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We & They
When national news channels become prison centric in their newscast, thought flashes in the mind is it related to the custodial death or human rights violations, better known as 3rd Degree, or some corrupt practices, police known for. However one forgets that todays media part of Journalism is not community centric in a democratic setup but is glamour driven and market oriented. In the search for low cost news, media forgets what it must be costing the society and democracy.
The role expected from media in democracy is what they have drifted away. News is what caters a class of people their lifestyle and sympathizes with them. This is what people understands when channels tonality is sympathetic towards Sanjay Dutt. It is a fact, that Bombay Blast happened. It is a fact that there is group which made that happen. It is a fact that Sanjay Dutt is known to be in possession of Arms, which are dangerous in nature, and a criminal offence. It is a fact that the arms so possessed was through people from the same gang, linked to the Bombay blast. It is a fact that a case was heard under the TADA court and under Arms Act, Sanjay Dutt was declared to have a committed a criminal offence and so is a criminal, like any other before the law of the land.
However Media is almost a justice delivery system in India nowadays. Sometimes for good and many a times otherwise. Making and breaking images is what they boost of. Be it politicians or residents of the glamour world. Market knows what catches sentiments and media in the clutches of market forces knows what needs to be sold, and what sells well. The whole interview and sentimental clippings, with background music, in totally filmy style can make anyone feel sorry. However is this what happens when every criminal goes to prison and is media by differentiating between two citizens not deviating from its role of being partial? This are larger question, like many others which keeps people haunting in a withering democracy.
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We & They
Be it a cricket or football field or be it reality show or real life Racism is a reality which cannot be denied. Racism having its roots in the concept of genetics have got a new flavor with rising economy and equality of opportunity. Indians are second to none and are also encroaching into spheres which was otherwise domain of few, developed ones. Issues which few guarded when gets eroded makes racism a negative outcome. When people from less economically developed, not culturally, countries rub shoulders in different fields, be it nuclear technology, sports, IT or entertainment, friction is bound to happen due to changing status-quo.
 Country which was once a colony of nations, who ruled as a matter of duty under the justification of “White Man’s Burden”, when rises to stand along with such nations the anger and threat is quite visible. Countries like UK, US and Australia etc forget their earlier role as discriminators and the anger of inability to control in each fields leading to a situation which is aggressive, destructive and victimizing. No one supports terrosism but who supports them with money and who sell arms and ammunations are larger questions which need to be understood.

The nation need to awake breaking the shackles of colonized mentality. How much that is possible it will be is a matter of debate, when our leaders kow-tow to please foreign investment. How much we as a community is ready to acknowledge, discuss and assert our rights as Indians is a quest which needs to be dealt with.

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No one can predict what’s going to happen in next second. Well Said! And the perfect example for this is the coming back of 27-year-old Indian Doctor, Mohamed Haneef to his home place, after being seized in Australia for alleged accusations of car bombings in Britain.

“I can never imagine, even in the farthest corner of my brain, that I would be labeled with such a offending issue,” said Haneef. Haneef was there in a hospital on Australia’s Gold Coast when numerous allegations trapped him. But fortunately his three-week long custody trial came to an end as there wasn’t any proof against him.

What roped him into this defaming case was the very identification of his cell phone SIM card with one of his second cousins, who is charged for his involvement in a bomb plot in June.

Dying to meet his family especially daughter, Haneef was surrounded with reports at the airport to enquire about his experiences and more insights about the alleged accusations. But the nostalgic doctor could utter only 7 words: “I am eager to see my daughter” and quickly hobbled into the car waiting to lift him too his home.

The returning of Haneef was no less than the celebration of a festival. The perod was traumatic for the haneef’s family but their faith in him is a reason enough for his return. The joy of coming back from this frightening experience can be summed up in his mother’s words: “What can give a mother more happiness; my child is free and he has come home.”

Via indiatimes

The long wait of 20 July came to an end after Pratibha Patil (72) was elected as India’s 13th president but first female president. Now all the eyeballs are on 25 July when she will be sworn in for a five-year term.

Election Commission head P.D.T. Achary revealed that Patil received 65.82% of the votes casted by countrywide officials and state legislators.

This can be seen as Patil’s victory over the overpowered candidate of the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, Vice President, Congress. Patil, candidate of the governing Congress party and its political allies was full of thanks to the citizens of Democratic India. “This is a victory of the principles of which our Indian people uphold,” she said.

The moment results were announced, countless supporters were seen celebrating her success by dancing on drum beats in the streets and made every effort to spread the word around by lightning firecrackers outside her home in New Delhi. An equal amount of enthusiasm was seen in her among the natives of Maharashtra, her hometown. Guess who wished her first at her home? Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi, the head of the Congress party were spotted at her home right after the result declaration.

Like every contest, this also invited raised eyebrows from the opposition questioning her efficiency. Adversaries believed that she lacked the national stature for the job and what has worked in favor of her aptitude to express loyalty to the Gandhi family.

What made this News?
Pratibha Patil becoming president OR her gender?

This success of hers is seen by many as the continuity of the Indian custom to strengthen deprived society. This time the presidency is used as a tool to make it customary.

Not to go beyond, we say India has majority of Hindus. Right, but despite this fact India has had three Muslim presidents, including A. P. J. Abdul Kalam and has also priviledged Sikh community that has a minority presence in India by electing Kalam’s predecessor, K. R. Narayanan, who belongs to the roots of the powerful social hierarchy system.

Patil’s appointment exemplifies that it’s an addition to the portfolio of the several women in power viz. Indira Gandhi, elected as prime minister in 1966 and her daughter-in-law Sonia Gandhi.

But the question remains are these three women sufficient to generalize the pitiful condition of the women who now choose to be discriminated.

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The tallest building of Dubai is now accepted as the tallest man made building of the world. The building has crossed the previous world’s tallest building the Taipei towers (507.3) by two and a half meters and is standing tall at 510 m.

The official report by the gulf says that they had their height in the construction of the world’s tallest building. Although the final height of the building is still under consideration, but the experts say that the building structure is sufficient to attain a height somewhere between 705 to 950 meters.

It is proposed that the completed building will have about 150 to 180 floors. The construction started from early February 2005 and is dated to be completed by June 2009. The tower is a masterpiece of construction and is situated in the centre of the DH73 Billion Downtown Burj Dubai project of Emaar.

The tower is being constructed ender the supervision of South Korean Samsung Corporation and its construction details had been carried out by Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill Engineers from Chicago. 

The building is the tallest in all categories which are under consideration of the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitats which ranks the building on the height of their spire besides ranking them on the highest occupied floor.  

Pratibha Devisingh Patil nomination for becoming India’s first president is firm but her appointment and selection for the same is a bit controversial.

The controversy seems to take a 360 degree swerve as the support of Congress Party and their enthusiasm level is sufficient to overcome the adversaries from the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Countless votes from Indian lawmakers and state legislatures on 19 July remove every grey shade that come before her victory. The results are expected to be declared on 21 July.
But the milestone has been marred by more controversy and mudslinging than any recent contest.

What boosted the confidence of all the incumbents about her success was the honor of getting the first vote in her favor from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. This was seen as the clear sign of her victory by the congress alliances.

But the opposition party threw all questions, doubts and bad words upon Patil’s being the fit candidate for the ceremonial post.

Analysts believe that the possibility is that Patil, an unfamiliar personality on the political stage might win more votes because of her unwavering devotion to Congress party leader-Sonia Gandhi and in all Gandhi family.

Adding to this, analyst Mahesh Rangarajan said: “Loyalty seems to have been the major criterion here.”

Senior leader of the BJP, L K Advani didn’t felt shy and very shamefully he said: “She is a person unfit to occupy the highest constitutional office. Going beyond this, the prospective candidate was also humiliated by a series of disclosures about her personal background.

Besides numerous allegations like she is the culprit to shut down the bank opened to supply loans to women due to her family failure to return the money, her victory is seen as he positive sentiment to carry the tradition of privileging the sidelined sections of society.

Her victory will be seen as the victory of the females in the country who are largely being discriminated. If you trust numbers, then in a survey done by the Outlook news magazine in June, around 68% of the 1,238 women feel that Patil is the oblivious choice.

If optimism and pessimism defines the level of growth of country, then surely Indians are at par. You would be glad to know that even after a marginal fall in the level of optimism, the level of confidence among Indians is unaffected making them the world’s most confident consumers.

A survey done by the Nielsen Company, an international marketing research firm reflects that
Indians are positive about healthy prospects at the personal finance, jobs and economy fronts. Further, the bi-annual Global Consumer Confidence Index has categorized countries like Korea, Portugal, Hungary, Japan and Taiwan emerged as pessimists.

India has topped this Confidence Index for the fifth time at a stretch at 135 points, which is higher than the global average of 97 points. The present GDF figure that stands at 9.4% (highest growth level in past 18 years) is generating confidence among the Indian nationals about their better growth prospects. As per the survey, almost 93% of consumers surveyed in India are hopeful about better job opportunities in the coming year.

We & They

When ministers and ex-ministers holding important positions in government passionately talk about something like Formula 1 (F1) as sport, many question comes in mind. Whose sport is this anyways? Have we really done justice to sports which are popular nationally and poor are able to participate. A sport which is highly class based and requires enormous pumping of resources, money and land, but caters only a few, should such sport get government backing? Is government which time and again displays its loyalty to the ruling class, has found a new avenue to pamper the whizkid of the Richie rich.

Lands of poor farmers are encroached in the name of public purpose and are left with no avenues of employment and livelihood. When the traditional sports are getting lost against the recognized universal sports, we find new pump of energy from the class which are expected to promote all sports in the country. More so sports which has no corporate backing. Should sports like Golf and F1 racing which are so class specific and requires certain economic prerequisite for entry be given state patronization?

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According to the Economic Council of The Prime Minister, unemployment can be eradicated totally from the country by the year 2010 provided the economic growth witness an upward curve with a growth of 8% per year.

Possibility is that it can be achieved earlier as well if the growth domestic product (GDP) increases at a higher rate.

The main fact considered is if the GDP reflects steady growth then the day is not far when the work force (employed labor) will be equal to the labor force (employable people) by the year 2010.

The Economic Advisory Council, under the former Governor of Reserve Bank of India C. Rangarajan and other top Economists namely Saumitra Choudhary have made sure that the days of unemployment will be over by the year 2010 and the plan will be fully backed by the economic growth of the country.

However there are still some conditions that are to be fulfilled such as skill matching to allow smooth flow of employment from the Secondary to the Tertiary sectors of the Indian Economy.
 
Eyebrows are raised when such an impossible issue is promised to be possible. When asked about its surety C. Rangarajan said: “ Presently, we cannot comment upon the nature and the amount of income the additional workforce will get.”

Plans have been charted identifying ways to increase the productivity in the informal part of the economy but the quality of the work provided is still under consideration.

 
 We & They
The news channels in the effort to out beat the others in the business make all the efforts they can. But the world of news needs to match their effort too. The world is failing them with the news. So as it is said, one has to reap what one sows. The society will get back stories of ghosts, snake charmers and stories of mysteries surrounding magicians and reincarnations.

The fourth pillar, going strong in their agenda, serving the democracy well was behind time (150 years back) and was busy fulfilling its duty to unearth the foul intent of the a child aged 14 years, who believes and is trying to convince others that he remembers something which happened 150 years in someone else’s life, in US.

The now famous Rajesh was brought to the news room of the channel and all the intellectual brains of the media houses were fulfilling their moral duty towards democracy by exposing the fraud the kid is doing with the world. Many probing questions were asked and captions went on to bring out facts on regular basis, which however were based on similar presumptions and assumptions as Rajesh’s story was. But obviously who dare grill the media. 

The anchor and reporter were so engrossed nailing the child that they missed out the silver lining in the whole story. The fraud (as the channel was trying to prove) child, is a genius can not be doubted. The child demanded for facilities of education which a small village, block and town in India do not have for its children (citizens) even after 60 years of independence. No line was said about the pathetic conditions of infrastructure related to imparting education in rural India. Who will raise such issues, whose role is this?

Even if one takes the whole story of Rajesh as fraud / gimmick, then too none can disapprove the fact that Rajesh is extremely hard working, intelligent and different at his age. What the democratic India and its pillars should be doing is to provide him with support so that this wonder kid can take on his interest in Physics and earn a name for the country. The fourth pillar can do wonders for such a kid only if they get time beyond promoting sex icons from becoming famous overnight.

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