India counts its dead...

October 1, 2001
Srinagar
State assembly attacked
35 killed

December 13, 2001
New Delhi
Indian Parliament attack
7 killed

January 22, 2002
Calcutta
American consulate attacked

September 24, 2002
Gujarat
Akshardham temple attack
31 killed

March 13, 2003
Mumbai
commuter train bombed
11 killed

May 14, 2003
Jammu
army camp attacked
30 killed (including women & children)

August 25, 2003
Mumbai
car bombs
52 killed

July 5, 2005
Ayodhya, UP
Shri Ram Janmabhoomi attack
1 killed

July 28, 2005
Jaunpur train bombing
13 killed

October 29, 2005
New Delhi
serial blasts just two days before Hindu festival of Deepawali
70 killed

April 14, 2006
New Delhi
Jama Masjid explosions

March 7, 2006
Temple & Railway station bombed
21 killed

July 11, 2006
Mumbai
7 train bombed
200 killed

September 8, 2006
Malegaon, Maharashtra
bomb blasts near mosque on the day of Muslim festival of Shab-e-Barat
37 killed

2007
Samjhauta Express bombings
68 killed

May 18, 2007
Hyderabad
Mecca Masjid bombed
13 killed

August 25, 2007
Hyderabad
Blast at a restaurant and at Lumbini park
42 killed

May 13, 2008
Jaipur
9 bomb blasts
63 killed

July 25, 2008
Bangalore
8 bomb blasts
2 killed

July 26, 2008
Ahmedabad
19 serial bomb blasts
49 killed

July 29-3, 2008
Gujarat
Surat: 20 bombs found in various locations

7 years

745 killed

MAP

http://www.globalincidentmap.com/map.php

How many more lives??

If I could put in as undiplomatic language as I can a large section of mass based media is indulging in what is remotely related to something which can be called as news.

Well , News is a sacrosanct word which itself carries credibility and when some thing is tag as news automatically becomes something which has the power to effect people in a very serious manner.

I have no problems “things” like Smriti Irani back in kyoni, Catman, Inspector’s dog lost, cat stuck on a building…u are free to do what you want on your channel. The only thing which is not good is tagging them with word called news and putting in a so called news channel. A channel can be news channel, entertainment channel, family channel etc and one needs to run it like a business enterprise which needs TRP to run there business.to sustain itself. no doubts.

But when it’s a news channel there is some responsibility associated with it. and ethics.

It’s an important component of a democracy. And for a system to work each component should work in proper way.

We know about our politics. We had faith on Media. But if this components fails then what?

The middle class can change the channel or at best write a blog and then carry on what they are supposed to do...

The lower class is the most effected.

Ab you link Jaipur blast and quake in China with Shani’s Anger. And report murder murder murder mystery and various sazishes saases...what effect will it have on the national physic?

There are religious programs running on and on and on with amazing and new discoveries and actually they are good but only problem is that they are on a News Channel and presented in the most sensationalized manner that it makes fun of the religious faiths and beliefs.

With constipated heavy voice over and special effects what will its effect be on the gullible?

N now coming over to Arushi murder case…ahem ahem... now what the mass-based channels has to say now when CBI investigations are pointing some one else as the murderer.

Will you tender a national apology for repeatedly showing us how you were the one to tell us you were the one to find the murderer first.for those dramatized version…of those flashes….bap tha katil…..natkye rupantrans..thoze updates…nupur talwar ki gadi ka number…dr talwar ki phley raat custody may…..for posting those special exclusive videos and pics of arushi on apkey channel may? For those frist interwv wd drivr and maid servant….. for telling us she had so many bfs? For maligning the images of people?

Excellency then reaches his place of work…
Talks here and there…
Little bit buttering here and little there…
Do work, the hard work (read: show that they work)…
Point out mistakes…
To them everyone’s mistake is a flown blown blunder..
And should be reprimanded in strictest possible manner..
Everyone are ants in front of them..
Those pathetic small people who pale in front of there larger than life image..
Those great people who are born to lead the creature of the land…
Pardon!Pardon!

But now they should be respected….
Called Sir and Maam’s
Because there blood has an experience of time immemorial…
Because they know things..
Hail thy highness…

Then..

The royalties buddy come in..
The royal entourage goes out…
Leaving the whole work to God knows whom..
Though a plan B is always there (read: scapegoats)
After a while the royalty comes in..
Lips colored purple….
A smile of we-kno-we-are-gr8 on the face..

But its about time to leave
The clock has clasped its hand downwards…
Packs there bag..
And get going…
Hail thy highness…..

They have there minions
Who are better than them on how to butter up..
Who behind there back point the royalties failure..in governance of there empires..

A palace of conspiracy, coterie and sycophancy…
But here ye…
It’s a 21th century office and not a 16th century princely state…!

(Plus it could be used as a source of information for a journalist.[:P])

But wait see for past few months something is happening…blogs are making news…

Celebrities ,politician..big wigs..are increasingly turning to it to put ther opinion

Amitabh has one…Aamir already has one and now NC leader Omer Abdullah is also in the fray.

But is it being used properly by them?is it really to put ther opinion?or are these replies to someone..?

So has it become a way of telling the world what you want them to know by playing safe?

In a way you have a personal opinion but you also have an answer to your critics.

Clarifying thing….asking someone not to interfere much or just telling the world that u have a dog by some name….

Boxing critics in your own “personal manner”?

Though there are opinions but also agendas

Magi:yellow color spicy noodles eatn when you are in agood mood or you just catch hold of one.but seriously I don’t know how important is for most of the people but for me it ‘was’ my favorite food….and now has become a staple..yes

Staple..bcz since time time I hv stated ‘workin’..i have no other option.

And then I thought how important it has become for me, my source of basic nutrients and to fill my tummy.

I lv magi,my best frand loves maggi.and we have actually developed ingenious and different ways to make maggi with onion,tamatos,ghee etc etc….most of you must have also..

Since I was a baccha(many claim that I still am) I know how I used to have a maggi when eva that feel good factor came..geting good marks(rare occasion..heh heh..) or some occacion…

And in my deep search about maggi and its importance I googled and wikied and got to know many thngs….different flavor..atta noodle…Dal Sambar ( whole wheat noodles )..etc etc…ya ya good info…..

And recently the company I work did a sting on how 200 mg wali maggi is now 190 mg…who cares..im getng it and enjoyng it so…(ya the smell of affluence is there)…

Oky..tme for a break from my work and head for canteen for a maggi break…

Our doom was predicted.Democracy was a luxury India can’t afford.
The fire of separatism was bound to destroy the idea called India. But it didn’t happen. The miracle of democracy saved India. Since 1950s regular and free and fair elections are taking place. Democracy saw it dark period only during 2 years of emergency .

Multiparty system has allowed regional players to come and have a stake in the central government. This has help curbing regional dessent. Separatist who once saw bliss in freedom eventually believed in the power of democracy. It is through this manner they eventually sought the way to help and represent there people.

Parties with different ideologies are present in this form of governance. From left to right to secular and centrist. Every one has voice. Who would have thought after 13 years of collapse of U.S.S.R, communists will emerge as a major player in the formation of national government and that too democratically!

We are the largest democracy in the world.

India’s democracy may be flawed. But it’s working. We face several constrains. Population explosion, poverty illiteracy need to be checked fast. Women’s right and child labor are other areas to be dealt with. Corruption is the villain and democracy the victim. To control corruption transparency should be brought in. Thanks to RTI (right to information) transparency is increasing.

India has been traditionally a country with biases.In 60 years we might not be able to have wiped them completely but we have able to overcome them. Democracy has given equality.

In 60 years we have achieved a lot. Never before in the history have we been able to become masters of our density .Never before we were so prosperous. The economy is growing at all time high. The masses got a stake in the government in such a big way. Democracy has become our identity. Never before in the history of mankind such an experiment has been a success. Our future is optimistic .

We are poised to become global player thanks to democracy.

‘No power can stop an idea whose time has come’

Time of technology centric world has come.Technology has a deep Impact on eveything.Technology and its impact is the cyclical co-dependence, co-influence, co-production process.It is a synergistic relationship. The use of technology has a great many effects.The most subtle side effects of technology are sociological. These may involve gradually occurring changes in the behavior of individuals, groups, institutions, and even entire societies . It has brought about Efficiency and Social progress . Impact of technolgy in india started with the advent of television, radio and telephone.But now computer and the omnipresent mobile are also in the fray.

Use of computers has come a long way since the first computer was acquired by Indian statistical institute, Calcutta in 1955. A boom took place in microcomputers in India in 1980s and expanded in 1990s.

Computer literacy is the knowledge and ability to use computers and technology efficiently. It’s knowing how computers work and operate. Having basic computer skills is a significant asset. The level of computer literacy needed to have an advantage, depends both on the society one is in and your place in the social hierarchy. Prior to the development of the first computers in the 1950s, the word computer referred to a person who could count, calculate, and compute.

The fear of some educators today is that computer training in schools will serve only to train data-entry clerks of the next generation, low level workers of the so-called knowledge industries. On the other hand, some hope that enhanced computer literacy will enable a new generation of cultural producers to make meanings and circulate those in the public sphere. The wildfire of cultural production associated with sites such as You tube support this notion.

Different countries have different needs for computer literate people due to their society standards and level of technology. The world’s digital divide is now an uneven one with knowledge nodes such as India disrupting old North/South dichotomies of knowledge and power.

Computers came in wide spread use in 1986 when computerized railway passenger reservation system was introduced, followed by computerization of banks in urban areas. But adoption rate of computers by Indian households in the year 2000 was only 1 percent. But this can balanced by providing public access to computers in cyber cafes, telecenters, internet community centers.The new communication media have a higher ratio of information to entertainment.

But are these communication technology widening or narrowing gaps between individuals who are socio-economic elites and there less advantages counter parts. Computers are diffusing in India mainly among information rich. This is making them more advantaged in information sense. The middle class and the elite are adopting computers because these technologies help them to obtain information about news, financial data, travel schedule... etc.

The new communication media is widening the gap between information poor and information rich. But this can be termed more as a passing face because as public access to computer increases the digital divide will be cross.

Computers when applied to labor intensive industries such as manufacturing plants like textiles factories the have the potential to replace them. India has labor in abundance and these labor replacement technologies are bound to be unwelcome. In 1992 when HCL was organizing a press conference about marketing a new product and publicizing role of computer technology a huge demonstration took place outside it organized by political activist and tradesman. They feared that this technology will increase unemployment.

Deskilling is downgrading an occupation to lower socio economic status by replacing human skill with information handling. Just like clerks were replaced by computer technology in US. Many of these clerks become unemployed.

But computers have made certain jobs more enriching, enjoyable and productive. Like work in an assembly line like automobile were work is repetitive and dangerous.

The Indian software industry has zoomed from a mere $ 150 million (U.S) in 1990 to $5 billion in 2000.no other industry has created as many millionaires in India in such a short period of time. Indian computer software industry has created more millionaires in past a time period of 1996-2000 than all the other industries /sectors put together in past 50 years.

‘......the country was emerging as an IT superpower.Today,the country is handling the most sophisticated projects in the world...’

- Bill Gates,
Microsoft

Indian software power houses like Tata Consultancy services (TCS), Infosys, Satyam, Wipro have earned global brand equity for providing efficient software solutions of high quality, at low cost and using state of art technology. They have generated high employment. The Indian software industry employed about 400,000 people in the year 2000.

India rural and urban divide is getting bigger. While urban youth is getting more information savvy. The rural is still in darkness. A new phenomenon has risen in urban areas. The cyber cafes are becoming new hubs of urban youth.

In rural area computer technology has been introduced but with no objective. The government in kerela said that it has introduced computers in school but when these school did had computers but children there dint knew what are they for. Without any objective technology may become a monster.

‘Information technology would make India one of the fastest growing economies of next decade’-

Dawang Mehta,Secretary,NASSCOM

Technology should become a bridge between the rich and the poor and not become a divider. For this technological education should be introduced at primary level in both rural and urban area.

Technology has made information freely available for the mass which has revolutionized India. It has empowered journalist and masses alike. The power to change things.

The power to remove corruption .Technology has given education much needed impetus. Use of advanced computing and telecommunications technology has made learning qualitatively different.

Technology has made relief work more fast during a catastrophie.It is technology which has given voices to the voiceless people. Now journalist armed with camera and laptop can bring the news of ‘farmer’s suicides’ from central India.

Thus technology is transforming India. Technology is a must for everyone in this century but it should be handle carefully and wisely.

Social networking sites are sites which helps connecting people with there friends and meet people with common interest. Social networking sites are also used for business networking and dating. These sites lack hierarchical structure. They are random and unpredictable.

They are individual centric. They are made up of individuals each connected with other individual on the bases of a definite relation.
Relation may be of best friend, good friends, friend, acquaintances, partner etc. Each individual can be connected with any number of individuals. This process takes place with every individual or community. This forms a web structure.

These website help in managing contact very easily. Advent of these sites has help people to remain in constant touch with each other. These sites are very interactive. They connect people at low cost. They are free services. This is because they are still new services.

General in these sites one makes a profile. This is connect with there email account. In this profile he/she puts information like age, date of birth, hobbies, status, and profession. Then you can also upload your pictures. Some provide with facility of uploading video songs. They use various interactive communication medium like chats, email, messages, and community. Birthday reminders are other popular feature on the site. Bogging has also become an important part of these sites. These networking sites are general in content and usage.

Anybody can join them. Other important things on them are testimonial writings for other people, becoming there ‘fans’ etc. There are around 102 major social networking sites on the net. First site came up in 1995 and in12 years they have grown many folds. Young are more attracted towards them because they want to connect to there friends. Most popular are Orkut, MySpace, Facebook, Hi5, Friendster.

Orkut is most popular social networking websites in India . It’s a google service. It was creator Orkut Buyukkökten. It was launched in January 2004. As of August 2007, the number of members is over 67,000,000.Its unique features are scrapbooks and communities.
Scrap is a novel feature which has made orkut popular. It’s a kind of offline chatting. Here one can go scrap something in other person’s profile. When other person comes online to visit his/her Orkut profile he can read the scrap and reply. Now facility of HTML has been added to scrap. This helps in posting pictures, video files etc.
60.23 percent people on Orkut are between the age 18-25.26-30 age group people account for 10.56 percent. Minority population is of age group 50+ which accounts for 2.41 percent. Brazilians are present in highest numbers 53.60 percent followed by Americans and Indians. Who are 19.04% and 15.91% respectively.
63.45 percent people on Orkut are for friendship. Orkut is available in international 12 languages. Orkut now also available in 5 Indian languages: Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, Tamil, and Telugu. It was chosen as 2007 Pepsi and MTV Youth Icon. Orkut also won PC World India Award for the ‘Best Social Networking Website.’

Now more and more India based social networking sites are coming up like bigadda.com backed by reliance, indyarocks.com, bharatstudent.com.
Globally MySpace and Facebook are popular. Facebook has an interesting feature of Polls. It let you ask 18-24 year olds what’s hip. Just in 30 minutes. Its distinguishing feature is ‘poke’. Its gaining popularity in India fast.Hi5 is another popular social website. Its USP is its gives your http link like http://xyz.hi5.com. It was founded by Ramu Yalamanchi. It has been steadily losing ground to Orkut in India.

MySpace is most popular social networking website in the west. MySpace is currently the world’s sixth most popular English-language website .Third most popular website in the United States. Site reportedly attracted new registrations at a rate of 230,000 per day.

On July 19, 2006 , Rupert Murdoch’s NewsCorp paid $580 million for the site. Bebo a popular SNS was the most visited website in the year 2006 according to google.
Social Networking Sites for specific purposes are gaining foothold in this business.

Travel is a key area for social network. TripConnect, a SNS on Travel. It provides review on destinations and hotels by its members. Network of travel friends can be built in it and asked travel advice.

NetworkCityTherapy is the new online platform & social planning tool for European city life and city travel.
WAYN (standing for Where Are You Now?) also fall in this category. The service is thus intended to be used for its members to keep friends informed of where they are whilst travelling.TravBuddy.com and Travellerspoint are other travel related social networking sites.
Ryze.com, XING and LinkedIn is a social networking site for business. WebBiographies and Geni.com focuses on Genealogy & Biography. For sports there are different Social Networking sites like Joga Bonito for football. Last.fm for music freaks. Fotki , Fotolog , Zooomr and Flickr are for Photo sharing and Photoblogging.

These sites are popular region wise like Hi5 is popular in Central America, Cyworld in South Korea, Mixi in Japan, Nexopia in Canada, Skyblog in France Belgium, French Polynesia, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Amina - Chechen Republic Online in Chechenia and iWiW in Hungary.

These sites are a part of PR services. Celebrities like Justin Timberlake and Jay Sean are present on these sites. Many political organization have also opened there account. This is to increase membership base. Like Greenpeace on MySpace.

Privacy and security is important part on these sites. Username, password and personal information should be kept secret .Password should be changed regularly. URLs or script should not be pasted into the browser while logged into these sites. Never check ‘remember me’ when logging on a shared computer.

Fake profiles are common in these sites. Profiles of leaders like as of U.P. CM Mayawatis’ which has been recently removed are also found. Profiles on innate things like sun, moon can also be found.

Children have easy access to these sites. Hate communities and groups have sparked controversies. Like ‘I hate India’ communities. Also these sites got bad name after they were found to be part of murder mysteries.
Adnan Patrawala murder case where the 16 year old was abducted and later murdered by his own friends involved Orkut SNS in it. Several secrets which can be a threat to national security have been alleged to have been leaked on the social sites.

These websites have face censorship in many countries like Iran, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates because of there contents.

Social networking sites are the in thing rite now according to analysts and are making good business sense.

This comprised of first face of growth of electronic media in the country. During the second face there was a burst of television channels that were primarily in Hindi.

Zee was one of the first private channels to operate followed by Aaj tak. Later twenty four hour business news channels also joined the bandwagon. There were several models from the west which Indian Television news media can adopt like the BBC model which was intellectual, socially relevant. Other models were that of CNN, ABC, Fox, and Sky News.

It’s now up to media to adopt which model it considers relevant. What television channels couldn’t understand is its power and self restrain. Also Indian electronic media got comparatively less time to evolve itself when compared with its counter part in the west.

These are very tumultuous time for Indian Electronic media. The two most hotly debated topics today in the country is abuse of there power by media and the politicians. The electronic media scenario is changing fast. It’s evolving with each passing day.

The other half which is smiling is celebrating insensitively or oblivious to the condition of other.
The negative effect of this media hyperbole is that ‘page 3′ news has become ‘page 1′ news, farmer suicides less important than cricket debate. National media is celebrating and are not being honest.

Journalism has become a commodity. The element of accountability has declined and it has lost the basic responsibility of mounding the public opinion becoming ‘dilettante’ in its action.
Journalism is a mission but is increasingly becoming commerce.

Media is serving those who have the buying capacity. It is getting swayed by the middle class. But Media hyperbole about blueline, Delhi roads, and health problems has done some good work.
Indian metro media is doing great work like ‘citizen journalist’.
Newspapers are great and big ones. Big one run on TRP, audience, reach while on other hand great ones serve the basic requirement of empowering public opinion. It depends on media whether it wants to be mistress of classes or governance of those who need help!