods deployed in cleaning up.MIC-exposed people were the worst hit because they are hypersensitive to any new chemical exposure, he said. The alacrity with which the state pollution control board has acted smacks of a clear design to protect Dow Chemicals, said Rashida Bi, another survivor-activist.

All these years, the Bhopal gas tragedy has come to symbolise the total lack of political will, suppression of information, denial of basic human rights and a government-corporate nexus to protect business interests.The first betrayal was the Indian government's nod for an inadequate compensation package, then the delay in disbursing the money (victims are getting the compensation now).Medical research data has been suppressed. The first official report was published only last year. Long-term medical follow up has been sloppy _ this year the medical facilities meant for gas victims have been thrown open to the general public.Survivors are forced to drink contaminated water as the government has failed to provide them safe supplies.Successive governments have never pursued court orders to extradite former Union Carbide chief, Warren Anderson.On top of all this, the government continues to do business with Dow Chemicals and powerful people are shielding it.Recently a spokesperson for the ruling party, an eminent lawyer, appeared in the court to defend Dow.

As Nityanand Jayaraman, a member of the International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal, puts it, survivors of the world's worst industrial disaster remain at the mercy of a corrupt government and an impotent judicial system. BANGKOK POST

Saluting Nepali Bloggers

2005-06-17T14:12:00.000+05:30

Bloggers have come to play a major role wherever press censorship is imposed or freedom of speech has been curbed. This is what is happening in Nepal. Here is a tribute to Nepali bloggers.

New Media : The Internet bats for Democracy
Dinesh C Sharma

Once again the Internet has proved that it is a great medium of communication in times of crises, be it a natural disaster like the Indian Ocean tsunami or man made one like the press censorship in Nepal. The country with one of the lowest telephone density in the region suddenly emerged on the Internet radar when King Gyanendra imposed media censorship after what has been termed as a Royal coup.The Internet played a key role in keeping the information flow from the Himalayan kingdom to the outside world alive as a Royal decree silenced all free media - newspapers, satellite television and community radio stations. Media watchers the world over were quick to recognize and salute the voices for restoration of democracy in Nepal articulated by the nascent blogosphere of Nepal. Once again, it has been proved that Internet is a powerful platform for free expression for all.In the first week of censorship in Nepal, there was complete clamp down on media and communication, including the Internet.

The King had ordered all inbound and outbound telephone links to be cut off and all Internet service providers were told to shut down their servers. During this period, the only means of communication was the satellite phone, which very few local people could afford. Some journalists could access the Internet from via satellite links available in missions of Western countries and the United Nations. All community radio stations were asked to stop operations.There was a crackdown on the Internet as well, but it was limited to blocking websites run by Maoist supporters and other political groups from abroad like www.newslookmag.com and www.nepalipost.com. Considering that few Nepalese citizens have access to the Internet, the palace has not really bothered to launch a serious crackdown on the net, as done in China.

Full article at the website of Press Institute of India:
http://www.pressinstitute.org/vidura_64.htm

Not-so-sunny side of Indian BPO industry

2005-06-17T13:21:00.000+05:30

Here is a piece that I recently wrote for WFS on the condition of women workers in in the Indian BPO industry, an aspect not highlighted so much by the Indian media. Often we read stories about only brighter aspects of this industry in media.India.

BPOs: Not So Sunny for Women Here
By Dinesh C Sharma

Women's Feature Service New Delhi, May 24, (WFS) - Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) is one of the hottest career destinations for young Indians, declares the National Association for Software and Service Companies (Nasscom), the trade body for India's information technology industry. The number of Indians working for this sector was about 350,000 by March 2005. This figure is expected to grow to 1.2 million in another three years. The association says the sector is growing at over 50 per cent in terms of job creation. This supersonic growth trajectory is fuelled by the economic compulsions of North American and European corporations to shift their low-end jobs to countries like India. In addition, the unleashing of so-called incentives to this sector by state governments is further boosting this growth. In addition to infrastructure facilities, BPO units have been exempted from several labour laws and environmental regulations.

Full article in Bombay's Mid-Day: http://ww1.mid-day.com/news/nation/2005/june/110930.htm

A day with Waterman of India at Almora

2005-06-10T18:01:00.000+05:30

Had an opportunity to spend a day with Rajendra Singh, popularly known as the water man of India for the path breaking work done by him in Rajasthan. It was interesting to hear the whole story of how he and his organisation, TBS, revived a dead river -Arvari - in Alwar region of the state. The man is a riveting speaker, a down-to-earth man and a simple yet charming soul. While everybody during journey from Delhi to Almora and later on at the seminar (on water and media which he inaugurated) was happily gulping down bottled water, Rajendra Singh chose to remain thirsty, for he does not drink bottled water. All along the way, he pointed to the drried up river beds and streams, saying these are dead rivers, but they can be revived. It was quite a revelation to me that the man has walked along courses of some 140 big and small rivers in India!

Hazardous Waste expose in EHP

2005-06-02T10:59:00.000+05:30

Here is a detailed situation paper on hazardous waste situation in India that I have written for Environmental Health Perspectives (EHP) published from the US. For a change, this scientific journal is in open source. So the full article is available free.

"India is known for its many man-made splendors, yet a look around this nation also shows a wealth of imported and domestically produced toxic wastes that have been accumulating for decades. In 1995, India’s Supreme Court started taking action to get the country’s hazardous waste situation under control. A series of legislative amendments have brought India’s laws in line with Basel Convention requirements, and local committees are being set up to watch over industry. A monitoring committee established by the Supreme Court has ordered the closure of several polluters and is requiring industries to pay for cleanup of their pollution."

Full article at: http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/docs/2005/113-6/spheres-abs.html

Broadband woes in Delhi

2005-06-01T15:35:00.000+05:30

At long lost, I thought I will have a nice, steady broadband connection at home. Having tried out Hotwire and waited for Reliance broadband endlessly, I decided to go in for the much touted MTNL broadband service in Delhi. I dont know why they are advertising it as tri-band. It is actually two-band - phone connection and internet feed. I applied for the service last week (it was a pretty simple form, did not have to pay anything upfront so no hassles of making a DD etc) and got a call two days back that engineers will be coming to set it up. They did come yesterday, with a Dlink router and some Lan cords etc and fixed it up within no time. It worked. I picked up the phone just to see that I was still getting voice line. Just cant forget those dial-up days. I closed my eyes and prayed - hope this works all the time unlike Hotwire that used to go off with every breeze, blinker of lightening and light showers. But my joy seemed short lived. MTNL broadband was 'live' for barely 15 minutes! "sir, there is some problem in conforguration. Actually the router is configured for some other subscriber. If we fix it here, the bill will go to somebody else", explained the MTNL guy. I had no words to speak, my eyes went looking for the Hotwire lead that was just discarded and old IP address that I had just scribbled on my note pad (just in case......). Been 30 hours since then, still waiting for the MTNL man to ring my door bell!!!!

Meeting with Indian Prime Minister

2005-05-31T14:48:00.000+05:30

Had an opportunity to interact with the Indian Prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh at his Race Course Road residence in New Delhi on May 30, 2005, as part of a meeting of foreign media organised by the Foreign Correspondents Club. Since it was meeting with foreign media based in New Delhi, the PM spoke most of the time on foreign policy issues - ranging from situation in Nepal to India's bid for security council seat. On most of the issues, he merely repeated the stated position. Perhpas the only deviation was his statements on talks with Pakistan. He used different words to make the point that India is not going to negotiate Kashmir's boundaries in any case.

Keeping up his image of a working PM, Dr Singh said that he wanted to meet the foreign media earlier but he could not because he was simply not prepared for it! In reply to most of the questions, he made long winding comments, reminding many of us of his earlier days as an economist and academician. In informal conversaion with us over tea, he was quite relaxed and very frank about his views on touchy issues like relations with the Left, other allies like Paswan, his 6/10 rating of his government's performance etc. He revealed that all decisions in the cabinet are taken unanimously, to drive home the point that there are no differences among allies and the congress.

Article on oil diplomacy in Bangkok Post

2005-05-31T14:43:00.000+05:30

New Delhi _ India is not a major oil producer, but is beginning to cause a flutter in international energy markets.For a change, major players in the oil market are sitting up and taking note of India as a leading consumer of petroleum products. The country is teaming up with other Asian consumers, including China, to project Asia as a bigger oil buyer than the United States and is trying to tilt the energy equation in favour of Asia.India depends on imports for over 70% of its petroleum products requirements. New Delhi has been engaging in aggressive oil diplomacy for the past one year or so. As part of its larger goal of achieving energy security, India has been actively talking to both oil producers and consumers in the region, while Indian oil companies are buying equity and property in far-off countries in Africa and Latin America.
Full article at : http://www.bangkokpost.com/News/31May2005_opin33.php

What's this blog about

2005-05-31T14:28:00.000+05:30

Hi everyone. In Hindi language, Vichar Manch means a platform for expressing one's views and ideas. This is what this blog is going to do. I intend usng this as a platform for discussing ideas, views, criticism on India media. Many of professional journalists in India today feel strongly about the state of affairs in India media. This is going to be a platform for all such fellow journalist and professionals. I will also be posting my personal published writings from time to time. Having written a lot on the subject of blogging in the past few months, I thought it is high time to try my hands at it myself.