A Practical News Letter by Department of Journalism, Maharaja Agrasen College, University of Delhi

If journalism is good, it is controversial, by its nature. Julian Assange

There is little doubt that the new media

has opened up huge possibilities for the

Indian youth in recent years. Though the

overall penetration of new media in the

country has reached only ten per cent, it is

up to 80 per cent in the metropolises.

Beginning with e-mail in the 90s, the use of new media has spread

very rapidly in social interaction and entertainment. However, a large

part of the potential remains untapped due to various constraints

inherent in the Indian reality.

The numbers of youth using the new media are growing very rapidly.

But for the present we are talking of urban youth only. The over-

whelming section of our youth, which lives in the rural areas, remains

large untouched by the media, new or old. So when we talk of the role

of new media in the country we should be little careful in arriving at

any hasty conclusions.

The same reservation applies when we speak of the role of new media

in changing the lives of the people. The first and the biggest change

that new media affords is economic by adding technology to the four

traditional means of production – land, labour, capital and entrepre-

neurship. Here too, new media has till now played a limited role in

unleashing the potential of Indian economy. The large unorganised

sector still remains relatively untouched by the efficiencies that new

media brings to the economies of nations.

It seems that the biggest single change that new media has brought in

India during the past decade is that it has ushered in transparency in

governance. We are today a more transparent nation, and this is large-

ly due to the Right to Information and the role of the new media in

making that right effective. When we live in a borderless society, it will

itself develop a common ethics because of the public pressure. Things

are bound to change for the better in the coming years when the

younger generation fully realises the potential of new media to trans-

mit, store, and retrieve information in no time. The keypad opens up a

world of information and knowledge which gives power to the user.

I would like to very strongly urge the youth to use the power of new

media for the good of the society of which they are an integral part

and which impacts their lives. Immense power of new media should

be used not just for social interaction and entertainment, but much

more importantly for changing things for the better. Change must

begin at home, in educational institutions, and in the neighbourhood.

The new media has made it easier for the youth to make things hap-

pen. It is now up to them to make the change for the better.

October 2011October 2011

Page 2 - Eve Teasing

still running rampant

Page 4 - Who can Live

Without the Internet

Page 5 - The new age

of impatience.

Page 7 - F1 - India

in the fast lane.

‘Aakash’ is not the limitThe Indian government has launched Aakash, the much awaited tablet PC in an attempt to bridge the digital divide

On July 22nd 2010, HRD minister Kapil Sibal announced

that the Indian government would attempt to bridge the

digital divide by means of a 35$ tablet PC. The following

year, on October 5th 2011, Aakash was launched as an

affordable tablet computer priced at a neat `1750 for

Indian students.

The dream of a technologically empowered nation did

not seem far, the introduction of a cheaper alterna-

tive to traditional computing devices quashed skep-

tics and reinforced optimists.

No doubt Aakash is a landmark for modern India but the

journey to absolute technical finesse in the hands of the

masses is far from over.

The commercial variant of the tablet will be retailed

under the brand name UbiSlate and will cost a relatively

decent `3000.

Those purchasing the commerical variant won’t be

liable to the government subsidy but would be able to

avail the facility of telephonic conversations, video

chat and internet surfing via a GSM operator.

With the launch of the Aakash tablet, several other

schemes of the Indian Government wherein it was

attempting to ensure a technologically enabled nation

have come to the fore.

BOSS or Bharat Operating System Solutions is a free

Linux based operating system for India which has been

avoiding the media glare. BOSS can be downloaded from

it’s website and has variants other than a developer ver-

sion ranging from ones for basic educational needs to

advanced versions for servers and even for the Intel

atom processor.

The Indian government and the populace must realize

that the currently available resources would not be suf-

fice to ensure equal opportunity for the masses in the

years to come.

The government needs to strive for enhancement in

order to survive in the standards set by fellow nations.

Constraints with Aakash like other government machin-

ery are pertaining to distribution and questions being

raised on the quality of products. As an introduction, 1

lakh tablets are being made available for over 25,000

higher education institutions in our country, a figure if cal-

culated leads to just 4 tablets per institute in the first

round.

Further the question being raised on the 3 hour claimed

battery backup is a major down slide.

The lack of availability of proper distribution mechanisms

has since time immemorial been instrumental in the fiz-

zling out of government policies. Further the introduction

on a cheap tablet does not ensure it’s proper utilization.

The introduction of Aakash is certainly one of the most

landmark steps in the future of India but we must ensure

that this is not the only step that is undertaken.

We in India are accustomed to an extremely lax attitude

when the electronic development of our nation is consid-

ered.

It is necessary that the Aakash tablet does not meet it’s

end as the 2G spectrum and other attempts to technolog-

ically empower the nation.Twesh Mishra, Journo, 2nd Year

Subhagata Bhattacharya, Journo,1st Year

Youth and New

Media

Dr. Sunil Sondhi, Principal

Traversing down the memory lane, somewhere

around the year 2000, the world had begun to reap

the real dividends of globalization. The explosion of

the dot com bubble in the United States happened to

be a major milestone in the history of the human

race. During this time, the competition amongst vari-

ous powerhouses driving

the market rapidly inten-

sified and corporations

began to post record

profits. With phenome-

nal economic success

being achieved and with

an eye towards greater

growth, work hours

became lengthier and

jobs became more chal-

lenging. It was at this

point in time when con-

cerns were being raised

over the future of the

social wellness of the human race but just when

things started

appearing blurred,

what unleashed

next happened to

be the most domi-

nating and bizarre

byproduct of the

dot com bubble

which stormed the

entire world like a

whirlwind. It was

time for retribution

and what resulted

were popular upris-

ings in Tunisia,

Egypt and Libya

along with popular

anti-corruption movements in India and other parts of

the world. Social networking sites played a pivotal

role in such movements. There is no denying that

even today, a world which claims to be a self appoint-

ed protector of democracy and liberty happens to

indulge in widespread censoring of the press. In many

countries, the government commands an absolute

control over the media which results in the press

becoming the spokesperson and mouthpiece of the

government. In such political set ups, social media

emerges as an unbiased, independent platform which

helps people broadcast their views freely and hence

in case of a social movement it helps people to

express opprobrium openly

and encourage others to

voice opposition against

injustice.

It’s pretty evident that social

media is a very powerful tool

and in instances pertaining to

social movements it helps in

communicating information,

organizing protests, mobiliz-

ing greater support by serv-

ing as a base for free propa-

gation of ideas, exposing gov-

ernment brutalities and

wrongdoings, providing a

platform for opprobrium and expression of independ-

ent opinions etc. But

it isn’t utilized in the

most positive way

always. While social

net working sites

were used as a

weapon by Tunisians

and Egyptians to

peacefully topple dic-

tatorial regimes,

undemocratic forces

in England mis-uti-

lized them to organ-

ize crimes, spread

riots and looting.

Every technology has

its set of pros and

cons and social networking sites happen to be no

exception. The use of social networking websites in

such an extensive way, proves that people don’t just

use such sites as a substitute for physical interactions

with their friends and acquaintances.Saif Ahmad Khan, Journo, 1st Year

Social Networking - Karlo Duniya Mutthi Mein

Bridging the GapThe birth of social networking sites like MySpace, Hi5,

Bebo, Orkut, Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and a host of

other such sites reiterated and reestablished the fact that

social interaction and communication are and will always

be irreplaceable, irremovable and indelible aspects of the

life of humans during their prolonged stay on Earth. On one

hand, de-regulation and globalization cornered people in

their offices and on the other hand social networking sites

helped individuals in giving birth to another life of theirs on

a platform popularly referred to as the virtual world.

Features ranging from posting messages and content to

sharing photos and videos became immensely popular

within no time.

2

I think journalism is a great way to do public service, to have an impact on your community. Bob Schieffer

Stepping out of that doorway may not be as easy

for Eve as it may be for Adam. Modernization is on

every Indian’s mind and women empowerment is

one of the main focuses of Indian society. However

the audacity of eve teasing is still running rampant

in the country, especially in the capital itself.

While this may seem to be a fun bustle for the male

members of our society, it’s almost as earth shat-

tering and nerve racking for the females out there.

Not exaggerating the facts, eve teasing and its

impacts have not only been taking away their con-

fidence and self-esteem but also the lives of many

juvenile girls.

The sounds of catcalling, wolf-whistling, humming

of songs, and even uncouth comments are now

familiar for the ears of those girls who go out in the

city. This anarchy has not only put a fear in the

minds of the young girls but even their parents are

scared to send their girl child alone on the streets.

The mindset of the people is such, that eve teasing

is encouraged by the girls themselves when they

wear western clothes or go out in the night. But the

fact is that, even girls wearing traditional dresses

are victims of this, and so are those who go out in

daylight.

The blame goes to those boys who are not scared

to pass suggestive remarks, feel a girl up in public

places or even about out-and-out groping.

We live in a society where believe it or not, both the

girl and a boy are brought up with two different set

of rules to lead a life. Censoring their girl’s move-

ments, putting different time restrictions is a patri-

archy followed by almost all parents.

In spite of this, eve teasing has not been curbed but

on the other hand has increased, making life more

difficult for the girls. Downright sexual harassment

implies the level of male mentality which shows

how much they are frustrated never mind how edu-

cated or intelligent they are.

No wonder most girls feel that disgusting and sink-

ing feeling when they have to travel in congested

buses or metro. Totally favoring the step taken to

reserve coaches in metro for ladies, many are saved

from degrading glares, lewd gestures and uncalled

attention and they now feel safe to commute.

Sexual harassment is now growing at an alarming

rate, with innumerable cases going unheard of. Girls

are too scared to report or as in most cases the

offender zooms off, leaving no evidence behind

except the poor girl who’ll have its inkling through

the rest of her life. Eve teasing is not only seen on

streets but schools, colleges, malls, bus stops and

even institutes are not free from this social crime.

So what is the solution? Just sit back and take it as

just another part of life, thinking that “boys will be

boys”? Ignore the cheap guys who sing “choli ke

peeche kya hai” when you are on your way to col-

lege or “munni badnaam hui” as the latest pick up

line? Or else lock your girls up in the houses to keep

them away from public glares?

The first and foremost duty is of the mothers, who

inculcate the values and morals in their sons so that

they respect women or not becomes an option for

them. It’s not intentional, but following up on our

traditions, India, since a long time has been a male

dominated society and it will take a long time to

change the mindset of people. Mothers should

teach their sons to value women and treat them

with respect as they would like their sisters and

mothers or perhaps themselves to be treated.

On the part of women, it’s a highly debatable point,

whether or not they should react to humiliating

comments and unruly behavior by men or should

they ignore them completely.

Girls, when alone should and must always carry

some sort of weapon, perhaps a pepper spray or a

knife and they should know how and when to use

it. Never should one walk through a lonely or a dark

road, as precaution is always better than cure. They

should always avoid potential harassers and better

not react when facing a large group.

Speaking up is the only way that is going to help

solve this major problem facing the society as a

whole. Not only should the women be the ones to

react and agitate, but it is the duty of our society

and media to spread awareness concerning this

ghastly glitch.

There should be more lady police cells in every area,

and women should report the crime without any

fear or humiliation.

The women rights organization helped to pass ‘The

Delhi Prohibition of Eve-teasing Bill 1984” and there

are lot of laws which sentence punishment to the

guilty.

Avoiding this issue is not the remedy, nor is eve teas-

ing a joke. It’s a highly unethical and rampant prob-

lem, and without any ardent measures it cannot be

resolved. The dignity of a woman comes at stake

and what may seem like a minute of fun for a boy,

becomes a lifetime of humiliation for the girl.Ridhima Shukla, Journo, 3rd Year

Eve Teasing Rampant Everywhere

Is being a girl a punishment? Does being

a girl means losing her own self respect

and still working for her family, for others?

Does it means to spend her life in just four

walls of her house?

The questions above being asked are

because of the IRRATIONAL and UNDESIR-

ABLE behavior of men in and outside the

homes which every second girl has to face

daily in her routine life. That kind of unex-

pected behavior is

known as Sexual

Harassment. SEXUAL

HARASSMENT is

intimidation, bully-

ing or coercion of a

sexual nature, or the

unwelcome or inap-

propriate promise of

rewards in exchange

for sexual favors.

Sexual harassment could take place any-

where, at any time, by anyone and in any

form. It could happen at public places,

school, educational institutes, workplace,

even at home. Sexual harassment can be

verbal (comments about your body,

spreading sexual rumors, sexual remarks

or accusations, dirty jokes or stories),

physical (grabbing, rubbing, flashing or

mooning, touching, pinching in a sexual

way, sexual assault) or visual (display of

naked pictures or sex-related objects,

obscene gestures).

Often, sexual harassment incidents fall

into the category of the "merely annoy-

ing." However, many situations can, and

do, have life-altering effects particularly

when they involve severe/chronic abuses,

and/or retaliation against a victim who

does not submit to the harassment, or

who complains about it openly. Indeed,

psychologists and social workers report

that severe/chronic sexual harassment

can have the same psychological effects as

rape or sexual assault.

Sexual harassment is ILLEGAL. If a girl is

being harassed then she need not to be

afraid and should fight against it. She

could opt for following steps:

Say “No” Clearly: Tell the person who is

harassing you that his/her behavior

offends you. They may not realize how

hurtful their behavior is and may need a

clear message from you to stop.

Complain to the Authority: File a written

or verbal complaint to the

highest authority like the prin-

cipal, teacher, manager, boss

or police specifying the whole

situation with accurate time

and date.

File a Complaint With a

Government Agency: In India

there are not many laws

regarding the same. Those

found guilty can be punished under sec-

tion 294 and section 509 of IPC. Recently,

in 2006, Sexual Harassment of Women at

Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and

Redressal) Bill, 2006 was passed.

According to India's constitution, sexual

harassment infringes the fundamental

right of a woman to gender equality under

Article 14 of the Constitution of India and

her right to life and live with dignity under

Article 21 of the Constitution.

Even after so many efforts of Government

of India the cases for sexual harassment

have seen no decline. The people for our

help i.e. the cops and Government

employees are now themselves seen as

harassers in many cases. The provisions

against sexual harassment contain several

loopholes which can be exploited easily by

the harasser in his favor. Clearly the provi-

sions and laws need to be more compre-

hensive to provide justice to those who

have been victims and protection to those

who could be potential victims.Barkha Sethi, Journo, 1st Year

Know your rights, Let none infringe

them

The posters carefully pinned all

over the college – on every floor

and notice board, were not easy to

overlook. Neither the message they

conveyed was anything unheard of

before.

Since the college relocated to the

Vasundhra Enclave campus, stu-

dents have continually been adapt-

ing themselves to the new area that

was destined to be neighboured by

the Dallupura village and a govern-

ment school.

Quite expectantly girls could feel

the glares at themselves while mov-

ing in and out of the college premis-

es (sometimes even within the

same). The constant hounding kept

on mounting up and seemed to

continue forever. Moreover, not

only girls but some of the boys were

also jeered at and in one case even

beaten up. Everyone had seen

these things happening or even

been through it themselves yet

somehow people were hesitant or

perhaps, did not care enough to do

something about it.

Amidst this everyday affair, a small

group of students realised the need

of hour by approaching various

teachers and the Principal who

gladly rendered valuable assistance

to them.

Hence, accompanied with the

approval of the college authorities

these students got themselves busy

with distributing pamphlets and

putting up posters, spreading the

word about unity and presenting

everybody with an opportunity to

come together and finally face the

common problem which had been

losing rebuttal due to a lack of soli-

darity.

With only three days given for pro-

motion, it was unbelievable to see a

large number of college students

acknowledging their effort by

attending the assembly on 8th

September that was organised by

the same lot of considerate stu-

dents. An online group was also

readily formed on the social net-

working site Facebook by the name

Let’s Unite, Fight Abuse which

proved to help reach out to more

number of people.

During the event around 250 to 300

students witnessed speeches by our

honourable Principal Mr. Sunil

Sondhi, Miss Geetanjli Chawla and

Mr. S. K. Tiwari from the teaching

staff. While Mr. Sondhi advised to

be wary of one’s wardrobe Miss

Chawla asked everyone to pay

attention to their gesticulation i.e.

how one carried oneself publicly.

She also emphasised on the impor-

tance of moving around in groups

and asked everyone to be aware of

the geography of our area so as to

take different, appropriate routes in

time.

As a result of this event, a sexual

harassment cell that is associated

with the University of Delhi has

been reactivated in the college with

six voluntary student representa-

tives. It also offers a helpline to all

the students to freely report about

any misbehaviour faced by them or

happening around them.

It is never too late to take action

and bring about a change but don’t

even wait for too long else it may

get way too late.

Special acknowledgement to Rajat

Rawat, Garima Pant, Garima Tiwari

and Ashutosh Kant Prabhakar.Anushri Saxena, Journo, 2nd Year

Wind of Change: Let’s Unite, FightWind of Change: Let’s Unite, Fight

AbuseAbuse

October 2011October 2011

Eve teasing is not only seen on streets but

schools, colleges, malls, bus stops and even

institutes are not free from this social crime.

3October 2011October 2011

I still believe that if your aim is to change the world, journalism is a more immediate short-term weapon.Tom Stoppard

Planting trees has clear social

and ecological benefits, but it

is not a long-term solution to

equipping our society and

economy to deal with climate

change. The danger is that we

could actually think we're solv-

ing a problem. It makes us feel

good. It makes us feel warm

and fuzzy, like changing a cou-

ple of light bulbs. But the reali-

ty is it's not going to have a sig-

nificant effect.

I do not promote trees as the

only solution to climate

change. What everyday people

can do stop global warming is

to cut down on electricity and

gasoline use, support renew-

able energy and yes, plant

trees. We can find pluses and

minuses to all the offset

options, but the worst thing is

to do nothing.

I'm sure the people attending

the G8 summit didn't need a

separate limo each to pick

them up. But to then claim that

the problem is dealt with by

planting a couple of trees or

whatever is worrying.

Someone need to tell them

that a car trip avoided through

use of public transport, walk-

ing or cycling is worth any

amount of 'damage control'

whether through tree planting

or otherwise.

It's simply not

possible to plant

enough trees to

have a signifi-

cant effect on

global warming.

The matter of

fact is that they

won’t last long.

Even if the trees

do survive, if we

have climate

change and a 2C

or 3C tempera-

ture rise, then how do we

know those trees are not going

to die early and break down

into methane and actually

make the situation worse.

Apart from tree plantation,

there are a lot of things to be

done. We should keep a check

on our carbon emissions,

reduce our ecological foot-

print, initiate rain water har-

vesting, promote renewable

sources of energy and ensure

proper waste disposal.

In the end I would just like to

say that ‘Telling people to plant

trees is like telling them to

drink more water to keep

down rising sea levels’Shakeb Wajeeh, Journo, 1st Year

Is Planting Trees Enough?

In the early years of Indian Cinema a

scene used to start with a middle aged

woman dancing near a tree and then all

of a sudden running

inside her house giv-

ing some loud

expressions on her

face without any

sound and BANG the

movie ends.

That is what we call

History of Indian

Cinema which has

become 80 years old

now. It has witnessed

many changes over a period of time.

From movies like Do-Bigha Zameen and

Mother India to Peepli Live and Delhi

Belly, from black and white to color and

from mute to Dolby Digital.

Today cinema is no longer seen as a

vague source of entertainment. It has

now become a mirror of the Indian soci-

ety. Movies now are a part of personal

creative imagination, and are based on

real life issues resulting in them to be

thought provoking.

It is widely agreed that cinema and

movies are the passions of every Indian.

One can hear Bollywood songs in every

second Tea-Shop; the fashion statement

that a movie star portrays on a 70mm

Screen has loads of Followers. The

attraction and inspiration of cinema has

been alike over the ages. From Manoj

Kumar’s ’Desh Bhakti Mode’ where giv-

ing life for the nation was everything to

Aamir Khan’s ‘Rang de basanti’ where

characters had no hesitation in accepting

that they don't like this country and

want a serious change in society. The

essence of patriotism can be instilled by

movies. And even the audience relates

to them!

Earlier what attracted audiences most

was action and expression of characters,

but now all

what cinema

believes in is

‘Visual

Appeal’.

Even the

themes of

the stories

have

changed.

Cinema

started with

having mythology and Family based

Drama’s, the story line used to kept sim-

ple which consist of two characters one

good and another bad with loads of loud

desi songs, that is what entertainment

meant to be.

But now the story line is based on a par-

ticular theme or the theme is only for a

particular character of the movie in

which the same character shows various

shades of grey.

Cinema today is no longer a mere means

of ‘Entertainment’ rather this term is

taken over by ‘Infotainment’. The idea of

Infotainment is to reach out masses by

providing them full-on entertainment

with loads of information at the same

time. It is no longer made for some spe-

cial set of people of the society rather it

is made for the mass audience so that

one can easily relate to it.

In between, a time came when most of

the movies were based for a specific sec-

tion of society with more specific

themes and language. Now the basic

idea of Film makers is to hit the mass

audience even at grass-root level with

whole "Mirch masala" and the stereo-

typed bollywood style. The purpose is

not only entertainment but also to do

equal justice with the theme and the

motive of the movie.

Movies used to be shot on elaborate

sets in film studios but now with the

increase in budget of films, movies are

shot globally, so a person sitting on the

couch gets to know about different

places and cultures. And this is certainly

not the end; the transformation is also

seen in the field of comedy. Humor earli-

er was slapstick and was only meant for

‘Bone-Tickling’ but now cinema has got

more exposure than ever and so do its

humor. Comedy now is more Satirical

and is meant for ‘Mind-Tickling’.

There is no doubt that emotions on the

silver screen are hardly noticeable now

but the message they give is much clos-

er to reality. If cinema shows what socie-

ty is it also has the power to change

what society thinks.Labhanshi Sharma, Journo, 1st Year

Changing Face of Indian Cinema - InfotainmentChanging Face of Indian Cinema - Infotainment

over Entertainmentover Entertainment

A recent campaign was started by actor Imran Khan

in support of lowering the drinking age in the city of

Mumbai from 25 years to the age of 18. It leads us to

the questions like ‘is it safe for the drinking age to be

lowered?’ ‘Is the young India responsi-

ble enough to handle hard drinks?’

In a country where 50% of the popula-

tion is under 25 getting alcohol rarely

poses a problem. Bars and nightclubs

regularly supply under 25’s with alco-

hol as most of their clientele is filled of

this age group.

A major argument against this law is that a person is

allowed to vote by the age of 18. He/she is allowed

to enlist in the military, and is also allowed to marry.

Therefore by making the legal drinking age 25, the

lawmakers take a slightly hypocritical stand as elect-

ing a government or marriage is definitely a bigger

responsibility in comparison to drinking alcohol.

Another major stumbling block towards this law is

the social perception towards alcohol. Alcohol is

seen as an evil in the society and teenagers tend to

bend towards a non-conformist means of expressing

themselves. Alcohol provides them with this outlet.

It has been proven that in countries like Greece, Italy

and China a lower drinking age is directly proportion-

ate to lesser alcohol related problems than countries

with a higher drinking age. This

can be due to peer pressure, the

forbidden fruit syndrome, socie-

tal pressures etc.

The best way to thus prevent the

rampant abuse of this law is to

lower the drinking age. This will

make the consumption of alcohol public which can

be easily monitored by the police, security guards

etc. Also it no longer would be a forbidden fruit as

the curiosity one associates with drinking alcohol will

no longer apply which in turn would further reduce

underage alcohol related problems. It is therefore

imperative to allow the youth of this country to

decide what is best for itself. Thus the drinking age

should definitely be lowered from the age of 25 to

18.Shashank Nair, Journo, 1st Year

LOWER DRINKING AGE TO LEvEL WITh ThE AGE FOR MARRIAGE

India is slowly growing, growing and growing faster on the population

curve. And so far, there is no such serious provision to stop the mounting

curve. Even the economic development curve is going towards a steep rise,

and same is the case with India’s literacy rate

and other ‘important’ developing topics. But

a curve is precipitously declining, and that

curve is for the “rate of tigers”.

The tigers in India were, at one time, consid-

ered to be among the most valued and

healthy ones in the world. But now, if ever you

walk past the Jim Corbett, you will hardly

notice a tiger. And against my words, if you do

get to see one, then consider that the lady-

luck is with you.

The word important was marked because conservation of tigers and other

endangered species is not considered an issue here. In India, government is

engaged in trying to deal with corruption, economy and oversea relation-

ships but not the topic which is in grave danger due to its negligence. Flora

and fauna of a country is considered to be her valuable assets but here, they

are pathetically falling into danger due to India’s economic development.

The Bengal tiger population of India has fallen to an estimated 40,000, and it

is listed as an endangered species. The destruction of the tiger's forest habi-

tat, trophy hunting, commercial hunting, and killing in order to protect

domestic livestock have all been contributing factors in the decline of these

magnificent animals.

A major concerted conservation effort, known as Project Tiger, has been

underway since 1973, initially spearheaded by Indira Gandhi. The fundamen-

tal accomplishment has been the establishment of over 25 well-monitored

tiger reserves in reclaimed land where human development is categorically

forbidden. The program has been credited with tripling the number of wild

Bengal tigers from roughly 1,200 in 1973 to over 3,500 in the 1990s.

However, a tiger census carried out in 2007, whose report was published on

February 12, 2008, stated that the wild tiger population in India declined by

60% to approximately 1,411. It is noted in the report that the decrease of

tiger population can be attributed directly to poaching

We, the future of tomorrow, can make a revolutionary change in govern-

ment’s scheme of things and put the ‘tiger issue’ at the peak of their plan.

Together, we can stop the untold damage we have been doing to them, just

because of our greed for power, prosperity and prestige.

If at all, we are successful, we can create a revolution, an extraordinary upris-

ing which can change the Indian perception towards tigers. And after all,

Tiger is the national animal of India. If we do not act soon, the government

would have to find a new national animal.

Falling Number of Tigers

The Second Innings of LifeToday there are 77 million old people in India out of which many are living in old age homes and very

small number of old citizens live in their own house. The official statistics reveal that large segments of

the elderly in India are illiterate, out of work force, partially or totally dependent on others and suffer-

ing from health problems or physical disabilities. A review of the Indian government’s Five Year Plans

shows very limited and inconsistent concern for the elderly.

The only welfare measure for the elderly considered by the govern-

ment until the Seventh Five Year Plan was the running of old age

homes. The Eighth and Ninth Plans, however, incorporated fairly more

specific and comprehensive welfare measures for the elderly such as

provision of old age homes, day care centres, medicare and institu-

tional services. However, the issue of older persons’ learning has not

been given any importance in the government policies and programs.

Apart from this NGO's and helpage India is working to provide aid to

some old citizens.

While playing the second innings of life they need love and care. Those hands had never shaken when

they gave you help so why can’t your hands hold their shivering hands . There are many families exploit-

ing the elderly just like a burden in this age of honor they work just to count few more days of life.Aysha Anam, Journo, 2nd Year

The Delhi government running a plantation drive

Choosing an electoral repre-

sentative is a far greater

responsibility than drinking,

then why is the age for

Voting 18 and Drinking 25?

4

I can't think of any job other than journalism where the newsmakers come to you. Bob Schieffer

The history of the Internet dates back to

the 1950s and 1960s with the develop-

ment of computers. The Internet was cre-

ated by the Advanced Research Project

Agency (ARPA) & U.S. Department of

Defense for scientific and military commu-

nications.

The ARPANET was

decommissioned in

the year 1990 and

later in 1995 the

Internet went

Commercial when

National Science

Foundation (NSF)

Network was decom-

missioned, removing the last bit of restric-

tions over the commercial use of Internet. It

is estimated that in 1993 the Internet car-

ried only 1% of the information flowing

through two-way telecommunication, by

2000 this figure had grown to 51%, and by

2007 more than 97% of all telecommunicat-

ed information was carried over the

Internet.

According to surveys conducted by the

Internet world stats team, Internet was used

only by about 16 million people in the year

1995 whereas now the numbers of users

have grown to over 2000 million. India had

just seen the introduction of the Internet in

1995 and by 1998 India already

had 1,400,000 users whereas now

there are about 100,000,000

users in the country, comprising

about 5% of the total Internet

using population world-wide.

Earlier, it used to take nearly a

minute or even more to load a

website but now it hardly takes a

few seconds at times less.

The uses of Internet has grown

from simply checking mails,

browsing for information; to lis-

tening to music, play games, watch

videos, chat with friends or even making

new friends, nowadays even shopping is

possible through the internet apart from its

traditional use. Emergence of Social net-

working sites has been a major boon to the

Internet as a whole as it not just created

many new users of the web but also got

people to stay connected, find long lost

childhood friends and so on.

Youngsters today cannot live without the

Internet as it provides them a source of

everything they need from chatting with

friends to knowing about the latest happen-

ings around the town and the new movie

releases of the week. It’s just not possible

for working professionals to live without the

internet as whatever their work maybe will

anyhow use the services of the Internet, in

the form of sending mails, connecting to

people globally for their work, whatever it

maybe Internet provides the cheapest and

most effective means to stay connected &

communicate with people.

As far as my view of the internet goes, I

don’t think it

would ever come

to an end as there

is something new

in the world of

technology every

single day; the

development of

Internet is both an evolutionary and a revo-

lutionary process. Subhagata Bhattacharya, Journo, 1st Year

Friends , family and relatives are an important factor of life. We like to stay in touch

with them and social networking sites are contributing extremely well in connecting

with each other. Facebook , twitter, myspace and orkut are the most common sites

used by the people. These sites have introduced us to a new world called “the virtu-

al world”. Facebook has topped among all the social networking sites, having more

than 800 million active users. The virtual world has bound people with itself, even in

real world conversations include the topics of virtual world. For instance, one friend

tease the other friend for getting more likes than him/her for an uploaded photo.

Status updates render all the information of current happenings of our lives.

Himani Vishnoi (19 yrs), student says, “ it has been a year since I am on facebook and

I enjoy all the activities available on fb. I have around 200 friends on fb and I don’t

know most of them personally, but with few of them I’ve become very friendly and

know many things about them, like their interests, likes and dislikes .”

People become good friends with each other through chatting, though they never

meet each other. Such relationships are called online relationships. “It has been one

an a half year and I am in an online relationship with Vineet . we are quite comfort-

able in our relationship, we chat with each other regularly for 5 to 6 hrs. Fortunately

he is from Kerala and lives near my hometown Kochi , so we are making plans to meet

each other and I would like to introduce him to my parents.” says Pooja (20yrs), phar-

macy student.

Internet and social networking sites also compliment real life relationships .

Internet is cheaper than the mobile phones and hence to spend more time with

each other real life couples have joined these sites too. Online relationships are

converting into real life relationships as well. Bency Aniyan says , “I met my

boyfriend Sijo on facebook. We chatted for six months and since we both lived

in Delhi, we decided to meet. Then we kept on meeting each other. Now it’s

been 4 years to our relationship.” Indeed online relationships are the latest trend

to get a guy/girl of your choice , by being little aware and beware of the fake

users on social networking sites you can enjoy an interpersonal communication

with anyone you like.Sakshi Khanagwal, Journo, 2nd year

Online Relationships - Expanding Horizons

The cyber space has provided

us with the grand prospect to get

our love on net. All you need to

do is join a social networking

site, come in contact with the

people having same interest (but

of course different sex, depends

on your sexual orientation) and

finally if you get a perfect match

then get into a relationship. As

simple as that.

So finding a match is no more

that hectic job to carry on. In

short, all you need is a pc and

access to net. And there you go

my buddy, happily ever after.

This contemporary era that’s

standing on the mainstay of

technical i ty,

has given birth

to this popular

culture of love

on net. This

trend is no

doubts more

well-known in

the youth. But

people from

other age bracket, are also not

left unmarked from its effect.

This popular culture is emerging

in intensity and number. It has

really got golden coins in its

account leading to its success.

One of the plus points in respect

of easy accessibility has already

been discussed above.

Apart from the easy accessibility

of the sites there are certain

other factors that act as icing to

the cake. Eager to know what the

other positive points are? Be

patient guys, for this you need to

read more.

We all are the sufferers of the

hectic schedule of this busy life

style. We always run out of time.

In this tangled life style, it really

becomes difficult to take time

out for our beloved. But online

dating acts as key to unlock this

problem. These sites aid you as a

time saver. Just a click and all set.

Then another element that adds

to the beauty of the show is the

availability of numerous options.

The web provides you with copi-

ous alternatives, and in the con-

sumerist era you get a fine

opportunity to make a rational

choice.

This online dating stuff is not a

product of Indian culture. Our

nation is under the great influ-

ence of the western lifestyle and

love on net is the effect of the

same and it has got some flaws

also in its part.

As mentioned earlier it’s an influ-

ence of the western civilization, I

will be here putting something

about the same. In most of the

parts of the North America, peo-

ple not only engage in online

dating but also get married

through net

but this pace is

also seen in

the case of

divorces. The

rate at which

people get

married, on

the other hand

break their

relations on a much higher note.

This is so because what is pre-

sented online perhaps is nothing

more than a bogus identity. The

person you are in contact with is

sitting on the other side of the

box; you never know what the

real intentions are.

In this case I think the Indian tra-

ditional marriage system is far

better. This form of marriage

records lesser number of break

ups. The one using the net is not

a fool in any sense. The youth

today is an intelligent species

with rational approach. They are

all in sane to make out whether

to keep this love till net or have

to work on it in the real grounds.

It’s all a matter that depends on

the level of maturity the person

possesses.

Every concept has two sides and

mostly one side over shadows

the other. It entirely depends on

you dear that which side catches

your eyes.Neha Vashist, Journo, 3rd Year

Love on NetFinding a match is no more that hectic job

October 2011October 2011

“When I took office, only high

energy physicists had heard of

the world-wide-web….now

even my cat has its own page”

Bill Clinton

Who can Live Without the Internet

Youth, the forerunner of society is

the most radical feature of any civilized

nation. For a country which needed Rajiv

Gandhi to realize the potential of this

section of its populace, India has

steadily achieved the tag of a youth

powered nation. Today our nation is

transiting to a future oriented setup

where the availability and acceptability

in the coming years is a deciding factor

while voting for an electoral candidate.

To be precise, democracy might never

have reached the Indian shores if it

were not for the young. Instigated by

works on social equality by the likes of

Marx and Lenin, it was the youth that

took upon its shoulders to rid the

country from the

clutches of British

India. Maulana

Azad the

youngest man to

be elected the

president of the

Indian National

Congress, India’s

first Prime

M i n i s t e r

Jawaharlal Nehru

and the firebrand

Bhagat Singh

were some of the

young faces who

heralded the

Indian struggle

for independ-

ence.

To this date it is this section of society

that has been the harbinger of change.

The recent uprising against corruption

led by 74 year old war veteran Anna

Hazare would have been fruitless if it

were not for the youth who vouched

for his movement. A democratic pro-

cession which resulted in the partial

forfeiture of the legislative has been

the most compelling argument for

youth forte driving the nation.

When studied with a neutral bias,

democracy in our country seems to

have been ridiculed to the core. Over

the past 60 years, youth which has con-

sistently comprised a majority of the

electorates has been a neglected lot.

Election manifestoes and policies were

centred on basic amenities and reli-

gious appeasement policies. Today

after considerable appeasement to

other sections of society, political

organizations have commenced con-

centrating on the future leaders of the

nation.

The emergence of young India is of

such mammoth magnitudes that polit-

ical parties are centring their mani-

festoes on this stratum of electorates.

The Delhi University elections were a

recent phenomenon where major

political parties were at loggerheads to

woo young voters. The clout of the

opinion of the youth is such that

results of the Delhi University elections

are considered as the oracle for the

coming state elections.

While considering the international

scenario, the uprising against

Muhammad Hosni Sayyid Mubarak in

Egypt is another indication of the

changing world scenario. A ‘status

message’ on facebook.com by a jour-

nalist was suffice to ignite the minds of

thousands of protesters at Cairo’s

Tahrir Square. A majority of the inter-

net users belong to the youth and

internet users in Egypt are no different.

The use of new media coupled with

the physical dominance and revolu-

tionary zeal was sufficed to counter the

dictatorial regime of Mubarak.

Coming back to Indian scenario,

democracy is incomplete without the

will of the masses and today the mass-

es demand a younger leadership

whom they can bank upon. Gone are

the days when a set ideology was

enough to brainwash young minds.

The youth today is educated and

adamant to react.

The rise of literacy has further empow-

ered the younger generation.

Thoughts of social equality and the

essence of democracy have finally

seeped into the minds of young India.

The Indian youth today refuses to be

taken for a ride.

The availability

of the Right to

Information is a

powerful tool in

the hands of the

revolut ionary

young.

Today the

empowered and

educated young

are obdurate to

fight for their

rights. Schemes

like MNREGA

are highly

a p p r e c i a t e d

whereas a bill

such as the gov-

ernment version of the Lok Pal Bill is

vehemently opposed. The youth today

understands the value of a single vote

and is obstinate to elect an eligible rep-

resentative.

In the coming years, youth and democ-

racy will share an impermeable bond.

The involvement of this section will

multiply as political establishments

would tend to cater to the needs of the

future leaders. We as the future of

India need to realise our potential as

the harbingers of change and our abil-

ity to lead the nation to a positive

direction.Twesh Mishra, Journo 2nd Year

Youth and Democracyhe alone, who owns the youth, gains the future -

Adolf hitler

5

Confrontation sometimes is the best kind of journalism as long you don't confront people just for the sake of a confrontation. Don hewitt

The business of selling words to readers and selling read-

ers to advertisers, which has sustained their role in society,

is falling apart. Gone are the days when people had fewer

options for consuming news; getting the newspaper deliv-

ered to their door was the easiest but today the scenario has

changed traditional media tools(NEWSPAPERS,MAGAZINES)

around the world are struggling to survive while competing

with websites and 24-hour news channels that offer news

comparable more quickly. The world is becoming increasing-

ly driven by technological advances and the news industry is

transforming rapidly in unexpected ways.

The newspaper/magazine reading demography has shrunk

to only those who can’t or don’t want to stare at a screen,

and that demography continues to shrink. More and more

people are turning to social networks first to get the news.

And popular bloggers are reaching incredible numbers of

people.

Today people don’t have to search deliberately for news, it

comes to them. Widespread availability of the Internet by

just pressing a key on the mobile phone, convenient and

fast, allows users to multitask are all a contributing factors.

The Internet has led to a whole new wave of interactivity

that traditional media tools are unable to offer. This genera-

tion has become more outspoken and is looking to exchange

and debate ideas, rather than just accept what news is given

to them by the media. With print newspapers, the only

interactivity readers have would be writing letters to the edi-

tor in hopes of getting them published. With the Internet,

users can directly post comments on articles and electroni-

cally send in comments to the editor to generate discussion.

When online users post their views on a topic, their ability

to express their opinions make them feel like they are part

of what shapes the presentation of news.

Blogs, a form of interactivity, have had a significant role in

attracting readers to go online – more and more Internet

users are going online to post their thoughts on stories or

events, giving them a feeling of power and the assurance

that their voices are being heard.

Of all the “old” media, newspapers have the most to lose

from the internet. The newspapers itself is banking aggres-

sively on the assumption that people will opt for the elec-

tronic version over the print copy. And maybe in future they

will start their online subscription like the New York Times

and Wall Street Journal. Also social networks have become

a staple in the internet landscape as the social networking

phenomenon allows people to "put their lives online".

The industry is facing a few key issues including decreasing

revenues/circulation/readership, a secular shift. Internet is a

medium that supposedly matches buyers with sellers and

proves to advertisers that their money is well spent.

Classified ads, in particular, are quickly shifting online.

Rupert Murdoch, the Beaverbrook of our age, once

described them as the industry's rivers of gold—but, as he

said last year, “Sometimes rivers dry up.” There has been

27.2% decline in advertising from 2009.

The usefulness of the press goes much wider than investi-

gating abuses or even spreading general news; it lies in hold-

ing governments to account—trying them in the court of

public opinion. The internet has expanded this court.

Anyone looking for information has never been better

equipped a keyboard and internet connection is all that’s

needed. People no longer have to trust a handful of nation-

al papers or their local city paper. News-aggregation sites

such as sources from around the world.

Nobody should relish the demise of once-great titles. But

the decline of newspapers will not be as harmful to society

as some fear.

HOWEVER ONE CANNOT IGNORE TRADITIONAL MEDIA

Traditional media are instantly recognizable: Chances are,

the average person can recognize city’s newspaper rather

than the most popular blog in the area. Traditional media

have been around longer than social media, and many have

built recognizable and credible brands.

Traditional media still reach vast audiences: As long as a tra-

ditional media outlet is still publishing or airing, chances are,

it continues to reach a large enough audience to keep it

viable. This is why many online stories take off only after tra-

ditional media talk about them.

Social media feed on traditional media: Bloggers often write

about what’s going on in traditional media, whether it’s a

new TV ad or a story that ran recently in the news.

If you land an interview in traditional media, you’re likely to

catch the attention of social media as well. Furthermore,

appearing in traditional media gives you something to post

about in your own blog and in social networks.

Traditional media gives exposure: Because traditional media

are recognizable and often seen as credible, getting expo-

sure through them gives you instant status and credibility as

well. On the other hand, being interviewed on a blog or web

TV may not have the same effect.Nupur Sharma, Journo, 2nd Year

Changing Face of MediaA cause of concern, but not for panic

Magnificent, larger than life advertising has for long

remained a signature component of popular cinema in India.

Popular means of advertising films since the era beginning

from the early 1930s were banner paintings either in the form

of a collage or over-sized cutouts of actors and actresses being

hung on the wall of the cinema hall. From the mid-1930s,

there were various kinds of transitions in the art of film hoard-

ings- the only form of film publicity available

in that era, and quite popular.

The hoarding artistes did roaring business till

few years ago — painting film advertisement

boards, cut-outs of politicians, Republic Day

parade tableau vehicles, hoisting painted

plywood pieces and cloth banners and dan-

glers to announce many a programme.

Today, they are struggling to make ends

meet.

Then technology took over and advertisers

chose digital vinyl hoardings covered with

thin polythene sheets, throwing many a tal-

ented artist out of work. Painting a hoarding

was a collective job, with the master drawing

the outline and giving finishing touches and

his apprentices filling in the details.

However, the preference of advertisers for

computer and plastic technology has driven

the helpers into despair.

From the early days of Indian cinema, film publicity played an

important role in creating a constituency that would respond

to the charisma of the screen. Artists who created properties

for stage plays and films were employed to write banners as

the practice was called- that is, to create larger-than-life

images on cloth that were displayed on theatres. Later on,

banners gave way to hoardings, mounted on wooden frames

that were displayed not only at theatres, but also in prominent

urban spaces.

The period from the 1920s to the 1990s was a time when Hindi

cinema developed its own distinctive visual language and pro-

duced its most magnificent images.

Film banners owe a great deal to important moments in mod-

ern Indian history: the moment of popular performances. Early

banners- and hoardings- followed the visual grammar of the

film and carried, along with the textual announcement of the

film details, images of well-known actors. The banners were

influenced in other ways as well- especially in terms of the

composition of visuals. Initially, these were offered as add-ons

to early silent cinema- as producers and distributors attempt-

ed to woo and win their audience.

There is a popular belief that Indian Cinema or Bollywood, as

we popularly call it, is largely inspired by Hollywood. This may

be in tems of storyline but not in terms of advertising of films.

Hollywood posters switched from illustration to photography

at an early stage and they also tended

to use a lot more textual information.

In India, by contrast, the focus

remained on painted images for most

of the 20th century, and that's what

made Bollywood so special.

Additionally, if you look at the way

banners, billboards and cinema dis-

plays were created here -- that was

such a unique system as well. In

Hollywood, the studios commissioned

designs which were reproduced every-

where in exactly the same way. But

here, you had dozens of painters

across the country, using publicity stills

to create their own handmade ver-

sions. I don't know if there were many

other countries that had a similar

wealth and diversity of images.

Given the importance of the ‘extra’

features in rendering a film attractive and inviting, hoardings

came to feature- almost mandatorily as it were- the comic

actor, the flamboyant dancer, the name of the music direc-

tor……

In the 1980s, many commercial movie producers moved to

photographic images, though sex and horror movies continued

to use painted images with gruesome monsters and nubile

nymphets. The result may have been some very pulpy and

entertaining images, but unfortunately Bollywood's long tradi-

tion of hand-painted images seemed to have ended sordidly.

When trends changed in this decade, veteran poster artists

retired and the younger generation took to mass-produced

photo-collages, and later, digital images. Then there were also

those whose workshops churned out large banners and cine-

ma displays which were, in turn, threatened by the introduc-

tion of vinyl in the 1990s. Today only a handful have survived

across all of India. Ayushi Sareen, Journo, 2nd Year

Death of the Art of Banner PaintingIt’s the dawn of new age of impa-

tience with youth at its epicenter.

Young minds, on which the heroes of

the past counted upon, boast to be the

future of the nation. The question is

‘Are they sufficiently capable, trained

or dedicated to the causes they raise?’

There is certainly a void for doubts.

Here, I would like to focus on young

‘Would be- Journalists’.

With advent of new devices and tech-

nology, sharing instantly is possible.

Social networking sites help us to

share content in our mind with mil-

lions of people around the globe with-

in seconds. Big powers come with big

responsibilities. While using the

advantage of sharing, we often neglect

the responsibility part.

Oftenly, those after big news or issues

share things without knowledge of the

subject, its background or its impact.

To create a buzz and to get the ‘It’s dif-

ferent’ tag, people share things and

make out conclusions without any

analysis on their part. It’s ironic to see

that those who are supposed to be

helping others in building an opinion,

do not even have any opinion of their

own. They either share the popular

belief, or the opinion of their parents

or some influencing friends and per-

sonalities and sometimes, an extreme

viewpoint to prove they think differ-

ent. The problem remains that they do

not think different, just pretend to be.

In the age of learning ethics and

morals, young journalists are seen bad

mouthing about politicians, social

activists, religious leaders and known

personalities. It occurs to them an easy

way of outbursting their anger and

being in focus. Young writers have

started to write to impress, rather to

express, which seems not a good sign.

Nowadays, online sources are

obsessed with news. However, with

increasing competition, their stan-

dards are improving. Sources are grow-

ing more reliable and qualitatively bet-

ter. But, using them as a soul source for

news and facts gathering is not the

need of time. Site visiting or studies of

scenario or research in same or similar

environment are very rare in online

news and article writing. I have seen

some of my friends writing about

poverty alleviation, farmer suicides

and rural development, while they

haven’t seen a village in their life.

While pointing fingers at a person or

two, they do not hesitate in generaliz-

ing their statements against religions

or groups of people, of which they

have exactly no idea, exaggerating

their freedom of speech.

Youth is full of enthusiasm, innovation

and zeal to break shackles of narrow

mindedness.But, this by no way means

disrespecting different religions, cul-

tures and believes. We are blessed to

be in a country where many legendary

youths lived an inspiring life. Kartar

Singh Sarabha, Ganesh Shankar

Vidyarthi, Bhagat Singh and hundreds

more while served for the cause of

independence, had a great intellectual

side. Their actions and deeds were

backed by ideologies, justified logics

and dedication.

We must be open to critics or those

who make counter points, not mere

for modesty, but for self improvement.

So let us make sure, when we’ll be

sharing things next time, it’s not for

the sake of sharing faster and more,

but it is more reliable, credible and

accurate content.Ankit Dwivedi, Journo, 2nd Year

The New Age of ImpatienceBe good, don’t try to prove it

The government of India has launched

SMART ARD or AADHAR CARD, a 12 digit num-

ber that will be issued by the unique identifica-

tion authority of India (UIDAI) to all residents

of country.

Since 2010, enrolment companies have initiat-

ed the Aadhar process which requires a huge

investment of both cash and kind. The Indian

government and UIDAI Authority are issuing Aadhar cards only to permanent resi-

dents of India. In my view, the Aadhar cards must also be issued to NRI’s (Non

Resident Indian) as a proof of them being Indians. Any Indian citizen above 5 years of

age is eligible for applying for the Aadhar card.

The form for the Aadhar card is free of cost. Along with a duly filled form, one

requires a photocopy of the address and a photo identity proof. Photostat machines

have been installed at the enrolment centres itself for the convenience of those

applying for the cards.

The card will act as an identity proof that would comply to the standards of present-

ly available technology. The issuing process involves 5 stages - document verification,

biometric scanning of 10 fingerprints, biometric scanning of eyes, a photograph. The

UID identifies individuals uniquely on the basis of demographic and biometric data;

thereby giving a means to clearly establish identity for public and private agencies

across the country. It would further facilitate lower costs for financial services.

It is obligatory for banks in India to follow customer identification procedures prior to

opening new bank accounts. The citizens of India have high hopes from the UID, but

this is followed by complaints of miscommunication, unavailability of enrolment

forms, misbehaviour of the volunteers and employees at centres issuing the cards,

charging for forms which are meant to be free of cost, laxity on behalf of customer

care executives who do not receive phone calls and huge rush. State governments are

struggling to achieve the UID targets and last year Delhi government announced that

all the residents of Delhi would be getting UIDs by the end of year 2011. But only 27

% of delhites have been registered for the UID card and only 15% have received them.

UIDAI also provides the options for checking the status for UID card. The promise of

the government was to provide UID cards to every individual after 90 days of regis-

tration but the number of complaints of not getting them even after 120 days of reg-

istration are rising. On the whole the UID card is an effective security authenticator

and the government has introduced this concept in order to facilitate automated and

electronic transactions thereby reducing the burden of workers at various organiza-

tions.

But the number of complaints received during the procedure of obtaining a UID card

is multiplying day by day. Irrespective of all odds, there is hope that the government

would be able to provide the UID Cards by enhancing machinery and reducing com-

plexity. Mishika Bangia, Journo, 1st Year

Aadhar Card : A Drive to Unique Identity

October 2011October 2011

6

Ask a little girl about marriage and you’ll be

surprised to know how much she has to tell. She

has decided how would she get married,in what

fairy land, what kind of dress she would wear,

she is just confused about the boy.

But the choice would of course keep on chang-

ing until she actually gets married. As she grows

up, she dumps some impractical ideas and

adopts some new ones, still living to the fact

that she would get married some day.

The point I am trying to make here is that the

fact that the idea

of the concept of

a committed

r e l a t i o n s h i p

known as mar-

riage has been

instilled her

mind from the

very beginning of

her life and can-

not be ignored.

We in the Indian society have always been told

that marriage holds much more importance

than any other relationship, and a live-in rela-

tionship is a violation of this very thought.

Live in relationships or cohabitation is a relation-

ship where two people who are not married

decide to live together.

The whole debate about whether a live-in rela-

tionships is right or wrong is narrowed down to

“We want it and that is what matters, why

should we care about people who do not matter

to us?” by the people who practice it. But such a

relationship is built up on the pillars of money,

individualism, liberty and not on commitment

or sacrament.

Talking about the Indian scenario, although live

in relationship has been legalized by the SC ,the

idea is considered highly incorrigible by the

masses.

Mention it to your grandparents and you’ll know

what I am talking about and this is not just

because of the generation gap factor but due to

various social and ethical reasons.

Live in relationship is considered highly immoral

from religious points of view. If a man and a

woman are accepting each other’s wants and

responsibilities, then they as well get married,

instead of ruining the very concept of marriage.

Such a form of relationship destroy the Indian

family system.

Generation today is becoming increasingly inde-

pendent and they like to live according to their

own views and needs but that does not mean

that whatever they do may necessarily be cor-

rect. Such a concept took form because of high-

ly promoted western culture and in some

instances from the Indian media too. The mak-

ing of ‘Salaam Namaste’ was undoubtedly a very

bold step taken by the Indian film industry.

Although it has become a common practice in

sprawling metropolitans like Mumbai, it is not

accepted in conservative societys of the Indian

sub continent. Live in relationship is leading to

threaten the concept of marriage.

While married couples have a better

financial,social and economic security, a partner

may walk out from a live in relationship at any

point of time if he/she realizes lack of compati-

bility. You need to adjust in both the cases to live

together,so why not get married instead and

when you have children,that child has both

his/her parent’s name!Hansa Verma, Journo, 3rd year

Love Beyond Marriage, Live-in Relationship

In the morning of August 16, 2011,

when Anna Hazare was arrested from

Supreme Enclave housing in Mayur

Vihar phase-1, thousands were waiting

to greet him at the gate of Tihar Jail.

Majority of these people were in the

age group of 15-35. Even now with the

image of the India Against Corruption

team on the decline, the sentiment of

the people has not changed.

As a citizen, one always appreciates

India, a country whose tremendous

beauty lies in its

culture and

diversity.

Looking at

India’s history,

one feels proud

of its rich cultur-

al heritage and

its vast pool of

learning and

scholars it has

produced. But

this is only one

side of the coin.

The other side shows

India in a state of

decay, be it in politics

or society, art or cul-

ture. This is when a cit-

izen can see corruption

surrounding each & every aspect of his

life. Corruption is not only at the higher

levels, but its seeds are sown in the

lowest of all levels. For instance, bribing

a traffic police officer on-duty, when he

‘Challans’ for a traffic violation, or pay-

ing some extra money to go around the

usual scheme of things at any govern-

ment office.

India is very fortunate to have around

65% of its population under the age of

35. The youth is a source of talent for

the whole world. And it has the power

to turn India from a developing nation

to a developed one. From the field of

Astronomy, Computers, Media, Politics,

Sports to Social Issues, youth has taken

over each job with responsibility. Over

the past few months the role of the

youth in the anti-corruption movement

has also been immense.

A movement can become a phenome-

non when the roots of the problem can

be found and eradicated. In the case of

corruption the roots are neither politi-

cal nor judicial. The root is social. For

the movement of anti corruption to

turn into a social movement the citizens

of India need to

overthrow the

concept of

‘jugaad’. These

negative values

are like an infec-

tion. They spread

from one person

to the other.

However, the peo-

ple who can still

remove this infec-

tion from their

systems are the

youth.

So, it is not not a

question of supporting

Anna or opposing the

government, the vital

question is to evolve a

system so that we can remove the virus

of corruption from within.

As clichéd as this statement may sound,

it has more meaning right now than

anytime else. The youth is the future of

the country and they must prepare to

carry the threshold of the country. They

must do everything necessary to ensure

a bright future for their coming genera-

tions.

The youth should undertake an oath to

never indulge in the malpractices of

corruption.Dipankar Gupta, Journo, 2nd Year

Karan Dewan, Journo, 1st year

Youth on the Forefront against CorruptionGone are the days when dog used to be a man’s best friend.

Now, in fact, even man disqualifies for the dog’s place. Missing

a tinge of recreation, wish to play a game or read your

favourite book? Just plug in your computer system and you are

only a click away from all that you desire.

It is undoubtedly fascinating how computers have taken over

the way we do a major chunk of our activities and how much

easier it has made things for us. We can accomplish numerous

tasks with the help of various softwares in no time.

Only one decade down the twenty-first century and we are

already defying the traditional tools for writing, reading and

performing other such kind of chores. Instead of pen and

paper, all we need is a keyboard. Man has never been as com-

patible with anything as he is with his computer.

Make notes for yourself, tabular charts for school, manage pic-

tures, and create presentations in a much more organized way

through Microsoft Office. Not to mention multitasking which is

very commonly done by everyone.

Despite its wide utility, this increasing dependency on

machines is sure to make space for long-lasting concerns. This

includes health concerns – both mental and physical– develop-

mental concerns, time-management concerns etc.

One does not feel like moving around. The solution to almost

all of his problems narrows down to his beloved desktop. And

why would it not be, computers are designed and continually

upgraded to keep up with our requirements. An average

human spends ten hours in a day on his personal computer.

This is more than the average requirement of sleep which is

only eight hours. Some may also point out that due to this elec-

tronic phenomenon, human effort goes missing as we count on

internet too often to find out even the minutest of information

about anything. And in this process, we lose on the supposed

magic of ‘personal-experience’.

But, of course, this is VERY subjective as not everyone believes

in magic but to move on and to go with the flow. Change is

always opposed. Anyway, people cannot completely rely on

computers and for the record, they do not.

Humans created computers and after all, it is just a machine

and is bound to be erroneous. Thus, human supervision would

always be valuable. Hence, technological development is

directly proportionate to human advancement. Using comput-

ers may not be as detrimental as it is perceived. However, the

amount of time and the purpose for which a computer is used

matter a lot. There are exercises and a list of right postures to

counter eyes’ stress, body and especially neck pain. Yet, it is

always recommended to make the most out of out available

technology in the best possible way instead of just squander-

ing our time away on nothing. Why take chances!Anushri Saxena, Journo, 2nd Year

Rising Importance of

Computers

The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S.

award for achievements

in newspaper journal-

ism, literature and musi-

cal composition. It was

established by

Hungarian-American

publisher Joseph

Pulitzer and is adminis-

tered by Columbia

University in New York

City.

Prizes are awarded year-

ly in twenty-one cate-

gories. The 2009 Prize win-

ners and finalists were

announced April 20. The

prize was established by

Joseph Pulitzer, a journalist

and newspaper publisher,

who founded the St. Louis

Post-Dispatch and bought

the New York World.

Pulitzer left money to

Columbia University upon

his death in 1911. A portion

of his bequest was used to

found the university's jour-

nalism school in 1912. The

first Pulitzer Prizes were

awarded on June 4, 1917,

and they are now

announced each April.

Recipients are chosen by an

independent board.Pulitzer

awards are the Nobel of

Journalism, after its first

announcement in 1917.

This award is an honour of

Journalism and it’s

Dimensions, and given in

following categaries

Journalism:

"Public Service

"Breaking News Reporting

"Investigative Reporting

"Explanatory Reporting

"Local Reporting

"National Reporting

"International Reporting

"Feature Writing

"Commentary

"Criticism

"Editorial Writing

"Editorial Cartooning

"Breaking News

Photography

"Feature Photography

"Letters and Drama

"Biography or

Autobiography

"Fiction

"Drama

"History

"Poetry and General

Non-Fiction

Pulitzer Prize : The

honour of Journalism

October 2011October 2011

Any work of art that can be understood is the product of journalism.Tristan Tzara

“The youth is apt to invent than tojudge, apt for execution than for

counsel, & more apt for new projectsthan for settled business”.

7

In America the President reigns for four years, and Journalism governs forever and ever. Oscar Wilde

Olympics are just around the corner but the

condition of hockey is something you can be

sorry about. The national game that earned 8

gold medals for the country failed to

make it to the beijing olympics last year, for

the first time in 80 years. The image of prepa-

ration for the London Olympics also does not

seem to be bright.it is in the purest form of

an accident waiting to happen.

There are numerous factors that are responsi-

ble for its ill state. Infighting in the hockey

controlling bodies continues to be one of

them. The functioning of indian hockey has

been severely hampered since 2009. Nothing

changes in indian hockey except the guard

and same thing happened when indian hock-

ey federation (IHF) was de-recognised by

Indian Olympic

Association. Many say

it was result of internal

battle of power and

politics. A new body

Hockey India(HI) was

formed which received

the patronage of

International Hockey

Federation (IHF) at that

time. But IHF went to

the court of law to fight

their cause. But

ego satisfaction is nor-

mally a short cut that

destroys everything in

the long run,the same

IHF has now warned,if not threatened, to

jeopardise India's participation in london

olympics if the dispute regarding the gover-

nance of the sport is not settled. Taking a

serious note of this threat, finally, sports min-

istry has intervened and has indulged hockey

federation to work out a formula for one gov-

erning body for the sport. With just 3 months

left in sports mega event,meeting are still

happening at the tortoise speed. Government

is also responsible for the present critical situ-

ation of hockey in the country. Players dont

are not fortunate to have even basic facilities

like accommodation, shoes, astro-turf

grounds, world class coaching facilities, finan-

cial support and rewards for their encourage-

ment.

Everywhere it is cricket which is beating the

drum. All the sources of media shows only

cricket. Powerful politicians, glamour world,

wealthy corporate world-everyone wants to

associate with cricket in some form or anoth-

er. The result is that hockey is not getting the

proper expansion in India. Families are not

interested getting their wards in this classical

stick sport. The lack of monetary encourage-

ment continues to be a big hurdle.

Money is a big issue that gives cricket an

edge over hockey. But recently a oasis of

hope was seen in the form of victory in finals

of asian championship. A totally young and

fresh team won the tournament without the

likes of Sandip Singh, Sardara Singh,

Shivendra Singh, Tushar Khandekar and Arjun

Halappa. It was a great achievement. The

new coach Michael

Mobbes did a fine job.

But the next big thing

is the olympics quali-

fiers which is probably

the toughest tourna-

ment with teams like

China, Spain, Korea,

Malaysia, Japan,

Canada in the competi-

tion. The recent show

in asian championship

final has given us an

idea that a combined

and dedicated effort

can result in a splendid

performance in

London.

But for this different government agencies

like the Sports Authority of India, Hockey

India, Indian Olympic Association, Sports

Ministry, media and masses should come

together to revive our national sport. The sys-

tems should not be allowed to break the

momentum in the middle of the good ride.

Government should declare handsome

reward for olympics qualifying.

Federations should start work at the war

pace. Best facilities and occupied seats in a

stadium is all a player needs to perform for

his nation.the united effort can demolish the

hurdles.Lets hope that the sticks break the

shackles.Mohit Pasricha, Journo, 2nd Year

Sticks and shackles A D ev i l i n t h e Ge n t le m a n’ s Ga m e

This October festivities were the flavour of

the month in India. The whole country

looked immersed in the joy and celebration

of long list of festivals that adorned the

month, starting right away from ‘navratras’

to ‘Durga puja’ and ‘Dussehra’ till ‘Diwali’.

But this year, the festivities had lasted a little

bit longer in the country as the whole of

India had been lighted up even after the fes-

tival of lights was over! This month the coun-

try experienced a new high, the high

of speed! The high of music! And the

high of booze!! Because the ultimate

festival of speed, the most captivating,

the most pulsating, the most awaited

s p o r t i n g

event, The

FORMULA 1,

made its

grand entry in

India on

October 28

and it lasted

till October

30!

Yes, the ulti-

mate fantasy

of all speed junkies in India became a

reality as India hosted its first ever F1

race in Greater Noida at the Buddh

International Circuit (BIC) later in the

month, marking the 17th round of this

year’s F1 Championship which had

Sebastian Vettel written all over it

owing to his phenomenal run in the

championship so far. The Red Bull

champ was just a point away after the

Japanese GP qualifier, to be crowned as the

F1 World Champion for the second time

consecutively.

The Indian Capital got its’ first ever taste of

F1 on October 1 when the last year’s cham-

pion team Red Bull conducted its show car

street event at the Rajpath to mark a prel-

ude to the Indian Grand Prix, leaving the

huge crowd which gathered at the venue

asking for more. The Australian racer Daniel

Ricciardo went full throttle in his Red Bull

2006 model and showed his histrionics with

the car, giving a

sneak preview

of what lies

ahead.

With India

becoming a

growing hub of

major sporting

events after

s u c c e s s f u l l y

hosting world’s

two most pres-

tigious sports galas, The Asian and The

Commonwealth games, one would have

imagined that F1 was always around the cor-

ner. But with F1, India did not have it as easy

as the other events because the seeds of the

fruit that we reaped were sown more than a

decade back and it took long years of careful

nurturing and effort to actually bring the

greatest motorsport of the world to India.

The inaugural Indian GP had been 13 yrs. in

the making and had its share of pit stops and

black flags. Initially the future of motorsport

in the country looked quite uncertain main-

ly because the changing governments kept

playing a spoilsport; moreover lack of

awareness leading to slack in sponsorships

made the matters worse and F1 became a

distant dream.

The race to the podium teed off in 1998 with

Kolkata leading the way but later crashing

out due to monetary hurdles. Soon in 2003,

Mercedes GPHyderabad was in the driver’s

seat but the then CM Chandrababu Naidu

failed to win the vote bank. Finally it was

Jaypee Sports International Ltd, the organis-

ers of Indian GP, who won the rights and at

last Greater Noida saw the chequered flag,

making F1 dream a reality. Gaurav Arora, Journo, 3rd Year

Ayushi Sareen, Journo, 2nd Year

F1 - India in the Fast Lane

A boy is playing his final match in a tennis tournament some-

where in Ahmadabad, his family wishes to see him play live as

the match is being televised live on a national sports channel

but soon they realise the vinegary truth that they would not

be able to watch their boy play live as India is playing England

in a one-day cricket match so the cricket channel is set in the

precedence list in cable network and the national sports chan-

nel is not aired. Family settles with sixes and fours and decides

to celebrate India’s win with their son’s victory.

This all seems like something which is common in contempo-

rary race of television and media but the despair or the prob-

lem for the cricket loving family who sacrifices their son’s

match for the cricket match arises when they get to know that

the match was fixed and every aspect, ups and downs of the

game were decided before the match started. This is just a fic-

tional and a hypothetical story but we can’t ignore the fixing

angle which is referred to in the story. The gloomy side of the

cricket is back this time but with a renovated name “spot fix-

ing”. Welcome to this new category of fixing which is quite

easy to comprehend, one has to just fix some fraction of the

game or the game is fixed in parts. This reduces the risk of get-

ting caught and then they make great money also off-course

after slaying their ethics and character. There is a lot of debate

and conjectures on, where it started from and who master-

minds were behind this devil in the gentleman’s game. Lately

the issue got surfaced in media, when three Pakistani crick-

eters Mohammad Asif, Salman Butt, Muhammad Aamer were

accused of spot fixing in a test match against England. Later a

case was filed in London court and a few weeks ago trials com-

menced. Majeed a bookie who is also an accuse in the entire

episode made headlines by stating that he has got relations

with many international cricketers including big Indian names

like Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh. No doubt the effort by

Majeed to drag the names of Indian cricket stars failed big

time but certainly sowed the seeds of qualm in minds of fans

and followers. A game which is like a religion in this country

and in the neighbouring state of Pakistan must be respected

by players. Those 11 men when in ground be it in blue, green

or yellow jersey for their respective nations of India, Pakistan

and Australia enjoy the stature of a deity. This following must

get the respect which it deserves; the trust must not be bro-

ken even it requires stringent laws like life-long ban or capital

punishment.

A relation between a cricket, player and follower is based on

mutual trust. Players’ authorities and every individual

involved must strive for a clean honest patriotic and fair game.

Then only whenever a cricketer will step out in the ground all

hearts would pray for them without even a slight hint of scep-

ticism that what they are watching after spending money and

time is not a work of fiction and all the characters are not

imaginary and resemblance to any cricket match is not co-inci-

dental.Abhishek Choudhary, Journo, 3rd Year

October 2011October 2011

BUDDH INTERNATIONAL CIRCUIT

TRULY INTERNATIONALThe Indian GP had created quite a buzz all around the

world and had caught the imagination of the daredevil

drivers as well, as the speed demons, Schumi, Alonso,

Hamilton, Webber, Vettel among others had already

made it public how much they wanted to vroom their

monster cars to the podium in India.

Jaypee Sports International Ltd. left no stone unturned to

make BIC a permanent destination on the F1 season cal-

endar. The BIC was prepared as the most challenging cir-

cuit for the drivers, giving even the hardest circuits like

Monza, Spa, Silverstone and Suzuka a run for their

money.

A state of the art infrastructure was brought up in and

around the circuit. The BIC, which boasted of having a

seating capacity of over 2 lacs, had an elaborate F1 village

behind the main grand stand with official team merchan-

dise which was put on sale. But the main attraction of the

destination was the ‘entertainment zone’ which had

been prepared to provide an insanely thrilling mixture of

speed and music, where Queen of Pop, ‘Lady Gaga’ burnt

the stage at the opening ceremony of the Indian GP,

ensuring a larger than life experience.

Despite all odds, India hosted one of the most glamorous motor sports on the planet

Positon Driver Team

1 Sebastian vettel Red Bull-Renault

2 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes

3 Fernando Alonso Ferrari

4 Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault

5 Michael Schumacher Mercedes GP

6 Nico Rosberg Mercedes GP

7 Lewis hamilton McLaren-Mercedes

8 Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari

9 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes

10 Sergio Perez Sauber

Results

8

Printed by: Shri Sai Anand Printers Pvt. Ltd, 73- Patparganj Industrial Area, Delhi

The first thirty minutes after a person exits the Srinagar

international airport, a blurred scenario is presented in

front of him. The scenic beauty and tourist attractions are

immense, but the whole city has army men at every fifty to

hundred meters.

At present, Kashmir is as calm as any other place in India.

But the losses of the people in Kashmir have been

immense and a tourist needs to look behind the curtain to

assess the current situation.

After the formation of the Union of India and the Dominion

of Pakistan, Maharaja Hari Singh of Kashmir, who was the

reigning monarch faced a major dilemma, as to which

country to accede to.

In the month of August 1947, the Maharaja's forces fired

upon demonstrations in favour of Kashmir joining Pakistan,

burned whole villages and killed innocent people. This was

followed by formation of rebel groups in Poonch district

which were aided by Pashtuns from Pakistan. The aim of

this guerilla campaign was to frighten the Maharaja and

force him into submission. However, the Maharaja sought

Mountbatten's advice who asked him to seek help from the

military forces in India. The Indian army drove out the

insurgencies from Kashmir but in return a provisional

accession to India was made which would be changed by a

plebiscite after both the neighboring countries would with-

draw their forces from Kashmir.

Abdul Satar (R) comes to Kashmir for two months in a year

in search of work. Both the countries had problems inter-

preting that treaty and no effective withdrawal of forces

was made. 1965, 1971

and 1999 saw wars

between the two

countries over

Kashmir. Till date there

has been no withdraw-

al of forces.

"If Kashmir was not

disturbed then till now

it would have been the

Switzerland of the

world".

Majority of the people

in Kashmir have

tourism as their basic

form of livelihood.

In 2010 the whole state was closed down for a period of

four months. However, current the state of tourism has

improved but not as it was prior to 1989. This is the year

from which militancy started in Kashmir.

Imtiyaz, who is the owner of a houseboat called 'New

Sansouci' on Dal lake talks about how strong-willed the

people of Kashmir have been. "The people here are very

clean at heart. Even if they don't get food for days togeth-

er, they wont turn to unlawful acts of stealing", he said

when asked about the state of tourism in Kashmir. He

added that season for tourists lasts for only five months in

a year and rest of the year they have to look for alternative

means of income. "This helplessness of the people is exact-

ly what extremist groups like the 'Hooriyat' are capitalizing

on". He says that if a person who has to feed a family of

five, cant help but accept some money that the extremist

group offers, just to throw a stone at a uniformed-man.

This is what happened all through 2010. However, stone

pelting was replied by gunfire and more than 200 people

lost their lives. Imtiyaz adds that majority of the people

killed were aged between 15 to 21.

The whole issue in Kashmir has resulted in people migrat-

ing to other parts of the country,

in order to sustain their lives

peacefully. However, some peo-

ple choose to stay back to pre-

serve their cultural heritage and

their basic right.

Shahnawaz, a horseman from

the district of Pehelgam talks

about his early life when he lost

his parents to a bomb blast. For

the past 12 years, from the age

of thirteen he has been being a

guide to tourists who sit on his

horse and see the hills of

Pahalgam. "I had got an opportu-

nity to start my own carpet business in Daryaganj, New

Delhi. I went there for a year but i came back as the terror-

ist activities reduced in the state". Shahnawaz proudly

added that he had completed his schooling along with

earning for his family of two sisters and a grandmother.

The last two hours after a person enters the Srinagar inter-

national airport, the whole scenario in Kashmir becomes

clear to him. To get in on a flight from Srinagar, a person

has to go through four long rounds of security checks and

baggage checking, both through x-ray and by hand. The

idea is not to let any of the infiltration flow to the rest of

the country.

Both Shahnawaz and Imtiyaz had the same reply when

asked what do they want for their state. They said that

Kashmir should be left alone to its original inhabitants. At

the end of the day they want to go to sleep knowing that

tomorrow they get three square meals and do not get shot

down. Dipankar Gupta, Journo, 2nd Year

Kashmir: Not Just an Issue"Bombay ka fashion aur kashmir ka mausam...kabhi bhi badal sakta hai."

October 2011October 2011

The afternoon of 20th October 2011 rang abuzz with anticipated news.

Muammar Gaddafi, dictator leader of Libya since 1969 was assassinated by

rebels at his home town of Sirte, the colonel’s last stronghold in the burn-

ing Libyan revolution.

The year 2011 seems to be showering liberty on major autocratic states.

The over throw of Zine el Abidine Ben Ali in Tunisia which resulted in

fuelling emotions for dissolution of Hosni Mubarak’s regime in Egypt fol-

lowed by Gaddafi’s violent death in

Libya has forced the world to start

counting down the days of remaining

28 recognized autocratic regimes.

Gaddafi became the de facto leader of

the country on September 1, 1969

after leading a group of young Libyan

military officers against King Idris I in a

coup d'état. After the king had fled the

country, the Libyan Revolutionary

Command Council (RCC) headed by

Gaddafi abolished the monarchy and

the constitution and proclaimed the

new Libyan Arab Republic with the

motto "freedom, socialism, and unity".

In 1977, Gaddafi renamed the Libyan

state to Socialist People's Libyan Arab

Jamahiriya, where Jamahiriya is a term

coined by Gaddafi, usually translated as

"state of

the masses". Under Gaddafi, per capita

income in the country rose to more than US

$11,000, the fifth highest in Africa. The

increase in prosperity was accompanied by

a controversial foreign policy, with increased

political repression at home.

During the 1980s and 1990s, Gaddafi openly

supported international terrorism as well as

independence movements, including Nelson

Mandela's African National Congress, the

Palestinian Liberation Organization, the Irish

Republican Army and the Polisario front,

which led to a deterioration of Libya's for-

eign relations, culminating in the US bomb-

ing of Libya in 1986.

After the 9/11 attacks, however, Gaddafi

began to distance himself from terrorism,

and during the 2000s, Libya's international

relations were mostly normalized, the US rescinding its designation of

Gaddafi's Libya as a state sponsor of terrorism in June 2006.

Gaddafi's final appearances as the leader of Libya on the international

stage were his eccentric 100-minute speech to the United Nations on 23

September 2009, and his attendance at the G-8 summit in Italy in July

2010.

Gaddafi’s internal policies were commendable, public education in the

country was free and primary education compulsory for both boys and

girls. Medical care was also available to the public at no cost.

What failed Gaddafi were his international policies and his deep resent-

ment towards any form of conflicting ideas. Gaddafi’s support for terror

establishments and dictatorial

regimes well out of his ambit

was puzzling for other nations.

Libya under his rule had been

continuously charged with

funding radicals for destabiliz-

ing nations. Such vague was

the policy that in 1981 Gaddafi

was found talking about assas-

sinating new American presi-

dent Ronald Reagan and in

October 1981 when Egypt's

President Anwar Sadat was

assassinated; Gaddafi applaud-

ed the murder and remarked

that it was a punishment.

Libya was accused in the 1988

bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland which killed 270

and resulted in UN sanctions being imposed in 1992. These sanctions were

waived in 2003 when Libya agreed to

compensate the families of the vic-

tims with $2.7 billion in Libyan

funds.

Libya was even thought to be

involved in attempting to radicalize

Māoris against New Zealand. In

Australia, there were several cases of

attempted radicalisation of

Australian Aborigines, with individu-

als receiving paramilitary training in

Libya among several other instances

where Libya was the home ground

for international radicals.

Gaddafi’s unaccountable expenses in

destabilizing other nations resulted

in unemployment and resentment

amongst the populace of Libya.

On the whole, the Libyan dictator

dug his own grave, the very tactics

adopted by him to grab power resulted in him relinquishing it and eventual-

ly being hunted down in the sewer pipes of his birth place by the very people

whom he once ruled. Twesh Mishra, Journo, 2nd Year

Muammar Gaddafi Finally Loses Ground