Tag: price rise

News and Statistics

India, Media
2 Comments

There are people who criticize media for its coverage of events. They say media ignores real issues like poverty, price rise, illiteracy and unemployment and gives importance to trivia. Farmer suicides are ignored. Death of Dev Anand and retirement of Rahul Dravid get prominence.

Those critics do not know what news is. One person dying is news. Thousand persons dying is statistics. When farmers die every day it is not news. Terrorist strikes in Kashmir are not news. When Anna Hazare fasts it is news. Irom Sharmila fasting is not news.

People like Dev Anand do not die every day. Dev Anand was in the film industry for 65 years. His films have entertained a large section of people.

Cricketers like Rahul Dravid do not retire every day. He played Test cricket for 16 years. He had the record of highest Test catches. He was second in the number of Test runs.

The job of the media is to report. It is not the job of the media to do social service. However media should not glorify crime and criminals. It should not publish or air interviews of criminals.

Media reports did not stop starvation deaths. Same is the case with malnutrition, child marriages in some parts of India and other problems. Media can make some difference but cannot work wonders.

Protest against price rise

India
Comments

On 5/7/2010 there was Bharat Bandh. Parties belonging to Left Front, NDA and some others had called for bandh. The bandh was in protest against rise in prices of petrol, diesel, kerosene and LPG. Many leaders courted arrest. Buses were damaged.

The bandh was supposed to be for the common man of India. Bandhs disrupt life and do not benefit common man. There is loss of day’s work. People who had to travel long distance by bus, car, train or plane suffer. Some book tickets months in advance. Many people do not get medical attention and sometimes people die.

Parties should protest differently. They can go on an indefinite fast or one day fast. They can demonstrate in front of secretariats or ministers’ houses. Bandhs are not the way to protest.

Bandhs are bad when opposition parties call for them. They are worse when state governments enforce them. They fail in their duty and act unconstitutionally.

Parties claim they get support from people. Shopkeepers shut shops because there will be stone throwing.

Some years back Bombay High Court fined two parties 20 lakh rupees each for Maharashtra Bandh. It is time somebody moves Supreme Court for fining parties for Bharat Bandh and the fine should be in crores.

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