Changing Face Of Indian Idiot Box
(by Swati Deb in 2004) for Sulekha.com
Breaking a tradition, charming ladies with their typical filmy ascent and ‘nakhras’ have already entered into a citadel till recently held by men – cricket commentary.
Truly, gone are the days when Doordarshan held monopoly either entertaining or irritating people with its usual ministerial coverage and one liners from Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi : “Hamey Dekhna Hai.” Indian ‘Idiot Box’ has come a long way since the serials like ‘Buniyad’ and ‘Humlog’ held the audience captive. By nineties the rule had changed once private players starting with Subhas Chandra’s Zee TV came into the scene.
Then came the era of multiple channels and soaps with K series and game shows. And if 2003 coverage can set a trend, the television is on for another transitional period.
Mandira Bedi of serial ‘Shanti’ fame or disgrace - incidentally an original DD soap- has walked in shoulder to shoulder with Charu Sharma and former cricketers- holding the fort for about two-hour long pre-match and an hour or so post-match coverage sexily called ‘Extra Innings.’ DD gave a later version ‘the fourth empire’
“I guess it’s my strong interest in cricket – especially watching live cricket – that got me the role,” Bedi was quoted once.
She is not alone. Two other ladies Sandhya Mridul and Maria Goretti have jumped into the band- wagon in entering the cricket commentary world. The performance so far dose not have reasons to evoke quite a large fan following only to the satisfaction of critics. While some could be finding it irritating the way Bedi puts her hand on ex-cricketer’s shoulder, others find it discomfort to stomach her unorthodox one liners like “ we are to raise India’s spirit” or childish smile with phrase, “Hum jeet gaye”.
By 2001, there came an enchanting departure by bringing the reality television coverage into limelight.
Mid-March 2001 marked the revolutionary transition in Indian television history when all leading channels started beaming footage of tainted politicians and army officials accept currency notes and talk shady deals. For next few days, television rating points (TRP) for major commercial programmes and serials had dropped with current affairs programme holding audience in front of once nicknamed idiot box.
The channels, especially Star News and Zee News, made most of it as they repeatedly showed footage of politicians like Bangaru Laxman and Jaya Jaitley discuss deal making in dollars and lakhs.
A similar taste of reality sight had resurfaced during Vajpayee-Musharraf summit at the Taj city. Zee News and Aaj Tak emerged winners bringing life various facets of Pakistani ruler’s visit. The climax was when a stunned nation watched life Gen Pervez Musharraf’s media coup when he exploited a breakfast meeting with Indian editors to drive his point on Kashmir.
Reality coverage again tasted major success as Sun TV beamed the ill- treatment meted to DMK Chief M Karunananidhi and Union Ministers during a late night operation of Tamil Nadu cops at the diktats of Chief Minister Jayalalitha. The public opinion was so much affected by the coverage that the NDA regime found a suitable handle to order the then Governor Fatima Devi packing.
September 11- kamikaze on World Trade Center and Pentagon brought Indian homes the home truth of the vulnerability of world’s most powerful nation. Thanks to all major foreign channels.
In 2002, Gujarat dominated television screens for months as footage of a burning train, Masjids being ransacked and minorities being killed and forced to shift to relief camps were telecast. The Swaminarain temple attack on September 24, 2002 took the reality coverage to a climex when a popular television reporter was chased by right wing activists with the treat to give him a thrashing.
Television watchers maintain that, however, women constitute the bulk Indian television audience. It is therefore so much of flirting with ‘Saas Bahu’ type of themes for the serials. It is the manifestation of this very idea that Sony management thought of fielding their ‘women team’ to bring in World Cup 2003.And as time progressed there were mutiple channels all round. Housewives are now slowly emerging experts in their own misgivings on every topic under the sky. There is, of course, typical mother-in-law variety approach to things. The other day I heard my mom-in-law lecture me on Saurav Ganguly’s captainship ability and on my part I found myself telling her how George Bush mismanaged Iraq. Few years back, it would not have been possible!
Changing govts every Five years has hurt Kerala: K V Thomas (in 2016)
New Delhi,
Changing governments every five years has harmed Kerala, senior Congress leader K.V. Thomas says, exuding confidence that his party will make history by retaining power in the state.
Thomas also insisted that the Congress-Left tie-up in West Bengal “will have no impact” on the May 16 assembly polls in Kerala, where the two are in direct conflict.
“I am confident the Congress and UDF (United Democratic Front) will return to power,” Thomas told (this blogger) IANS in an interview.
(story run on May 1, 2016)
“People of Kerala have begun to realise that changing governments every five years has often harmed development.
“People are realizing that in a state like Kerala there is a need for continuity in governance. Hence, we as Congressmen have every chance of a pleasant surprise this year,” Thomas said.
He said the politics of Kerala and West Bengal were different.
“In Kerala, we (Left and Congress) are strong opponents of each other. But in Bengal we needed to come together to fight the tyranny of (Chief Minister) Mamata Banerjee.”
Analysing the situation in Kerala, he said: “Developmental works and programmes like the chief minister’s ‘Jan Sampark’ programme, wherein he goes to every district and village periodically, as well as a number of welfare schemes and major projects like Kochi Metro and Vizhinjam port will help the Congress and UDF.”
The state government has signed an agreement with Adani group to build the Rs.7,525 crore port.
“The Congress government has also inaugurated the Kannur airport. The government is working on a budget airline for Gulf countries,” said Thomas, who has also been Kerala’s excise and tourism minister.
He said in the past some good programmes launched by Congress governments were either stalled or altered when the Left Democratic Front (LDF) led by the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) took power.
“One such initiative was in the education sector where the Congress encouraged private educational institutions along with those run by the government. But once the Left took power, they favoured bringing everything under government control,” Thomas said.
“The reality is that often the government does not have adequate financial and technical resources.”
Thomas said the Congress had been moving towards total prohibition “step by step” but the Communists have a different perception.
Kerala voters have changed governments in every election since the 1980s.
Asked about his two-year stint as chairman of Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of parliament, which has recommended bringing the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) under parliament’s control, Thomas said: “The stint has been particularly satisfactory as we made good recommendations in terms of reforms for PACs both in the centre and state levels and also on the role of CAG.
“Besides stressing that appointment of CAG should not be left as the exclusive purview of the government, the PAC also felt that state legislatures should work towards having independent cadres of officials like the secretariats of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha,” he said.
Prosperity in countries like India is "good" but it triggers increased demand for "better nutrition" which in turn leads to higher food prices, US President George Bush had said in May 2008
This was our take:
In the new generation diplomacy, the US definitely occupies the most important place on Indian thinking wavelength but India is no sub-contractor of America in the global context wherein Uncle Sam can decide what and how much Indians should eat or not!
US President George W Bush blaming the 'wealthy' lifestyle of India's huge middle class for the spiraling global food prices endorsing his Secretary of State Condeleezza Rice views only adds insult to the injury for Indians.
It's true the Indian middle class has grown in size, the 350 million as Bush himself says, and enhanced purchasing ability to look for better nutrition and better food.
But India is growingly self-sufficient in terms of its requirements as it is no longer a big food buyer. India, in fact, has become a fairly major food exporter and proper planning like a farm output policy can help it better.
The Hon'ble US President seemed to have forgotten some of his making and American follies that have propelled the food shortages and the price rise.
For long, the US and a few major countries have been diverting the agricultural land for bio-fuel purposes. The Americans also have selective amnesia on their faulty foreign policy vis-à-vis the Gulf region.
"One of the main reasons for this spiraling inflation is high crude oil prices," says an analyst. "One, the US raid on Iraq. In fact, the rise in crude oil price began to rise from the moment US signaled that it would raid Iraq. This was in 1990s," he points out.
The other reason is the general thought that Bush has interests in oil companies, particularly those based in Texas. It is, therefore, natural for him to ensure that crude oil prices stay high. In fact, these companies are supposed to be his main sponsors and he draws his strength from the Texas oil firms.
Moreover, the US government has also set a higher target for production of ethanol from corn,that has led to diversion of corn to fuel from food. Farmers in the US overwhelmingly switched over the growing corn
While this is one aspect of inflation, the other vital aspect dwelling on the rice and as such the US leaders are talking about Indians' rice eating also deserves a closer look.
The United Nations had declared 2004 as the International Year of Rice but what was notable is that the importance of the commodity as the staple foodgrain for households in India Asia was likely to decline.
One issue contributing for this theory was that the rapid urbanization and growing demand for housing and industrial activities would make inroads into land under rice cultivation in most countries. This may affect its production and create supply distortions.
A few years back, survey revealed that a more serious factor in the long run was the steady shift of consumers towards fruits, vegetables and meat as result of rising incomes, changing dietary habits and lifestyles -- like love for junk votes in urban areas.
All this, too, may affect demand for rice to some extent. However, what will be the most critical factor affecting rice cultivation is water availability. India, experts say, may not remain unaffected from these changes and the growing mall culture.
For an overwhelming Indians, especially in coastal belt and tribal region of northeast India, rice is the staple food. Statistics show, the rice consumption in India has remained below 100 kg per person per year for long while it improved during the period 1970-72 to 1989-91 to edge down a bit in 1999-01.
Notably, China's consumption is better than India's and Bush and his team may not know that even sometime back a tiny trouble-torn Myanmar topped the league of rice consuming countries with a little over 200 kg per person per year. Vietnam, Bangladesh, Cambodia and Indonesia, all rice producing countries, have higher per capita rice consumption.
Does Bush know that over 95 per cent rice is produced in developing countries and most in Asia. In India the rice production has also gone up gradually.
Jatropha makes this man do anything at any cost
By Nirendra Dev, Commodity Online May 26, 2008
Banks denied him funding, the red-tapism and bureaucracy was also of no help. That did not discourage Akshay Vir Singh Tyagi from venturing into Jatropha cultivation seeing the huge potential for biofuels in the coming years.
He has already promoted Jatropha cultivation in 5,500 acres of land in Uttar Pradesh and is aiming high. Tyagi already has invitation to set up projects in Maharashtra.
"Bio-fuel is a necessity now and not a matter of choice or option. Cultivating for bio-fuel production can help create jobs, make use of the wasteland and is an eco friendly venture," according to Akshay Vir Singh Tyagi, proprietor of Delhi-based Aryan Mushrooms and Bio Fuels.
In a chat with Commodity Online at his office in the capital, he lamented on the absence of a structured policy, especially on the funding pattern for bio-fuel industry. The government and private sector should go all out to create a successful bio-fuel revolution in India, Tyagi said.
He said bio-fuels and cultivation of non-food crops like Jatropha offer win-win like situation and the benefits can be reaped for as many as 45 years.
Lot of difficulties faced at the implementation stage has to be solved, especially on granting subsidies to the farmers in encouraging them towards cultivation of non-food crops like Jatropha.
"The mechanism to grant subsidies only on the pre-condition that they will seek bank loans is erroneous at least for the present stage. Instead, what they need is cash-based subsidies as the funding pattern from banks is riddled with many lacunae and bureaucratic hassles," he said.
Tyagi said that his own experience with a public sector bank was disappointing as it summarily turned own its request. He said his experience with another public sector bank was also not good as despite going ahead with the project in December the deal has been
"I am continuing with the project of Jatropha cultivation with an initial investment of Rs 2.5 crore in seven districts of UP. But the bank's involvement has been cut short," he remarked.
Tyagi, however, said having understood the significance of Jatropha cultivation and bio-fuels and as farmers would need due encouragement he is going ahead with the project.
"I started Jatropha cultivation from scratch in 2004-05 and the gestation period is 3-5 years. I am expecting that my first results will be coming only from July-August later this year," he said.
Tyagi said he is already seriously toying with the idea of approaching a premier foreign bank.
Tyagi, who is carrying out Jatropha cultivation and related projects involving around 350 farmers and their land, however, said despite red-tapism and bureaucratic lethargy, the people in general and farmers and the younger generation have already shown fascination towards "these alternative means of energy creation".
"It's most encouraging that even politicians are not lagging behind," he said adding, no politician created any hassle for him in Uttar Pradesh while Shiv Sena MP Tukaram Renge Patil from Parbani in Maharashtra has already invited him to commence a "business model on Jatropha cultivation and bio-fuels" in his constituency. "I am seriously considering the proposal," said
Tyagi, who hails from a agricultural family in Nehtaur town in Bijnaur district in UP, said at present his project is functioning in the districts of Allahabad, Jaunpur, Chitrakut, Pratapgarh, Fatehpur and Bandha.
"Now I have 5500 acres of land under Jatropha cultivation and my aim is to have 1 lakh acre of land spread across many states by 2011," he said.
Corporate houses like Liberty Shoes and Kejriwal Papers are also running his project on a turn-key basis in Chennai and in Bhuj in Gujarat.
(Courtesy: Commodity Online/Rediff.com)
