Harry Lives!

Another July 21 and J K Rowling's Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows will hit the book stands. Oh yeah! Think again. A bunch of kill joys have pooped the party by posting the tome on the Internet. Read the 659 pages of dense text and the doomsayers are proved wrong. Harry Potter lives as do the green eyes of Lily Potter. So, where's the catch?. Is it real? How can Harry live and the series die? Maybe the tome on the internet is not original. Maybe it is. But you read it first here.

http://esnips.com/nsdoc/12a556e8-20a5-4624-97cc-00b27188e17d

Await hike jinks!

More and more new channels are being planned for the Telugu audience, both by the existing ones and new entrants. In this season of mushrooming channels and migrations among patrakaars, managements have only one mantra to retain staff – pay hikes. DC just finished administering a dose of hike to its staff (The English daily has to lure talent from Telugu media and retain them!). ETV2, TV9 Maa TV and Andhra Jyothi are set to announce increased pay for the staff.
Many thanks to NTV, TV5 and Surya. Their promoters may be shady characters but they have forced the ‘nobility’ of media managements to stop being seedy and offer a better deal to the journalists. Even Andhra Prabha gave a rise!

ETV2: After the recent first-time-ever hike for Eenadu employees, ETV2 guys have been awaiting the good news with crossed fingers. Their turn has come. ETV2 employees salaries would be revised to peg the pay for beginners at around Rs 9,500 pm. Post hikes the bureau chief’s salary might touch Rs 20,000. Not really a competitive deal! Let’s see if the move arrests the flight of talent.

TV9: The channel is currently in trouble. After a good number of talented staff left for newbies and a couple of seniors had unsavoury exits (corruption charges, land deals!), confusion reigns supreme at the channel. The channel is short staffed and any fresh exits would have it in pits. Already, it is over depending on Deepthi Vajapeye, Rajnikant, and Badriprasad.

Take a look at what they dish out. A 30-min special feature on Elephant Caves (Mumbai)! No context, no reason or rhyme. Content deficit is the reason.

As a norm, TV9 does appraisals in August and announces new pay packs. This year however Raviprakash has decided to advance the process to April. Given the situation, the staff expectations are high. They have their options clear on what to do if the increase falls short of expectations. Many are already sitting on offers from competition. Await action.

At Maa TV appraisals are on. The original plan was to announce hikes to the staff on April 23 but the management later decided to deposit the revised salaries in the bank, which should be today or tomorrow. The staff are readying fireworks. Maa too is in a state of flux after some seniors like Forest Srinivas were eased out. Writer and feminist Koppili Padma now heads department of soap operas at Maa.

Andhra Jyothi: The year 2007 has started off on a wrong note for Jyothi. It has already witnessed desertions and apprehends more in the coming days. The management is said to be considering a pay revision, for the second time within a year!

Poor folks at Andhra Bhoomi, the media trend is passing them by. Kurnool reporter Ankam Ravi’s exit might give ideas to at least a few.

The Ed and his Id

It’s been five months since we had Mirror Mirror on the wall who is the cruelest of them all post. Of late, some of our folks at ToI, real Joe Bloggs they are, seem to have developed a soft corner for the baldie, who was voted as the baddie. In November last we said: Working under him is worse than the Chinese water torture. That’s changed for the better now, our Joes report. All that’s water under the bridge. Nag is now genial and even gives us chocs, gush our Joes.

Talk of a tiger hiding its stripes and a leopard its spots!

A bit of digging in helped explain the mystery behind the makeover. Nag has found new ways of deriving pleasure to please his Id. He continues to be on the prowl to victimize scribes but has changed his hunting ground – the victims are not those within the Times House but those who seek an entry into it.

Nag’s new pastime is playing a cat and mouse game with job seekers. The modus operandi – invite them to office, interview them, make positive remarks before winding up the interview and promise to contact them soon. The pleasure game begins now. Every day, the aspirant would wake up hoping to get a call from ToI. He wouldn’t. After days, some of them after weeks, hesitantly call up the Ed. Nag promises action soon. We are on your case, you will hear from us soon. That reassures the aspirant but keeps him on tenterhooks. Nag knows it, feels it, enjoys it!

After days/weeks of silence, the desperate aspirant calls up again. Nag repeats himself, even more reassuringly! All hope is not lost for the aspirant but the unending wait kills him. Nag knows it, feels it, enjoys it! Just when the aspirant reaches the end of his tether and decides to forget a job in ToI, Nag calls. He times it just right, not to end the nightmare but to prolong it with his reassurance: “We are on your case. We will contact you soon.”

This drama will go on for months. Ask the guys who had suffered the pains for nine months after which Nag delivered, the offer letter. Not all are so patient. Take the case of the senior scribe from 36SD Road who went on a long leave after Nag’s first promise of job offer. Two months later he had to resume work, cutting a sorry face at his office.

Close to ten hopeful scribes are currently awaiting offer letters from Nag, not knowing that the Jekyll for insiders is Hyde for wannabes. Don’t be taken in by the slithery man’s smoothness folks. For him, you are just a game.

Write to us at vikram.apmedia@gmail.com

Eenadu biggies join newbies

Eenadu is bearing the brunt of migrations in the Telugu media. Talent erosion at the E-group is gaining speed. That its closest rival in print Andhra Jyothi is in no better position is the only consoling factor for the leading media house.

Talented journalist Bhallamudi Ramakrishna, who left the e-group a few months ago, has finally joined NTV. RK is now the News Coordinator at the upcoming channel. A post-graduate in physics, RK started his career as a contributor for Eenadu in his home town Bobbili. Soon he joined Eenadu School of journalism where he was identified as a bright spark with great potential. Posted in the General Desk, he lived up to his promise and became a trusted lieutenant of peddayana Ramoji.

During his 15-years of association with E-group, RK excelled both in the print and electronic media, ably managing to produce editions and bulletins. The soft-spoken RK is firm in expressing his views without mincing words, a good reason for the mediocre to despise him. His career at Eenadu ended when it was at a highpoint, not uncommon for some at the e-group.

During his stint at Eenadu, RK worked in Chennai and Delhi besides Hydreabad and trained many young journalists. Considered close to S.R.Ramanujan, RK's entry at NTV was not surprising...but the drama that associated it was! Insiders say, one biggie tried his best to block RK. No marks for guessing who that is! RK would be an asset for NTV, provided the ‘biggie’ doesn’t indulge in self-defeating politicking at the new channel.

YSR at Surya

YSR Sharma, another Eenadu veteran, has moved on to soon-to-be-launched daily Surya. Bleonging to the 1984 batch, YSR Sarma was the Chief Sub Editor and shift incharge at Eenadu for over a decade. His departure reduces the strenght of his batch at Eenadu to a handful -- Shastri, Khatri and others. Sharma's exit too is no surprise. He was branded as redundant, a spent force and was put into the recycle bin, sidelined that is, in recent months. His entry at Surya is a surprise and will boost the morale of scribes at Surya, as doubts arose over its launch after Andhra Jyothi's series on the promoter.

Transfers at Eenadu

Updated

Name Designation At Present Transferred to
CVLN Prasad, Sr-sub ed, News Cell to E-enadu
Gopalakrishan, sub-ed, E-enadu to Medak Desk
Mangamuri Srinivas Sr.SubEditor Medak D.I. to Maharashtra Desk

Asana Rao Sub Editor Visakha Rural Desk to Nellore Desk
Mrutyunjaya Kukmar Sub Editor Nalgonda Desk to Nellore Reporting
Ankamma Srinivas Sub Editor Warangal Desk to Nizamabad D.Incharge
Samanchi Muralidhar Reporter Political, Hyd to Kurnool Reporting
Parepalli VenkateswarRao SubEditor Kadapa to Kadapa D. Incharge

Jameer Hussain D.Incharge Kadapa to Nellore D.Incharge
Murali D.Incharge Nizamabad to Ongole D Incharge

Mallikarjuna Sarma SubEditor Warangal to Kurnool
Itta Sambasivudu Sr. Reporter Chennai to Gen.Bureau, Hyd
P.RajeswaraRao Sub Editor Chittoor Desk to Chittoor D.Incharge

Ch.L.N. Sastry Reporter Nellore to Nalgonda desk
Parasuram Reporter Kurnool to Nandyala reporter
Mahesh Sr. SubEditor D.Incharge, Guntur to D.Incharge, Kurnool
O. Sudhakar Sr.SubEditor D.Incharge, Ongole to (Vizag City Desk, Reverted)
K.Chandrasekhar Sr.SubEditor D.Incharge Chittoor to Chennai Reporting
Adinarayana Reporter Bangalore to Chennai Reporting

PRR KameshwaraRao Sr.SubEditor Nellore D.Incharge to Vizayanagaram Rerporter
Laxmi narayana Sr.SubEditor Kurnool D.Incharge to Quality Cell, Hyd
Mrithipati Srinivas Sr.SubEditor Nalogonda ?(Info awaited)
DhanjayaKumar Sub Editor Vijayanagaram to Khammam D.Incharge
Seshacharyulu Sr.SubEditor Hyd. City Desk to Guntur Rural D.Incharge

Venku Sr.SubEditor Hyd. City Desk to Vizag D.Incharge(!)
Chintada Krishna Rao SubEditor Anantapur to Guntur City D.Incharge
Rawoof SubEditor Vizag City desk to Srikakulam Desk
SarathBabu Sr.SubEditor Srikakulam D.Incharg to Vizayanagaram Desk, Reverted
K.Laxminarayana Sr.SubEditor Maharashtra D.I. to Medak D.Incharge

A.Ravikumar SubEditor Guntur Rural D.I. to Adilabad Desk (Revert)
Subba rao Reporter Vizayanagaram to Orissa Desk
Ramanjaneya Gupta SubEditor Khammam D.Incharge to Hyd city desk
B.Nageswara Rao SubEditor Ongole desk to Anantapur Desk

KNR Subeditor Ongloe desk to Awaiting
Rawoof SubEditor Nellore Desk to Anantapur
Jyothi Prasad Sr.Reporter GenBureau, hyd to Political Bureau, Hyd
Ramakrishna SubEditor Kurnool Desk to Srikakulam Desk
Mahanthi (VenkataRao) SubEditor Maharashtra Desk to Bhuvaneswar Reporter
Ramakrishna sub-ed Srikakulam Desk to Vizag City Desk

Siva Maruthi Kumar Sub-ed Srikakulam Desk to Chittoor desk

Glasnost at Eenadu

The Quota Sewage

The judges are becoming naughty, needling the government at every turn. The UPA coalition has lost Punjab, Uttaranchal, Delhi and Mumbai municipalities and some by-elections to Lok Sabha. Three tears. The Andhra Pradesh High Court has quashed the ordinance providing 5 per cent reservation for Muslims in education and public employment. So what, Karunananidhi will reserve seats for Christians and Muslims taking the total of reservations to 79 per cent, i.e. 29 per cent more than what the Supreme Court permits. UPA’s Left allies received a black eye in West Bengal. And, Uttar Pradesh is in the middle of electing a new Assembly. Is this the time to stay OBC reservations or challenge the minority status of Muslims in UP? Spoilsports, the judges are.

But then poor Arjun Singh, with a scalp that is vulnerable, depended on oral maths in computing his arguments to dole out the gravy to the OBCs. 1931 edition of the census report. That does not seem to be unreasonable. What if everything has changed since 1931? Independence came. Okay, Kaka Kalelkar counted 1200 OBCs but Mandal counted 2200. No, said the judges and asked a few uncomfortable questions. "1 What is the basis of the norms for fixing the OBC category? 2 What is the rational behind fixing it? 3 If the proposed reservation is implemented, what are the modalities and the basis for modalities?” All right, we will re-do our maths as we do our history. Veerappa Moily has done it. As we wait for the result, we remember what Oscar Wilde had said, “The best way to conquer desire is to yield to it.” So, the best way to abolish casteism is to accept it.

The Allahabad High Court ruling and its later stay by a division bench are all a fall-out of our history of troubled social and religious discord which establishment historians want to tinker with so that everyone becomes bhai-bhai. The very first question in defining a minority that needs an answer is: is the minority numerical or caste or religious or class or economic or intellectual? How can religion or caste be a basis of classification in a secular republic? Please, don’t bring reason into politics.

The apex court delivered a rebuke: “It has to be noted that nowhere else in the world do castes, classes or communities queue up for the sake of gaining backward status. Nowhere else in the world is there competition to assert backwardness and then to claim we are more backward than you.” How does it hurt the courts if we want to remain backward? There is some pride in it.

Okay, granted the Muslims are a minority. What do you do with Shias who are a minority among Muslims? But why does a numerical or religious minority need special treatment? The Muslims are backward, illiterate, poor etc. But aren’t there other people who are as backward, poor and illiterate as the Muslims? If some people talk of discrimination, such talk is based on the stupid hope that God should have created every one of us alike in every manner -- complexion, height, intelligence and gender too – and given us a common language so that there would be no basis for discrimination. Whether it is caste or religion, it is a shame that people scramble to be recognized as backward, not today but for ever. What a country! What a people!

No religious minority in India is persecuted. They are all victims of vote politics practiced by secular/communal parties and the greed of their own leaders. People are cleverer than the laws. They are converting to minority religions and buying scheduled caste certificates to grab the benefits that concessions bring to the minorities and the SCs and STs. There is no country in the world wedded to democracy which robs Peter to pay Paul. Is it necessary to tell the Dalits or Muslims they have been the victims of upper caste or majority villainy every time you offer them a carrot? The result has been a caste divide worse than the communal divide. The Dalits hate and wish the demise of everything they believe is the creation of the upper classes. In a recent interview Chandrabhan Prasad wanted all Indian languages should die because they do not benefit the Dalits. His suggestion that the Dalits should learn English is very good. For that, is it necessary that Indian languages which are older than English should die?

There is no secularism or communalism today. The ruling religion is opportunism. Mayawati woos Brahmins. Karunanidhi breaks bread with Muslims. In Kerala, secular parties regularly go to bed with the Muslim League. Reservations are 57 years old, extended every ten years as though it was a constitutional mandate. Those who benefited from these concessions failed to share their success with others of their community and, worst of al, became a separate caste by themselves. Poor Manmohan Singh is angry with the judiciary and asks the judges not to cross the constitutional Lakshman Rekha. But who knows better about the Constitution than the judges whose daily business it is to interpret it?

Write to us at vikram.apmedia@gmail.com

The pot calling the kettle black...

On apmedia blog

Columnist N Venugopal has this to say about apmedia blog in April 8 Sunday special of Vaartha. We will soon have it in English. Meanwhile, read and write to us on vikram.apmedia@gmail.com.

http://www.vaarttha.com/vaarttha/MAGAZINE/pdf/29-30.pdf

Exciting News @ DC

Yes, Exciting News does come from DC! The management has given a varying pay hike to most of the editorial staff. (Any other ideas to stop the regular resignations are welcome!). Those of our friends still continuing to work at DC got excited on Saturday at finding a larger balance in their bank accounts. Plans were drawn for a weekend bash. But many dropped the idea after they Got Both Sides Of The Story! Surely, there would be many unhappy souls around when the hike varies from Rs 8k to 3k. Happiness is after all, relative! The really exciting news is from the district reporters who got a hike after a long time. There again, some complain of arbitrariness. We are sure to hear more from our folks soon.

Buzz @ Eenadu: A major shake up of editorial staff is on the cards. It might be more of a shock therapy -- desk to reporting bureau and vice versa besides transfers. This might result in more exits. More on this soon.

Pokiri Channel!

Tollywood heroes are in hot pursuit of Telugu TV channels. After Mega Star Chiru and Boss Nag, it's now the turn of Mahesh Babu to romance with the channels. Tollywood sources say the Prince has teamed up with producer Ashwini Dutt to enter the business. Unlike Chiru-Nag, Mahesh-Dutt team wants to have fully-owned channel and are considering the acquisition route. The duo has already completed the spade work -- they have identified their takeover target and are in talks to complete the deal, is the word. Media friends remark that one man will be worried most, if the news were true. Yes, the one at the channel that the Prince obliquely pilloried in Pokiri. Let's await action and the drama!

Andhra Jyothy: Survival Games