Ted Turner's change of heart
Honestly, we could do with support from any quarter. Ted Turner said: "We have to do more than keep media giants from growing larger; they're already too big. We need a new set of rules that will break these huge companies to pieces," according to this report in New York Post. It sounds like a quote from Robert McChesney, doesn't it?
Here's Turner's article unabridged.
8/05/2004
7/24/2004
Yesterday's leader page article on the need for a mass tort law in India by Rajeev Dhavan is essential reading, especially in the context of the Kumbakonam school disaster. Before this gruesome tragedy is relegated to 'vague memory'. According to the article: “Indian legal system has no special mechanism to deal with a `mass tort'.” Obviously this is another flaw in our legal system that needs urgent correction. According to Dhavan: “[T]he Legislature has been silent, the Judiciary has tried to deal with mass tort cases innovatively,” which is heartening. I will enummerate the instances that Dhavan uses to bolster his case in this article. It is useful reference material:
1984 Bhopal disaster: attempts made to confront disasters with moral and remedial rigour
1987: In the Oleum Gas Case, Justice P.N. Bhagwati states that the owner and occupier are absolutely liable for disasters emanating from their premises.
February 14, 1989: Government's compromise with Union Carbide.
In TISCO fire incident the Tatas admitted liability. Former Chief Justice of India, Y.V. Chandrachud assesses the damage and determines the sum payable. SC judgment on August 16, 2001, paves way for compensation to be paid. Dhavan says that this case lead ensured: “Instead of going through a tortuous civil trial, the court permitted the case to be decided through a writ petition which is much quicker, more effective and relatively more immediate remedy.”
1991: the Public Liability Insurance Act mandated insurance in cases where hazardous substances were involved. In the Bhopal Case (1991) some judges felt that Justice Bhagwati interpretation was an overstatement.
1996: Justice Jeevan Reddy tried to restore what Justice Bhagwati in the Indian Council for Enviro-Legal Action Case concerning hazardous wastes.
June 13, 1997: in the Delhi Uphaar theatre fire case:”Justice S.N. Variava refused to go back to the old remedy of a civil suit and decided that a writ petition was appropriate to devise a fast track procedure.”
2001: In the Grewal Case, in which students from Punjab died on a school trip, the SC “blessed the more effective procedure followed by the High Court and increased the compensation”.
2002: the Delhi High Court in the Uphaar Case tried to advance the law further
April 24, 2003: Justices S.K. Mahajan and Mukund Mudgal of the Delhi High court “delivered a significant judgment requiring not just the owner but also the statutory authorities to pay compensation at levels much higher than those in the Tata or the Punjab schoolboys case.”
July 20, 2004: the Supreme Court ordered that Rs. 1505.46 crores be distributed to the victims of the Bhopal Gas tragedy.
Some useful links:
Tort Law in India from the Annual Survey of Indian Law, 2001.
Common law - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
1984 Bhopal disaster: attempts made to confront disasters with moral and remedial rigour
1987: In the Oleum Gas Case, Justice P.N. Bhagwati states that the owner and occupier are absolutely liable for disasters emanating from their premises.
February 14, 1989: Government's compromise with Union Carbide.
In TISCO fire incident the Tatas admitted liability. Former Chief Justice of India, Y.V. Chandrachud assesses the damage and determines the sum payable. SC judgment on August 16, 2001, paves way for compensation to be paid. Dhavan says that this case lead ensured: “Instead of going through a tortuous civil trial, the court permitted the case to be decided through a writ petition which is much quicker, more effective and relatively more immediate remedy.”
1991: the Public Liability Insurance Act mandated insurance in cases where hazardous substances were involved. In the Bhopal Case (1991) some judges felt that Justice Bhagwati interpretation was an overstatement.
1996: Justice Jeevan Reddy tried to restore what Justice Bhagwati in the Indian Council for Enviro-Legal Action Case concerning hazardous wastes.
June 13, 1997: in the Delhi Uphaar theatre fire case:”Justice S.N. Variava refused to go back to the old remedy of a civil suit and decided that a writ petition was appropriate to devise a fast track procedure.”
2001: In the Grewal Case, in which students from Punjab died on a school trip, the SC “blessed the more effective procedure followed by the High Court and increased the compensation”.
2002: the Delhi High Court in the Uphaar Case tried to advance the law further
April 24, 2003: Justices S.K. Mahajan and Mukund Mudgal of the Delhi High court “delivered a significant judgment requiring not just the owner but also the statutory authorities to pay compensation at levels much higher than those in the Tata or the Punjab schoolboys case.”
July 20, 2004: the Supreme Court ordered that Rs. 1505.46 crores be distributed to the victims of the Bhopal Gas tragedy.
Some useful links:
Tort Law in India from the Annual Survey of Indian Law, 2001.
Common law - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
7/21/2004
Butler cocks a snook at our intelligence
For those waiting to see the end of Tony B.lair
The disappointing Butler report in full:
http://globalresearch.ca/articles/BUT407A.html
National Alliance for Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) for
Basic Human Needs - India
A very long name. Anyway, for more information on this please contact Subbiah Arunachalam
at arun@mssrf.res.in orsubbiah_a@hotmail.com
or Prof. M.S. Swaminathan, Chairman, msswami@mssrf.res.in
Snail mail:
M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF)
Third Cross Street, Institutional Area
Taramani, Chennai - 600 113, India
Tel.: +91-44-22541229, 22541698
Fax: +91-44-22541319
For those waiting to see the end of Tony B.lair
The disappointing Butler report in full:
http://globalresearch.ca/articles/BUT407A.html
National Alliance for Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) for
Basic Human Needs - India
at arun@mssrf.res.in or
or Prof. M.S. Swaminathan, Chairman, msswami@mssrf.res.in
Snail mail:
M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF)
Third Cross Street, Institutional Area
Taramani, Chennai - 600 113, India
Tel.: +91-44-22541229, 22541698
Fax: +91-44-22541319
7/20/2004
Ladies and Gentlemen:
The SND.ies....
http://www.snd.org/flash/sndies/2004/
NYT has an interesting interactive on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. James Bennet draws some surprising conclusions from his three years in Jerusalem. Well, actually, it should read not surprisingly. But the package is good. Have a look at it:
(registration required)
The SND.ies....
http://www.snd.org/flash/sndies/2004/
NYT has an interesting interactive on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. James Bennet draws some surprising conclusions from his three years in Jerusalem. Well, actually, it should read not surprisingly. But the package is good. Have a look at it:
(registration required)
7/05/2004
This is the first time I'm using the "Blog this" feature. Here goes:
Open Source Paradigm Shift by Tim O'Reilly -- This article is based on a talk that I first gave at Warburg-Pincus' annual technology conference in May of 2003. Since then, I have delivered versions of the talk more than twenty times, at locations ranging from the O'Reilly Open Source Convention, the UK Unix User's Group, Microsoft Research in the UK, IBM Hursley, British Telecom, Red Hat's internal "all-hands" meeting, and BEA's eWorld conference. I finally wrote it down as an article for an upcoming book on open source,"Perspectives on Free and Open Source Software," edited by J. Feller, B. Fitzgerald, S. Hissam, and K. R. Lakhani and to be published by MIT Press in 2005.
5/26/2004
Amartya Sen on Verdict 2004
India's only Economics Nobel Laureate talks to Sonu Jain in the Indian Express on what he thinks led to the "surprise" defeat of the BJP-led government. You can read it here.
India's only Economics Nobel Laureate talks to Sonu Jain in the Indian Express on what he thinks led to the "surprise" defeat of the BJP-led government. You can read it here.
5/23/2004
Indicting Indian media
Ram Reddy has written a very nice piece (The great media let-down) in The Hindu indicting the media. Elections 2004 exposed how "embedded" Indian media have been.
Inadvertently, I suppose, Ram ranks the main reason third: "The third reason why mediapersons did not ask the questions they were supposed to ask is that by the late 1990s, most of them silently or openly endorsed the Hindutva agenda."
Ammu Joseph has an article, Through Asian eyes, on the Asia Media Summit held in Kuala Lumpur in April.
Ram Reddy has written a very nice piece (The great media let-down) in The Hindu indicting the media. Elections 2004 exposed how "embedded" Indian media have been.
Inadvertently, I suppose, Ram ranks the main reason third: "The third reason why mediapersons did not ask the questions they were supposed to ask is that by the late 1990s, most of them silently or openly endorsed the Hindutva agenda."
Ammu Joseph has an article, Through Asian eyes, on the Asia Media Summit held in Kuala Lumpur in April.
5/20/2004
5/14/2004
A severe indictment of the media. Please click on the link below to read the full article. You should read this.
Mass media vs mass reality
By P. Sainath
.....
At this point, the `feel good' factor seems so pathetic as to require no ridicule. The ruling party even tried to co-opt the thrill of a great cricket tour of Pakistan. It didn't work. Yet while the spin doctors have been sacked, the age of spin doctoring has arrived.
Also rubbed in yet again was, of course, that second huge disconnect. That between mass media and mass reality. Little in the media output of these past five years had prepared audiences for anything like this outcome. The polls succeeded where journalism failed. They brought back to the agenda the issues of ordinary Indians. Deeper analysis must await more data. However, some broad contours seem clear.
There is almost no government in the country that has ill-treated its farmers and not paid the price. That has hurt agriculture and not been punished. India has never seen so many farmers' suicides as in the past six to eight years. For some, the urge to blame it all on nature is overwhelming. And yes, droughts have badly hurt people in parts of the country. But that would be missing the wood for the trees. Countless millions of Indians have seen their livelihoods crippled by policies hostile to them. Many of these applied to agriculture, on which two-thirds of the people depend. Any incoming government that fails to see this writes its own exit policy.
.....
As for the media, there is a great and urgent need for introspection. The failure of journalism was far more predictable than the poll results. For years now, the media have stopped talking to ordinary people. How on earth can they tell their readers and viewers what is going on? There are 400-plus journalists to cover Lakme India Fashion Week. Almost none to cover the agricultural crisis in any informed way. The labour and agriculture beats in newspapers are almost extinct. The media have decided that 70 per cent of the population does not make news. The electorate has decided otherwise.
http://www.hindu.com/2004/05/14/stories/2004051406111000.htm
Mass media vs mass reality
By P. Sainath
.....
At this point, the `feel good' factor seems so pathetic as to require no ridicule. The ruling party even tried to co-opt the thrill of a great cricket tour of Pakistan. It didn't work. Yet while the spin doctors have been sacked, the age of spin doctoring has arrived.
Also rubbed in yet again was, of course, that second huge disconnect. That between mass media and mass reality. Little in the media output of these past five years had prepared audiences for anything like this outcome. The polls succeeded where journalism failed. They brought back to the agenda the issues of ordinary Indians. Deeper analysis must await more data. However, some broad contours seem clear.
There is almost no government in the country that has ill-treated its farmers and not paid the price. That has hurt agriculture and not been punished. India has never seen so many farmers' suicides as in the past six to eight years. For some, the urge to blame it all on nature is overwhelming. And yes, droughts have badly hurt people in parts of the country. But that would be missing the wood for the trees. Countless millions of Indians have seen their livelihoods crippled by policies hostile to them. Many of these applied to agriculture, on which two-thirds of the people depend. Any incoming government that fails to see this writes its own exit policy.
.....
As for the media, there is a great and urgent need for introspection. The failure of journalism was far more predictable than the poll results. For years now, the media have stopped talking to ordinary people. How on earth can they tell their readers and viewers what is going on? There are 400-plus journalists to cover Lakme India Fashion Week. Almost none to cover the agricultural crisis in any informed way. The labour and agriculture beats in newspapers are almost extinct. The media have decided that 70 per cent of the population does not make news. The electorate has decided otherwise.
http://www.hindu.com/2004/05/14/stories/2004051406111000.htm
3/02/2004
A correction: T.R. Baalu is contesting after all. It must spell Baalu.
Here's a blog: The first of its kind I've come across: Help me, Bubby. Check it out!
Here's a blog: The first of its kind I've come across: Help me, Bubby. Check it out!
3/01/2004
The Comcast Disney takeover bid
Here are a few links from Benton's Communication headlines on the Comcast-Disney issue:
COMCAST DISNEY COMBINATION HAZARD TO PUBLIC INTEREST, from the Center for Creative Voices in Media.
Likely to Lead to less choice, higher costs, more media concentration, Consumers Union.
Comcast-Disnety merger should be rejected by Bush/FCC, Center for Digital Democracy.
Here are a few links from Benton's Communication headlines on the Comcast-Disney issue:
COMCAST DISNEY COMBINATION HAZARD TO PUBLIC INTEREST, from the Center for Creative Voices in Media.
Likely to Lead to less choice, higher costs, more media concentration, Consumers Union.
Comcast-Disnety merger should be rejected by Bush/FCC, Center for Digital Democracy.
2/27/2004
CPI's first list of candidates
The party national secretary, Atul Kumar Anjaan, is to contest from Ghosi and Rambadan Yadav from Gazipur in Uttar Pradesh.
Bhupal Das Panikka will contest from Shahdol in Madhya Pradesh
Kaushalya Bhaura from Bhatinda, Punjab
Ajoy Chakraborty from Bashirghat, West Bengal
Prabodh Panda from Midnapur, West Bengal
Gurudas Dasgupta from Panskura, West Bengal.
P.K. Vasudevan Nair, former Chief Minister is to contest from Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala.
C.K. Chandrappan from Thrissur, Kerala
Chengara Surendran from Adoor, Kerala
P.P. Sunner from Ponnani in Kerala
K. Subbarayan will contest from Coimbatore and M. Appadurai from Tenkasi-reserved constituency in Tamil Nadu.
Bhubneswar Prasad Mehta will contest from Hazaribagh in Jarkhand
Dhurpad Borgohain is to contest from Assam from Jorhat
Ramnath Sarfe from Bastar in Chhattisgarh
The party national secretary, Atul Kumar Anjaan, is to contest from Ghosi and Rambadan Yadav from Gazipur in Uttar Pradesh.
Bhupal Das Panikka will contest from Shahdol in Madhya Pradesh
Kaushalya Bhaura from Bhatinda, Punjab
Ajoy Chakraborty from Bashirghat, West Bengal
Prabodh Panda from Midnapur, West Bengal
Gurudas Dasgupta from Panskura, West Bengal.
P.K. Vasudevan Nair, former Chief Minister is to contest from Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala.
C.K. Chandrappan from Thrissur, Kerala
Chengara Surendran from Adoor, Kerala
P.P. Sunner from Ponnani in Kerala
K. Subbarayan will contest from Coimbatore and M. Appadurai from Tenkasi-reserved constituency in Tamil Nadu.
Bhubneswar Prasad Mehta will contest from Hazaribagh in Jarkhand
Dhurpad Borgohain is to contest from Assam from Jorhat
Ramnath Sarfe from Bastar in Chhattisgarh
2/26/2004
A list of links on Writing and Grammar by Gian Trotta.
I'll list it here for easy reference:
Sun Microsystem's Web Writing Guide Shines
Copy Editors List Their Biggest Gripes...
As The Chicago Manual of Style Goes Interactive
Strunk's Elements of Style Stand the Test of Time...
And Traditional Grammar's Drop-downs Will Pick Up Your Skills
The Slot: A Curmudgeon's Guide to Style
Copyeditor.com's Worth a Quick Visit
Edit-Work.com: Two Texans' Straight Talk on Style
The Copyediting-l Mailing Is Out, But Votes Are In
A Professor Targets Common Errors in English
And Another Helps You Master 'Notorious Confusables'
Grammar Slammer Picks Up the (Spell)Check
Grammar Now: Instant Answers to Your Writing Woes
I think I should add some of these sites to the side bar.
I'll list it here for easy reference:
Sun Microsystem's Web Writing Guide Shines
Copy Editors List Their Biggest Gripes...
As The Chicago Manual of Style Goes Interactive
Strunk's Elements of Style Stand the Test of Time...
And Traditional Grammar's Drop-downs Will Pick Up Your Skills
The Slot: A Curmudgeon's Guide to Style
Copyeditor.com's Worth a Quick Visit
Edit-Work.com: Two Texans' Straight Talk on Style
The Copyediting-l Mailing Is Out, But Votes Are In
A Professor Targets Common Errors in English
And Another Helps You Master 'Notorious Confusables'
Grammar Slammer Picks Up the (Spell)Check
Grammar Now: Instant Answers to Your Writing Woes
I think I should add some of these sites to the side bar.
2/25/2004
To continue with the elections here's an interesting article by my esteemed colleague Rammanohar Reddy in The Hindu,
In search of one crore jobs a year.
Arif Mohammed Khan and Najma Heptullah's betrayal is disgusting. Khan decline has been obvious for some time now. Heptullah was a creation of the Congress culture. I wonder if she has any political base worth the name.
Amma has many surprises in the AIADMK's list for the Lok Sabha polls:
Except T.T.V. Dinakaran, who was elected from Periyakulam and S. Murugesan from Tenkasi, all others are new faces.
The candidates are:
O.S. Manian will contest the Mayiladuturai seat held by Mani Shankar Iyer.
Edappadi K. Pazhanisamy from Tiruchengode
N. Balaganga from Central Chennai
Bader Sayeed from South Chennai
P. Venugopal from Sriperumbudur
K.N. Ramachandran from Chengalpattu
N. Shanmugham from Arakkonam
Paiyyur A. Santhanam from Vellore
K.G. Subramani from Tirupattur
R. Rajalakshmi Rajan from Vandavasi
Arunmozhi Devan from Tindivanam
Sorathur R. Rajendiran from Cuddalore
Nanje Goud from Krishnagiri
S. Anbazhagan from Rasipuram
A. Rajasekaran from Salem
N.R. Govindarajar from Gobichettipalayam
G. Murugan from Pollachi
K. Kishore Kumar from Palani
Raja N. Pazhanisamy from Karur
M. Paranjothi from Tiruchi
M. Sundaram from Perambalur
P.J. Arjunan from Nagapattinam
K. Thangamuthu from Thanjavur
A. Ravichandran from Pudukottai
Suba Karuppaiah from Sivaganga
A.K. Bose from Madurai
S. Murugesan from Ramanathapuram
P. Kannan from Sivakasi
R. Amirthaganesan from Tirunelveli
T. Damodaran from Tiruchendur
M. Jayaraman from Dindigul
In search of one crore jobs a year.
Arif Mohammed Khan and Najma Heptullah's betrayal is disgusting. Khan decline has been obvious for some time now. Heptullah was a creation of the Congress culture. I wonder if she has any political base worth the name.
Amma has many surprises in the AIADMK's list for the Lok Sabha polls:
Except T.T.V. Dinakaran, who was elected from Periyakulam and S. Murugesan from Tenkasi, all others are new faces.
The candidates are:
O.S. Manian will contest the Mayiladuturai seat held by Mani Shankar Iyer.
Edappadi K. Pazhanisamy from Tiruchengode
N. Balaganga from Central Chennai
Bader Sayeed from South Chennai
P. Venugopal from Sriperumbudur
K.N. Ramachandran from Chengalpattu
N. Shanmugham from Arakkonam
Paiyyur A. Santhanam from Vellore
K.G. Subramani from Tirupattur
R. Rajalakshmi Rajan from Vandavasi
Arunmozhi Devan from Tindivanam
Sorathur R. Rajendiran from Cuddalore
Nanje Goud from Krishnagiri
S. Anbazhagan from Rasipuram
A. Rajasekaran from Salem
N.R. Govindarajar from Gobichettipalayam
G. Murugan from Pollachi
K. Kishore Kumar from Palani
Raja N. Pazhanisamy from Karur
M. Paranjothi from Tiruchi
M. Sundaram from Perambalur
P.J. Arjunan from Nagapattinam
K. Thangamuthu from Thanjavur
A. Ravichandran from Pudukottai
Suba Karuppaiah from Sivaganga
A.K. Bose from Madurai
S. Murugesan from Ramanathapuram
P. Kannan from Sivakasi
R. Amirthaganesan from Tirunelveli
T. Damodaran from Tiruchendur
M. Jayaraman from Dindigul
Alarm bells are ringing in developed countries. Job losses are supposedly on account of jobs heading to India. There are a couple of blogs I chanced on dealing with the issue. Outsourced America and Your Job is Going to Iindia. Differing perspecitives on either end of the cable. Interesting to the debate unfold....
2/20/2004
Yesterday?s front page analysis in The Hindu by Neena Vyas over the ever-flip-flopping pall-bearer India's secular polity, L.K. Advani?s yet another flip. The master of subterfuge has of course denied the ?malicious rumour? that he wanted to be accorded the same facilities as the Prime Minister during the election campaign. Well, well, well.
The poor former resident of Sindh, Pakistan, cannot understand why people should be critical of the ?India Shining? campaign. ?Citizens are now confident that India is on the road to achieving superpower status,? and, according to the Deputy Prime Minister of India, ?to lead the world like it once used to.?
That?s not surprising, Mr. Advani is given to myopic vision, he is not aware that the ?total number of famished has increased by 19 million between 1995-97 and 1999-2002?, as quoted by Sripad Motiram et al in yesterday?s edition of The Hindu. They don?t count for much in the Deputy Prime Minister of India?s scheme of things.
The New India Express in doing good work on the election coverage. I hope to follow closely the Lok Sabha elections with special focus on Tamil Nadu, for I live here and Karnataka, where I am from. Of course the pan-Indian situation is equally important.
Yesterday?s NIE had a two interesting tables I reproduce here. The first table lists the constituency-wise contestants. The parties contesting as part of the DMK alliance versus the AIADMK alliance. The last column has the party affiliation of the sitting MP.
The second table is very interesting. It shows the ?battle lines?. As expected the DMK is up against the AIADMK in 14 seats. But surprisingly is contesting only one seating against the BJP. Note: Mr. Vaiko is not contesting against the BJP.
The CPI and CPI(M) are contesting against the BJP in one constituency each. A direct left versus right contest.
The poor former resident of Sindh, Pakistan, cannot understand why people should be critical of the ?India Shining? campaign. ?Citizens are now confident that India is on the road to achieving superpower status,? and, according to the Deputy Prime Minister of India, ?to lead the world like it once used to.?
That?s not surprising, Mr. Advani is given to myopic vision, he is not aware that the ?total number of famished has increased by 19 million between 1995-97 and 1999-2002?, as quoted by Sripad Motiram et al in yesterday?s edition of The Hindu. They don?t count for much in the Deputy Prime Minister of India?s scheme of things.
The New India Express in doing good work on the election coverage. I hope to follow closely the Lok Sabha elections with special focus on Tamil Nadu, for I live here and Karnataka, where I am from. Of course the pan-Indian situation is equally important.
Yesterday?s NIE had a two interesting tables I reproduce here. The first table lists the constituency-wise contestants. The parties contesting as part of the DMK alliance versus the AIADMK alliance. The last column has the party affiliation of the sitting MP.
The second table is very interesting. It shows the ?battle lines?. As expected the DMK is up against the AIADMK in 14 seats. But surprisingly is contesting only one seating against the BJP. Note: Mr. Vaiko is not contesting against the BJP.
The CPI and CPI(M) are contesting against the BJP in one constituency each. A direct left versus right contest.
1/26/2004
Shant Kumar, editor of Deccan Herald, talks about the paper's revival and the challenges ahead in exchange4media's Content is King segment.
DH has a special place in my life. It was the paper I grew up reading. I agree with Shant Kumar that they didn't understand their readers but dumbing down isn't not going to help the paper in the long run.
The site is pretty shoddy. Yet, the newspaper going well. Good!
DH has a special place in my life. It was the paper I grew up reading. I agree with Shant Kumar that they didn't understand their readers but dumbing down isn't not going to help the paper in the long run.
The site is pretty shoddy. Yet, the newspaper going well. Good!
1/21/2004
Seshu Badrinath's blog is excellent! I guess I can claim we know each other. In fact, Seshu unsuccessfully tried to contribute to IOJ. I am still floating though.
1/13/2004
I'm back. I just got a exchange4media update that Apurva Purohit is joining BCCL's television venture. Honestly, I didn't know they were contemplating going into TV broadcasting. Hmmm!
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)