Why is TOI mixing Army with religion?

This entry to Media Hall of SHAME is shocking news item Muslim general to defend LoC in Times of India.

There was a time when India never associated our defence forces with religion. They were our Jawans defending the nation. But of late it seems media has broken this last taboo also.

Time of India reports

He replaces Lt Gen N C Marwah. Hasnain is only the second Muslim officer to command 15 Corps, a crucial shield against Pakistan's offensive intent.

As if this is not enough Time of India also reports

The last Muslim officer to have commanded the 15 Corps was Lt Gen M K Zaki.

It is shocking to read  TOI making it sound it so dramatic as if Indian Army donot promote Muslim Officers!! 

If you cant defend.. Deflect

It seems the Radia Tapes has split Indian journalists right in middle. A group probably representing older generation is now advocating much needed radical corrective actions to bring repute back to once noble profession and prevent it becoming synonymous to worlds oldest profession. But surprisingly as this older generation tries to cleanse the system another influential section of Journalists, the armchair types who you mostly find in TV chat(they call it discussion programs) have closed ranks.

Media Watch sees Swapan Dasguptas Times of India  column Time to fight the cancer, not join the lynch mob in this context.

Knowingly or unknowingly, It seems that Swapan has completely missed the core issue surrounding the Radiia Tapes. In his naiveness, Swapan tries to explain the outrage as an misplaced anger of “lynch mob” “against India`s entire wealth-generation process” who according to him has shown “gritty determination to overcome a difficult, if not hostile, business environment”

Media Watch is surprised that Swapan who is a regular in twitter has missed the most trending topic in recent times. It didnot read #Ambanigate or #Ratangate but it was #BarkhaGate and #MediaMafia which was trending as number 1 topic in India. So the anger is not against the wealth generation process of business houses. It is not even against Radiia who most of us believe was just doing her job(rather efficiently). The popular anger is directed against a prominent group of media ‘celebrities’ who have overstepped their brief by miles and played fiddle to current day neros of India i.e corrupt politicians. Yes sir…. the anger is against Wealth Generation activities but not of business houses but of Media houses. In short,  the anger is against corrupt Media the fourth pillar of our democracy.

Lastly, Media Watch is taken back by the audacity of Swapan to call ordinary man rising in anger against deep rooted malice as Lynch Mob. It gets more painful considering the fact it is written in an article where he himself praises how commonman of India rose against the tyranny of British Rule. Perhaps if Swapan could move from dance floor (proximity to politics, business and the media) to the balcony, he will realize that there are no Lynch Mob here. He will find here a motley crowd of engineers, businessmen , housewife, student who want nothing but a better and just India. But then it donot surprise us as Swapan was among the first to use the term ‘Internet Hindu’ perhaps he just upgraded the much maligned Internet Hindus to Lynch Crowd.

I am not a doctor but common sense tells me that sometimes its best and safest treatment for malignant tumor is amputation.

Is Modi is cheating by being more efficient?

This entry in Media Hall of Shame is regarding a shocking news report in Indian Express.

IE today in an article Modi accused of starting auto 'rat race' reports how Modi is stealing car projects from other states!

Surprisingly, the first example IE mentioned was how Tatas moved Singur Nano project Gujarat. According to IE,

It shocked the entire nation in general and India Inc in particular.

In the same breath the report also mentions in brackets

had just been booted out of Singur by Mamata Banerji-stirred controversy

Media watch is not sure what IE expected Tatas to do? Did they expect Tatas to shelve the project instead of moving to Gujarat. In an interview with Economic times this is what Ratan Tata had to say

we have been receiving letters from various state governments ever since we faced problems (at Singur). Land was the main issue. It was a kind of insurance (at the time). But there was a tremendous urgency once we made the statement on 22 August that we would move if things didn't improve as we had already lost a lot of time. We started to respond sometime in September to the offer from the states. We started running around looking at the land. The same people had to look at the land on offer (to make a proper comparison). The Gujarat chief minister moved really fast, and yesterday, we took the decision. In other states there were processes to be gone through or things which the legislative assembly had to do which may or may not happen despite the best intention of the chief minister of the state. Gujarat enjoys the reputation of being an investment-friendly state. So we decided late on Monday evening that we may as well go with Gujarat as everything was in place.

So if we believe Rata Tata, several State govts approached Tata for the Nano project. Narendra Modi won the project because he was more efficient! Is being efficient a negative trait? It is shocking the a national newspaper of IE stature instead of supporting good governance is running a campaign against it!

After Nano projects, IE cites example of Ford India and Hyundai who according to IE is planning to shift their expansion projects to Gujarat.

And, in this case at least, that has not gone down well with other states, in particular Tamil Nadu, which had played host to these foreign companies in the first place. In fact, the attitude is one of being 'cheated'.

Accusing the Gujarat government of starting a "rat race" by luring industries from other states, a Congress MP from Tamil Nadu today sought Centre's intervention in stalling the reported moves of Ford India and Hyundai to go out of the state for expansion projects.

It is surprising to see IE using language such as “In fact, the attitude is one of being 'cheated'.” What is the basis to substantiate this claim? Has IE done any survey to claim this or is it purely based on statement of one congress MP K S Alagiri?

However, IE failed to mention that both Ford and Hyundai have specific reason for evaluating their options outside Tamil Nadu.

According to reports; Hyundai Motor India has two manufacturing plants in Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu and Hyundai is not averse to setting up its third facility in Tamil Nadu  or Andhra Pradesh,despite the challenge of labour issues but according to Hyundai having a  plant in Gujarat will give the company better access to northern and western India. Additionally, proximity to ports will enhance exports. Now is IE expecting companies to sacrifice their business interests on the altars of secularism? 

Ford is having second thoughts on the same owing to the growing labour union problems in Tamil Nadu. In Gujarat, companies are not mandated to recognise labour unions. Tamil Nadu, on the other hand, is mulling over enacting a law that requires companies to have a registered and recognised labour union as Maharashtra and West Bengal do.

On the issue of Labour disputes, IE shamelessly quotes congress MP K S Alagiri

Barring a few stray incidents, the industrial relations in the state have been satisfactory and there have been no strikes or lockouts in major industries in the state for the last several years, he said.

While the fact is All is not well on the industrial labour front in Tamil Nadu, with simmering discontent among workers in multinational companies leading to strikes and shutdowns. Labour problems at Hyundai Motor India flare up at regular intervals. The newly-formed workers union at Ford Motor India has written to the state government to intervene on its behalf. In 2006 TN saw 51 strikes and lockouts which went up to 66 in 2007, 86 in 2008 and then came down to 49 in 2009 due to which 2.10 lakh mandays were lost.

Lastly, there is a several power shortage in TamilNadu,. Tamil Nadu's power requirement is estimated at 7,177 MUs against an availability of 6,521 MUs leaving a shortage of 656 MUs. While Gujarat is a power surplus state. We are selling about 600 MW of power to other states

It is shocking and disgusting IE is playing into the hands of “secular” politicians and is taking positions which would be detrimental for overall wellbeing for the country. 

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Good News about Modi travels slow

One of biggest news which kept media excited was Post Godhra riots in Gujarat. Newsmedia tookup this issue with a passion never seen before even though India has seen much worse riots before. In fact, Post Godhra riots reporting became a cottage industry in itself. Livelihood of several NGO’s and reporters depended on this issue.

So one would naturally expect Media to get all excited and report when a major news on Modi and Godhra appears.

This morning TOI broke the news SIT clears Narendra Modi of wilfully allowing post-Godhra riots  Dhananjay Mahapatra, TNN, Dec 3, 2010, 12.47am IST

During the course of the day, Some others also broke the news.

India Today, SIT clears Gujarat CM Narendra Modi of wilfully allowing post-Godhra riots December 3, 2010 | Updated 09:38 IST

IBN: Clean chit to Modi in Guj riot cases: sources Posted on Dec 03, 2010 at 14:36

But even after 8 Hours several major Media houses like NDTV or Indian express are yet to even mention this news in their website.  I guess when it comes to Modi Good news (depending upon whom you ask) travels slow.

Indian Express should use caution using terms loosely

Indian Express in their report Rapist tantrik fleeced girls’ family of Rs 1 crore: police write

Mehdi Kasim Shaikh, the tantrik arrested for raping six teenagers, allegedly fleeced their family of Rs 1 crore over a period of time and stashed it in a flat he had rented in Kalyan. The discovery came after the police raided the flat.

According to Dictionary, Tantrik is Adjective of Tantra which mean

Any of a comparatively recent class of Hindu or Buddhist religious literature written in Sanskrit and concerned with powerful ritual acts of body, speech, and mind.

So a tantrik is a practitioner of the Hindu tantra systems of beliefs.

In that case, How can Mehdi Kasim Shaik a muslim be a tantrik? IE’s use of term creates unnecessary confusion and Media Watch hopes that IE will be more cautious

HT says Priyanka Inspiring winter wardrobe

In an news article Priyanka Gandhi: Look of the season HT analyses the fashion sense of priyanka gandhi!

The best para, I liked was

City youngsters, too, are giving a thumbs-up to this look, which is already inspiring their winter wardrobe.

Disgusting is the word which comes to mind! SHAME HT

Secular reporting at its best

This entry to Media Hall of Shame is a news report pertaining to tussle between locals of Hiregutti village in Uttara Kannada district and National Highway authorities. To widen NH-17 into a four-lane highway, the National Highway authorities are attempting to shift the temple, much to the opposition of locals.

Times of India reports in Sangh opposes eviction of Brahma temple

The eviction of a religious place which has "encroached upon public property" has kicked up dust at Hiregutti village in Kumta taluk of Uttara Kannada district.

The Hindu reports Locals threaten authorities against shifting temple

The clearance of places of worship built illegally on public property has kicked up a row in Hiregutti village of Kumta taluk in Uttara Kannada district.

How can one oppose widening of NH for an inconsequential temple build “illegally on Public property”

Now lets consider some other facts tucked in later parts of the news.

It seems the temple was established during the Kadamba dynasty. Whats was left unsaid was Kadamba dynasty was founded by in 345 CE and was prominent till 525 CE. Yes you heard it right the said inconsequential temple is centuries old! Just to put things in perspective Charminar the most famous mosque and monument in  Hyderabad which also stands in middle of road was build in 1591 a full 1000 year later.

Now we at Media Watch have few questions to reporter and Media houses who published this news

1. How can a temple build in the time period 345 CE - 525 CE be considered to be “illegally on Public property” considering the fact modern India itself was established in 1947!

2. If Charminar which came up a century later can remain on the road why cant Highway authorities find a way to extend the road without destroying the temple! Shoudnt a centuries old temple be considered national heritage

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