To save these people, you need to keep them out of our sight
The most recurring, quoted number in India today is 1,411 – the mean count of tigers ostensibly remaining in the wild in the country. Everyone knows and everyone seems pretty upset. The number, of course, can be disputed and refuted too if needed; but that can be the topic for another discussion. What is evident is that given the rate of decline, it might be just another 20, or maybe 50, years by when tigers would vanish from our landscape. This number, till the other day, remained in the knowledge domain of wildlifers – conservationists, activists, enthusiasts. Thanks to the biggest ad campaign of the year, most people now know that 1,411 is too small a number in itself. Alarming, is how most ordinary people have been describing the number as.
Muivah on the Naga Issue – An Unpublished Interview: III
Subir Ghosh: The Kuki-Naga clash will never end it seems. What do you think your role is in this context? What is your assessment of this issue?
Thuingaleng Muivah: The so-called Kuki-Naga clash is a pure and simple creation of the Indian government. It is an utterly miscalculated venture since the sole motive behind it is to make the Kukis fight against the Nagas. What a proxy war! But, expecting what? And, from whom? However, most of the Indian Press took sides with the Kukis and ran unprofessional and biased accounts of the conflict against the Nagas. Yet, in spite of this scheme of the Indian government, the NSCN never encouraged the Naga people to kill the Kukis. Were it not for the Indian government policy, Nagas and Kukis would have lived together in peace and tranquility. Now, the solution to the issue hinges on the Indian government.
So FTV has hurt the government's sensibilities, again
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So the morally upright Indian government has once again banned FTV, albeit for 10 days. But banned nonetheless. The information and broadcasting ministry, for its part, has been extremely thoughtful in announcing the reason to the public as well.
An official statement tells us that it was noticed by the ministry that "A programme on FTV channel was telecast on September 4, 2009 at 15:37:34 hours and 19:01:48 hours showing women with nude upper body which was offending against good taste and decency." The Indian government had banned FTV a few years back on the same grounds.
Well, if FTV goes off air it wouldn’t make a fig of a difference either to our GDP or the stock index. It wouldn’t make people in our rural areas any poorer than they already are. If you leave out some diehard fashion aficionados, FTV’s absence is not going to peeve anyone.
FTV bows to government's obscenity guidelines
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FTV has apologised and the government has condescended. The government Friday revoked the ban on FTV six days before the two-month period suspension of the channel for beaming salacious images of skimpily-clad models. The channel apologised and assured that "such error" will not be repeated in the future.
FTV has assured the government that there would be no future violation of the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act 1995 or the Advertising and Programme Codes. The government revoked the ban after the channel assured that it has put in place a strict vigilance committee to oversee the programme content telecast on FTV.com India channel.
The vigilance panel will ensure that there is no violation of programme code contained in Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995. FTV has also assured that any programming considered inappropriate by the ministry will be immediately removed, the ministry said.
Time to pull FTV off air, it seems
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Information & Broadcasting Minister Priyaranjan Dasmunsi made AXN go off air. Now he seems to be dish out the same treatment to Fashion TV.
For once, the Congressman and his friend in the Bharatiya Janata Party, Sushma Swaraj, seem to be thinking likewise. Great minds think alike. [Link]
“I have got the highest number of complaints from schools, colleges about Fashion TV operations,” said Dasmunsi, the information and broadcasting minister.
“The kind of things they show, even in school-time, examination-time, daytime, I think that’s not fair. I straightly, plainly tell you, it is time for Fashion TV channel to think of whether they should confine their programme beyond 11 (p.m.),” the minister added.