apmedia

The Hound of the B(h)askervilles

2007-05-14T16:40:00.000+02:00

Mr. Sherlock Holmes, who was usually very late in the mornings, save upon those not infrequent occasions when he was up all night, was seated at the breakfast table. I stood upon the hearth-rug and picked up the newspaper which our visitor had left behind him the night before. It was an Urdu daily called Siasat, published from Hyderabad. It was more than a year old issue.
"Well, Watson, what do you make of it?"
Holmes was sitting with his back to me, and I had given him no sign of my occupation.
"I think," said I, following as far as I could the methods of my companion, "that Siasat is well-esteemed by Hyderabad residents. Since I do not know Urdu, I cannot read it though.”
"Good!" said Holmes. "Excellent!"
“But, there is a report about the wife of Nizam whose property case is pending in a family court. Interestingly, the same article had appeared in HT of TOI. The author and photograph used are the same. Ironically it happens to be written by HT editor herself. The question is how can HT editor write the same article in another daily?” said Holmes.
“That is strange,” said I.
"And then again, the court verdict was in favour of the Nizam’s wife and she got property worth crores of rupees," said Holmes, pushing back his chair and lighting a cigarette.
“That’s quiet normal,” I said because I had often been piqued by his indifference to my admiration and to the attempts that I had made to give publicity to his methods.
“I had tried to sneak into the lady editor’s house in Banjara Hills one fine evening and dear Watson, I was taken aback to see the luxury the woman was enjoying at her capacious flat.” Then with an expression of interest he laid down his cigarette.
“Given the fact that she was an ordinary private school teacher a few years ago and taking into consideration the financial status she had those days, the whole chain of events turn very interesting,” Holmes was getting more complex.
“Has anything escaped me?" I asked with some self-importance. "I trust that there is nothing of consequence which I have overlooked?"
"I am afraid, my dear Watson, that most of the times your conclusions were erroneous. To be frank, in noting your fallacies I was occasionally guided towards the truth,” said Holmes.
“I, in the guise of a courier boy, frequented TOI office and counted the parcels that went to the lady’s cabin and I found them high in number and often big in size,” Holmes said with his inimitable smile.
"I enquired about her children’s lifestyle and honestly, they get everything free everywhere.”
I was getting confused.
“And what do you think of those pictures appearing in their Page 3 on and off?”
“They are very happening people in Hyderabad. They are the inner circle of the society,” I said.
“Oh, no Watson. They are not the elite people of this city. The elite never like to see the paper, leave alone being featured,” Holmes was really driving me nuts.
"You may be right," I said.
"The probability of this lady editor being very corrupt lies in that direction. And if we take this as a working hypothesis, we have to find out where she was most recently.”
“She can go on her personal works,” I was trying to defend the woman whom I always regarded as an eminent journalist.
"Well, then, that is why I say you are a moron. Leaving her husband and children, why did she go to the hot Turkey in this summer?”
Holmes was getting really serious.
"Do none suggest themselves? You know my methods. Apply your brain. I can only think of the obvious conclusion that the Princess she wrote a lot about in her paper belongs to Turkey. Now, if you think that you have little sense, try to link all these and come back to me tomorrow,” saying this, Holmes walked out of the room.

Power struggle in Times!

2007-05-12T17:35:00.000+02:00

A hooded hisser from the Times House has a lot to say on why the Ed, Nag sits on job offer letters. Below is his cryptic explanation that would surely keep many busy this weekend guessing the import. We are tempted to run a contest -- Analyze this! Try and shoot your answers. Happy weekend!

My dears, Don’t jump to hasty conclusions without knowing about what is making Nag, to keep aspirants on their tenterhooks. Asking for his blood - like the ToI, that put out an all out fight (if you like, you can add: shamelessly) against that poor Jaipur Magistrate, along with its coterie of Bollywood buddies and battery of its courtiers. Just to encash a gorey… gorey… long..y long...y miti…miti…news, for more than a week or so. (Poor fellas, seem to have no business IQ in their heads. For, more than ToI, the Kamasutra condoms got good branding, without paying a single pie to ToI.)

Coming back to our story, of Nag, of aspiring scribes and of a sundry buro - try to understand, before throwing mud, on the face of any one. Both, you and the blog managers misunderstood Nag, in reasoning, why he is showing abnormal delay, in taking aspiring jurnos into ToI.

To clear the air, I am giving the inside story to you all, Ok:-

Whoever, from now onwards, going to join in ToI, will have to work in a sundry buro that earned a notorious name, among all other buros of ToI, in Southern India. Nag is finding it difficult, to remove the disease that infected this buro.

Because, the centre of gravity of this sundry buro was about to be removed by the management last year. But, this mortal had gone and fell on the feet of - the "Only Sunday Jesus believers" and rest of the week "Satanic Verses" - occupying big seats, up there, and got his skin saved. These are members of the new power lobbies that are now at work, in ToI, after that big guy left to DNA, deserting ToI.

Now, it is clear to Nag, as of now, he is helpless and there is no scope to cure or remove the deadly disease, infecting this buro. So, the only way left out for this top man of ToI, is to bring in the best resistant capable cells, that could withstand, fight and survive against the existing malady of this buro. What all that he is doing is, making the aspirants to wait, to a breaking point. Just, to test their survival capacities, to make sure, they will continue as long as he is on the top of ToI, in HYD.

Given this back ground, now you may ask, why all this hell? Here is the answer:
Going by the experiences of this sundry buro, it was found out by Nag and some others - the cerebral geometry of the centre of gravity of this buro is polluted worse than the Musi. How?

Early shocks:

The new journos, intended to join in ToI, walks in… humming… smiling… happy to be a part of the world’s largest paper…Only to find out that there is an assignment in store… for him/her, at 6 in the morning, somewhere beyond Golkonda, to cover a youth fest. Not surprising, the new journo don’t mind, even to cycle the 40 something kms, to bring a colorful item, to prove his/her talent, to the main buddy of the buro. First, moments… of Josh in ToI you know... Isahi hota hai!
Then, when one reaches there, the new jurno’s senses will come to hosh… finding, to his dismay, the dudes of the youth fest, from different colleges are busy in brushing their teeth or going to natural calls.

Morning Blues -- Metro Silver Pack:
With a good morning coffee in hand, the poor new journo turns the ToI next morning…Ummah… only to see his item used as a filler of four lines. Followed with this, rings your mobile… the name that flashes on the screen, sure to remind the poor new thing, a corgi standing and staring right before him or her. No way, you respond to the call… take it for granted…. @ of any notes of the music, of even those living in the remotest African jungles… the voice is not musical to hear in a morning time, after the early shocks. You hear… a creaky voice saying, "I don’t know what you do, and I want two". Means, lay two eggs (stories) a day, with no hatching time given (Not surprising, even if the eggs of him for years, most of the time, lifted ones hatched by others). That’s when, the new thing, starts feeling a crane-fly creeping and crawling on his body or a condor circling over his/ her head.

Guru Gyan -- Metro Combo Offer:
This is the time when the cronies of the centre of gravity preach you the Guru Gyan as part of the Metro Combo offer. Talk to him nicely… speak to him… take him to lunch… etc. Means, surrender and be a chemcha and work for him but not to ToI. Other than occasionally offering of kitty parties...act like an informer… relaying to the main buddy, whatever your pals in the buro are talking… chatting… etc etc. If you surrender, you can smile all the way… a promotion… a pay hike… few hours of work… (This includes, lifting items from Enadu, Andhra Jyothy, IE, Vartha..etc...a privileged buddy you will be.(Informers of this virus are there in the buro, desk as well as HT).

The Basic Instinct - Metro Wild Pack:
Victims: A buro scribe/a HT scribe and Nag's first secretary

I will continue: next time

Black Box, Kala Ghar, 2nd Building, Next to grave yard and Besides Rangoli,

Third Road, Banjara Tribe Hills, Bhagyanagar.

Soulless sport stars

2007-05-11T17:31:00.000+02:00

In sport, does the country come first or one’s own career?
This should-never-arise question sadly pops up repeatedly in India. Bringing us back to this question now is the tiff between Badminton Association of India (BAI) and three top players. The players are crying foul that their federation is jeopardizing their international careers, while the federation vehemently denies any wrongdoing.

First, the story so far is: The federation refused permission to three players from Andhra Pradesh – Chetan Anand, his wife Jwala Gutta and her doubles partner Shruthi Kurien – to play in two tournaments abroad and instead asked them to attend a six-week camp in Hyderabad during the same period. The players contend that they would have possibly gained some points by playing in these tournaments and improved their world rankings in their bid for an Olympic berth. The federation, on the other hand, maintains that missing two events when about 25 tournaments are still on the calendar does not make any difference. Valid point, indeed!

The fallout of face-off: the players refused to attend the camp and the federation ignored them for selection to the Indian team, citing government guidelines that stipulate that players attend the pre-tournament camp to be considered for national team.

Who is to be faulted? The players can insist on their right to chart their own individual careers and plead that the federation, if it’s not in a position to help their cause, should not at least come in their way. The federation too is right in demanding that players, while pursuing their individual careers, are duty-bound to serve the nation.

The fact that the issue is being keenly followed up by the media indicates that the players concerned are stars in their own right. Had it not been the case, neither the federation, nor the badminton fraternity or the media would have cared to give them a second look.

It is quite possible that the federation was keen on having the three top players represent the country — they are crucial to the team’s prospects. Chetan is the country’s top men’s player and Jwala-Shruthi is the top women’s doubles pair and the trio can boost India’s prospects. Maybe, being the best must be the reason why the players wanted to skip the preparation camp. They stand to gain little by attending camps where they have no equals to play against and improve their game. Therefore, the best way for them is to compete on the circuit and gain as many places as possible on the world rankings. Perfect logic!

But the point is do the players have a heart — for the game and its growth in the country? Agreed the top players have nothing to learn at the camps, but how about providing an opportunity to the upcoming players to play against you and better their game, contributing to their and the game’s growth? Surely, Chetan benefited immensely from his on-field clashes with Pullela Gopichand. Isn’t it immature for this boy-faced player to now indulge in ego-clash that benefits none and hurts all, most importantly the game and Indian team’s prospects?

Players should always remember that they are not bigger than the game. The reluctance of Indian Test players (including fallen star Azhar and fading star Sachin) to play Ranji matches has a lot to do with today’s paucity of cricket talent pool in India.

Not long ago, our Telugu bidda, the humpty dumpty Koneru Humpy committed the same crime. The chess player, having grown beyond everybody else in the country, found it meaningless to play in National tournaments. She avoided all tournaments in India, ignoring earnest appeals. Her participation would have helped other budding stars to improve ELO rating and secure IM norms, should they by chance defeat her, a GM. Humpy knew this, or at least her father-coach did, and avoided national events!

Do our much-adored sport stars every rise above petty personal goals and think and act as Indians? Will they ever put the game before themselves?
It is here that Leander Paes stands tall, without comparison. How playing for the nation motivates him to pull all the stops is a legend in its own.

Write at vikram.apmedia@gmail.com

Maa TV in doldrums

2007-05-07T17:56:00.000+02:00

The once-successful Maa TV is once again going through turmoil. On Monday, News Desk head Bhavanarayana resigned. The issue of delay in hikes to news desk staff is said to be the reason! The management reportedly requested him stay put. Bhavanarayana’s resignation may not be linked to the recent developments, but would be seen as another indication of the trouble at the channel.
The channel is owned by four big names — original promoter Muralikrishnam Raju, industrialists Nimmagadda (Matrix) Prasad and film stars Chiranjeevi-Akkineni Nagarjuna. But only one man is said to be calling the shots – Sarat Marar, close to Allu Arvind and Chiru-Pavan brothers. After Marar’s entry the role of Sarma (former chairman of Prasar Bharati) was hastily changed from CEO to advisor and then sidelined. Soon, the channel’s creative head, Adivi ‘Forest’ Srinivas, credited with multiple hit programmes, left because of too much of interference. Forest is now with NTV.
Writer Kuppili Padma was taken as head of Serial programmes but is now considered as a bad choice. Her position became tenuous after Nag’s make-up man Chandra raised a stink on Padma’s demands for telecasting a serial he produced. She survives though.
Benjamin from Zee who is incharge for promotions is doing no great work. Chandrasekhar, with experience in production and admin, and now heading the creative wing, is no better. His first idea, a phone-in programme, was stopped after the first episode! It is to be seen if the latest brain roped in by Marar, Radio City’s Sai, would be any better.

Bu‘dan’ quits:
There’s hardly anyone in the Eenadu editorial staff who doesn’t know this friendly Don. Work-obsessed Budan, seen at office at all hours of the day for more than a decade, is on the way out. He is on long leave! Starting as contributor in Chittoor district (during which period he faced the ire of communal elements), Budan was associated with Eenadu for more than 15 years and worked in various departments. No news on which new news channel he might prefer!

In fond remembrance

2007-05-03T07:05:00.000+02:00

Harry Lives!

2007-04-30T17:58:00.000+02:00

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!

2007-04-29T07:40:00.000+02:00

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

2007-04-28T08:56:00.000+02:00

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

2007-04-26T18:30:00.000+02:00

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

2007-04-23T11:57:00.000+02:00

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

2007-04-15T19:36:00.000+02:00

The Quota Sewage

2007-04-14T16:44:00.000+02:00

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...

2007-04-11T19:02:00.000+02:00

On apmedia blog

2007-04-09T19:09:00.000+02:00

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

2007-04-07T18:06:00.000+02:00

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!

2007-04-04T17:47:00.000+02:00

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

2007-04-04T17:35:00.000+02:00

TV 9, please explain

2007-03-27T12:35:00.000+02:00

Corruption at TV9

2007-03-22T18:49:00.000+02:00

In our 'Illiterate TV journos' (March 13) post, we suggested: But why do not public-spirited media like TV9 turn the cameras on themselves? TV9 did just the same on Thursday, a sting-op within its office and caught its Chief News Coordinator Rajasekhar accepting a bribe of Rs 5,000. The management summarily dismissed him. Subsequent probing is said to have shown that Raja had Rs 14 lakh in his bank account.

The three-year-old news channel’s sting op on its staffer is unprecedented in apmedia history.

After completing its first-of-its-kind mission, the management enthusiastically circulated the news about this shameful incident among the media personnel. Naturally, the extreme action-excessive enthusiasm sequence has raised doubts among the media fraternity. Many believe that there is more to this than meets the eye. Some insiders link the latest development to the recent “attack on media” incident at MNR College.

Immediate comments heard among mediamen include 1)Why was Rajasekhar subjected to such extreme action, it reeks of vengeance and not punishment 2) Why is that the management that let off Karim lightly acted so harshly in Rajasekhar's case? 3) Did TV9 take the public and media fraternity for a ride with its hulllabaloo over the "attack" on its staff?
More on this later. Mail us at vikram.apmedia@gmail.com

PLOTTING SCAMS

2007-03-20T16:35:00.000+02:00

The best part of being a journalist is the amount of privileges that one gets to enjoy. From gifts handed out at press conferences to sumptuous lunch and dinner to… aha… the best of it all, free plots from the government of the day.

Every journalist worth his ink, crows about morality in public life and how politicians and other crooks have besmirched the society with their acts. But they rarely talk about their own reputation and the favours they seek and get. The biggest handout that every so-called journalist looks for is a plot from the government. When it comes to getting a free or subsidized land, it does not matter which government is in power. It does not matter how corrupt the government is or what its credentials are.

Spineless journalists in cahoots with their association/s use every trick in the book to get land for themselves and their friends. From plots in Road No 3, Banjara Hills to the Journalist colony in Jubilee Hills and now the land at Gopanapalli, everything goes in the name of being a member of the fourth estate.

How can a journalist who has been bribed with a subsidised plot claim to be fair in his job? Will he dare write against the same man who gave him a plot of land at a throwaway price?

Now a petition has come up in the Andhra Pradesh High Court questioning on how government could give away free / subsidized land to MLAs, Judges and Journalists. That judgment should be out soon, and with it will tumble out a number of skeletons.

Many journalists have sold their plots within a year of being allotted the same. What is worse is that the Registration department has allowed the plots to be registered in violation of the standing rules. This has happened with the plots allotted near Gachibowli, with the journalist association bosses taking bribes in cahoots with non-journalists who have brought these plots.

Now, the time has come to ask the courts that these registrations need to be cancelled and the land to be reverted back to the government. Let us see how many newspaper editors will dare carry a story on the mother of all scams. If they don't do it, we know that everyone is involved in this crook business.

An RTI petition is being filed seeking to know who owns the plots allotted to journalists and when they were sold and registered. Shortly, those names will be on this site. With it, the reputation of some of the so-called big names in journalism in the state be exposed, and they will join the august company pickpockets, cheats and rowdy-sheeters.

Watch this space. Something big is about to happen.

NTV gets going

2007-03-20T16:24:00.000+02:00

We hear NTV got the licence on Tuesday. What’s more, the channel has cheered its staff by attracting talent afresh from the existing channels.
Padahaaru anaaala Telugu Juliet Soujanya is out of ETV2. The sweet-looking girl next door that we watched both on ETV & ETV2 handling news bulletins and other prograames is joining NTV. The new channel has offered a decent salary hike to lure the fair, slim, boy-cut girl with an indelible dimpled smile. Soujanya has handled all programmes with ease and flair and will surely be an asset to NTV. Also joining the new channel is another ETV2 star anchor Himabindu. Word on the street is that popular anchor of TV9, Anusha is also on the verge of joining NTV. Wow, the channel is making rapid progress. It’s interesting to see what’s next from the SR-KSR duo. Meanwhile, RP @ TV9 is making big promises to his team to keep the flock together. We will update once we get more info from TV9. We will also have the gist of the fax from MNR College about attack on TV9...soon.

Write to us at vikram.apmedia@gmail.com

Illiterate TV journos

2007-03-13T16:31:00.000+02:00

Let's deliberate on media and sting operations in the backdrop of recent attack on TV9 crew by staff of the MNR Medical College at Sangareddy. The TV9 team was manhandled when they attempted to carry out a sting operation. Seen from any angle, the incident shows media in an extremely poor and negative light. First, freedom of expression does not cover a sting job which is a clandestine job and violation of the rights of others. Second, under the Constitution, there is no freedom of expression separately for the press. It is the right of a citizen extended to the press through a Supreme Court judgment. If it is a crime for a citizen to capture images of people without their consent or notice, it is a crime for the press also.

The glorification of Tehelka’s West End operation in the English media does not confer legitimacy on what it did or on what prospective copy-cats want to do. To think that anybody would welcome you when you declare you are there for a sting operation is the height of imbecility. It shows that the crew lacked minimum media literacy and the failure of their bosses to brief them on the meaning and sanctity of privacy. TV channels are releasing into the wide world reportorial virus that is fatal to citizens’ right of privacy.

While on briefing, I remember Sagarika Ghose, who is an experienced journalist, heckling the foxy Ram Jethmalani. She asked him why he was defending Manu Sharma, principal accused in the Jessica Lal murder case. Her very first question spelt her nemesis. She asked, "In defending Manu Sharma, are you in some sense defending the indefensible?" She must first be clear whether she is contesting the case as morally indefensible or legally indefensible. If morally, she must tell us who sets moral norms and who polices and enforces them. In the absence of any such mechanism, the question sounds juvenile, especially when the TV media have begun acting as courts of first instance. If legally, she must know that all the legal remedies have not been exhausted yet in this case. It is only uninformed judicial charity that encourages media to tread on its toes.

A few days before this incident, the Supreme Court asked journalist Vijay Shekar and the Zee television channel to explain why they should not be prosecuted for conducting a ‘cash-for-warrant’ sting operation that caught an Ahmedabad magistrate issuing warrants against the President, the then Chief Justice of India and two others. “Such mischief cannot be allowed to tarnish the image of the lower judiciary," said a bench of the court on which sat, among others, Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan also. The bench rejected the petitioners' plea that their objective was to expose ‘cash-for-warrant scams’ in the lower judiciary. Such a rebuke should have come as early as the first Tehelka strike involving an NDA minister, even before the judiciary itself became the target of a sting.

Undercover reporting has two aspects: journalism and jurisprudence. Vir Sanghvi of the Hindustan Times outlined the journalism aspect, “Sting operations with concealed cameras constitute a huge black hole at the moral centre of Indian journalism and it is important for us to sift fact from fiction and wrong from right.” This ethical element is the heart of government’s planned guidelines for the broadcast media. Investigating agencies often carry out sting operations but they are done on the basis of a complaint from an aggrieved person, and not by trapping public servants with bribes and going beyond the limits of acceptable journalism.

The success of the first sting spurred scores of small-time clones to specialize in images of unabashed sleaze and forgettable crime. Now, even a mobile camera phone can do it. The BJP proved that a sting operation is no great shakes by trapping Ajit Jogi, employing the same methods that trapped Bangaru Laxman.

Fortunately, few newspapers thought a clandestine sting operation was a legitimate exercise of freedom of expression. Where information can be gathered without resort to trickery reporters need not look for short cuts. Sucheta Dalal and Chitra Subramanian did long and painstaking research without snaring anyone. Is the West End story of greater consequence than the Bofors story of Chitra Subramanian and the Harshad Mehta story of Sucheta Dalal? Were they less enterprising that they had toiled for months to get at the bottom of truth?

How dangerous and devastating sting enterprises can be will become clear when some TV crew creates a Gujarat-type riot only to be able to report it. Staged sting operations do not fall under any of the three categories of reporting familiar to media: Scheduled, like press conferences or public meetings and conventions; unscheduled, like accidents or outbreak of violence and investigative, when media on a hunch that something against public interest is brewing commission a story. Can you imagine P Sainath manipulating a weaver into committing suicide so that he can write a story about it? Manufacturing news is not a category of reporting known to media.

But why do not public-spirited media like TV9 turn the cameras on themselves? Why do not they uncover conspiracies that end up in cable TV operators killing each other? Or, find out how night shift women journalists are victims of aggressive overtures from male colleagues. Find out how editors dish out junkets to reporters or how newspaper owners doctor accounts to cheat wage boards. Are media buildings safe in the event of fire? Most media houses are owned by profiteering (not profit-seeking) moneybags. And, corruption and money are like Siamese twins.

Every year Transparency International tells us what these staged operations seek to tell us: there is corruption in the country. Karnataka Chief Minister Kumaraswamy openly said that the Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise (NICE), which is executing the Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor Project, had attempted to "purchase" him using a former minister and a journalist as intermediaries. Here, the electronic media crusaders can find out the identity of the journalist, using the methods they habitually employ. No. They won’t do it because it calls for the patience of a Sucheta or Chitra. It also means self-flagellation. There is no instant glory in it. TV channels have won laurels for their Mumbai blasts coverage. They should not forfeit audience faith by faking reality.

Another norm of ethics as well as law that TV channels should respect is not to show people who do not want to be seen in a poor light. For example, undertrial prisoners being taken to court in handcuffs. How would you like it done to you? Why was Rajdeep Sardesai so sensitive about being seen escorted by the police to the UP Assembly to answer charges of contempt of the house that he went to the Supreme Court to seek an exemption? Why does not he tell his reporters not to show any person without his consent? Do not they have the same kind of dignity that Rajdeep has? The only way to stop these daily invasions of privacy is for the Supreme Court to step in and award deterrent punishment to big fish.

Sting operations are legitimate where there is a clear indication of crime or impending crime. “Between 'snaring' or 'tempting' people into accepting 'gifts' or 'bribes', where a cause of action does not exist, and exposing corruption regarding specific deals, a vast gulf exists. Not to recognise the significance of this difference would be a grievous mistake,” said M K Narayanan, security adviser to the government. Consensual relationships are common and media are not moral police. They better tell the people of this country whether this mushrooming of millionaires in the country that excites them no end has anything to do with alleviation of grinding poverty in the country.

TV5 steals the thunder

2007-03-07T16:33:00.000+02:00

In the race for an early launch, TV5 might be the first past the post. After having all clearances in place, the channel has launched its ad campaign. The buzz has created some excitement and people are coming out of the woodwork. Kandula Ramesh and Kranti, to name a couple. Kandula, the job hopper who has experience across the media spectrum, (Eenadu, DC, Suprabhatam, Teja, Lycos,.. the list goes on...!) is back in action at TV5. We remember he did not work magic when with a channel the last time, at Teja. Let's see if Kandula, a close associate of IS, does wonders this time around. Kranti, who quit TV9 to foray into politics is back to media. He made a mark when at TV9 and will not take long to hit his peak. Bhaskar from Delhi might return to city to join the channel. So it's interesting to see who would outperform between TV5 and NTV. Last heard, NTV has recruited 44 editorial staff and is set to start training classes for the newcomers.

Meanwhile, Karim officially put in his papers at TV9 on Wednesday. The guy is in troubles up to his neck, say friends at TV9. Colourful "stories" are doing the rounds about his real estate misadventure and of course other escapades. One of the two new channels might consider him, after all a "known face" would be a safe bet for a new entrant. Will his personal life mar his professional prospects? Might. Rajinikant who stepped in Karim's shoes at TV9 might continue the 7pm bulletin or might be relieved. Aalapati Suresh might be a dark horse. Let's wait and watch.

Attack on Media: The biggie is making big noise about media coming under attack. You and I think he's crying wolf! After all, look who's taking the brunt of the attack -- the small fries and the footsoldiers. One Editor is arrested in Karnataka. Let's see if Rams and Duas care to stand by such country cousins. The Hindu has this report on the incident. Pls check. (http://www.hinduonnet.com/2007/03/06/stories/2007030607220300.htm)

Andhra Prabha carried an article by, who else, the grand old man of Telugu Journalism Dr ABK. A must Read. http://www.andhraprabha.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=APV20070307060719&Title=Articles&lTitle=%AAy%F9ry%CC%C1V&Topic=0

We will soon take a serious look at the attacks on mediamen and where and how things are going wrong.

Travails of talent:

Talent can be your best friend and your worst enemy. Mostly, depends on who the boss is.

On a sultry evening, we met this guy sitting alone in a bar frequented by desperate newshounds like us. We soon identified this bloke as the one who used to work with a national daily where he was appreciated by some and despised by others for the same reason!! He writes well.

We could see this guy was glum and low. Job blues? We contacted our "moles" and probed. It took some time for us to get into the details, but our insiders nudged along to get into the bottom.
And alas! The story we got from inside the House next to graves was quite creepy. The man, who we thought was on a torpor, was in fact working for a daily in the neighbouring state, bringing out an edition and writing articles in the edit page columns.
An ex HT editor and now the national head of all their metro supplements was impressed by this guy's pellucid and impressive way of writing and took him into the House and offered him an independent position. But, it never gave him chance to use his creativity. Still, we hear the chap enjoyed that as he was not under the infamous metro editor from the House.
A fair skinned lady (single and bold!) who had targets to meet, tried her best to torture him when she was unable to perform well. Bigwigs joined hands with the fair sex, spent their evenings together in places where our P3P took notice and nattered around.
Then came the news of the closing down of the particular department where this wrecked soul was working, out of the blue.
The lady editor of the supplement was fast enough to act. Though in all the other centres people are waiting to get fresh letter from the company, this woman, say insiders, already started making him writhe with insult engaging juniors to dictate terms.
We hear that people who know his potential are out with offers and this guy is seriously planning to quit! Here's wishing you luck buddy... Get out of the Ghost House and you will surely go places.

Media or Market?

2007-03-05T17:38:00.000+02:00

Here are more perspectives about “When Business meets Media.” It actually means wearing two hats as a Supreme Court bench consisting of chief justice K G Balakrishnan and justice Ravindran observed recently. When Harish Salve, counsel for Margadarsi Financiers, attributed mala fide to chief minister Rajasekhara Reddy, chief justice Balakrishnan commented, "Financial institutions are always in trouble. Why can’t the government intervene?” At another point, justice Ravindran, who was part of the two-man bench, said, "When the chief minister commits a mistake you pointed it out. Similarly, when you did wrong, the State government has acted. Your client (Mr Ramoji Rao) is wearing two hats. One is as a newspaper owner and the other as a proprietor of a chit fund company. When, according to law, only an incorporated company can collect deposits, Hindu Undivided Family (HUF) cannot carry out such business. If the RBI has issued some instructions that means everything is not right.”

The Press Commissions foresaw this tussle long ago. The second Press Commission has strongly recommended the delinking of the press from its connections with other industries. In the context of industrialists venturing into printing of newspapers with a profit motive, some members of the commission pointed out the need to have journalists and their newspapers independent of any influence from the barons of industry. With this in mind, it was suggested that either owners of newspapers who were involved with other businesses and industries delink themselves from the latter, or else sever their connections with the press.

It is in the best interests of the readers to free the press “from steamrollering of the commercial process so that it may mean maximum amount of freedom of expression for the maximum number of people. It is because of the close hold press barons have on a majority of daily newspapers that the content of the newspapers they own subserves their monetary interests, said Jan R. Hakemulder in his book Print Media Communication.

The clash of media-business interests is not a new phenomenon in Indian journalism. The pioneers are not Ramoji Rao or Girish Sanghi. They had illustrious forbears like the Dalmias, the Birlas and Ramnath Goenka. While the first two negotiated successive governments with élan and finesse Ramnath Goenka tried to be both a media hero and a businessman. That did not work. Goenka had several newspapers and also jute and steel interests. He had top Congress leaders and ministers (Kamaraj Nadar and T T Krishnamachari) taking care of his interests. But when Indira Gandhi nationalized the Indian Iron and Steel Company in which he had a large chunk of shares and which he was planning to take over, he turned against the mainstream Congress known as Congress (I) in those days. The government also took over his National Jute Company. The Antulay witch hunt in the Arun Shourie era also had a similar background. Who does not know Ramnath Goenka’s thirst for real estate?

One of India’s biggest real estate barons, the Raheja group, which owns the Outlook weekly edited by Vinod Mehta, also had problems with the government. Mehta raised the bogey of freedom of press when tax officials raided the offices of the Raheja group. Why should the Editors’ Guild which is purely a professional body come to the rescue of Ramoji Rao whose business and not media interests are hurt by Andhra Pradesh government’s actions? It is not only owners but individual journalists too who are torn between duty and avarice. It is well known that senior journalists seek favours for their owners and smooth out problems with the government.

But a much wider perspective is the convergence of media and market. Take a look at the media space that Ramoji Rao is in control of. His Telugu daily Eenadu is published from 23 centres, three of them extraterritorial – Mumbai, Chennai and Delhi. He publishes Vipula and Chatura, two literary magazines, Annadaata, a magazine for farmers and Sitara, a film weekly. His ETV has an all-India reach with 12 regional channels. ETV also provides digital entertainment to Indians living in the US with ETV Telugu, ETV Bangla and ETV Gujarati entertainment channels. His Ushodaya Movies has produced several box-office hits. The world’s largest film studio Ramoji Film City is owned by him. This is his media clout reinforced by other interests like Priya Foods, Kalanjali and Margadarsi Financiers which now is under AP government’s scrutiny. Ramoji Rao is a combination of media and market power.

We will understand Reddy-Ramoji Rao tussle more readily if we see media as agents of power. This is how Herbert Altschull saw the media in the early eighties when he wrote a book by that name. The Altschull thesis and Noam Chomsky’s theory of manufacturing consent do not hold any more. Today, media imposes a consent. Everywhere, Murdoch-type media empires are emerging taking advantage of liberal financial climate globalization has fostered. Today, there is really no meeting point between the interests of the media and the interests of their constituencies. They disseminate not what the publics need but what the publics want.

The giant waves of globalization released by constantly coalescing market forces make all the difference to media and their original function. Most media, print, radio and TV, (with honorable exceptions) disseminate values that override the concerns of a majority of the population. The content we read, hear and view has little relevance to the alleviation of centuries-old illiteracy and poverty of the millions. The hysteria about Oscars in Indian media is a representative specimen of media priorities that anesthetizes not only the leisured classes to problems concerning the poor but the poorer classes themselves to what is their problem. You will see that with the exception of few old-type newspapers almost all the media are selling globalization directly and indirectly.

On the other hand, specially in today’s scenario where media unabashedly declares that their content is geared to what people want but not what they need, where the dialogue is top-down and one-sided, where the audience is condemned to consume content not of their choice but that which is determined by the interests of the media owner, media can be said to have abandoned their public service function. Whereas a Chandrababu Naidu or a Rajasekhara Reddy cannot continue to be in office by merely attacking each other, a newspaper attracts audience by attacking the government deluding the people into believing that they are playing the role of a watchdog or adversary. Vijay Mallya is more honest. Asked why he is buying up newspapers, he said, "The reason I am buying into the media is that in India, it is an essential part of management of our business - it’s my insurance policy."

When Business meets Media

2007-03-03T16:51:00.000+02:00

------- ------ --- -------

Ramnath Goenka and Ramoji Rao: Who's the ideal margadarsi (role model)?

Business and Media have nothing to do with each other. Try telling that to Sobhana Bhartia, Uday Kotak, Saharashree Roy, Aroon Poorie, Sharad Pawar, Srini Raju, Subash Goel, Girish Sanghi, Ramoji Rao or the late Ramnath Goenka.

For these business barons, media is just another business venture, just like cement or running a bank. They had other businesses to run and a newspaper or a television channel was all about profit and loss. Forget the old time talk of a newspaper being a harbinger of social change and a defender of truth and freedom. Bullshit. It's all about money, honey.

A newspaper is not just about ink and newsprint. It's about hundreds and thousands of people who eke out a living. Naturally, a newspaper has to make money. It has to pay for the land on which the press is located, spend on buying the printing equipment, buy newsprint, pay electricity bills, and of course, the salary of its employees. Naturally, all these require money. Which is possible only if the owner of the newspaper has some business other than his dream of a newspaper to start with.

If a newspaper does not make money, it has only one choice – shut down. When bad times dawn, the same fire breathing political leaders and armchair social activists who talk about freedom of speech will not pay the salary of newspaper employees. Ask employees of Udayam (now in limbo), Andhra Prabha, Indian Express and Vaartha. They will tell you about heartless owners who do not pay salary for months on end.

Being the owner of a newspaper or a television channel gives an aura of respectability. Even if the owner is a crook like Girish Sanghi. He used the power of the written to hijack the paper from its original owners, and walk around like a messiah. Hobnobbing with political class, he soon wormed his way to Lyuten’s Delhi and got a membership of the Rajya Sabha. Today, no one questions this man on why he does not pay salary to his employees. Or why he lobbies for builders who violate all rules and regulations. Why? He is a newspaper boss and an MP too.

It’s a sad reflection of our times when political parties start handing out tickets to crooks in the guise of media bosses for having supported them in ‘their’ cause. There are people like Rajiv Shukla and Chandan Mitra who made it to Parliament based on their political affiliations. Whoever said that ‘politics is the last refuge of the scoundrel’ said it right. But then not everyone is a scoundrel.

The late Ramnath Goenka was a man who was an exception to this rule. A colossus, he stood up for what he believed in. For him, fighting the establishment was a passion. One, which got him into the bad books of ruling elite, more often than not. But Ramnath Goenka stood by editors, who were fine men of letters and ethics like BG Verghese and Arun Shourie.

Instead we have men like Venkatram Reddy of Deccan Chronicle who owns expensive cars, over a dozen race horses, and a number of failed businesses including one called Annapurna Foils. It always helps to deal with bankers and politicians if you are the owner of a newspaper. Reddy Jr had briefly stepped into the shoes of his late father to serve out the reminder of his Rajya Sabha term. When he does not get something done his way in his business, he wears the hat of a newspaper owner. Nobody dared ask him why his name does not find mention as the publisher of DC. That's another story of how a newspaper belonging to a Tamilian family was ruthlessly hijacked by Reddy senior.

Now, a debate has erupted on the role of Ramoji Rao, Margadarsi and Eenadu. It’s about a thin line that divides on where the role of a businessman ends and that of a newspaper editor starts. Should one keep newspaper business and other ventures separate? Can an attack on one be construed as an attack on the other? Can a businessman-newspaper owner hide his othher businesses under the cloak of being a defender of the freedom of press?

Let us have your comments at vikram.apmedia@gmail.com

Freedom that isn't

2007-02-26T11:56:00.000+02:00

A diagnosis for the doctor

2007-02-24T17:02:00.000+02:00

Newspapers have a shelf life of 12 hours, while TV channels are history in 10 minutes. People have a very short memory, specially when it comes to politicians. Don’t make things worse by talking about news. Just ignore it!

It was during the last year of CBN's rule that YSR undertook a padayatra that captured the imagination of the citizenry of the state that was getting jaded with a stoic-looking economics-student-turned-politician from Kuppam. Two and half years later, the people of Andhra Pradesh are getting bored of YSR. Not that YSR has overreached or underdone himself. It's more to do with his obsession on what the media thinks of him and how people of the state perceive him.

Small mis-steps have led to huge conflagrations all of which have led to the government putting one after another. Handling media is a fine art, and one has to learn that from the people who have mastered it. Handing out plots at dirt cheap rates to so-called journalists of shady media houses helps only those in the bottom of the chain. These are people who work for yellow rags and can do little to help YSR with positive news. At the end of the day, it has been proved by media surveys that people read top three newspapers of every genre. Going by this logic, YSR needs to be worried about what gets written in Deccan Chronicle, The Times of India, The Hindu among the English language dailies Eenadu, Vaartha and Andhra Jyothi in the vernacular media. What appears in other newspapers is of little consequence.

The British media, specially the tabloid newspapers are considered the scum of earth and have tested the patience of the royalty and the political elite. Rupert Murdoch's raunchy Sun competes with other rags like News of the World to come up with the gutter news about the rich and famous. But the strict libel laws in Britain, have often deterred these tabloids from publishing news that would have otherwise found their way in Ripley's 'Believe it or Not'. Over the years, thick skinned British politicians have found a way to survive the muck that is dredged up by the tabloid journalists. Pamper, Pester and Plaster is the dictum, and YSR can learn from that to keep himself on the right side of the media.

First, don’t antagonise the press. Today, YSR has achieved the impossible in the media industry in the state. By targeting Eenadu and Ramoji Rao, he has united the disparate elements in the state media into one single unit. The botched up GO seeking to gag the news media has made things worse. Even those who hate Ramoji Rao, are today forced to side with him in what is seen as a blatant attempt to muzzle the negative publicity that is hounding the YSR government.

It’s here that YSR needs some education on how to handle media. To start with, you cannot stop people from talking bad about you. It happens in our personal lives and so will it happen when you are the head of a state. By reacting to a negative news, you only give it more publicity. Newspapers have a shelf life of 12 hours, while Television channels are history in ten minutes. People in our country have a very short memory, specially when it comes to politicians. Don’t make things worse, by talking about news. Just ignore it, and it will die a natural death. Obsession with what is written in the media borders on paranoia, and one would need a Joseph Goebbles to counter that.

Cultivate the media. When you do good things talk about it. Not at press conferences, which are often attended by good-for-nothing unemployed reporters, who will write anything for a cup of tea. Talk one to one with senior reporters. Call them to your Begumpet residence individually and treat them like a king. The guy will go ballistic and talk about YSR being akin to Jesus Christ. Talk only to major newspapers, nobody reads the chota-mota newspapers. Stamp out a bad news before it gets to the airwaves. Television is a great medium to have instant nirvana. Don’t wait for the television guys call you for a news bite. You call them instead.

YSR can start off by scrapping the Directorate of information and public relations (DIPR) and put in a professional PR outfit to handle his image. The babudom at DIPR has over the years become inefficient and corrupt. They will tell the CM what he wants to listen, and that’s the first sign of sycophancy. Scale down the operations at the DIPR, and eventually shut it down. It will do a world of good for YSR’s image.

Media is like a horse, handle it well and it will trot along. Mishandle it, and you will be thrown off the saddle and be trampled.

Courtesy: Pix from net editions of The Hindu & Business Line

Write to us at vikram.apmedia@gmail.com

TV5 enters the fray

2007-02-22T17:55:00.000+02:00

Looks like it’s the season of aaya Rams – gaya Rams!

NTV got a taste of its own medicine! I Satyanarayana, the core team member who resigned, has joined TV5, another channel in the pipeline. So, talent-poacher NTV has itself lost some to rival, even before its launch!

News is in that IS was upset at the princely treatment given to juniors at NTV. For instance, Ramachandra Rao, was offered a salary that was close to what was offered to IS. Ram was a stringer at Chennai when IS was the News Editor of ETV2. TV5 is a natural choice for IS. He is close to the new channel’s CEO, Sivaram Prasad, a former colleague. Prasad was the initial promoter of Satya TV and his long-time associate Rajkumar heads the Marketing Team at TV5. (Geddam) Narsimha Rao is likely to join soon.

Talk is that like in the case of NTV, there are some hidden hands behind the main promoter. Got any inputs? Write to vikram.apmedia@gmail.com

Those who missed, please check reports of a survey in US on blogs. Times of India has it on Page 20 of Thursday’s edition.

Fissures @ NTV

2007-02-19T17:54:00.000+02:00

Narendranath Choudhury’s NTV has started off on the wrong foot!

I Satyanarayana, among the first to join NTV, has walked out. He resigned on Sunday (!) evening (thank you, mailer). There is no news on why IS left or where he is headed and multiple versions are doing the rounds!

The exit of a core team member even before the launch of the channel belies assessment that NTV, which has recruited a team of seniors, would have a head start. On the contrary, IS resignation might spell trouble — journalists planning to join the place would think twice now, nay, may even make a hasty retreat. After all, AP Media is rich in examples of false starts and short-lived experiments. What’s more, none wants to risk being nowhere when the coveted house plots are about to be allotted!

The latest development has also given scope for guesswork — doubts are being raised about team spirit among the top guns at NTV. Talk is that KSR, the bulldozer, railroaded his proposal to rope in his protégé Yadagiri Reddy. That had upset a few. And there are some in the competition who see the latest development at NTV as the thin end of the wedge! Let’s see how it plays out.

The art of faking

2007-02-15T18:21:00.000+02:00

"Statistics are like a bikini. What they reveal is suggestive,

but what they conceal is vital."

A few days ago, we discussed the concept of fudging circulation figures in the Chennai market. After having played the dirty game in Chennai and burnt their hands and pockets, DC bosses are limping back to Hyderabad. And to keep the morale of their troops high, DC bosses have some news to share. The Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC) figures July to December 06 are out and DC shows a figure of 3.85 lakhs for Hyderabad. That's almost a growth of one lakh copies for the last calendar year 2006. Is it too good to be true?

If the figures are any indication to go by the English readership in Hyderabad has grown by over 2 lakh copies. That's more than Bangalore city, the biggest English market down south. Media analysts say that the DC has grown by just about 38,000 copies in the last calendar year. The rest is just straight forward dumping.

In the print industry, a hike in advertising tariff follows increase in circulation. That is because someone has to bear the cost of printing more number of copies. It costs about 5 rupees to produce a 24-page newspaper, with a mix of 16 black & white and eight colour pages. Which means in the last one year, DC has been spending about 5 lakh rupees more every day to print a 24 page across the state. That is 150 lakh rupees extra every month. That translates into about Rs.18 crores in the last one-year. DC bosses while publishing their annual financial results have hidden that amount from their auditors.

DC is in a Catch 22 situation, and has not been able to pass on the cost of increase to its advertisers, who might defect to Hindu or Times. Going by logic DC should have upped their ad rates by about 30% to take care of the higher input costs. Not doing that makes everyone in the media industry apprehensive. Dal mein kuch kaala hai!

This is exactly what happened to Hindustan Times in their circulation war with Times of India in Delhi. After a five-year bloody battle, both Hindustan Times and The Times of India were almost neck and neck in the Delhi market. Times lost money, but HT lost a lot more. Times survived because of their deep pockets but HT did not have any such luck. Even the backing of the Birla group did not help, and HT called for a truce.

Now, HT and Times have come together in a 50:50 joint venture to produce an afternoon newspaper titled Metro in Delhi. This move was unthinkable a few years ago, and it shows that as in politics there are no permanent enemies or friends in media business. This move is aimed at thwarting the plans of the India Today group, which is planning to start a daily in Delhi titled Today. Incidentally, the editor of the new daily of India Today is Kingshuk Mukherji, the ex editor of Times, Hyderabad. Sourish Bhattacharya who handled HT city is now the Executive Editor of Today.

Today, HT does not want to grow from where it stands now. The inference is obvious, as more circulation will mean higher printing costs. If one goes by that logic, DC should have stalled their growth in Hyderabad at around 3 lakh copies. But DC bosses seem to be going against industry norms. Analysts see only one reason why the Reddy brothers are doing this. Being a listed company, they have to show stupendous growth year on year. Or else, there will be a bloodbath in the stock market.

It seems, DC bosses are going for the broke. As they say, finally when the shit hits the fan, there will be nobody around to take it.

Perilous Emotional Heroism

2007-02-11T15:30:00.000+02:00

Channels in a flux

2007-02-08T18:42:00.000+02:00

Managements of mana Telugu television channels seem to be as good (or as bad) as the Indian cricket team management! Just as our cricket team is in a shambles ahead of the World Cup, our channel houses are in deep confusion ahead of competition getting tougher, what with the much-talked-about NTV gearing up for launch. Opinions might vary on NTV’s prospects, but without doubt the channel has compounded confusion at the existing ones, if not actually triggering it.

Management-related issues are bugging employees at three channels: ETV, TV9 & Maa; Confusion and uncertainty triggered by Operation Undavalli has taken a toll on ETV employees and a good number of them have applied for the upcoming channel. As a result of the recent turmoil, ETV has postponed pay hikes to ETV2 programme employees, originally planned for last November. Naturally, some of them drove down the road to the new channel’s office.

At TV9, no one knows when Srini would exit from the company, offloading his stake. Venture Capitalist Srini, we hear, is mighty upset over Ravi Prakash’s sudden somersault, to take a pro-Congress line. Srini, apolitical though, would any day prefer the ‘progressive’ yellow brigade. Srini not only wants to walk out but also deliver a parting shot to Ravi Prakash – ensure his role is cut in the new set-up post his exit. That’s precisely what Ravi is seeking to avoid and the continuing one-up game is keeping the staff guessing on the final outcome.

Meanwhile, our friend Ravi Prakash summoned department heads after learning that 40 of his staff applied at NTV and spelt out his policy clearly: “Tell them to first resign here before submitting applications there.” Now, that argument makes sense only when you are the boss!

The scene at Maa TV is no less blurred. Insiders say they are witnessing a cold war of sorts between the two Tollywood stars, Nagarjuna and Chiranjeevi, stakeholders in the company. Super Nag fighting a two-way battle to be the Boss, with Indra Chiru one hand and with the real boss, founder promoter Murali Krishnam Raju on the other. Sharma stepped on Raju’s toes, occupying his chamber, for which he paid dearly. Chiru's frontman Sarat Marar replaced Sharma as the COO. Sharma is still around as the chief advisor but there’s no guessing how long he is going to last! Moreover, some biggies who left after Nag & Chiru stepped in are said to be planting doubts in the minds of the staff about the channel’s future.

Gemini group, the most successful among Telugu channels, too is going through a rough patch. Muniraju, the Tirupati hero who captured live visuals of the attack on Chandrababu Naidu at Alipiri, is the now the de facto bureau chief. Nobody whom Gemini bosses interviewed for the post of bureau chief, including Madhav of AJ, showed interest in joining the channel. The volatile situation at Gemni is said to be the reason for the disinterest. Of course, none would forget how the channel indiscriminately fired more than 20 news staff in one day without prior notice.

Star to form JV with Balaji for Telugu channel

Star Group is partnering with Balaji Telefilms to launch a Telugu entertainment channel. The channel would be launched around August. Star would be the majority stakeholder in the joint venture with Balaji Telefilms.

NTV’s claim: Guess how many would have applied for jobs at NTV? Given the questionable credentials of the promoter and the supposedly hidden ‘hands’ behind the channel, one would assume not many. Reality is otherwise. One senior at NTV proudly declared recently that the channel received more than 2,500 applications, for all jobs –journalist, technical HR etc. “We are flooded with applications and have multiple options in selecting the staff,” he said.

Resignations: ETV2: Political reporter at ETV2 Dronamraju Ramachandrarao decided to call it quits -ending almost 12 years of association with Eenadu group. He is now on long leave and we know what it means. His exit comes close on his bureau chief Moorthy quitting to join NTV as Bureau Chief for a pay Rs 43K plus car. We are not sure if Ramachandrarao too would join Moorthy at NTV but AP politicians would be relieved now that Ram is out of action, at least for the time being. Ram, who worked at Chennai and Tirupati before joining the bureau in Hyderabad, is known for his non-conventional approach. He had the knack of posing tricky questions and evoke ‘something controversial’ from the netas.
Deccan Chronicle: We hear ASR is on the way out. No news on what shocked the Transco correspondent but his exit would cut the elite club of senior reporters, with 10 years plus of service @ DC, to just two.
DNA scouting: At last DNA seems to be getting serious about launching the Hyderabad edition. The paper has started scouting for seniors to join its bureau in the city. At least half a dozen reporters received cold calls – two each from DC and ToI and the rest from other organizations. That’s good news. However, those who got the calls are surprised that it’s a city businessman making them instead of the local chief.

write to us at vikram.apmedia@gmail.com

The Lord of Great Things

2007-02-05T13:26:00.000+02:00

This is one issue that has united strange bedfellows, from the MIM to TRS to the TDP and even some Congressmen. The making of Greater Hyderabad is now a foregone conclusion, with the Andhra Pradesh High Court clearing the decks by dismissing the petition filed by MIM. The court has allowed the petitioners to file their objections with the government, which is only a formality. With the setting up of Greater Hyderabad, the contours of the politics and development of the state capital, with the twin cities will change forever.

The 715 km area, Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) will become one of the biggest urban agglomerations in the country. It will merge seven municipalities from Ranga Reddy district, including Alwal, Gaddiannaram, Kapra, Kukatpally, LB Nagar, Malkajgiri, Rajendranagar, Serlingampally, Qutballapur and Uppal Kalan. Greater Hyderabad will also gobble up two municipalities, Patancheru and Ramachandrapuram in Medak district. Gram Panchayats including Tukkuguda, Jalapally, Mankhal, Mamidpalli, Ravarala, Satamarai, Shamshabad, Sharadanagar in the outlying districts will also get amalgamated. In a way, GHMC will make Ranga Reddy district irrelevant in the new scheme of things.

For MIM, this move will sound their death knell, as their stranglehold on the Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad and the new set-up GHMC will weaken considerably. The writ of Owaisi and Co Pvt Ltd does not run beyond Barkas. Trying to win in an area like Malkajgiri is akin to India beating Brazil in football.

The BJP is the only party celebrating as it has all to gain and nothing to lose. With TRS and Congress parting ways, the biggest gainer in the new set-up will be the saffron brigade. The party which has a good hold in the city proper and some of the other municipalities will play on the Hindutva card, a la Shiv Sena in Mumbai. It will work wonders in many areas of the old city, where communities are highly polarized on communal lines.

With TRS and Congress parting ways, Bandaru Dattatreya can look forward to gaining the upper hand in Secunderabad. Kishen Reddy who has the record for the best development schemes among the MLAs in the twin cities will look to sew up his pocket borough of Himayatnagar. On the other hand, Karwan, Begum Bazar, Maharajgunj, Musheerabad, Malakpet will witness a renewed BJP onslaught. To make all this happen, city BJP President, Prem Singh Rathore will have to bring disparate party elements together into a well-knit team.

In Congress, the biggest losers will be the Hyderabad brothers, Sashidhar and Janardhan Reddy. The new set-up will make it difficult for PJR to lay claim to the fact that he has an absolute hold in the affairs of a number of constituencies that fall in the Central, West and North zones of the city. YSR on his part will go all out to ensure that PJR's nominees for GHMC are humbled at the hustings. PJR is all the more aware that his detractors had played the same dirty trick on him during the last Assembly elections, when he lost to rookie Vijaya Rama Rao. The sabotage plan is to ensure that PJR and his henchmen do not win too many seats and start demanding the mayor's post in GHMC. Sashidhar Reddy is a one-man army unlike PJR and winning the divisions in Sanathnagar will be tough for the well-mannered gentleman.

For the TDP, it is a case of being neither here nor there. Devender Goud who will lose all his footing with the setting up of Greater Hyderabad is the most vociferous opponent from the opposition. Goud knows that once TDP is elbowed out of the electoral race for GHMC, it will be curtains for him, and with it his dream of upstaging CB Naidu. For Goud, the delaying tactic in the form of an appeal to the Supreme Court is the last straw.

For the TRS, the setting up of Greater Hyderabad is a precursor to de-linking the city from the proposed Telengana and paving the way for a conspiracy to make Hyderabad a union territory. In the GHMC elections, KCR and his men will have to fight it alone, and will not stand a ghost of a chance to win, especially in areas like Kukatpally, LB Nagar and Dilsukhnagar which are heavily populated by people from coastal region. The anti-Medak stance of KCR in the IIT issue will cost his party dear, specially in the city outskirts. The abysmal performance of party MLAs from the city, Nayani Narasimha Reddy and Padma Rao will complete the rout.

On the other hand, the move to create Greater Hyderabad will help the state government access funds under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM). Union Minster Jaipal Reddy and the ex MCH boss PK Mohanty, now the head of JNNURM have considerable say in the release of urban development funds. The central government is already talking of extending Rs 2,000 crore grant for the Hyderabad Metro project. The third phase of Krishna water project which was given up, is now being dusted up and sanctions are on the way with funding assurances from Jaipal Reddy.

The Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad will don the new title of Greater Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad. All the newly merged municipalities will initially serve as sub offices all reporting to the super boss of MCH, Sanjay Jaju. The Hyderabad Urban Development Authority (HUDA) will also get a new avtaar, Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) with a de-centralised setup.

For the average citizen, anything good is welcome, Greater or not so Great. What they will be worried about is the likely impact of Greater Hyderabad on property taxes, water and sewerage charges will be a bone of contention. MCH authorities concede that there will be an appreciation in taxes, but the increase will be done in a graded manner. The crucial question is about the status of the Secunderabad Cantonment Board. The infrastructure development in SCB area is nothing much to write home about. Building rules are violated with impunity and builders care two hoots for rules and regulations.

The term of the present body of MCH ends on February 11th, and corporators are waiting in anticipation to see when the proclamation for Greater Hyderabad would come about. MCH officials say that once the objections are filed, Government would go through them as a formality and reject them outright. Then the moment for notification will arrive.

Greater Hyderabad is an idea whose time has come. What it requires is the will to succeed in ensuring a better quality of life for the citizens, specially the new ones who have come into its fold. Democracy is after all for the people, by the people.

Write to us at vikram.apmedia@gmail.com

The Star is fading

2007-02-03T17:41:00.000+02:00

Aasmaan pe udne wale, mitti me mil jayega

At one time it was the tiara of the Rupert Murdoch group, and today it is struggling to stay afloat. Satellite Television for Asian Region (or STAR for short) Indian operations has been a hot spot on the Murdoch family’s media business in Asia. When Rupert Murdoch bought the satellite business from Hong Kong real estate tycoon, Li Ka-Shing, the business model was in doldrums. Today, STAR is said to have more than 300 million viewers in 54 countries.

With his sharp business acumen and devil may care attitude, Murdoch set about building up his fledgling satellite television business. Such was the early dominance of the STAR channels that cable TV in our country was known as STAR TV. Slowly as the business matured, STAR pressed home the early mover advantage. One of the big bosses who built up the revenues for the group was Peter Mukerjea.

Peter led a team that comprised of Samir Nair, a young hotel management graduate from Chennai. Samir, who went on to IIM Ahmedabad, was the back office and programming genius. He knew what would click and what didn't with the Indian audiences, specially the housewives. Mukerjea looked after the sales part, which did well for years on end. When they clicked, they were like a house on fire.

Soon, business grew and STAR with annual sales of Rs 800 crores became the second biggest media company in the country, after the Times of India group which had annual sales totaling to Rs 3,000 crore. For all the facade of an Indian company, STAR India has an umbilical cord stretching all the way to Hong Kong. In fact 80% of STAR's turnover came from India. Murdoch knew that he needed his men to keep an eye on the Indian operations, which was the cash cow of the group.

Murdoch senior brought in his son James Murdoch to do the policing job from STAR's headquarters in Hong Kong. But James soon grew tired of a market he could little fathom, with soaps in which women cried their heart out, or a crazy game called cricket. He moved on in 2003, to head BSkyB in the UK and Michelle Guthrie took over as CEO of Star TV Hong Kong. The fast talking and sometimes paranoid lady knew that she needed to do a revamp the Indian operations if STAR India was to stay ahead in the media sweepstakes.

In March last year, STAR India was split into two separate divisions - STAR Group India and STAR Entertainment India. Peter Mukerjea, who was chief executive officer of STAR India, was named the chief executive of STAR Group India. At the same time, Michelle promoted her blue-eyed boy Nair, who was then the chief operating officer of STAR India, as the chief executive of STAR Entertainment India. For Mukerjea, the new job was demotion and a loop line posting. That was a mistake in hindsight, and the genesis of STAR India’s downfall. Samir is a brilliant programming man, but a disaster in sales. To Samir's bad luck Amitabh pulled out just as KBC 2 was taking off.

STAR Plus, which contributes to over 80% to the star kitty, is now in the sick bay. The channel, which mopped up Rs 795 crore last year, is not expected to make beyond Rs 600 crore this year. With viewers getting tired of Saas and Bahu like serials, ratings have gone into a tailspin. Even STAR One, which was launched two years back, is still in the red. Now with the Government of India setting new rules for sports telecast, its distribution deal with Nimbus is deep trouble.

KBC 3 on STAR Plus has drawn a mixed response. According to online rating agency AMAP, the show saw a rating of 5.35 percent on the opening day, and has since been on a decline to land up just 3.3 on the fourth day. STAR bosses say that they will wait for TAM ratings to come in before they react. The talk is that like Tata's buy out of Corus, STAR's huge payment to SRK seems to have gone over the top, and made the show unviable.

To top it all, the ascent of Zee with Pradeep Guha at the helm of affairs is beginning to show on the fortunes of STAR India. A hands-on boss, Guha is recreating the magic, that he had done during his days at the Times group. Revenues at Zee are on the rise, and even the flanking channels are making money. Guha is pushing the sales teams in Zee into an overdrive in a bid to overtake Star.

As things in Star India began to become messier, Michelle Guthrie was given the sack. She was replaced by Paul Aiello as chief executive officer of STAR, Hong Kong. Aiello, who had a fairly long stint with Morgan Stanley, joined STAR last year and was responsible for developing strategic and business directions.

Samir Nair who was seen as Guthrie's protégé, quit just a day before KBC 3 with new host, Shah Rukh Khan went on air. With an aggressive Zee hot on its tails, Peter Mukerjea too realised that he had no chance to move into Samir's slot and arrest sales decline at Star, and put in his papers. A firangi, John Askera will take over as the new COO of Star India.

Samir Nair is said to be speaking to Radhika and Prannoy Roy to take charge of the entertainment channel to be launched by NDTV in partnership with filmmaker Karan Johar's Dharma Productions. On the other hand, Mukerjea is said to be joining Mukesh Ambani who is planning to launch a slew of channels.

Media watchers say that with the departure of Mukerjea and Samir, morale at STAR is down and out. The new boss, Askera is said to be making a renewed attempt to halt the decline, and was holding a series of meetings to reassure that things were fine. But, will Star ever emerge out of Samir and Mukerjea's shadows?

The Economist has suggested that News Corporation may eventually merge STAR with BSkyB and DirecTV to form a global satellite TV company.

Will it all click? Watch this space.

Tollywood runs out of ideas

2007-01-31T18:58:00.000+02:00

Manasu gati inte
Manishi bratuku inte
Manasunna manishi ki
Sukhamu ledante…

Nothing succeeds like success. And nothing fails like failure. That’s the state of the Telugu film industry. Even as the apparently divided Telugu film fraternity concluded its three-day jamboree to honour itself, the dark clouds of uncertainty are forming in the horizon.

One of the largest film producing states, Andhra Pradesh had an enviable record when it came to making good quality films. There were the days when doyens like LV Prasad produced films that spelt class in every sense of the word. Legends like NT Rama Rao and Akkineni Nageswara Rao carried an entire movie on their shoulders. The same cannot be said of today’s tinsel town heroes.

Today, Tollywood is all about heroes. The rest don’t matter in the scheme of things. More than half of a film’s cost goes in the form of remuneration to the big names. An average Telugu movie costs close about Rs 10 to 15 crores, while the big budget ones cost a bomb. In a state where declining audiences and television serials are killing the silver screen, movies are a flop even before they reach the theatres. The economics simply does not work, as the box office collections do not come anywhere close to investment.

Even talented artists are hard to come by. Even in the sixties and seventies, Urvasi Sarada was so disappointed by the decline of standards that she migrated to the Malayalam film industry. In fact, today the Telugu film industry has imported most of its heroines who are models and item girls in Bollywood. Is the state, which spotted and groomed gems like Jayasudha and Jayaprada so bereft of talents that it is forced to depend on girls from other states? Does only glamour matter when it comes to the leading ladies?

Real estate tycoons who are flush with cash bankroll most of today’s movies. It’s a different story that many of the earlier real estate tycoons like G Punna Rao of the infamous GPR Housing, went bust as their movies flopped. The people who bought plots in GPR Housing were tricked and are now literally on the roads. History is now being repeated. And when the movies flop, thousands of people who invest in lands promoted by these real estate tycoons find that they are holding on to worthless pieces of paper.

The main problem with today’s Telugu movies is lack of realism. Very few movies connect up with the lives of today’s middle class, which is the prime target audience. Last year, saw two rare exceptions. Bommarillu and Godavari were two movies that broke away from the hackneyed themes and presented refreshingly different storylines. While Dil Raju’s Bommarillu made a neat pile of profit, Sekhar Kammula’s Godavari just broke even.

Abburi Ravi, the young man who wrote the cracker of a script for Bommarillu, slogged un-noticed for years working in ad agencies in Hyderabad. Struggling to make his ends meet, the young man almost gave it up in disgust and wanted to go back to Bhimavaram, his hometown. His passion was scripting movies and he knocked the doors of many producers and leading men hoping to tell them the stories he had painstakingly written. None him gave a second look and he was turned away rudely by many of the so-called big names of the Telugu industry. Today, the same big men are pleading with Ravi to write a movie script for them. The clock has turned a full circle.

The problem with life-like scripts and movies is with the audience, laments a Tollywood producer. “Movies goers in Andhra Pradesh are not mature enough to watch serious movies like they produce in Bengali or the Malayalam film industry,” adds a Tollywood producer who burnt his hands in trying out the new wave cinema. That might be stretching the logic too far. No doubt filmgoers in the state share a part of the blame, but the bigger share of the blame should lie with the movie-makers themselves. If Godavari and Bommarillu can be a hit what stops them with coming up life-like stories? Most of today’s Telugu movies are remakes of Malayalam or Tamil movies. This shows the drought of ideas in our backyard.

A serious scene set in a rural backyard in Konaseema is on and suddenly the hero and heroine break into a song and dance sequence in the Swiss Alps. Take the movie watcher seriously and respect their sensibilities. We are not morons.

Buying up the theatres to celebrate 100 days of a movie is foolish and leading men of Tollywood should stop living in a make-believe world. Fans associations are good to a limit, and after that they become a nuisance. And to add to that the news on the business front will not be music to the ears of the big bosses of Tollywood.

The news that Anil Ambani is buying up a number of the theatres in coastal Andhra Pradesh is a pointer of the scheme of things to come. News is that the Ambani junior will use his movie making behemoth, Adlabs to get into Telugu movie production. Known for his tightfisted way of operating, Anil Ambani will use his clout to steamroll opponents. Krishna Vamsi, Teja, Puri Jagannath, Bhaskar, Sekhar Kammula – you have got competition!

It is a wake-up call for Tollywood. A Chiranjeevi or a Nagarjuna can no longer guarantee to set the box office on fire. Get real, Get ready.

Eenadu hikes salaries

2007-01-23T12:29:00.000+02:00

Last November we said AP Media is in for a boom. When KSR jumped ship from Andhra Jyothi to NTV at the turn of the year, we said it's the first sign of an impending shake-up in AP Media. Later, we forecasted attrition spurt at Eenadu primarily due to disappointment over lack of pay hikes. Within days of that post three seniors, each with over 10 years service at Eenadu and including the ETV bureau chief, resigned. Well, Eenadu management has seen the writing on the wall! On Tuesday they took the inevitable decision -- an across the board 15% hike in basic pay to all the editorial staff.

Quite a generous move from a management that's seen as tight-fisted -- seniors would tell you about the GRAND PARTY FOR FAMILIES where they were hoodwinked into signing papers and forego legitimate hikes mandated by pay commissions! This first-time-in-30-years unmandated mid-term hike indicates the pressure the one-million paper is facing to retain talent. The competition in Telugu media industry has just begun and should it hot up, well that might fetch more benefits!

Fudging the figures - The DC way

2007-01-22T18:14:00.000+02:00

The problem with a public limited company is that you are answerable to your shareholders. Not everybody can rake up impressive numbers like the Ambani brothers do, year after year. As the old adage says - if you can’t beat them, then join them. That seems to be the adage of the Reddy brothers who run the Deccan Chronicle.

Here is an excerpt of an interview about on DC’s results with P K Iyer, ED of Deccan Chronicle Holdings on CNBC TV 18 :

The total sales for the previous quarter was about Rs 149 cr (ending Sept 06) and this quarter (ending Dec 06) it is about Rs 146 cr.

Can you believe that? DC, which generated a measly Rs 86 cr in turnover in the quarter ending March 06, has now almost doubled it turnover. But reality is otherwise.

All you have to do is to take the ad tracking figures from Hindu, Eenadu and Times and get the actual turnover of Deccan Chronicle. As per these figures, last quarter ending Dec 06, DC’s flagship Hyderabad edition has done no more than Rs 46 crore at full card rates. And if discounts that are liberally given by DC’s advertising department are taken into consideration then that figure would come down to around Rs 28 to 30 crore for the quarter ending December 06.

If you add the revenue from the other editions in AP, that figure would be another Rs 7 crore at the most, for the quarter ending Dec 06. In fact except Hyderabad, all other editions of DC (including Chennai) are running in huge losses. So much so, that they do not have editorial staff to run editions like in Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam.

Chennai is no better despite tall claims of the DC bosses. An analysis of DC’s Chennai edition shows that there are hardly any ads in DC that are generated from Chennai or the Tamil Nadu market. A majority of them goes into the Mahavishnu on Mount road — The Hindu and the Tamil publications.

All put together, DC’s ad revenues for the last quarter ending Dec 06 should not be more than Rs 80 to 85 crore. Only 8% of DC’s revenues comes from circulation so that means the total ad revenue would come to about Rs 132 crore (Rs 5 crore being other income as shown in the financial disclosures). So where does the remaining Rs 50 crore come from? Mr Iyer, can we have a clarification on that?

DC’s figures for the quarter ending Dec 06 are now un-audited, but will have to be audited sooner than later. But remember, auditors only see what is shown to them. Enron, Worldcom, Computer Associates are classic examples where the company fudged figures along with the auditors to keep their stock at a high level. Unlike in the US, we have no Sabrnes - Oaxley Act to counter this kind of fudging of figures.

Let SEBI appoint an independent body to go through the ads published for the last three months across all of DC’s editions. Once that is done, DC’s auditors will have to do a lot of explaining on how they allowed this kind of manipulation to go on. The cat will then be out of the bag. SEBI better go through DC’s books and do a clean up act, before we have another Eenadu kind of fiasco from coming into the limelight.

Diagnosing Unreason

2007-01-22T17:59:00.000+02:00

We as a society cannot progress unless those in public life have the maturity to accept the risk of criticism and the society at large is ever vigilant about the opinion-makers and agenda-setters. Kiron-Sailaja's pregnancy was touched upon in this context, for which some wanted to crucify us. Let's see the issue afresh and see whether we were wrong or wronged.

Kiron is the Managing Director of Eenadu, the daily that's read by 1.30 crore people everyday. He is both an opinion-maker (Eenadu overdoes it, but let's not digress) and an agenda-setter. Such a lofty and privileged position demands that he demonstrates exemplary social responsibility and possesses a mindset that's in tune with the realities of the present.

What are the realities of the present times?
For decades now we have discussed at length the bane of population boom and have accepted that "small family" is a social responsibility. We have made legislations disallowing parents of more than two children contesting elections at panchayat level. Significantly, courts have ruled that the two-child norm is in our national interest.

The educated section of India has progressed even further, limiting themselves to just a child -- does not matter if the only child is a boy or a girl. I can immediately think of three of my friends who went for family planning ops after they had a girl in the first issue. All are economically capable of supporting at least two more children. Yes, the issue goes beyond economic status and involves the pressing need to put an end to gender discrimination by treating the girl child on par with the boy. Today, educated Indians detest a pregnancy spree to fulfill the desire of having a son. That's anachronistic and considered as sheer stupidity.

Do we respect a man who wants his forty-plus wife to conceive because a family is incomplete without a son? (because the family's property can never be bequeathed to the girl) What is the mindset of a man who does all kinds of religious rituals just to have a son? More importantly, has the father of two girls ever considered how his yearning for a son would impact his daughters? A 13-year-old girl is no kid. She can comprehend the goings on and draw her own inferences. Would not her parents' desperation for a son make her feel rejected and unwanted? If you disagree, find out yourself by talking to any girl of that age. Or better, let the publication conduct an essay or elocution contest for schoolgirls on the issue -- their voices would make us cringe and loathe ourselves.

It's very unfortunate that a chauvinist, steeped in outdated mindsets, heads an influential daily. What right will the paper has to take high moral ground when impoverished Lambadi tribals sell their girls, just to escape the tyranny of poverty and hoping against hope that the city biggies would ensure a better future for her? How can such narrow-minded people claim that their newspaper is the heart and soul of people when they themselves have no heart?

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The Southern skirmish

2007-01-21T15:34:00.000+02:00

FLASH: Times of India group is about to buy Vaartha from the Sanghi family. MD of Times, Vineet Jain, Executive Director Saldhana and Executive editor Jojo were in town last week to finalise the deal. The move comes after Times made unsuccessful bid to buy out Andhrya Jyothi. Will the latest move go through?

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THE SOUTHERN SKIRMISH: For long, it was the domain of the Kasturi family, and it still remains so. Despite all the talk of inroads made by Deccan Chronicle, it still remains an also-ran in the leadership stakes for the Chennai market.

For starters, Deccan Chronicle which made its foray into the South with an edition in the Tamil Nadu capital took the Times route by starting out with a cover price war. DC also tied up with ICICI credit cards to offer the newspaper for a rock bottom price which was well above the trade terms of Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC). Now that the heat and dust has settled, DC claims that it has a circulation of around 3 lakh and has an ABC certificate to prove that. But media buyers in the Dravidian heartland take the figures with a pinch (make that a tea spoon) of salt.

Just walk into any of the leading dealers of DC in Chennai at six in the evening and one can spot thousands of copies stacked up. In an industry where the product becomes obsolete by noon, such a sight is a sure confirmation of dumping. “It easy to dump copies and sell them in the raddi market with the connivance of the dealers,” says a leading media planner with one of Chennai’s biggest advertising agencies. DC circulation managers in Chennai accuse Hindu of doing the same in Hyderabad. It’s a game that everyone plays out, and media planners know that for sure.

So who is the leader in the Chennai market? No doubt the Kasturi family product Hindu still matters. But not for long. The Times of India is waiting on the sidelines watching the fun, for the Hindu and DC slugfest to end. Once both are bruised, Times will use its brute money power to steam roll into the Chennai market. Before that, if rumours are to be believed then Times might well start out with a Tamil newspaper, which it is said to be close to buying out. Once it gets that printing facility, Times will get its Chennai edition in place.

Financial analysts believe that it will be DC that will end as the biggest loser. DC’s total advertising revenues for all its editions last quarter put together was around Rs 86 crore. This is confirmed by all the tracking figures of all the leading publications in Hyderabad and Chennai based on full rates as per its rate card. Right now, only the Hyderabad edition of DC draws advertising on its own strength. Advertising agencies in Hyderabad say that DC offers up to 50% off on its card rates in Hyderabad. This fact, is confirmed by this writer who has seen bills raised by DC for its tabloid advertisers.

Even the Hyderabad citadel is under threat with The Times of India launching an all colour edition. Media watchers say, it was similar re-launch in Bangalore in 1996, that took Times past the then market leader Deccan Herald. Today, Times sells DH three to one. Times today prints around 1.85 lakh at its new Nacharam facility. Once they cross the psychological two-lakh mark then DC is in real trouble, as Times will repeat the Bangalore story here.

In fact, media watchers are wondering what happened to the proposed launch of DC in Bangalore. Sources say that DC bosses, the Reddy brothers are in talks with the owners of Deccan Herald for a possible buy out.
The danger for DC is that if it takes its eye off the Hyderabad market, then Times will hit hard in DC’s home turf. Times is already in talks with a leading industrial house in Hyderabad to buy its Telugu newspaper. On the other hand, if DC blinks in Chennai, then N Ram will go for its jugular. That’s the danger of ignoring your core competence, as management experts would say. Whatever it is, action south of Vindhyas is just hotting up!

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Let Truth Prevail

2007-01-18T11:46:00.000+02:00

Murthy, a torn page

Eenadu chairman Ramoji Rao is known for being very sparing in complimenting his employees, typical of a Scorpio. The fastidious media baron was highly generous in one case: “Eenadu has created history… Ramoji is a chapter in the history book of Eenadu.. Murthy is a page in it,” he said about D V V N H S Murthy, chief reporter, ETV. The ONE PAGE Murthy resigned on Thursday. A few days more in service, Murthy would have completed TEN years at Eenadu. Had he waited for just couple of weeks and resigned in February, he would have got Gratuity benefit. Yet, the star performer, known for his investigative reports, made a hurried exit because “no self-respecting individual can take it when his integrity is questioned.” The man is holidaying in Kakinada and would be hotly pursued by other media houses once he returns. Murthy’s exit comes close on the heels of two others leaving Eenadu, including another senior and talented resource Goparaju Radhakrishna.

Of Yaga-s, Yatra-s & cold calls

2007-01-17T19:24:00.000+02:00

DOUBLE PLEASURE FOR KIRON: Taken Off -- WILL BE BACK SOON!
SUMAN STRIKES AGAIN: Tireless and versatile, Suman believes in wasting no time. The talented man is back to his passion. After his first telefilm Sri Krishna Balarama Yuddam, he is now planning Ushaparinayam. The script is all ready but it’s yet not known if he would take to acting. Let’s wish him well!
RECRUITMENT YATRA: Ok, our lady editor is out of station. Sigh! She is off on a multi-location visit. Neither for reporting nor for relaxing but taxing herself to find people willing to work for her. Phew!! So, the wheel has turned full circle. Initially, local talent was shunned as sub par and ‘outsiders’ were preferred. Today, locals spurn overtures, forcing talent hunt elsewhere! Therein lies the lesson for the many others who are on the lookout for talent…the past will catch up, sooner or later. ET, FE, BL, BS, DNA and more are scouting for talent… too many cold calls going around. But bosses with dubious records of discarding team members surely would not be preferred. More on this in a day.

NTV starts the flurry

2007-01-17T18:18:00.000+02:00

It’s official now! The first channel promoted by realtor and businessman Narendranath Choudhury is all set to flash on the small screens by June this year. NTV advertised for young TV journalists on Wednesday.
We learn that licensing and connectivity process is going on smoothly and delay-causing glitches are unlikely. A Rs 6-crore deal was inked recently to install edit suits and other technical infrastructure. NTV is going in for AVID edit systems for high-quality output.
Construction of Studios and News Rooms and an administrative block is under way at a location that’s on way to Apollo Hospitals at Jubilee Hills.

S R Ramanujan who has the experience of launching 10 channels at ETV, is busy in his new avatar as the CEO. For the old war horse who has been out of action for a while, the cables and systems must be smelling like napalm in the morning! We are sure he can’t wait to have a go at it!

Ex-Eenadu & Ex-Jyothi Kommineni Srinivasa Rao, now Executive Editor at NTV, has already planned his new team. NTV’s ad is only to recruit the foot-soldiers, fresh and raw hands. KSR has broadly decided whom he would poach from papers he worked earlier. It is very likely that some good hands from ETV, Eenadu and Andhra Jyothy may join NTV days before its launch.

I Satyanarayana, earlier associated with ETV, Eenadu, Andhra Jyothy and Vissa, may be assigned the task Editor-Output. Suryadevara Madhu Babu, who was with Eenadu Business Desk for 20 years, is the Business Editor. Business News is one segment that is nobody’s strength among the existing Telugu channels and Madhu Babu’s effort would be to use all his experience and exploit this opportunity. (This time around he might pull it off without Kidambi’s able guidance)

Vinayeswar, an experienced producer now with TV 9, is all set to join the new channel. Vinay worked for ETV for a long time and later at Vissa before jumping ship to join TV9. He will be the Chief Producer, responsible for PCR operations and On-line assignments. More producers from TV 9 might follow him to NTV.

If the Wednesday's Ad is any clue, NTV’s focus would be more on outdoor i.e. reporting section, than the desk. The thrust would be on Reporter-driven ‘live’ hungama. Desk may be relegated to a secondary role. Well, that means an action-replay of all the blunders that overenthusiastic TV9 reporters committed in the initial months of launching the Channel in 2004. Hope KSR would avert that.

POLICE SUPREMACY

2007-01-16T12:57:00.000+02:00

From 1st April 2007, Jana Reddy will have nothing to do. No, that’s not an April fool day joke. The Home Minister of Andhra Pradesh will join his counterparts from other Indian states in the unemployment line, as the new Supreme Court guidelines on police administration kick in.

Not many citizens are aware of the real impact of the new directions of the apex court that have to be followed to the T. It will, in one stroke dismantle the eponymous politician-police relationship, which has become the bane of our society.

The judgment calls on states to implement rules relating to fixed tenure for DGPs, IGPs, SPs and SHOs as well as setting up of Police establishment boards to deal with transfer and posting of personnel. This part of the judgment will have to be implemented in four weeks, that is by January end.

The Supreme Court has also directed states to implement by March 31 the directions relating to setting up of State Security Commission, separation of police force for the purpose of maintaining law and order and investigations, and setting up of police complaint authority.

It was an innocuous petition filed by Prakash Singh, a former director general of BSF that has resulted in a tsunami of a judgment. Not many know about the genesis of this petition filed by Mr Singh. The tough ex cop, was the man in charge of the enquiry on the Alipiri bomb blast that almost cost C B Naidu his life. At the time of submission of the Alipiri report, Mr Singh made some suggestions, which were just unceremoniously dumped in the dustbin by the state government. That irritated Mr Singh to no end, and he filed a petition in the Supreme Court asking for an overhaul of the police setup.

In fact, Andhra Pradesh was among the states that strongly objected to the initial directions of the court and filed strenuous objections. The judges of the Supreme Court were caustic in their remarks and dismissed the plea of the states with disdain. What has got the goat of the present political setup in Andhra Pradesh and other states is the fact that the leader of the opposition will have the say in senior level police appointments. Imagine, Chandrababu Naidu being a part of the team that will decide on who the next DGP will be!

It is the posting of police personnel, right from constable level to DGP that politicians enjoy doing the most. Many corrupt police officials lobby their political masters for a posting, which has the requisite glamour. The politicians know that these police officials will do anything for them. Others, more honest do not care for the political setup and are often shunted to loop line postings.

The threat – "aisa jaga bejunga jahan paani bhi nahin milta" (I will transfer you to a place where you will not even get water to drink) is often used against policemen by self-seeking politicians. From small time political chamchas, to big time leaders, everyone revels in this brazen act of political power. The result is the creation of a unique mai baap culture.

From now on, policemen need not fear that. They can go about doing their job without being scared of extraneous considerations. Their fixed tenures will take away any threat of transfers. The same policemen who used to salaam good-for-nothing politicians and kowtow their illegal orders, will now not even care a damn for them. That’s the problem for the politicians.

Will all this turn policemen into absolute dictators? No. The police complaint authority as envisaged by the court will provide instant relief to those find themselves victimized by the men in khakhi.

The separation of the investigation and law order duties, will hopefully lead to better investigation of cases and timely prosecution of the accused.
The state is talking about filing a review petition in the Apex court without realising that the Supreme Court has said in its judgment that it will not entertain any more petitions in this matter. Implement the court orders first.

With no policemen to control or transfer, Jana Reddy, the third senior most minister in the cabinet will now have to look for another portfolio. Any suggestions on which ministry he should ask for?

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Sonia's benign Hand for Ramoji

2007-01-12T17:34:00.000+02:00

Beleaguered media baron Ramoji Rao has finally pulled off a seemingly impossible act. The master manipulator has succeeded in getting Congress supremo Sonia Gandhi to intervene on his behalf and rein in his bete noire, Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhar Reddy. The ‘fight to finish’ between Ramoji and YSR will immediately thaw and peter out over time, without eroding the prestige of either of the two combatants.

Delhi political sources reveal that the cease-fire agreement reached in Delhi today is the culmination of weeks-long intensive negotiations carried out by Ramoji through his mediators.

Ramoji had adopted a clever strategy to checkmate YSR. The Eenadu editor made his team prepare an impressive CD – it had the English translation of all the ‘exposes’ and ‘anti-government’ reports his daily published. The CD was circulated among all important politicians, opinion-makers and, most importantly, all newspaper editors to secure their support to Ramoji in his noble endeavour of ‘defendnig the freedom of the Press’. The CD was aimed at creating an awareness about the ‘motivated action of State government against Margadarsi’ that was intended to ‘cripple a media house that upheld the values of journalism.’

It did not work. Many eminent Editors were shocked at the tone of Eenadu’s reports (thanks to the lady translator who was diligent at her work!) and were impressed that media in Andhra Pradesh enjoyed such unlimited freedom to rail the government!

The second part of Ramoji’s strategy was more subtle and much less in the open. Through N Ram and Manorama's Mathews he managed to reach Sonia Gandhi through Ahmed Patel and George. Sonia bought the argument of her advisers: N Ram’s is the only English Editor who has been consistent in his anti-BJP stance and can be trusted to not change his colours (unlike the likes of Mehtas & Mitras). The Congress cannot afford to estrange him and his media friends. So, peace has to be made with Ramoji. YSR camp presented its case strongly, Ramoji’s persecution of the Congress government and Eenadu’s personal attacks against YSR and his Cabinet colleagues.

Peace being the objective, a solution was worked out. Ramoji would continue his ‘fight’ against the state government but would immediately put an end to personal attacks. YSR would not have morning sickness when he looks at Eenadu. That means Sridhar would not sketch ‘demeaning’ caricatures of YSR, which the CM is hyper-sensitive about.

On Friday, when Media in Delhi grilled him if he discussed Margadarsi issue with the PM, YSR had his stock answer “Law will take its own course”. Congress sources say the issue did figure when the CM met Manmohan Singh and Sanjaya Baru.

Well, is all this true? Just keep an eye on Eenadu’s reports in the coming days. The easier way is to just observe Sridhar’s cartoons in the coming days! If Sridhar is soft on YSR you can be sure that Ramoji is safe in the benign hands of Sonia! Let’s wait and watch.
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The mother of all scams

2007-01-10T19:58:00.000+02:00

It has been a scam that has been on for a long time, siphoning off thousands of crores from our exchequer without even a murmur. The mother of all rip offs has been kept under wraps thanks to high-level collusion between politicians, bureaucrats and the conmen. The scandal takes its origins from a slew of schemes that were ostensibly meant to provide a fillip to exports from the country.

The Duty Free Replenishment Scheme (DFRC) and Advanced Licence Scheme (ADL) schemes were promoted by Ministry of Commerce, Government of India, to encourage value addition to textile sector ports by using powerlooms. Under these schemes, exporters could import yarn without paying any import duties. The imported yarn is then meant to be processed into textiles, and exported within set time frames. But as is the wont, every rule has a loophole that is be exploited by crooks. Over the years, this scheme has been extended despite strenuous objections from the Ministry of Finance, resulting in severe loss to the Government.

The scamsters who run this mafia operation operate out of two hubs, Surat and Hyderabad. The yarn is imported in containers out of major Indian ports, the bulk of which come out of Nava Shweha port, Mumbai. The reason for selecting a busy port is to ensure that customs officials, who are hard-pressed for time, do not start looking into details about the destination of the material. Once the containers are cleared out of the port they are trucked out to Surat, where they are clandestinely sold to local textile units on a 50% mark up. This act is perpetuated by hundreds of fictitious firms, most of which exist on paper. Officials of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) have tracked hundreds of such firms only to hit a dead end. Most of them are one-room offices, which are used only as a mailing address. On the other hand, some firms that do have a semblance of existence, create fake export papers and claim the benefits.

Under DFRC, the company in question first exports the consignment and then exports the raw material, which was required for production. DRI officials say that using fake documents the yarn is showed as having been transported out of Surat to Hyderabad, while in reality nothing moves. DRI officials had better luck in shutting down the network set up by scamsters in cities like Patna, but not here. DRI officers have checked out the antecedents of a number of trucks at local RTA offices in Gujarat, only to learn that most of them were fake. Many of the number plates of the trucks mentioned in the transport documents were in fact, autorickshaws and scooters. Raids by DRI officials at numerous checkposts in border districts of Andhra Pradesh revealed that none of the so-called trucks from Surat ever entered Andhra Pradesh.

Hyderabad's association with this scam can be traced to a number of powerloom units in its vicinity, many of which are defunct now. The existence of a number of export oriented units make things easy for the scamsters. According to rules, the textile produced under the two schemes can be sold to export oriented units (EOUs), and are treated as deemed exports. Here again, fake papers are created to show that sales have been made to non-existent EOUs, and the benefits claimed. The re-warehousing in Hyderabad has been aided by dismantling of the licence raj, which prohibits excise officers from visiting the suspect powerloom factories. The yarn that is mostly exported from Korea and Taiwan goes through five to six processes before it is classified as a textile.

The kingpin of the scam who is based in Hyderabad, is said to be a former senior official of the Central Excise and Customs department. The man in question masquerades as a Telugu film producer, and is said to have enormous political clout both at the state and the central level. This has prevented DRI officials in Hyderabad from pinning him down despite firm leads. This man in question, along with others of his ilk, have floated numerous front companies in Hyderabad including two major ones which have been tracked by DRI officials, Ahmed garments and Royal fabrics. In cases where DRI officials have been able to act on fake companies, they have been able to only round up junior staff like clerks and receptionists who are listed as directors of the fictitious companies. The big fish, stay out of the game and remain only in the shadows. The film producer operates along with his aides have made millions through this scam trade most of which have been invested in real estate in Andhra Pradesh and in producing Telugu films.

The irony of it is that when DRI officials tried to use strong-arm methods to extract information from the detainees, they filed complaints with state and national Human Rights Commissions. Most of the tip offs to DRI come from their network of informers and Indian companies who are affected by the sale of duty free imported yarn at low prices.

Disturbed by huge revenue losses, Finance Ministry recently issued a special circular directing customs officials at all ports in the country to be on the look out for suspiciously large amount of yarn imports. Interestingly, the perpetrators of the fraud avoid smaller ports and Inland Container Depots, where customs officials are able to track such consignments. Unlike the DFRC scheme, the LAS scheme is spawning the biggest scamsters. Under ALS scheme, the first licence is sent by post to the company and the rest of the licences can be collected in person.

To make this possible, the fake companies often provide the address of a shop or a house, which in reality is just a mailing address. Once the initial licence has been collected, the entity vacates the premises. The ALS scheme also provides a window of two years from the import of the raw material to fufill the commitments. And predictably, in these two years the companies vanish into thin air and new ones take their place.

Having tried and failed in their attempts to nail the erring companies, DRI officials are now adopting different tactics. They take along textile engineers during the raids on powerlooms and this move has paid off. The textile engineers under panchnama, are able to certify if the particular factory is capable of producing textile from the imported yarn.
Raids on units around Hyderabad have revealed rusted machinery which have nor been used for years, and are in no way capable of producing anything, leave alone textiles. "But when we close one door, another opens" says a frustrated DRI official. Using their clout in the corridors of power, the scamsters have been able to file false complaints and get government agencies to conduct raids on the investigating officers based in Hyderabad. "Why should we get into trouble for doing our job" bemoans a DRI official. "Thanks to their political connections no one can touch them, and they have proved that time and again."
DRI officials say that this scam cannot be shut down overnight and will take months of co-ordinated work between central and state agencies. "What we are now looking is only a tip of the iceberg, and if busted will overshadow other similar scams by a huge margin," adds a DRI official. This can be done by conducting intensive checks of de-bonded warehouses in Hyderabad and other Indian cities. DRI officials suspect that very little of the so-called exports from Export oriented units like the Kandla Free Trade Zone (FTZ) are physical in nature. At the end of the day, it’s all about who will take a lead in closing down the mother of all scams. It depends on whom you ask.

The Eenadu cauldron

2007-01-08T13:31:00.000+02:00

Mee abhipraayalu, vimarsalu, vyakhyaanalu... maaku cheppandi.. vikram.apmedia@gmail.com

The donkey and the carrot

2007-01-08T13:22:00.000+02:00

One good reason why so many stories about Times group appear on this blog and elsewhere is due to the fact that there are so many ex employees of ToI who are working in other organisations. Most of them have left Times with a bitter experience and naturally would like to carry the lurid tales of the workings inside Times. Naturally, this disgruntled lot is a wonderful source of information to tap into. Here is one story developed by tapping into this ex Times network across four Indian cities.
In this post, we look at the way the newspaper industry is run by crooks who ensure that the system will never change. One of the blog comments on an earlier weekend story was on salary hikes. All of us know how arbitrarily these things are done, at the whims and fancies of those who run the show.
Even the highly exalted Times group is no exception.
The owners of Times are super rich thanks to the huge profits that the group is making. They are not answerable to anybody as the parent company is not publicity listed except for ENIL, which is the holding company of Radio Mirchi.
The Jain family running the Times, wastes a huge amount of money pampering swamis like Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and Swami Jaggi Vasudev. Unlike Narayana Murthy of Infosys, the owners led by Vineet Jain and his family never believes in sharing their mountain of wealth with their staff.
At one time, the employees of Times used to get their yearly rise or increments, which was added on to their salary. But post the exit of Pradeep Guha, who was hugely popular with the Times employees, the Jains have got into a reverse gear of sorts. Increments are a pittance, and most of the salary goes into what is now called variable pay. This is paid as per the performance of a particular branch, which is set against ridiculously unachievable targets.
The idea is to ensure that the donkey never reaches the carrot.
First, this variable pay was supposed to be paid every month, then it was changed to every quarter, then six months and finally the lackeys of the management decided that the payout would be after one full year. Which means that almost 30% of the salary is held back for one full year and even after that payment depends on the whims and fancies of the MD of the company.
So much for the professionalism and excellence that the top management of Times speaks about. The result – the employees suffer, while the owners of the Times group and their chamchas enjoy holidays in exotic locations all around the world. (Our old man too had his share of fun!)
Nobody has any idea where the massive profits of the group that is siphoned off is stashed. The Times group makes huge profits which are said to be in the range of Rs 400 to 500 crore every year. Only a miniscule part of this money is given to the employees asvariable pay.
Where does the rest of the money go? Only a privileged few know into which Swiss banks the moneyis laundered into. Remember the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence had rounded up the Ashok Jain, the then Chairman of the Times group and put him behind bars. The old man sang like a parrot, before he croaked. But the case was hushed up after the politicians and the DRI officials were paid off.
Now it's time to re-visit the Jains like Undavalli has done with Eenadu. It’s time we changed all this. It’s time for the employees of Times group to take charge. It’s time they fought for the profits which is made possible due to the blood, tears, toil and sweat of the employees. Let us in the media profession and trade union leaders help the Times employees get what is due to them, rightfully.
Why should the profits be enjoyed by only a select few? Let the accounts of the Times group be made open to a team of retired Supreme Court judges, and a ratio of profit sharing for the employees, right down to the last one at the bottom of the ladder be worked out. Let us expose the smooth talking big shots of the Times group who hobnob with the President, Prime Minister, Finance Minister, film stars and other hot shots. This is nothing but a shameless attempt to curry favours leveraging their position as the owner of a newspaper. It’s a crying shame.
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Bite the bullet

2007-01-05T18:33:00.000+02:00

Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely. Surely you heard that one before. Andhra Pradesh is caught somewhere in the middle of all that. Options before YSR are limited, as he struggles to contain the huge power surge, and a contrived farmers agitation, backed by his political opponents.

On one hand, YSR has to be seen adhering to his pledge of providing seven hours of dedicated power supply. On the other, he has to be realistic about the actual availability of power. With immense pressure being mounted on the generating stations, problems are beginning to show up. Boiler leakages and tripping are becoming common. When you push things beyond their capacity, they tend to break down. It happens both to man and machine.

So what options does YSR have? For one he has to buy power from any source. He has now agreed to run the idle gas-based power plants of the independent power producers on naptha. It is an expensive option, but with his back to the wall, YSR does not have much of a choice. So buy, at any cost. But where does the money come from? To save money, the government will have to trim down both plan and non-plan expenditures across departments.

Next go on a power saving drive. The government has decided to start charity from home, and has decided to cut down on the use of air conditioners and usage of lifts. Good move, but it must go beyond rhetoric. What about residences of ministers and bureaucrats who cannot sleep without ACs? Transco estimates that the saving will be to the tune of 10 million units, which is equivalent of setting a 400 MW power plant. Hoardings and signages don't need power after ten, and can be switched off.
But for heavens sake don't switch off the street lights, as someone from the electricity department has suggested. That will lead to more accidents and defeat the entire purpose of the exercise.

Next, go on an organized load shedding programme. If there is a power cut, then tell the people about it. Tell them when the power cuts are scheduled, so that consumers can make alternative arrangements. Don't shut down power only in the suburbs, start shutting down power in Banjara Hills, Jubilee, Hills, Begumpet and Punjagutta – CPDCL will save a lot more power than it would save from cutting down power in AS Rao Nagar or Medchal. The move to shift the load shedding from Transco to the distribution companies is a step in the right direction.

Next, bite the bullet. Provide subsidy to farmers based on their consumption. That calls for meters to be installed for every pump in the state. If the farmer consumes less than 100 units a month, then waive his entire bill. If he consumes more then make a graded subsidy. Let the rich farmers who own hundreds of acres pay at the minimum 50% of their metered amount. Historically, it has been shown to be true that farmers are willing to pay if they get quality, committed power. It is the politicians who have spoilt the farming community with freebies.

If a poor factory worker in Hyderabad has to pay 4 rupees for a unit of power, why should a rich Honda City driving farmer not pay the thousands of rupees worth of power that he consumes? This way subsidy can be targeted directly at the farming community instead of being just thrown into the coffers of the distribution companies.

Next, scale up the capacity. The state needs to make huge investments in setting up new power plants. The 210 MW Rayalaseema power plant at Muddanur which will be synchronized with the grid in the second week of January is a small step in that direction. With one more unit expected to join the state grid in March, the state will have at least five million additional units in its kitty. February to April will be very crucial to the power scenario in the state, with demand from both domestic and farm segment expected to touch an all time high.

Next, get cracking on the gas front. The state MPs need to forge a common front and demand with the centre that ONGC must be made to live up to its promise. ONGC needs to get its house in order and provide required amount of gas to the units that are dependent on them. Push the Gujarat Gas Corporation and Reliance Energy to pre-pone their gas delivery schedules from the KG basin. Sign up agreements with both these entities now, so that the gas is first supplied to units within our state before being routed to others.

Looking at the future, get a nuclear power plant. Coal is not going to last beyond the next 50 to 60 years, and water is too risky in a state that is prone to erratic monsoon. If our state has to tackle the power shortage, then nuclear energy is the only long-term solution.

Till then, keep the candles ready. The lights might go off as you read this.

FUTURE SHOCK

2007-01-03T18:03:00.000+02:00

There is nothing called a free lunch. Haven’t we heard that before? We have, but not the politicians. For them electric power is a vote catcher, one that would get them access to the seat of political power.

Towards the fag end of his tenure, the then Chief Minister, Chandrababu Naidu felt that the ground was slipping away from him. The reason for this political earthquake was the promise of free power by the then opposition leader, Rajasekhara Reddy. A startled Naidu did not know how to react, for he knew that the theory of free electricity was flawed. Rajasekhara Reddy in his eagerness to achieve the ultimate ambition of life did not.

Today, the doctor from Pulivendula must be ruing the pledge he made. Farmers along with self-seeking politicians are paying back him in the same coin that Congress leaders once used to beat Naidu with.

To understand the economics of power let us look at the basics. The State-owned power utilities, which includes AP Genco has an installed capacity of 6822 MW of power from four sources including thermal, hydel, gas and wind. Apart from this, the State has numerous independent power producers including GVK, Lanco Kondapalli, and Spectrum among others.

To top it all, some of the units are idle due to lack of gas supplies, while the State government continues to pay the IPPs for power they are not producing! Blame it on the agreement signed with the IPPs during Naidu’s time.

Against the total installed capacity of 12,040 MW in the state, the current production is only 5,300 MW while the demand is around 7,500 MW every day. This gap has led to frequent grid disturbances with frequency levels going dangerously low, which can lead to a total collapse of the southern grid.

This has forced the State to go with a begging bowl to other states and continue to draw excess power from the central grid, far beyond what is allocated. Still the economics of demand and supply remains. The gap between supply and demand, which is presently at 1,500 MUs per day, is likely to reach 2,173 MUs in the next 45 days.

The concept of free power began when Punjab State Electricity Board did away with metering of electricity for farmers and charging a flat rate based on the horse-power of pumpset installed. The government there had an eye on the vote bank when it took the decision that sent the state electricity board into bankruptcy. Haryana followed and in a matter of time, both the state governments realised that. But YSR felt that the scenario in AP was different, with farmers consuming poison like there was no tomorrow.

While in opposition, YSR and specially the Communists had led a strident opposition to the power policies of the CBN government. This reached a flashpoint when police fired on a crowd marching towards the Assembly, at Basheerbagh, killing two protestors. After assuming power the YSR government provided compensation to the next of the kin of those killed and installed a memorial at Basheerbagh. Today, the shoe is on the other foot.

CBN’s footmen are fronting farmers to stage sit-ins, rasta-roko, smashing up sub stations, locking up staff. YSR has appealed to the farmers not to panic or resort to agitation. “Care is being taken to continue power supply for seven hours to save their crops,” he pleaded. But who cares. For Naidu this is the moment he has been waiting for. He wants nine hours of power supply, and wastes no time in telling the farming community of his oft-quoted line in the run-up to the Assembly elections “In YSR reign, electricity wires can be used as clotheslines.”

The Congress leaders are at a loss on what to do. Kesava Rao and team did muster up courage to launch a counter attack, by visiting farmers and declaring all was well. For YSR, this is a headache he could have done well without. As it is, the doctor is finding it tough to handle the IIT issue, which has come on top of the Telangana and Pothireddypadu issues.

Another sticking point for YSR is that for every unit consumed by the farmers, the State has to pay AP Transco in line with the demands of the AP Electricity Regulatory Commission. The subsidy bill will inflate to beyond Rs 2,500 to 3,000 crores this year.
The shortage of more than 15 million units a day, will cost the government close to Rs 700 crores (if not more) in the next three months. It’s crunch time till March.

YSRs decision to impose a power cut on industries will not go down well with IT companies and prospective investors. His decision to resort to load shedding in the urban areas can also generate a backlash at the hustings.
So what does he do? What are the options before the government? These and other issues will be dealt in our next post that will be out on Friday.

The battle for an IIT

2007-01-01T10:09:00.000+02:00

Arjun Singh’s announcement of setting up a new IIT at Isnapur, in Medak district has set off a wider political debate. Most of it has nothing to do with the contours of the proposed IIT, but has to do more with it location.

If the IIT comes up at Isnapur, near the highly-polluted Patancheru then one can be sure that many of the faculty and students will be exposed to breathing problems and diseases like cancer. In fact, the new IIT would have been ideally suited near Shamirpet as the entire area is developing into an excellent eco-system. (Disclaimer - the author of this article nor any of his relatives have any real estate investments in the area).
The Shamirpet area has the ICICI knowledge park, Genome Valley, NALSAR University, BITS and the 2000-acre Jawahar IT park which will dwarf the IT units at Madhapur and Gachibowli. These institutions could have provided the perfect ambience and the new IIT could have seamlessly merged in.

Secondly, Arjun Singh did not concede IIT just because he loves the state. Far from it. Two things have dominated the thinking. The new IIT and its location will provide a handle for YSR to beat his separate state opponents. It has already pit Adilabad against Medak and even KCR doesn't know whom to back.

Secondly, the Union government has given an undertaking to the Supreme Court that it will create more seats in IITs, to offset the reduction in the number of seats due to the reservation of backward classes. This new IIT in Medak is part of that bigger game plan.

Before one gets into the pros and cons on the location of the new IIT, let us step back and look at how this prestigious clutch of institutions came about.
On the ground that West Bengal had the highest concentration of engineering industries, the then Chief Minister of West Bengal, B C Roy persuaded Nehru to set up the country’s first IIT at Kharagpur. Poor Nehru, he must be ruing that decision if he looks at the industrial scenario in WB today.

Most of the earlier IITs had a foreign hand, with the Nehru and Krishna Menon duo persuading the Soviets in the pre-Cold War era to fund IIT Mumbai. The Americans did not want to be left behind and agreed to bankroll IIT Kanpur.
The Germans wanted the IIT at Bangalore, but were persuaded by then Education Minister, C Subramaniam to locate the new IIT next to the governor’s campus on land in Chennai, which was offered in a matter of minutes. (Mr YSR please note)
Apart from the four original IITs, the most of the later day locations of the IITs came up due to weaknesses of the political establishment. Rajiv Gandhi faced with a strident students movement in Assam buckled and conceded an IIT for Assam, which came up at Guwahati. It cost Rs 1,500 crore to set up the IIT in the back of nowhere.
Except IIT-Roorkee that was upgraded, all the six IITs were established as brand new IITs right from the scratch. According to the present estimates it will cost the government Rs 2,000 to 2,500 crore to set up a brand new IIT. Yes, that is how much the new IIT in Hyderabad is going to cost, assuming that the land comes free.

While all this is on, the GOAP grapples with the issue of securing about 3,000 acres of land that is required in one single location. To add to that, those who looked at Basara as the ideal choice for the new IIT, have upped the ante. Chukka Ramaiah, who has trained a number of raw hands into IIT class material, feels shortchanged. He and many others are challenging the state’s argument that the quality of infrastructure and international airport played a key role in locating the new IIT close to Hyderabad. The claim, that access to quality infrastructure swung the choice of the new IIT is true to a certain extent.

Modern IITs will succeed in attracting good quality faculty only if it’s located close to major city like Hyderabad. The faculty members in IITs have often complained that their spouses are not able to find work, or their children don’t get a chance to study in the top-of-the-line schools, if IITs are located in a remote location. Students too will opt for new IIT based on its faculty quality and quick access. Reaching Basara would have taken them at least three to four hours by train or road from Hyderabad. And setting up of an airport in Basara as proposed by Mr Ramaiah, will not make any economic sense for those airlines planning to fly in.

Meanwhile, students in Andhra and Rayalaseema have also begun their agitation to prevent the IIT from coming up in Medak. That cauldron of unrest is sponsored by politicians with regional interest is in no doubt.
Our honest question to all the people involved is a simple one: Is it not enough reason that an IIT is coming up in our state? Or do they want to scream and fight which will eventually frighten Arjun Singh and Co to take the IIT to some other state. That’s food for thought.

IITs in India:

IIT Kharagpur 1951 (East);
IIT Powai in 1958 (West)
IIT Kanpur in 1959 (Central)
IIT Madras in 1959 (South)
IIT Delhi in 1961 (North)
IIT Guwahati 1994
IIT Roorkee in 2001

Write to us at vikram.apmedia@gmail.com

It pays to be good in Telugu journalism!

2006-12-30T10:28:00.000+02:00

KSR quits Andhra Jyothy, more to follow

2006-12-29T17:44:00.000+02:00

Kommineni Srinivasa Rao is said to be quitting Andhra Jyothy. Arguably the ablest bureau chief in AP media, KSR has been a cornerstone of the newspaper ever since its resuscitation in 2002 by Vemuri Radhakrishna. The man who captained the paper’s Political and General bureaus (in a way City too) is said to be joining Chowdhary’s soon-to-be launched NTV.

In the backdrop of a handful of channels and newspapers planned for launch in the first half of 2007, KSR’s move would prove to be the beginning of a major shake-up in the Telugu media.

Andhra Jyothi is on the verge of declaring 5-lakh circulation, a remarkable feat for a newspaper that was revived just four years ago and considering the fact that Ramoji’s Eenadu is the only Telugu paper to have scaled the 500K mark in AP’s history. KSR’s exit at a time when the newspaper is growing by leaps and bounds is bound to jolt the management.

And the ace reporter would not go alone! We learn more would follow him, including some big guns. (Good news, Eenadu!)

Hailed as “a walking mine of information”, KSR boasts of an enviable track record – 25 years of work experience at Eenadu and one-time Man Friday of Ramoji. KSR, a bulldozer of man, never minces words and was known for being outspoken and assertive even when working in the regimented Eenadu.

Surprisingly, there are no obvious reasons for KSR’s exit. He is both respected and feared at Andhra Jyothi (his signature on a press release is considered as a “must” order by reporters, even when he scribbles his initials absent-mindedly!)

Salaries & new slant: AJ journos guess that NTV must have offered hefty salary to KSR. Possible. Andhra Jyothy, the only newspaper that can boast of being an ‘editorial success’, unlike the marketing successes of Eenadu and English dailies in AP, is a bad pay master. Many journalists work for a pittance of Rs 2000 – 3000 per month! Aware of the growing resentment over the woefully low salaries, Vemuri did promise hikes, but seems to be in no hurry to act on it.

In recent months, AJ staff is also taken aback by the sudden love the paper has developed for the YSR-led Congress government. In the absence of any explanation from the top, they smell a rat in this bonhomie. Amidst the hushed talk that other seniors would also quit, the staff is in a quandary and that’s an alarm signal for Vemuri.

Please write to us at: vikram.apmedia@gmail.com

When's being Alone Lonely

2006-12-26T10:47:00.000+02:00

Revised

Definitely Chilling!

2006-12-25T15:41:00.000+02:00

A leader always attracts attention, is always sought after and ever in great demand. That's what we justifiably presume about leaders. However, the paradox of the leader being the most feared and first to be shunned prevails in the media, in our AP Media!

Despite enjoying unchallenged leadership position for years now, the largest circulated English daily in mana Andhra Pradesh, is the least preferred work place for journalists. The attrition rates bring this fact to the fore. The Definitely Chilling (DC) paper tops the charts, with its attrition rate being far higher than that of the others.

That’s not all. The scene gets even more chilling when we look at the replacements -- either don’t happen or are invariably filled up by upstarts. The resulting knowledge deficiency in the organisation manifests itself in the overall content and the quality of the newspaper.

Media, especially the print, is no more an attractive career option for today’s young and inflow of fresh talent is fast drying up. There is a genuine dearth of talent in the media marketplace, forcing media houses to focus on talent retention and poaching. Neither happens at our DC! We find too many walkouts and too few walk-ins, unlike any other paper in town.

Indian Express, plagued by indifferent management and cash crunch, should, logically speaking, find it hard to recruit quality people. However, that’s not the case. Vikram Sharma returns from The Hindu. Naga Sridhar is back from PTI. Couple of seniors returned to the profession and the paper from other companies. Undoubtedly, there is something about Express!

What about the leader? We only find desk and reporting personnel deserting it to join competitors like Indian Express, Times of India, The Hindu (oh yes, DNA too) but none joining it from them. Most recent quitters include Mir Ayub Ali to ToI, Sai Gopal to The Hindu and Srini Reddy, who left the Indian shores.

We discussed the replacements in our debut post and nothing has changed since then. The chilling scenario is not limited to Hyderabad. In Vizag, for instance, a good 25 people came in and left in the last three years, where reporting team doesn’t exceed three at a time!

Low and discriminatory salaries, back-breaking work load, unnerving pressure, some ignorant and yet demanding seniors made worse by appalling employee treatment are cited as the common reasons for the exodus. The recent so-called employee friendly measures (like providing them with cars) neither arrested the exodus nor lured talent from competition.

The prevailing predicament is an outcome of long history of ill-treating and humiliating employees. It’s not uncommon to hear comments that the horses in the owner’s stable are better treated and looked after than editorial staff!

No wonder then that none from the existing talent pool evinced interest when the newspaper ran recruitment ads, almost daily. Eventually, when the newspaper proactively solicited a few, they demanded fancy deals – double salary plus promotion – their way of saying “no, thanks”! Further, some reportedly remained cold even when the demands were met!

Those stuck inside seek several ways to distract themselves from the pains at work. One source of guaranteed humour is the response to recruitment ads. Everybody except working English journalists applied; these included software professionals on the bench, customer care employees, college pass outs and, retired employees!
There are several delightful nuggets from their applications. Ask your friends and have yourself in splits!

Share your thoughts; mail us at apmedia@rediffmail.com

The Wages of War

2006-12-23T22:20:00.001+02:00

Our last Telugu report on Ramoji Rao's house at RFC (The Monarch's Mansion) has been a big hit, for it gave a peek into the Rs 60-crore highly protected hill top castle. One dotcom ran a translated version of the report which is now a hotly forwarded email on the Internet. Good to know that, though the dotcommers did not mention the source. We will soon have a revised report on the Monarch's mansion as we now have more details on hand.

Ham honge kamyaab

2006-12-23T08:15:00.000+02:00

We have detected that an attempt was made to hack into our blogsite and emails.
Our blockers detected this intrusion and denied access to the hacker.

During the course of the last three months, we have exposed the illegal activities of many people, among them the high and mighty.

This hacking is an affront to the freedom of speech and an attempt to throttle an emerging independent medium. We will expose the people who are behind this act, and urge our friends in the media to highlight the attempt to muzzle what is the finest news and views blogsite in the state of Andhra Pradesh.

We request the support of our colleauges in print, television and radio to highlight this flagrant attempt to muzzle us. We will not be cowed down.

Sar Kata Sakte Hain Lekin, Sar Jhuka Sakte Nahin.

DIPR, a den of vice

2006-12-23T07:49:00.000+02:00

When in Opposition, YSR raised a hue and cry over CM Babu's publicity spend. As CM, YSR is allowing crores of rupees to be swindled by the DIPR officials. We take a look at how some Kings are making a Fortune at DIPR

Corruption in India is nothing new. We are at the top of the index when it comes to the most corrupt countries in the world. Our state has been no better and ACB raids have become a part of our daily staple of news.
But there is one department that bakes the cake, takes it, eats it and then sometimes develops an upset stomach. The institution that we are talking about is the Directorate of Information and Public Relations or DIPR for short.

Over the years this building located near JNTU on the Lakdikapul - Masab Tank road has become a fountainhead of corruption. The rot set in quite a long time ago, and if one can jog the memory it was the likes of men like the now dead, self-proclaimed Ghazal Gandharva, IAS officer Muralikrishna who laid the ground rules. He was known for promoting himself over low profile CMs of those days (early 90s).
Anyone willing to feature him any media was given a handsome baksheesh. But dead men tell no tales.

The sorry state of affairs continued but it really peaked during the tenure of the CBN. Exorbitant amounts were spent on publicity of pet programmes like Janmabhoomi. YSR and his team during the day in Opposition alleged that CBN spent over Rs 300 crore for self- publicity.
While that figure is an exaggeration, money was no doubt poured into different modes of publicity from Janmabhoomi caps, posters and short films (produced by favourites like midas man Raghavendra Rao) and of course ads in newspapers and spots on television channels.

DIPR is a much sought after place for AP state service cadre officers who pay a fortune to the mandarins at the Secretariat to make it there. One can gauge the level of corruption by assessing the properties held by these people in their name and benami. One such man whom we can identify as an ex Andhra Jyothi employee, is the 'King' Babu. He was the right hand man of many I&PR ministers, but he made his real kill during the tenure of ministers like Tammineni Sitaram and Chandramohan Reddy. This man came up the hard way by working out as a hotel boy in Vijayawada before finding a job as typist in a newspaper there. Using the gift of the gab, he moved up to land up in Hyderabad.

Tales abound in the money that was made in how he used to order lakhs of Janmabhoomi caps, of which only a small fraction was actually delivered to those who were supposed to wear it. The district level information and public relations officer were instructed to sign off for non-existent caps. Ditto was the case with lakhs of posters, while in reality only a few thousands were printed.

The big printing houses, which incidentally are located near DIPR office made crores of rupees in this affair. Eighteen rounds of Janmabhoomi proved to be a windfall for many of these officers.
Police once caught the 'King' Babu during a random nakabandi near Lakdikapul while he was couriering a huge amount of cash to his minister. A few phone calls later, cops were asked to let the man go, and forget about the incident.
He managed to get a land in the Journalist's colony during his tenure at AJ and later did up the house in a royal manner thanks to the 'income' he made at DIPR. Like other officers in the government he has invested huge amounts of money in land and jewellery.

Another man in the money-making business at DIPR was 'Fortune' Kumar. This man was a charmer who managed to keep his job despite numerous memos and show cause notices that he managed to accumulate during his tenure. His mode of making money was in getting the payments released for a consideration. Short films, which cost a few thousands to make were billed at lakhs. Bills for Republic Day floats in Delhi were often cleared after the money was paid to the DIPR pointsman at Andhra Bhavan in New Delhi.

Did the IAS officers who manned the department turn a blind eye to all these happenings? There were some who tried to clean up the Augean stables, but were stumped by the 'powerful' connections of these officers. B P Acharya did his bit by bringing in some transparency to the department. So did J C Mohanty, who has since quit IAS tried his best to keep these characters under check, and was roundly hated by DIPR staff. S Balasubramanyam made himself scarce, while Ramanachary was busy promoting himself as a filmstar in the making.

At DIPR, everyone right from the top people like directors to the office boys have to be bribed to secure business and get payments. If you don't pay, then advertisements are not released and bills of publications or television channels that don't pay go missing or are held back.
It's the decision to release advertisements that often results in 'cash for ads' scam. During CBNs time, over 140 publications in the state were handed out ads at one single go on a single day, many times over. 140 newspapers in AP? That's only on paper. Most of them are dummy ones, which print 50 copies of their rag, which many land up in the offices of the CM, Ministers and DIPR. Nobody reads them and these so called newspapers used by visitors to fan themselves while they wait for their turn to meet the biggies.

The cake is taken by over twenty-five odd Urdu publications all of which claim that they are printed from Hyderabad. In fact all these so called Urdu publications are printed in the same press. A closer look at the bills from these newspapers will reveal that the layout is same, and only the masthead is changed. For sheer ingenuity, it's a scam that beats other scams hollow.

YSR on assumption, promised to change all that was happening at DIPR, but nothing much has changed. The new dispensation led by Minister Shabbir Ali is turning a blind eye on the happenings in his own backyard. The Minister too has fallen for the lucre, and has issued 'special' orders that the 'Urdu' newspapers have to get advertisements on a 'regular' basis. All they have to make sure is to flash the minister's picture on their front pages.
It's a case of you scratch by back, I will scratch yours. The thumb rule that only publications with certificates given by Audit Bureau of Circulation are to be considered for releasing of ads has been often given a go by. This suits the team at DIPR fine as they can decide on
publications based on the level of greasing of their palms. Small time newspapers, which survive on a hand to mouth existence will go to any extent to get business.

There are many other corrupt officials whom we have ignored for now. But they will not be able to hide for long. We will also bring them to book, with documented proof. Remember, you guys at DIPR can run, but you cannot hide. We will smoke you out.

Will things change at DIPR? Highly unlikely, say those in the media industry. Unless those on the present dispensation are sacked or transferred, and a professional system of working is inculcated, DIPR will continue to be a den of vice.

PS: To get the actual names of some of the people mentioned above, just substitute the English words in their names with the Urdu or Hindi equivalents. QED

When editors sell adspace

2006-12-21T12:57:00.000+02:00

Editors are supposed to be like Caesar’s wife, above suspicion. Or that is how it was meant to be. In reality, over the years, the person who presides over the words and deeds of a newspaper has become something of a manipulator.

In some cases the owners of the newspaper use their editors for their personal agendas, while in others the editors become a law unto themselves. It is the transgression of the fine line that makes the editor no less than the exalted position of a blackmailer.

Indian newspaper history has been replete with many instances where the editor had become a law unto himself (or herself). The situation in the twin cities is no radically different, with each newspaper owner having his own axe to grind. Which is fine, one would infer considering that newspapers have their own agendas. Some good, others bad.

The late Ramnath Goenka was one newspaper owner who doubled in as an editor. Fighting the establishment had become a habit for the redoubtable man, who had in a way become a colossus in the publishing industry. But others have not had such a chequered track record.

Some editors spend more time pursuing other hobbies other than what they are supposed to be doing best – staying put in the office. A few months ago the editor of one of Hyderabad’s leading (no, make that fastest growing) English newspaper was appointed as the head of a souvenir committee for a community get together.

Not strictly his job, one would say. But then, no one would notice thought the old man. The organisers who were looking for funds to bankroll the community’s festival celebrations, knew that if someone could pull in the advertisements for the souvenir, it had to be the editorji. Smart move.

But in his eagerness to attain immortality among the community members and brand himself as a superstar, our old man went overboard. The editorji called up all the leading corporates of the city and demanded that they part with advertisements for the souvenir. The big bosses of the companies had no choice, for they knew the price for non-compliance.

A no would have meant that the company misdeeds would get front-page coverage. A load of advertisements would have the opposite effect. Press notes claiming anything and everything about the company would get a pride of place. No wonder many big names of the industry in the twin cities followed suit by releasing advertisements in the souvenir.

One such company, which followed the editor’s directive and released an advertisement was founded by a man who is now a MP from Vijayawada. The PR guys from the company nowadays walk into the editor’s cabin with unfailing regularity. Sometimes it’s to present the editor with toys from Kondapalli (did you get the company’s name by now) or a big box of dry fruits and sweets from Vijayawada (where else?). But more often than not the PR guys walk in (without even tapping the door) and hand in press notes to the editorji on how well the original promoter, their MD and everyone else in the company is doing.

And the dictum from the editor to the desk guys is simple – take the press release as top priority. What’s next, wonder the correspondents at the business desk of this newspaper?

Take Tuesday’s business page of this newspaper and there is a glorified repot on how this Hyderabad-based group has won the bid for a power project in Madhya Pradesh. Even a back of the envelope calculation will show that this project is doomed to fail at the high cost that was quoted just to win a bid. But nowhere in the article is that matter spoken about. Industry experts say that the group’s absurdly high bid was just meant to prop up its shares that were recently listed after an IPO. Bad luck, they did not factor Tuesday’s 340-point crash that followed.

The old man in the meanwhile is in a glum mood, with news dribbling in that someone has sent in a dossier of his misdeeds to the bosses at Bahadurshah ZafarMarg. Poor guy, what else can he do but stare in lost thoughts, counting his last days in office. Not that the cremation ground, which can be seen from his cabin, gives any confidence.

Sometimes too much of a thing can be bad for health. It’s better to be honest than a crook. Poor old man, we wish some one could tell him this.

PS : Want to know who all advertised in the souvenir? Check with the Samiti members Opp Indira Park and the school in Secunderabad Aaj ki taaza khabar. Bechne gaya tha par bechara bik gaya.

The Monarch's Mansion

2006-12-21T07:09:00.000+02:00

It's just not cricket, Ram

2006-12-20T15:43:00.000+02:00

N Ram is a strange political animal.

Though a pucca Tamil Brahmin of Iyengar stock, he is also a thoroughbred, dyed in the wool Communist. A cloak and dagger personality, he moved into the executive editor’s slot, thanks to being a part of the Kasturi family that owns The Hindu.

For long, the family kept this maverick away and in the early 80s, our man was posted as the Washington Correspondent of The Hindu. He came back only to find that there was no slot for him in the main newspaper. So he hung around, saddled with the task of managing Frontline, Sportstar and Business Line.

Finally, he played his cards right and moved into the editor’s chair at Hindu. His move coincided with a significant shift in Hindu’s editorial slant. From being a known right wing newspaper, Ram laboured to tilt the slant to the left, keeping his leanings in mind. Mr Ram began by burying the ghost of Bofors, and then indulged in rambling eight column articles, which nobody reads. In 2003, he raised the hackles of the then Chief Minister, J Jayalaithaa by launching a tirade against her. The Poes Garden Madam did not take that lightly. She got the Assembly’s privileges committee to send in the cops to Anna Salai and they snooped around trying to ferret out as to who was behind the insidious piece of writing.

Ram was worked up and he launched a blistering attack on Amma. “The day's events showed not just intolerance, but crude authoritarianism of the worst kind. ... This is not the first time that Tamil Nadu is witnessing an assault on the freedom of the press, but this is the worst.”

Now he is on the attack mode again, this time the turf is Andhra Pradesh. Rattled by an all out assault on Ramoji Rao by the YSR government, the editor in chief of The Hindu has come out in open support of his good old friend. At a function last week, Ram said that Eenadu was being hounded in a political witch-hunt. Fine Mr Ram, we agree there is a political element in the Ramoji Rao case, but tell us how did your newspaper get an exclusive access to an RBI report giving a halo of respectability to Margadarsi. (See Wednesday’s Hindu front page anchor story).

Did you lobby with Mr Chidambaram and get the report that no other newspaper or television channel could lay their hands on?

Mr Ram, what is that makes you run to the aid of a man who has shown no such respect for others in his fraternity. Why did you not protest when employees of ETVs regional channels were treated like bonded labourers and then threatened with dire consequences when they dared to quit. Is there any other ulterior motive behind this bonhomie?

We need answers to back up your actions.

To quote Mr N Ram from an interview “There will be no room for opinions or comments in a news report. The job of a reporter or a correspondent is to write news. Then there will be objectivity and integrity in journalism.” And pray Mr Ram, what does Eenadu do? Please enlighten us.

For a man who played for Tamil Nadu in Ranji Trophy, it’s time we tell Mr Ram about what he is doing. ‘It’s just not cricket.’

Sting Op backfires!

2006-12-20T07:31:00.000+02:00

Ramoji's chopper did not take permissions. Cases likely against King of Good Times, Adikesavulu, (SAAP) Prasad, Kesavulu

Going up in a chopper for the sting operation in Kadapa might land Ramoji in a morass. After some quick back end checking, Congress leaders traced the trail of Ramoji's Operation Kadapa. Chittoor MP Adikesavulu Naidu arranged the chopper that belonged to the King of Good Times. Telugu Desam leader and former SAAP Chairman Prasad flew in it along with paparazzi Kesavulu. The sting operators have not informed the aviation authorities and did not secure permissions to fly in the zone, a serious crime. YSR is likely to ensure that Union government files cases against the airline operator, crew and passengers. So Operation Kadapa is going to backfire! Like land surrender gesture boomeranged on YSR! By the way, what did the great operation achieve? Except the watch tower, did they find or disclose anything new? Was the operation worth it. It only exposed Ramoji's desperation to save himself by undercutting YSR. The operation would attract legal action as it violated laws as blatantly as Margadarsi HUF did in mobilising public deposits. Ramoji will have no escape route from this tactical blunder. (Eenadu team who faulted us and pointed out precedents of Speaker chiding media would do well to do some reading in RRG and enlighten the readers on what sections of law the sting Op violated and what is the minimum punishment for it!)

Ram in Ramoji Parivar

As friend Ramoji got desperate in his attack on YSR, N Ram thought it's about time to make bones to Kam-red Ramoji! Despite drawing flak for foolishly rushing to the defence of Ramoji, Ram continues to support him and in the process erode the credibility of his own paper. The Hindu, like never before, had a 4-column Page One story on the "impecaable record" of Margadarsi. The content was all stale and had no context. So, Ram's the Singhal of Ramoji Parivar -- rabid and of great nuisance value. Senior journalists recall what Ram did that forced Chitra, who broke the Bofors report, out of The Hindu. More recently, the reporter who filed the story on Jayalalithaa too was forced to quit. We will have all those details later.

TD MP arranges chopper for Ramoji

2006-12-19T11:00:00.000+02:00

Telugu Desam's Chittoor MP Adikesavulu Naidu helped Ramoji with a private helicopter to take the photographs of the CM’s estate. That’s how Eenadu managed to get clear pictures of the estate in Kadapa (Raja Kota Rahasyam, Dec 18) unlike the blurred satellite pictures of the ORR, Congress leaders tell us. Kesavulu is the paparazzi.
Remember, this grand old photographers spelled doom for the Congress in the Eighties when he captured the young Rajiv Gandhi publicly ill-treating CM Anjaiah, which Eenadu splashed all over Page One. That set the stage for NTR to galvanize people against Congress raising the Telugu Aatma Gauravam slogan. The same Kesavulu accompanied NTR all through his campaign, but that’s another story.
What this concerted effort tells us is the strong nexus between the Yell-ow brigade and Eenadu. The bond is as umbilical as the BJP’s to the RSS. So, it won’t be inappropriate to call the Eenadu-TDP combine as the Ramoji Parivar (wherein Ramoji and Chandrababu are the likes of RSS’ Sudershan and BJP’s Advani).
Ramoji is said to have boasted that YSR would be no match to him. “I will bulldoze him. Don’t forget I gave the jitters to Indira Gandhi, Chenna Reddy, Vengal Rao…YSR is a bachcha," he told his close aides. But frustration grew when the underdog YSR proved to be a tough nut to crack and the heights of desperation is reflected in the heights he is sending his team (paparazzi in the air) and the depths he is stooping to in his editorial content. For the first time ever, the Speaker of Lok Sabha had to admonish a newspaper for putting words in his mouth! Eenadu did not even have the honesty and character to apologize for its unpardonable professional blunder. It just expressed regrets.
So much for its “nippu laanti nijaayithi”!

PS: What do you guys think on the vertical split within the media on ‘la affaire Ramoji? N Ram (remember we clubbed Ramoji and Ram – communists-turned-capitalists and excel in exploitation and double-stnadards). N Ram, we hear, had to cut a sorry figure after some reporters pinned him down for explanation on his open support to Ramoji on a legal matter. The gentleman-editor K Ram of Andhra Jyothy made a scathing attack on N Ram. His editorial "Ram ka Dua" is a must read. What’s your take? Post comments or write to apmedia@rediffmail.com.

Maran bakes, takes and eats the cake

2006-12-16T09:25:00.000+02:00

Call it the case of history repeating itself. As someone said when history re-visits for the first time it’s a tragedy and when it gets repeated again, its comedy.

When Murasoli Maran was the union industry minister, he drove away with a clutch of automobile projects to Tamil Nadu. Today, his son Dayanidhi Maran is doing the same by hijacking big ticket telecom investments to his home state. And what do we in Andhra Pradesh get? Crumbs!

Maran had made his intentions very clear right from the start. But he was bogged down by a doughty Jayalalithaa, who made sure that none his projects saw the light of the day. Once madam went back to Poes Garden, and Dr Kalaignar took over at Fort St George, life was a lot more easy. Land was there for the asking and so were the incentives. But the biggest draw was not land or doles. It was an unwritten commitment that those who invested in Tamil Nadu would be taken care of by Maran & Co. For sure, Maran is a man who can decide on huge tenders floated by BSNL and MTNL.

Maran & Co have handsomely rewarded many of the biggies who have made Sriperambadur their home base with huge contracts from these two public sector telecom entities. These include LG, Samsung, Erricson and many others. And what do ‘our’ ministers and MPs do? Nothing! For they are busy doing nothing.

With a brute majority in the Lok Sabha, our state MPs should have fought every project that was spirited away by Maran & Co. They did not, and just let it go. No questions have been asked in Parliament about it, and for sure it will never be asked. Even the semi conductor policy, which will benefit our state has been held up in game of political volleyball between Maran and Chidambaram. Many say that the policy delay is deliberate and is aimed at killing the Sem India project in Hyderabad.

Not that the state government has made any serious effort. YSR has been bogged down between Botsa and Bidi (and now Ramoji and excess land issue). Our dear chief minister has had hardly anytime to look at industrial development in the state. When media queried him about Volks shift to Pune, the Doctor was magnanimous. “Let them go, others will come”. The problem is that there are no more car companies waiting to set their units in India. Most of them are here, and are expanding their facilities in all states, except mana Andhra Pradesh. Except for Lokeswara Rao's car project, which is still on the drawing board!

Hardware major Dell, after raising hopes of setting up manufacturing unit in our hardware park, recently opened its unit in Chennai! The Tamilian city is already home to Nokia, Flextronics and Foxconn.

Even the likes of Apache footwear are thinking of shutting their Nellore unit and moving Tamil Nadu. Maran’s men are sitting in Chennai and fishing in troubled waters of Nellore. To add to this, the recent move by Nike to move to Chennai has been prompted by a verbal directive of the US government to companies from US of A to slow down investments in AP, post the IMG fiasco. The hasty Ordinance taking over IMG land will in all probability be quashed by the High Court. It will not only result in a loss of face for the state, but also cost them billions of dollars in arbitration.

Companies investing here will think twice. If Naidu comes to power two years from now, will he cancel all of YSR’s projects? The lack of sanctity for a government document as in the case of IMG will make things worse for us and life will be a lot easier for Maran & Co.

Are our MPs and Union Ministers and the state government listening ?

PS: Recently, telecom major Motorola moved the Delhi High Court, seeking to restrain the state-run BSNL from awarding the order for the installation of the proposed 45-million GSM lines to Ericsson and Nokia, the two companies short-listed by BSNL. Read my lips - both Ericcson and Noika have their units in Tamil Nadu. Quid pro quo?
Share your views, mail at to apmedia@rediffmail.com

Holding a country to ransom

2006-12-15T07:04:00.000+02:00

A few years ago, the communists in Kerala decided to call for a bandh on some trivial issue. Everything was decided, a press conference was held, posters were printed, wall paintings announced the day when Kerala would come to a halt. The cadres were mobilised, and everyone was ready to go. Then, the bandh was suddenly postponed. No reason was given, nor was one asked.
Later the truth came to the fore. The ‘original’ day of bandh coincided with the marriage of the daughter of a senior communist party leader. The man panicked when he realised that even crows are not allowed to fly during a bandh in Kerala. Why did I pick this ‘real’ story? It has to do with the umpteenth bandh called today by the communist party leaders, which was thankfully effective in their two pocket boroughs, West Bengal and Kerala.

What was the strike for? Well no one cares, least the communist party leaders. Banks stayed shut, schools were closed, taxis remained parked, post offices did not open, just about everybody stayed at home. A few enterprising young boys used the empty streets to play cricket. Who lost? The common man, like you and me.
After protesting for a few hours, shouting slogans, the communist leaders trooped back into the air conditioned comforts of the houses, had a sumptuous lunch and had a good sleep. What Prakash Karat and his comrades did not know was that hundreds of poor people in Kerala and West Bengal went without food on the bandh day.

The autorickshaw driver did not venture out due to fear and so his family stayed hungry. The hamali did not get to carry any goods so his wife and kids did not have anything to eat. And what do our comrades have to say. “The bandh was successful and we thank the people of the country for wholeheartedly supporting it,” My (left) foot.

Every strike or bandh results in only misery for the common people. The bank officer or the public sector unit worker may at the best lose a day’s earnings. But they will still live a good life. The porter at Howrah station, nor the contract sweeper at a bank in Chennai will be that lucky. They will have to tell their family that just because Mr Karat and his team called the strike, all problems in India will disappear from tomorrow. That’s the utopian world being marketed by our communist parties.
For the Indian communist leaders, the USA is the devil, but Karat & Co will still fly by planes built by Boeing. No, they will not undertake a 24-hour nerve rattling train journey, in the company of dirty bathrooms and beggars. That is only for people like you and me.

All the big talk of concern for the common man is only for the journalists and the television cameras. The moment the media fades away, one gets to see the true colours of these leaders. The double standards of the communist party leaders are so brazen, that even a kid can find out that they are liars.
A few years ago, the Kerala High Court banned bandhs and so the politicians changed the nomenclature and called it hartal. The communists went up to the Supreme Court, which tragically without any concern for the common man stayed the Kerala High Court order. That gave the licence to these leaders to do what they want.

Do communist party leaders know how many crores are lost in production in companies affected by the bandh? Do they care about the lakhs of people who are stranded in railway stations and bus terminals without anything to eat? Do they care for the patient whose ambulance is held up because of the bandh? Do they know the trouble the students have to undergo in studying for their exams which were postponed? Do they care for anything?

The answer is NO. These political leaders only care for their own self and are hypocrites. They care a damn for the common man.

It’s time we, the people of India rise up against this organised goondaism and stop them, once and for all. We should ask for compensation from the bandh organizers and demand that they stop this hooliganism forever. Otherwise you cannot take your mother to the hospital, nor get your son or daughter married. Because the communists will think of calling a bandh that day – to protest against the policies of the government towards the common man.

PS: Asianet, a Malayalam news channel today reported a story of a young kid suffering from blood cancer stuck up at Kozhikode railway station on her return from treatment from the Regional Cancer Centre at Tiruvananthapuram. The child and her mother did not have money for food and autorickshaw drivers were demanding 450 rupees to get them home.

Fortunately, Kerala DGP Raman Srivastava heard about it, and asked the Kozhikode Police Commissioner to arrange a police jeep to transport them. But there would have been lakhs of such people whose story the DGP would not have heard about.

Are you listening, Mr Karat? Do you ‘really’ care for the common man? Ask them, and what they will tell you will be unprintable.

Alone and lonely at the top

2006-12-14T07:59:00.000+02:00

Some readers have expressed strong objection to our comment on Mr Suman's stay in the hospital in this article.Yes, we agree, we should have been more sensitive and sensible. We are sorry.

We also wish to correct ourselves. The article mentions about the 10% mandatory annual increase in copies for Eenadu agents. We now learn that this method was done away with after several complaints and a new incentive-based, agent- friendly system introduced in its place. So, please ignore that comment.

Why Naxalism thrives in Andhra Pradesh?

2006-12-14T07:32:00.000+02:00

My friends from Mumbai and Delhi have often asked me this question and I must admit that I could never give them a straight answer. Why is that Naxals do not blast railway stations, burn buses or even try and knock of a politician or two in other states, as much as they do here. I don’t have a straight answer for that. It was then that some one told me the answer to the riddle – if you want to know why Naxalism came to Andhra Pradesh then drive around Jubilee Hills.
First, the reasoning didn’t seem to have any logic. But one drive around starting out from somewhere near LV Prasad eye hospital, up the TDP office on to the Check Post and then Road no.36, and I was enlightened. Palatial houses, which must have cost crores abound, as do poor patients and their attendants who sleep on the pavements outside LV Prasad eye hospital.

Each of the palatial houses has an army of servants most of whom have been ‘bought’ at a price and then bonded for life. The ban on child labour does not seem to have any effect on the modern day ‘zamindars’. Servants are treated like dogs by their doras, and with it comes the resentment at what is now a familiar story of exploitation in Andhra Pradesh.
For one thing, there is nothing called a middle class in the villages of Andhra Pradesh. Either the folks are stinking rich or they are dirt poor. Land was the key, and it still is. Which is funny when you consider that politicians are suddenly discovering that they own hundreds of acres of what was assigned lands - ones which legally belong to the poor and downtrodden, specially among the scheduled castes and tribes.
Those who have made a fortune out of these very lands are now ‘donating’ it back to the government. And pray, what about filing cases against them? The reasoning given is obvious. Since the land has been surrendered there can be no case. Using the same logic, all petty thieves lodged in Cherlapalli jail should be freed, since the police have already recovered the loot.

West Bengal has been one state in the country that has been exception in land reforms. The communist party leaders have over decades distributed land to the needy, and with it built up an impregnable voter base in the state. The state is home to Naxalbari, from where the fight began. But it has not seen any major naxal activities in the recent past.
Andhra Pradesh on the other hand failed, and failed miserably. The zamindari system may have gone, but their modern day equivalents are around. Land is only with a select few in this state, and huge numbers of poor are left to kill themselves or take up the gun. I am not advocating the naxal cause, far from it. I think the annalu have made a mess of their cause. Every revolution has a reason, and the naxals in the state lost their moral high ground with mindless killings of so called class enemies.

Which brings us to the hue and cry that has been on for the past two days. How does it matter if Ramoji Rao or Girish Sanghi gobbled up hundreds of acres of land? What have the other doras done? Are their hands clean? True these two big media men are guilty. Punish them. And punish the other big crooks too.

In the name of the poor we know how political leaders have grabbed lands even in the twin cities. Walk around Addagutta in Secunderabad or Bibi ka maktha near the Hussain Sagar Lake. What was once government land, was grabbed by politicians and sold to the unsuspecting poor in the form of pattas. In the rural areas, grabbing is more rampant and brazen, which is what led to all this uproar now.
Close to six decades after Independence, we are a failed state. Despite all the talk of snazzy software companies and glossy pubs, we have not been able to provide a meal a day for millions of our countrymen.
Trust me, just draw you car window down as you drive along Jubilee Hills. Prosperity lives cheek in jowl with poverty — brightly lit Pizza joints to people sleeping on the road outside LV Prasad. There are lots more places in the city where I can give you a conducted tour on what it means to be poor. But then I will sound like Satyajit Ray trying to sell poverty to the West.

Because as someone once sang out, “the whole thing is that bhaiyya, sabse bada rupaiyya.”

Has YSR's move backfired

2006-12-13T09:15:00.000+02:00

As the battle to land the rivals into trouble intensifies, more parties are entering the ring and identifying newer targtes. The latest target is a Hyderabad-based realtor-turned-hotelier whose fancy photographs we cannot help seeing everyday while on the city roads! Here's is a download on the untold behind-the-scenes developments.

It was supposed to be the master stroke of it all, but like a boomerang it has come home to torment the man who threw it. Raking up the land holding issue of Ramoji Rao is proving costly for politicians of the two main parties, Congress and TDP.

Assigned lands, which is at the centre of the row has become a hot topic of discussion in the political lobbies. Reports say that the Intelligence bosses tipped off YSR that Ramoji’s scribes were ferreting out information from his own backyard. A panicky YSR immediately acknowledged that his family had indeed violated the law of the land by buying not just assigned lands, but has been occupying government land as well. For the record, and to keep his slate clean, he said that he was returning the land back to the Andhra Pradesh government.

YSR’s unilateral move, coming a day before the Ranga Reddy district collector sent out notices to Ramoji Rao and his bete noire the Sanghis, has stumped many a political observer. Was YSR not aware of the fact that RR and team would dig into the CM’s family background and come up with all the dirt? Was he given bad advice to start with? Only time will tell. Predictably, the opposition parties have gone hammer and tongs at YSR, which in turn has led to the Congress opening up another flank at RR’s land holdings.

The problem is two fold for YSR. The district collector of Kadapa has to issue a notice to the man who is technically his indirect boss, asking him to explain why he should not be prosecuted. Knowing the quality of IAS officers that we have, it is unlikely that such a move will ever be contemplated. YSR did explain that some of the land was bought and registered in a family concern’s name by his father. The rest came in bits and pieces. But that is not the only problem.

Sources say that the BJP is now at work, digging out the assets of YSR’s son Jagan in Karnataka. In question is the sources of funding for the Rs 400-crore power project which was incidentally built by L&T, which the Congress had once accused of being hand in glove with Chandrababu Naidu.

Using its ministerial clout in the Kumaraswamy government, the saffron brigade is said to be looking into the role of a disgraced real estate baron turned club owner turned hotelier who has acquired assets worth crores not just in Karnataka but other states as well. The man in question was responsible for the collapse of two urban banks in Andhra Pradesh, and was lying low till YSR came back to power.

After having worked out a one-time settlement with the banks, the man who calls himself as YSR’s brother is said to be fronting for someone. He has been opening clubs all over the country from Chandigarh to Kovalam, at a break neck speed. How did he come to acquire these assets when he had declared himself as broke before the court of law? The BJP top brass is said to have put senior leader and Dy CM, B SYediyurappa to collate all the evidence. Now, that is a concern for the YSR family, which has been trying to distance himself from the publicity crazy man, who stares out to all and sundry from hoardings all over Hyderabad and Secunderabad.

This is not the last word in this battle of the lands. Watch this space. Tomorrow it may be the turn of Ramoji Rao to face the music.
PS: Real estate barons in and around Hyderabad who had bought hundreds of acres of assigned lands and sold them to unsuspecting buyers for crores are running scared. If the law is implemented in letter and spirit, the lands from Timmapur to Vikarabadand from Ibrahimpatnam to Shamirpet will revert back to the government. And with it will go bust the artificial land rates in and around twin cities. That will be blessing for the middle class citizens of the twin cities who wish to own a piece of land.

Cars Marx

2006-12-12T09:22:00.000+02:00

The Left dichotomy: Buddha in Bengal is firing on all cylinders for Tatas' car project but closer home Raghavulu sees red over land offer to Lokesh Motors' car project. We take a look at the party's double standards.

The visit of the Chinese President Hu Jintao to India seems to have helped shake the Indian Communists out of their mothballed existence. During his visit to Mumbai, the Chinese leader made a terse statement, which was more of a dictum than an advise to the leaders of the Indian Communist parties, specially the CPM: “Change your approach to business or you will be out of business.”
At Writers building in faraway Kolkata, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee seems to have got the message. A few months ago, the West Bengal Chief Minister signed an agreement with the Tatas to set up a small car project at Singur, close to Kolkata.
Buddha would have put the project up in north Bengal, but YSR from AP was dangling a juicy carrot in front of Ratan Tata. With the YSR scare, the CPM honcho decided to act fast and bring the project closer home to Kolkata, at Singur.
As the Tatas nodded, Buddha smiled, but Mamta didi was frowning. How could comrade give away land belonging to farmers on a platter to Ratan Tata, so that he could make his one-lakh rupee car? An angry didi promptly marched on to Singur, only to be bundled into a waiting police van and dumped into a lock up.

Subsequently, all hell broke loose in the West Bengal Assembly and Trinamul MLAs showed that they could beat their UP counterparts hollow when it comes to dismantling furniture. Buddha saw an opportunity and converted the Assembly into a makeshift museum, by inviting people of Kolkata to have a look at the collateral damage. Trust the communists to spot a business opportunity!
Despite all the hungama, Buddha was unrelenting, stating that 997 acres of land required for the project will be acquired, and handed over to the Tatas. Mamta or no Mamta. Fast or Feast. Fair enough, we are proud that the CPM in West Bengal stood up for what is essentially a sound business logic.
But double standards is what the Communists need to be wary of. Closer home, comrade Raghavulu is doing just what didi is doing in Singur. He marched along with hundreds of pensive farmers of Mahabubnagar district, declaring that the Andhra Pradesh government cannot acquire land from farmers for the proposed car project of BVR Subbu and Lokeswara Rao. Did we hear you right comrade? Land for car project cannot be taken from farmers in Andhra Pradesh, while it is okay in West Bengal. Come on, Mr Raghavulu, we are not fools.
Communist leaders are generally a good lot, despite their head-in-the-sand attitude. They seem to have been caught in a time warp. For them, Leonid Brezhnev is still ruling USSR and the Castro is still ready to slam his missiles into the US of A.
But the world has changed, and someone needs to tell the Communist friends in our State about that. Sadly, our AP comrades don’t seem to understand business as much as Buddhadeb does.
That’s the tragedy of a party that talks left and then goes right!

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PS : Rumours abound that vested car companies who are likely to be hit hard by the one lakh rupee car of the Tatas are behind the agitation at Singur. It does make sense, say those in the automobile business. What's your view? Write at apmedia@rediffmail.com

Politics killing Indian sport

2006-12-11T18:29:00.000+02:00

File Photo: Members of Indian rowing team during a practice session at the Hussain Sagar lake in Hyderabad. They won medals against all odds.

Two, rather three stark things stood out for the Indian contingent in the on-going Asian Games at Doha. First was the three-gold haul by Jaspal Rana, then a double silver and a bronze sweep by the Indian rowing team. And the third was elimination of the Indian hockey team.

Jaspal Rana won not because of his Federation, but out of his sheer determination by overcoming illness and obstacles that were put in his way by our own countrymen. A bitter Rana, who did not land up with a single medal at the Busan Asiad, minced no words when he spoke out after his hat-trick at Doha. His bosses in the Federation did everything that they could to prevent the shooting star from winning at Doha. They refused him services of his Australian coach Tibor Gonczol and also spiked his ammunition.

All this, to make sure that anyone who spoke out against the powers-that-be will be silenced forever. Why were the services of the coach refused? Well government rules say a shooting coach cannot be above 70 years. What about politicians, why cannot the same rules apply to them? Forget the medals, damn the nation! That seems to be the motto of our self-seeking politicians. Now that Rana is also getting into politics, he can extract a sweet revenge!

Politics has been integrated into sports from a long time in our country. Suresh Kalmadi, Om Prakash Chautala, Vijay Kumar Malhotra, KP Singh Deo, Lalu Prasad Yadav, Sharad Pawar have all claimed to represent the interests of Indian sport. The truth was that politicians used their sports titles to further their personal ambitions. Kalmadi for example has dabbled at everything, from the Pune Marathon to pitching for Olympics.

What’s in sports that attract politicians in hordes? It’s money, as simple as that. To add to that are foreign junkets to ‘watch’ international events like World Cup football, Olympics along with their family members. There are more non-officials in the Indian team than athletes and coaches. What about athletes who need international training? Forget it.

Opening and closing ceremonies cost a bomb, and contracts like the ones held in Hyderabad during the Afro-Asian games run into crores of rupees. No bids are called for such extravaganzas and so the cronies can have the contracts provided they pay the politicians a cut. It’s time we learn from the Chinese, not just in setting up SEZs, but also producing world champions.

The worst sufferers in the recent times have been Indian Hockey, which has fallen into an abyss from the hey days of Dhyan Chand. KPS Gill whose only claim to fame was the quelling of Punjab insurgency, found himself unemployed and promptly pitched in as the big boss of Indian Hockey Federation. The results are there to see, with the Indian hockey team going down the tube, losing tournament after tournament. India has played with five different teams in the recent past with equally disastrous results.

Olympian Viren Rasquinha was dropped from the Doha Asiad squad at the last minute, despite being selected earlier. Dilip Tirkey, who was ignored for the Melbourne tournament, made a return to the Doha games, and that too as captain! The mercurial Dhanraj Pillay was often the victim of Gill’s mood swings, and so was our own Mukesh Kumar, who was dumped for apparent lack of fitness.

Even the coaches were made to run around in a game of musical chairs. In Doha squad, Baskaran who was sacked earlier as the Indian hockey coach replaced Rajinder Singh jr, who was coach at the Melbourne games. After the Doha debacle, are there any guesses who the next coach will be?

Nobody has gone to the root cause of the problem, which incidentally lies at the sub junior level. If Indian hockey has to regain its glory all over gain, then the IHF has to pay attention to youngsters playing at the school level. It’s from the bottom of this pyramid that the talent at the senior level will emerge to the top. Chopping and changing seniors will not help. The latest news that the International Hockey Federation has prepared a blueprint for the revival of Indian hockey is an insult to us Indians. We taught the world to play hockey, and now they are coming back to teach us. Gill and Co - chullubhar pani mein doob maro.

Cricket, our national religion has seen the messiest of all scrambles. For a long time, a marwari businessman from Kolkata, Jagmohan Dalmiya ran it like a proprietorship company. His was the final word, and no one dared to dissent. He decided who would play where, who will be the players, who will telecast the matches and so on… Contracts for telecast of cricket matches particularly one-day internationals run into billions and are the hub of corrupt politicos. With no known system of transparency, the BCCI goes about things their own way.

Even captaincy of the Indian team comes in the form of a dialogue. Remember Raj Singh Dungarpurkar’s famous question to Mohd Azharuddin, “Captain banoge miya ? ”. Azhar must have said something to the effect of “yes”, and in an instant he became the Indian skipper. It’s as easy as that. Ask Saurav Ganguly, who was made and unmade from hero to zero in no time. The cricket boards of Australia, England & Wales, South Africa and even Zimbabwe have appointed full-time Chief Executive Officers to run their cricket boards in a professional manner. We still have Sharad Pawar and company to run cricket here.

But there is some good news among the doom. For months on end, a group of rowers were hard at work in the Hussain Sagar lake, which straddles the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad. One must have often noticed these men silhouetted in the early morning mist of the lake, as they pulled back their rows and moved steadily forward. Not many would have given them a second look. After all they are not the members of the Indian cricket team. They were just a bunch of rowers who went about their practice sessions with little or no support from anyone, except the Rowing Federation of India.

Led from the front the never-say-die by Col C P Singh Deo, the Federation does not even have annual funding equaling that of a Ranji Trophy cricket match. For days on end, Col Singh, his trainers and the boys went about their training in the putrid waters of the Hussain Sagar lake. Not many gave them a chance, but the boys had it in them.

Never before had India won silver in rowing at the Asian Games, and the performance at Doha Asiad has been their best ever. Bajrang Lal Takhar won silver in the men's single sculls, while the men's fours team of Dharmesh Sangwan, Jenil Krishnan, Satish Joshi and Sukhjeet Singh bagged another silver. Brijender and Yalamanchi Kiran won the double sculls bronze.

For Secretary of the Indian Rowing Federation, Col Deo, it was a sweet revenge, as he thumbed cock-a-snook at some people who managed to get the government to pull the funding plug for rowing team during the last two months. Despite this, the Indian Rowing Federation kept the camp going with funds from its own pocket. Backing him to the hilt was Ismail Baig, a Dronacharya awardee who put into place a professional training system, which produced rewarding results at Doha.

The rousing welcome the rowing team got at the Begumpet airport on their return from Doha, must have puzzled them. The rowing team now has its eyes set on the world championships and an Olympic qualification.

Many of us, who are ardent cricket fans, will be saddened by the lack of support for other disciplines like Rowing and Shooting. It's time we all put in our individual efforts and raise funds to provide quality equipment and training for these boys so that they can one day bring home a Olympic medal. We are proud of you boys, you have made us Hyderabadis hold our heads higher. Mera Bharat Mahan.
Please join us in congratulating the Indian rowing team. Comment or write to apmedia@rediffmail.com

Of Topiwalas and Cheddiwalas!

2006-12-09T15:27:00.000+02:00

Now that KCR has won Karimnagar, it is natural that YSR plays his trump card/s. As Sushma Swaraj awaits the Presidential assent for her private members bill on the separate state, political jockeying in the state has begun in the right earnest. The first move by YSR has been cast - to persuade Majlis-ettehadul-Muselmeen not accept the statehood for Telangana with Hyderabad as the capital.

Assauddin Owaissi made the noises to this effect about three months ago, when he said that he would never allow Cheddiwalas to rule in Telangana. His fear is understandable, in that the BJP will wrest a tie up with TRS in return for the private member’s bill passage in Parliament. And the new state will see a Karnataka like tie-up with BJP arm-twisting KCR to part with crucial ministries including the crucial one, home portfolio.

The Congress on the other hand will play along with Majlis, demanding that Hyderabad should become a union territory within the state of Telangana. For KCR, the new state without the capital is like an emperor without a crown. For BJP, the twin cities is their backyard and they want to wrest back Secunderabad Lok Sabha seat and get some Assembly segments like Maharajgunj, Malakpet and Karwan as well. That would mean making a substantial dent in the Topiwala territory.

Losing Hyderabad for TRS will be like trading off one of its crown jewels. All that KCR will have in terms of cash cow will be Singareni Collieries. Hyderabad accounts for a substantial portion of the state’s sales and excise collections and without it KCR’s Telangana will be broke before it begins.

YSR made the first move when in a unscheduled visit, announced a Rs 800-crore underground sewerage project for the Old City. In tow with Assauddin Owaissi he announced a slew of projects many of which are old wine in a new bottle. The fate of the Quli Qutub Shah Development Authority, which was floated during NTR’s regime is still fresh in the minds of the people of the Old City. YSR is said to have put district minister in charge, Shabbir Ali to take the process forward.

With the State High Court all set to clear the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation, the outer fringes of Hyderabad will stretch all the way till Medak, Nalgonda and Mahabubnagar. That’s almost the size of Himachal Pradesh. YSR’s hurry in getting GHMC is understandable, for with it he gets to kill two birds with one stone. Assauddin Owaissi and Janardhan Reddy, two of the vociferous opponents will be forced to accept the concept of Greater Hyderabad. And KCR will be left with a hole in the Telangana map.

The (BJP) private member’s bill can only be passed in both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha with Congress support, as the Communists are likely to walk out or vote against the bill. Pushed to wall, KCR may have no choice but to accept the obvious. What the BJP does in that scenario will be interesting to watch. Will it go along and accept Hyderabad as a UT? Or will the BJP stick with TRS and let the bill fail in both the houses. The second step will mean an uncertain wait while the first will be a half-baked cake.

In the tussle for Telangana, the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad will be the key, which holds the riches to Aladdin’s cave.

Comment briefly or mail to apmedia@rediffmail.com

The Making of Page Three News

2006-12-09T09:55:00.000+02:00

Madhur Bhandarkar brought the aspect of Page 3 in his brilliant film of the same name. Not that it helped. Page Three folks are like traffic lights. You may not like them, but they will be around. These people are the scums of the earth, eking out their existence on crumbs of publicity generated by some third rate P3s of some newspapers.
The Page Three animals are easy to spot. They hang around to be invariably invited for every small party that is ‘thrown’ for no obscure reason by the so-called filthy rich. Word goes around pretty fast about how Mrs so-and-so is planning a do. The ability to wangle an invite depends on your standing in the society. If you are the IAS, IPS or a minister’s son, then the pub guys will invite you (for sure) for their celebration. But if it’s a private do, then the organizers make sure that the two leading lights (read that as the lady editors) of the two biggies (DC and Times) are invited.

Don’t bother about inviting The Hindu and Indian Express staffers. For them P3 is Jurassic, it does not exist. Fair enough, we appreciate their honesty. But DC and Times are a must. The editor of the DC tabloid is an ex Times, while the Times P3 editor is an ex DC staffer. Coincidence? Not really.
So, it makes sense to invite both. Even if one of them makes it to the ‘do’, the two editors will share notes what happened there. Just like photographers of newspapers ‘share’ pictures. So don’t be surprised if the same story may appear in both DC and Times. DC first, Times later. The Times Page 3 editor is always accommodating, holding on to her stories till Onnu, Onnu, Onnu pips them to the post and publishes it first. (Those who go to Malakpet can make sense of that)
For a Page 3 party, the invite is the starting point. It can be a personalized one or an exotic one. Send in a few ‘foreign’ chocolates along with the invite to the editor. A bottle of wine will also be a big draw and the editor will be under obligation to at least make a mention of your ‘great’ party.
Don’t send the ‘invite’ to the office. It’s foolish. The editor’s colleagues will notice how loads of gifts are being carted into madam’s cabin and then into her car. So, don’t embarrass the P3 editors. Send it to the editor’s home, even if your driver runs the risk of being bitten by the editor’s dog. You see, the philosophy is simple - Love me, love my dog.

Who will get a mention in P3 depends on how ‘close’ they are to the two lady editors. If you had sent cake on the editor’s birthday, then your picture and name will find its way into the P3. (Five star hotel GMs are very good at that). If the GM made sure that the editor’s kids got free swimming lessons at the five star hotel's pool, then the hotel will get a creeping mention somewhere. Also make sure that you send gifts to the editors during Diwali and New Year. A holiday trip for the editor and her family to an exotic locale will be a clincher. (free, of course).

There will be a lot of bitching at the party, but then that is only to be expected. The party will get rowdier once the liquor starts to flow. Make sure you have bottles of ‘desi foreign’ liquor stocked up. Black Label is passé, Try Chivas Regal, re-filled in with McDowells no1. None of these so-called P3 crowd knows the difference between Teachers and Royal Stag. Daru, thoh daru hai.
Make sure that the editor is constantly reminded at the party about the write up in next day’s paper. Say things like “Should I send you the pictures?”. Otherwise, how the hell will the world know that you invited a certain B_nt_ B_j_j or a P_ _ky R_d_y to your party. Most of the invitees to P3 ‘do’ are freeloaders, ever willing to throttle the host and the other guests. Behind the plastic smiles and peck on the cheeks are men and women who having a roving eye to spot the camera guy and make sure that he had them in the frame.
Make sure you treat the editor like the queen of the party, or else you risk running your reputation to the ground. Please smile, say words like “You look gorgeous” (even if madam looks groggy). You have lost a lot of weight” (even when the editor looks like Karnam Malleswari). Also add in a few goodies like “That article you wrote on live-in relationships was fabulous” (It’s another matter that the article appeared in a rival newspaper.)

Sexy, oomph, beauty, a great host are some of the words that make rounds in the P3 edits. An old lady who hangs along with one of the ex-wives of the ex-Nizam’s is described by the editor of a P3, as one of the most endearing hosts in Hyderabad. How? Nobody can hazard a guess. Does it have to do with a flat in Banjara Hills, which the editor had purchased at a substantial ‘discount’?
Our sources say that a couple of boutique owners have also complained to the top management of (we leave you to guess which one it was) that their P3 editor accompanied by another lady correspondent walked off with designer dresses without paying for them. The owners were told that the dresses would be reviewed and written about. Six months since, neither the review appeared nor were the dresses returned. Khallas!
But then there are ways to get around the editor and get yourselves seen on P3. Times has a division called Medianet, where one can (legally) pay and get written about in Hyderabad Times. So if P3 socialites want their party to be written and seen by all - they just need to pay as per the medianet rate card to the Times (and not the editor). Talk about cutting out the middlemen (and women)! The Jains are smart and know their business well. Why bribe the editor? Pay us and we will write about it, the Jains would say. Smart move - Paisa pheko,Tamasha dekho.
DC has another strategy. Those who want coverage in the P3 tabloid will have to buy a substantial number of copies of DC (say around 5000 copies and upwards). The DC circulation guys will account for that number of copies as increase in circulation or better sell the entire lot in raddi. Indeed, there are a number of ways to get written in P3 and these are just a couple of them.

After the party, make sure you have a wonderful parting gift, or have the editor dropped home in your Mercedes. (No, she will not write about the free ride home).
Page Three is all about “You scratch my bare back, and I will reciprocate.” And just like the ‘reel’ P3, the ‘real’ P3 is all khokla. That’s the sad story of P3 journalism, if you can call that journalism!

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Foot note : We asked for comments preceding the posting of a story on P3 and here are snippets of what we got :
P3 is all about a sumptuous meal at a star hotel and a hot party in a happening watering hole. Remember Madhur's movie dialogue? "We create celebrities and destruct them" or something similar…
About ten miserable scribes, two hapless lensmen… The sinister lady's strange whims and fancies! A despot! That's what HT is all about… A third rate of a fashion show at a five star hotel is a unique event for them… because the organizer is very generous! A national celeb's visit is nothing worth talking about. A city girl who made it to the AXN English series is an unknown figure and not worth coverage whereas a Heena Srivastava or a Rohit Reddy is something very hot and happening! God bless P3 journalists.

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Happy weekend! Badger your P3 team and get yourselves some invites. Else, mull and mail ideas for next story on the blog. Cheers!

Jayanth acts on Sayesekhar

2006-12-08T16:09:00.000+02:00

It's not often that earthshaking events happen at the sedate Hindu. Today was an exception. Sayesekhar, the Vijayawada Bureau Chief, has been transferred to Hyderabad and reportedly given the BJP beat. And everyone is talking about it, mostly happy at the development. Sayesekhar joined the Hindu as a Star Reporter from Deccan Chronicle and had a meteoric rise in Hindu. He got a double promotion for himself and ensured better hikes and promotions to his team, reason why many envied him. (Remember the invidious HR practices we discussed in "Parochial Ways of India's National Newspaper"?). The team, however, was unhappy at his way of treating them and were relieved when Jayanth promised "light at the end of tunnel" to them after his visit to Vijayawada to conduct an enquiry. Jayanth has kept his promise now. Interestingly, Srimali, with about five years of experience and considered close to chiefs in Hyderabad, will take charge at Vijayawada. Good luck to him. Hope his rise will not make him the envied. Will Saye come to Hyderabad and work with the chief with whom his relationship is anything but cordial? Let's see.

Yell-ow Brigade's whimper!

2006-12-07T19:25:00.000+02:00

Ayyo.. Ayyo.. Ayyayyo…!
Chandrababu is out. United Andhra slogan has been rejected in both Andhras! The TD’s single digit strength in Lok Sabha has been further pruned. For TD, Losing Bobbili is a big blow — their assessment of anti-incumbency wave has been belied; their personal attacks on Botsa, ably backed up by once kingmaker and present kingpin in Margadarsi’s misdeeds Ramoji’s Eenadu, failed to wash. The combined campaign only washed out the sympathy for the son of late Desam leader!
The Karimnagar result indicates the signs of Desam’s resurgence seen in the panchayat polls have vanished. It was the strength of the local candidates then and the weakness of the party leader now that made the difference! So, the cycle is punctured in both the tyres. Strange, but TD’s fortunes seem to be in synch with Ramoji’s Eenadu. Once invincible, both establishments have taken a severe beating and are groping for light in the tunnel. Nothing seems to go right, no strategy seems to work and problems aplenty appear on the horizon!
Despite this both Ramoji and Naidu are stubbornly sticking to their guns. Naidu, even after his yelling foul failed, continues to insult voters’ intelligence – Mandu (liquor) and money impacted result in Bobbili, he theorized! Ramoji continues to believe he can upset YSR’s applecart by prolonging the tirade in Eenadu/ETV. We will stick to the same editorial policy till 2009 Assembly polls, he tells his staff, after the results!
In “Whose in the fray?” post, we said Ramoji has taken the polls personally, vowing to defeat YSR. YSR gained in Bobbili and lost nothing in Karimanagar. So, whose smiling?
KCR showed that theatrics can win elections. The drama artist has effectively silenced all his critics, those dissenting MLAs importantly. Let’s see how our colleagues, the political reporters, analyse the result. An analysis on the real estate impact would be a must, we suppose?

Please keep commnets brief. If you have a lot to say, write for us a complete article, mail to apmedia@rediffmail.com

Up Next: All About The Page 3. Got any inputs, do mail.

Comment, not calumny

2006-12-06T17:59:00.000+02:00

Please don't use the Comment section to run down others. Please, don't make personal attacks. We are all journalists. We know where to draw the line. We know how to maintain decorum in our language. So far, we have hardly screened any comments except those that were lengthy. Help us keep it that way by being brief and to the point.

ALL ARE WELCOME TO WRITE ON THE BLOG ON ANY ISSUE OF COMMON INTEREST.

Mail to apmedia@rediffmail.com

Sastry's self-deception

2006-12-05T15:34:00.000+02:00

Undemocratic Naidu undermines institutions

2006-12-05T11:44:00.000+02:00

In 'The Kamma-Reddy dogfight' post, we said the Margadarsi episode is set to be a decisive battle in the war between the two castes and that a weakened Ramoji would mark the end of Chandrababu Naidu and his party. Indeed, Naidu has heard the crack of doom! Panicked by RBI's whip on Margadarsi, Naidu charged the RBI of being partisan and sought to attribute motives to it.

This is the second time that Naidu has faulted institutions of democracy because their actions were detrimental to his ends! In the 90s, soon after he usurped power from dad-in-law NTR, Naidu fumed over the unimpeachable CEC T N Seshan's directive to political parties to hold internal elections. On that occasion, Naidu had Shiv Senas's Bal Thackeray for company. This time around, he is a loner. After initial show of solidarity with Ramoji, all the Raghavulu-s, Venkiah Naidu-s and the like realised their folly and understood that silence is gold. Even Ramoji's brainchild Lok Satta's JP had to eat humble pie. But Naidu has only become more aggressive in supporting hot potato Ramoji. Is that a wise move? Looks like Naidu is too lost in the battle for survival to weigh the merits of his moves.

Wages of copy editing!

When the going gets tough, the tough find a scapegoat! Poor people, those Eenadu employees… till the other day they were an envied lot among Telugu journalists… Big organization, higher salaries.. paid promptly, least exploited, better working environs, and more! (at least they thinks so). Today, they are dazed and apprehensive! The Undavalli bombshell denied them a Ramoji B-Day Bonus and worse, the recent rapid chain of events has them in jitters. What if Eenadu is sold?… What if the organization retrenches people..? and many more what ifs…? None is happy over the current uncertainty and the desk guys have found a couple to blame for all the trouble… the two young copy-editors who embellished the Peddala-Gaddala story. When it appeared, the story was the single most explosive media report in recent years and everyone patted the duo. Today, Peaddala — Gaddala is seen to be the report that landed the Group in dire straits. And all are blaming the duo for being too good at their job!

Rajiv lessons for Ramoji

2006-12-04T08:27:00.000+02:00

Rajiv Gandhi, the youngest Prime Minister India ever had, was born great. He achieved popularity and gamely accepted power that was thrust upon him. Sadly, cruel fate had him leave the task of defending his honour to his family. Therein lies the lesson for Ramoji Rao. Here is how:

The Bofors scandal showed how an ill-advised greenhorn politician could entangle himself in an inescapable mess. Rajiv’s response to allegations of kickbacks in the gun purchase deal was a strategic blunder, underlined by a series of vehement denials and hasty retreats. Initially, Rajiv categorically denied all allegations. No middlemen were involved in the deal, he declared. Evidence showed otherwise. Rajiv retracted but declared that no kickbacks were made. Media reported bank account numbers and transaction details. Rajiv retracted but stated that none from his party or Cabinet were paid. Fresh evidence (incriminating Arun Nehru) proved him wrong, forcing him to retract and avow that none from his family benefited from the deal! (Prompting a wicked joke: See Foot Note)

A decade after his assassination, during the NDA regime, Rajiv’s family and followers had to fight to have his name deleted from the charge sheet filed in courts relating to the Bofors kickbacks.

Ramoji’s life is at a turning point. His actions in the present would decide how the world would remember him in the future. The present holds out an opportunity to him — to come clean and thus gracefully preserve at least a part of the clean image and reputation that he has built for himself. Waiting for evidence to admit guilt would be disastrous and would vilify him for now and forever! And, like in the case of Rajiv, it would leave his family entangled in protracted legal wrangles.

The Union Finance Ministry’s stop order on Margadarsi has already exposed how untenable Ramoji’s claim on the non-application of RBI laws to his HUF is. Ramoji is now on the verge of making his first retreat: The date of stopping acceptance of deposits by Margadarshi Financiers. Evidently, there is a contradiction between what we read and heard from his media wings and what he informed the RBI. He would also have to explain why the group’s net worth is informed differently for the RBI and the common man, Rs 500-odd crore and Rs 10,000 crore! That’s just the beginning. There is a lot more he would have to do before he can consider Margadarsi, RFC lands issues as over and buried.

Ramoji had made several fabulously grandiose statements: No law has been violated in mobilizing deposits for Margadarsi; Not a single acre of land encroached or any bit of assigned lands bought to build RFC. All allegations are a product of politcal vendetta;

He also despised those that questioned him: Vundavalli is a small fry. His daughter-in-law went a step further, calling him a liar and charging that he would be responsible if the company sinks.

Now, there is scope for honourable discharge for Ramoji, if he acts wise: Stop giving ‘technical’ excuses and admit all wrongdoings; Everyone and my wife knows RFC is built on encroached and assigned lands. Technically, Ramoji is right in RFC case too — he had the lands purchased first by his team before he bought them. The team includes his personal bodyguard!! Instead of an outright denial, it would be better for him to seek a settlement from the government to save the architectural wonder, as the shameless Red friend Narayana described it.

Ramoji, thanks to his astuteness and the monopoly of his paper, has scripted the fate of many a politician and bureaucrat. Time has come for him to decide his own fate and decide for himself what his epitaph would be!

(Joke: If Rajiv were alive for longer, probably his next denial and retreat would have been: Maybe my family was involved but I promise I am not the beneficiary!)
comment @ apmedia@rediffmail.com

2006-12-02T11:12:00.000+02:00

Await action from Eenadu

2006-11-30T21:30:00.000+02:00

Team Ramoji is having a marathon brainstorming session in the empire’s citadel –RFC. The top brass has been engaged in intense discussions for the last three days. No idea on the agenda and the progress. Our (lowly-placed and highly-unreliable) sources say the theme for the meet is: What’s the best move for Group to demonstrate the unwavering support and trust it enjoys from the public.
Ramoji’s credibility came to be questioned for the first time in 30 years of his public life, courtesy Operation Undavalli. He went on the defensive, taking columns of space to explain himself to the people. That did not help. After Margadarsi, RFC lands were targeted. Ramoji did more explanation, in paper and on TV. Did not help. Andhra Jyoti said Priya pickles were filthy, based on FDA comments. Eenadu dedicated Page One space to explain the situation. Ramoji was never so vulnerable in his life!
That’s the background. So, what can be done to counter all this propaganda and grandly demonstrate people’s trust in Eenadu & Ramoji? It should be a masterly move that would silence all critics forever. Our (lowly placed, highly unreliable) sources did not get any wind on the outcome but inform that an IPO, initial public issue, was considered. We don’t believe that. Ramoji never believes in explaining anything to anyone. Going public means he would have to face questions from the riff raff, like you and me, who attend the AGM. What says you? Any other ideas for Eenadu group can be posted in your comments! The best idea would be quickly usurped, that’s the secret of success!!

Laxman, Finger them all, once forever!

2006-11-29T05:32:00.000+02:00

For ages, lingering fingering problems have been a pain area for players of stringed and reed instruments. In recent times Solos and Homos joined the band! All of them have scientifically analysed the problem, though, and found methods to achieve Clean Fingering.
Fingering problems, however, have bogged down Indian sports. Though every discipline suffers from this at varying degrees, the most popular game, cricket, seems to be the worst hit.
Don't we remember how Kunja Rani accused Karanam Malleswari of engaging in a fingering bout! Or how this Business of fingering caused India's star tennis doubles pair of Paes-Hash to part ways! Our national game – hockey – forever suffers because of too much of this fingering. It is another story that Dhanraj Pillay survived all of that and lasted long in the captain's seat because he could successfully scoop those who had their fingers in plans to see his back.
In cricket, fingering has been a part and parcel, perhaps since WG Grace walked on the hallowed turf at the Lord's. In India, from Lala Amarnath, Vijay Merchant, Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi to Kapil Dev and Sourav Ganguly, every captain fingered his predecessor and in turn got fingered later by his players.
The most popular Fingering incident in recent history involved two giants, Little Master Sunil Gavaskar and Haryana Hurricane Kapil Dev. It is still fresh in one's memory as to how the angry Bengali dadas booed Sunny at Eden Gardens after he fingered Kapil Daa out of the team.
We also remember how Jimmy Amarnath, the great hooker, was fingered by the selectors at every stage in his career, to be precise nine times! And final fingering came when he retaliated and fingered them back by calling them "a bunch of jokers".
Indian cricket fans know the zonal quota system as the root cause for lots of talent going unTested and unused in the country. Adding to the problem is the "yeh dil mange more" sponsors who goad the wisemen to keep certain players in despite their non-performance.
Greg Chappell became the Indian team's coach despite being fingered by Gavaskar and once in the saddle he has excelled in the art of fingering. Ask Ganguly if you want.
Red in face, Ganguly then fingered Dalmiya. The old horse recovered too fast and ensured that Ganguly permanently retired-hurt.
Meanwhile, Chappel fingered too much with the team's combination and batting order, so much so the team got de-formed!! The out-of-form team is collapsing like a pack of cards on the field. Bajji is failing to take wickets because he can no longer Finger the flippers and find the fine gaps between bat and pad. Sehwag injured his finger and has just regained shape.
Dravid feared that one more ODI loss would have his career jettisoned like Ganguly, so he fingered himself to take a break.
The BCCI, sandwiched by the coach Chappell and Lok Sabha MPs fingering each other, has summoned VVS Laxman. Special Fingering was always reserved for VVS who was made to bat at all positions from One to Six and was regularly kicked out of the team.
Now, the BCCI, the Coach and Indian team want VVS to Finger the Proteas bowlers on their turf so that Indian fans would not finger them when they return. Laxman, hope your finger is as strong as the Goverdhana Giri!! Remember our Azzu Bhai, he fingered the Sardarji so hard in England that Siddhu hasn't stopped talking since then!!

Fantastic Idea!

2006-11-28T18:26:00.000+02:00

Times Of India, we said, is a profoundly frivolous paper. Living up to our epithet, the ToI, in its editorial titled Republic of Cricket (Nov 28) has this to say:

"Just as Indian citizens get to elect their representatives, and shareholders vote on company policies, cricket viewers should be allowed to select their team as wells as coach. Why let the ham-handed BCCI run the show and, in fact, ruin it? In this day of Internet and mobile phones, fans could just vote for their favourites at the click of a button. This would have the advantage of doing away with BCCI and a selection process that lacks transparency. It would also solve the problem of accountability of players and the question of linking performance with salary. Since cricket fans are in effect paying the salaries of cricketers, they should decide the players’ pay packets. …."
That, dear reader, is heights! Unthinking juvenile idealism in the edit!! By the way, how about extending the same logic to newspapers, ToI to being with: Deciding news focus, priorities, based on readers’ feedback and judging the edit and editorial team’s performance based on readers voting? After all, readers' patronage is what fetches ads and helps them earn their salaries!? How many at ToI Hyderabad would retain their jobs should such a system be introduced? Who would have the honour of being voted out first?
Don't you think the blog is doing just the same? What's your word on the new look? Write to apmedia@rediffmail.com. Please, keep your comments brief... We have to reject some that were longer than the posts!

Mirror, Mirror on the wall Who is the cruelest of them all?

2006-11-24T10:46:00.000+02:00

Media head honchos are known to be dictatorial, sometimes bordering on lunacy. Naturally, those who fall foul of their dictums have to face their ire. We did a straw poll to find out who among the media big shots in the twin cities are the cruelest of them all.
The Hindi and Urdu Press get off lightly, because no one in the trade back answer the big bosses. Poor guys, they know that one kick and they would be out on the street without a job. The Telugu media is the next on the block and here both Girish Sanghi and Ramoji Rao share the honours, While Ramoji is known to be a man who likes his men to be servile, the Sanghi is known to slap and beat up his employees. Poor guys, you have no choice but to look for greener pastures. Hope Ramoji will be brought down from his ivory seat and the Sanghi man gets back to Hyderabad without an extension as an MP.
What do our trade union friends, especially the rabble-rousing, and chest-beating communists have to say about harassment employees face at work. Worse, Girish Sanghi has till date never paid his employees their salaries on time. Will the Labour Department do anything about it? Or will they continue to turn a blind eye to this naked violation of labour laws? Or, as some one said, Vaartha employees would be ignored as they are not labourers but slaves, like the rest of us?
Coming to the English Press the situation is a bit better. Don’t celebrate, that is just a bit. The Mahavinshnu on Mount Road is a shade better than a government office and works just like that! The employees troop in by 11 am and are not visible after 5 pm. Must be a great place to work! But the Kasturi family does keep a hawk’s eye on the happenings through their pointsman here. Our favourite punching bag JS discovered that, albeit a little late.
The Indian Express is on its last legs and there is nothing much to do when the print order is low. Nobody knows who the boss is and nobody wants to know. Which brings us to the big two. DC and Times.
The DC owners think that they ought to be running the State, while the Resident Editor thinks she should be running the country. Her boss, Akbar bhai obviously thinks that he will be the next American President. The DC employees feel that they ought to be the ones who have to wield the scepter, considering the harassment they undergo! Ask ex-advertising head of DC, Mr Vijaykumar about it.
The man who ran DC like his personal fiefdom was chased like a hound when DC owners realized that he made a neat pile from their loot. Sources say, the Reddy brothers used third degree methods to learn where the pot of loot was hidden. The God-fearing Baptist Vijay Kumar, fled to Malaysia à la Kosaraju of Krushi Bank, but has since made peace with the Reddy brothers.
On the other hand, the DC editor according to their employees is a paranoid personality who has a compulsive disorder. It is good DC is not a ten-storyed building or else, many would have jumped off the building after having been subject to mental harassment of the worst kind. Poor Pushpa Iyengar waited in the wings for long hoping some one would push the lady editor down the stairs. That did not happen and Pushpa ended up in Goa, discovering her DNA.
Which brings us to the worst guy in this business in Hyderabad. Voted as the most foul-mouthed, bad-tempered editor is Kingshuk Nag, the local editor of Times. His employees say working under him is worse than the Chinese water torture. Nag arrived in Hyderabad, courtesy Narendra Modi, who kicked him out of Ahmedabad after our old man went on a Modi-bashing crusade, post the riots. He thought he would become a Rajdeep Sardesai, but ended up as a big zero. The Times bosses were told by a furious Modi to pack the Nag in a bag and banish him from the State.
Since his arrival in Hyderabad, Times lost a number of credible journalists who in all probability would have taken the newspaper to greater heights. The short-tempered Nag is on the prowl looking for unsuspecting victims (read that as journalists). Profanities include, four-letter words that come like a torrent.
Last heard, the Human Rights Commission might be asked to suo moto take up cases of harassment against the old man. Surely Ram Karan would agree to that, for it was the verbal abuse of the worst kind that forced the back bone of Times edit to put in his papers.
The Nag is out to prove that he is the best editor Times had till date, but has ended up as a millstone around the neck of the Hyderabad edition. He writes a column in his name, the content for which is generated by junior stringers. Imagine Nag talking about Telengana and Andhra when he has no idea where Karimnagar or Kadapa is. The old man must be give an honourable VRS by the Jains and sent home to wherever he came from.
Which reminds us that due credit must be given even to the devil. Despite all that raving and ranting in our blog, JS should get the medal as the best editor Times had till date (ignoring the first two who had short stints). Maybe, the Jains need to bring him back, if they are to take the Times past DC.

Comment at apmedia@rediffmail.com

2006-11-22T18:06:00.000+02:00

Our first post was on Ram Karan’s exit from The Times of India. His exit, we said, would be a loss to ToI. Our idea of loss is shabby editing, lazy headlines and skewed news priorities. We had to define it because ToI management will surely have a different view on what amounts to a loss in selling a product. Now that it’s almost three weeks since RK quit Times, let’s take a look at the Paper without him.

The Times are a-changing, for the worse!

The Times has re-introduced its Tambola (Tamasha), a marketing gimmick, almost coinciding with Ram’s exit! Coincidence? Let’s see! We hear Times is likely to announce another old scheme -- Combo Offer (Times of India and Economic Times at discount price). They better, after all ToI Hyderabad needs harder marketing push to retain its numbers in the face of deteriorating standards in editorial content.

The paper does not write on issues any longer. Telangana, Naxalism, Irrigation projects, free power etc don't matter! Instead, they focus on real estate and the like — SEZs, Outer Ring Road, Huda land auctions, IMG deal — indicating where its interests lie. (Hope you checked Srinivas’ comment to our first post)
So, reporters cold-shoulder key issues. That’s not all, editing slip-ups happen on a daily basis (it can’t be more frequent than that). The front page, the face of the newspaper, is a shame for “the largest circulating daily”. In Page One, the copies have more than a healthy dose of bloomers, and headlines and photo captions too are not error free!
The subs, spoiled by Ram’s indulgence, know not a hyphen and its use! So “six nation” something goes without a hyphen. “On the evening before” is left unedited to “on the eve of..”. They will “launch” not just products and services but also departmental stores, Reliance Fresh for instance.
And look at this opening sentence of a Page 1 report headlined 'CM takes train to Guntur. "In perhaps the first time in a decade and a half, the state chief minister.."
Worst, however, was saved for the delegates attending the annual bankers conference early this month. In the day's lead report headlined 'Chidu has a macro view on micro fin', we read:
'The cost of delivering credit through micro-finance route involves cost."
"Preparation of a bill on micro finance is in the final stages of preparation."
But what takes the cake is a headline:
'Top Maoist among 11 naxals killed'.
And it’s not even a month since Ram’s left!

I'M Gonna fix you, YSR!

2006-11-22T18:01:00.000+02:00

YSR either miscalculated the power of IMG or has been advised poorly. The haste with which the land was re-acquired through an Ordinance will now land the government in deep trouble.
YSR has failed to take into account the clout IMG wields in its home ground, the United States. IMG is a big contributor to the election funds of both the Republicans and Democrats. Moreover, Bob Kain and Alastair Johnston who now run IMG, have powerful connections. News is now coming in that the lame duck US government has been persuaded to put the plans for a US consulate in Hyderabad on hold.
Further the US government MIGHT issue an advisory to US companies to think twice before investing in Andhra Pradesh. Of course, it can do the same on the sly as well! And that bodes ill for the state.
YSR should have known that IMG is not a Ramoji. But now it’s a tad too late.

Who's in the fray?

2006-11-21T18:07:00.000+02:00

Quick, who’s contesting the bypolls in Karimnagar and Bobbili. No, you are wrong. It’s Ramoji versus YSR! Eenadu readers are already wondering if it were not Assembly or Lok Sabha elections on the cards instead of just bypolls. The knives are out and Ramoji has announced: Make no mistake guys, it’s Me versus Him. If only you noticed the strategic shift in Eenadu’s news focus in the last three-four days ---- Exclusive focus on Karimnagar and Bobbili (One Special Page!) Margadarsi and Assigned Lands issues are sidelined. KCR gets VIP treatment…. Almost matching the urgency and priority with which Ramoji treated NTR in 1983! The most intelligent and practical sections of the voters, the youth are with drama artist KCR, Eenadu tells us! Botsa is its favourite punch bag! On ETV, footage of Congressmen buttonholed by angry people is shown, reshown and reshown and…! So at 70 Ramoji is alive and at his favourite game – using the paper to settle personal scores! “I thought of handing over the responsibility of tackling YSR to my son (Kiron)… but he (YSR) has provoked me into combating him at this age and I am game for it,” Ramoji told select senior Eenadu reporters on the day Undavalli dropped the bombshell. (Of course, the selected ones were those who he trusted to leak the message to the rival camp!!). So, he is now vigorously engaged in a mission, not bringing TDP back into power, but to defeat the Hand that rocks his boat! Seen Sreedher cartoons? The man reflects the pungency of his boss!
As of now, we learn Congress is on a losing wicket in both the constituencies. Ramoji is smiling! Let him, for now at least… till, maybe, YSR raises the curtain for his next move… mind you we are yet to hear the last word… from the RBI!
Undavalli, we hate you!: That’s from Eenadu employees folks… not because he dared to taint Ramoji but because he spoiled their party! Poor folks, the Margadarsi controversy came at a wrong time for them. They were expecting a bonus on the occasion of Our Master’s Birthday… Ramoji turned 70 but no bonus. BTW, even the book that we talked about earlier, a collection of Ramoji portraits done by top artists, has also not seen the light of the day. The lackey who planned it is frustrated. Poor Undavalli would not have imagined such collateral damage!

Sunday Musings

2006-11-19T18:34:00.000+02:00

Sunday is the time for confessions, reflection and resolutions. So let’s indulge and see what we come up with!
Media Games: Who’s made the most of l’affaire Undavalli? Nah, not Congress! TV9 and Andhra Jyoti! The channel and the publication allotted too many hours / columns for the issue and kept it live. We learned that a week before Undavalli’s PC in Delhi, Ravi Prakash and Vemuri Radhakrishna were summoned to CM’s office by KVP. They were given wind of the bombshell that Undavalli dropped on Ramoji. YSR knew that without their support the issue would end up being a damp squib, drowned in the counter blitzkrieg by Eenadu and Etv. So, YSR sought their support, and they promised, each for different reasons. Eenadu’s articles exposing the purposelessness of SEZs has hurt Ravi Prakash for his management is an interested party! Vemuri’s Andhra Jyothi which was leading over Eenadu in demonizing the YSR government was beaten hollow when Eenadu had Peddala Gaddala special. Vemuri had to do something quick to be one up again. Eenadu would become a soft target for him if Ramoji’s credibility gets weakened. He was more than willing to help. You know the results! Andhra Jyoti has certainly benefited. Reports say Jyoti's circulation spurted post the Margadarsi episode. If you'd noticed, post the Margadarsi issue, Andhra Jyoti has also slackened its anti-government reportage!! Eenadu, reports from a few districts say, is witnessing fall in retail sales of the paper — alarm bells again for Ramoji!

Presenting news, Eenadu way: Noticed the big, er mega font Eenadu used for Volkswagen deciding to set shop outside Andhra? Boy, the paper seems to take sadistic pleasure in AP losing out on the prestigious project! In this it sees an opportunity at hitting YSR! The big font almost looks like evil dance… karaala nrutyam… Illu Kaaali okadu yedustunte.. suttaku nippu adiginatlu… heartless and shameful!
TD leader’s killing: Unidentified assailants killed TD leader in Kurnool district Vaikuntam and his wife. English media reported police version that prime suspects is Vaikuntam’s sister. Her son was murdered sometime ago and Vaikuntam’s sons are the accused in the case. It’s a clear case of family feud. The sister too is a TD supporter. Eenadu and Andhra Jyoti don’t mention these details and make it look like a killing of TD leader by Congressmen! And Ramoji boasts of being wedded to truth!
We have more to say, on Eenadu’s new strategy of news focus and treatment. We will spare that for tomorrow.
Vemuri’s double game: As already discussed, Vemuri went into an overdrive over Undavalli-Margadarsi affair and reaped the benefits. But the man himself would want to be seen as impartial. So, he penned that Page One Signed editorial of his (Nov 11) that said the stringer in him is still alive, even after becoming the MD. He got the lead at the bottom! The editorial continued into Page 2 and interestingly, the Page One part (in colour and bigger font), was laced with insinuations against YSR and the continued portion (B&W, regular font) raised valid and more pertinent points that ought to be said at the outset. Vemuri, who attempted to inflict maximum damage on Margadarsi with his Special Analytical report that suggested depositors should withdraw monies from the company on Day One of l’affaire Undavalli, expressed profound concern for their welfare in his editorial. However, the paper continued its dose of 200-font headlined stories that had potential of triggering panic among depositors! Vemuri, you can’t have your cake and eat it too!

Celebrating the Rich: Not long ago one American daily that discussed the contrasting realities of dazzling prosperity and abject poverty in today’s India titled the piece: India: One nation, two planets! Well said. The news of Andhrawala GMR making to the list of India’s Rich, ignites the same thoughts. Andhra Pradesh aptly fits the description of being one place with two worlds. We see an extremely small club of people adding wealth at a stunning pace while a huge section of populace suffer the tyranny of poverty. Suicides by farmers continue unabated. Indigent families in Anantapur have found a way of making the ends meet — husband and wife together hit the highways, husband solicits customers for his wife, mostly truck drivers. Theirs is not a shameless act but a helpless one — no means of income and kids to feed at home. Hyderabad is a knowledge capital but farmers run into debts because, in the absence of hydrological guidance, they dig multiple bores and end up with dry pumps. Hyderabad is health care capital but hundreds of tribals in Agency die of malaria and unidentified diseases, all unaccounted deaths. The anomalies are several and as striking as black-and-white combination. Yet, gloom shall not be reason to ignore success! Let’s celebrate GMR’s success. (Suggested reading: A tale of two Indias, The Guardian Wednesday April 5, 2006; http://www.guardian.co.uk/india/story/0,,1746948,00.html)

Who’s Grandhi? BTW, who’s this GMR?. Till recently he was an unknown quantity. Today, he stands tall after beating Goliath Ambani, both in corridors of power and in the portals of justice. Like Ramoji, he too is a self-made man, built a business empire after odd jobs in the beginning, maintains a low profile and has unlimited ambition! But that’s an uncharitable comparison at this happy hour. So let’s leave it at that!

Ramoji’s Biggest Lie in 70 years!

2006-11-17T10:33:00.000+02:00

Birthday boy Ramoji told us the biggest lie of his lifetime! Of the 2000-acre film city (NOBODY KNOWS FOR SURE ITS EXACT AREA…AP govt website says its 1200 acres) Not a single acre has been encroached… Not a single assigned land bought.. not a single acre of tribal land taken over. So, he has neither violated RBI norms in Margadarsi dealings nor did he overstep the law in developing RFC….! Ramoji, we all know the genesis of Vaartha… Girish Sanghi and you started occupying land from opposite ends on Hyd outskirts and when you two met, you got the last piece the two of you vied for.. It was then that Girish Sanghi realized that financial muscle and political clout account for nothing without media presence and started Vaartha.. The witty then commented: Kabjakor Kabjakor raasukunte Paper pudutundi!

Ramoji now has the audacity to tell us not a single acre has been occupied. Can we believe him…. It only tells us he has covered his tracks well.
Ramoji’s statement is like…. Swaranjit Sen, Director General of Police: All encounters are real… We did not kill a single Naxalite in fake encounters!
YSR, CM: Undavalli acted on his own. I did not know of his allegation till I saw it on the TV!..

Can you think of more post or send to apmedia@rediffmail.com

Jayaprakash Narayan exposed: One of our readers said in his comment that Margadarsi episode has exposed what a phony character Lok Satta’s JP is. Indeed! He is the creation and puppet of Ramoji. SriRamana expressed the same view in Andhra Jyothi yesterday (Thursday). If you missed it, please read the edit page anchor article.

Cheating case against ETV: In an earlier post, we mentioned about the Tambola Tamasha at Times, remember? Winner of ETV’s Yahoo programme went to the court charging the channel of shortchanging him…. The gold chain he received is worth one-third of the promised value, he accuses. Nothing new. All marketing gimmicks are con games. Times announces Rs 50 lak worth prizes for Tambola winners. Want some sadistic pleasure? Just hang around Times office… those guys who drive down all the way to their office in anticipation of a good gift get a shock when they see the item in the attractive pack… not even worth the fuel expenses, for some.