To be honest I haven’t heard about Justice Katju before his interview with Karan Thapar, but does it matter? This post is about what Justice Katju said to Karan Thapar and for which celebrity journalist couple of Mr & Mrs Sardesai started conducting poll, debates and tweeting

Should Justice Katju apologise to journalists for calling them uneducated?

Few editors and coloumnist have already written or will be in process of writing articles criticizing Justice Katju. As expected Editor’s guild issued a statement criticizing Justice Ratju

The Editors Guild today (November 1) termed as “ill-considered” the comments made by the new Press Council of India Chairman Markandey Katju against the media and vowed to oppose any move by it to assume “draconian” powers and bring the electronic media under its ambit.

I presume people at large would be happy with what Justice Ratju’s view on currents state on Indian media, at least I do and here I will discuss key points as mentioned by Justice Katju.

Disclaimer: All eggs in the basket are not bad but we have a case where we have many more and bigger bad eggs than good. Also when I say I agree with Mr Katju on these comments, I mean on these comments only. I have to write this for Indian media as they are master of twisting statements.

1. It often diverts the attention of the people from the real problems which are basically economic.

This is one of the big issues, media most of the time looks at the crooked finger instead of the moon it’s trying to show. They confuse people by focusing on messenger instead of message. whether its 2G or letter from Pranab Da’s office, simple more focus who issued Chidabram and Pranab instead focusing more on content of that letter, India care more about cold war between two ministers or the big corruption which they are trying to hide. On Anna issue, media initially tried to downplay, however TRP forced them to cover Anna movement and then when they did they never discussed the issues, content of different drafts but personalities and big confusing words around death of democracy, insult of parliament. … Seriously insult of parliament and democracy…

2. You see, this is a country of great diversity because it is a country broadly of immigrants. We must, therefore, respect each other and we must remain united.

For media every news has to be religion or caste based. Why can’t they treat loss of life as human instead of counting them as Muslims or Hindu. I want to ask Modi hater media why don’t you question him about loss of humans instead of asking then 700 or 1000 Muslims died, rest were also humans including those who died in train. Why a caste of girl raped is important, Every other day we hear women teased or raped, is it important to classify her as hindu, muslim, dalit, kashmiri or anything else… Politicians want us to remain divided so that they can rule us and media just for TRP or favors from their political master’s support this divide and rule theory.. yes we do see some token shows/news on harmony and united India.

3. I said India is passing in a transitional period from feudal society to modern society. So the media must promote scientific ideas to help the country move forward, like the European media did in the period of transition in Europe.

Quality of content - Indian News

How many scientific and educational program you see on news channels… look at India TV – do I need to say more, on these news channel Rakhi sawant is prime time news..seriously don’t you agree with the low quality of content?

4. Paid news

Absolutely, if you’ve heard of the scandal of paid news in the year 2009 elections, you know what happened. You know earlier the journalist would go to the candidates in elections and ask for money, ‘You give me Rs 10,000 and I will publish news in your favour’. Then it appears that the proprietors got a wise idea that why should these working journalists make money why should we not make money. Then they came forward saying ‘you give me one crore and a package will be given to you, front page headline news will be in your favour’. And an astounding thing happened in 2009 elections. Candidate A in the front page of the newspapers says he’s winning by a
large number of votes, by a large majority; and the lower part of the front page paid for by the rival candidate says that candidate A is losing his security deposit. So you see on the same page he’s winning by a thumping majority and he’s also losing his security.

— No comments on this —– and did you notice all those criticizing him never mention paid news… “Action speaks louder than words”

5. Frequently damages the reputation of innocent people by either misrepresenting them or, worse, by suggesting or claiming or proclaiming that they are guilty without reason and without evidence

This is their favorite job…. this gives them the feeling they are above all, they are God and they have the power to make or break someone. If you are against us we will damage your reputation..or pay (reward) us and we will improve your image… and when it hits one of them all of them go hiding.. news are blacked out again and again.. thanks to twitter , facebook and other social media platforms its getting difficult

6. The majority, I’m sorry to say, are of a very poor intellectual level, media people, I doubt whether they have any idea of economic theory or political science, philosophy, literature, I have grave doubts whether they are well read in all this, which they should be.

Intellectually zero, look at bias in the articles, tv shows and some of them only shout. They shout about politics as business same is true about media corporate houses..
Think hard, how many journalist focus on issue and give insights?

Panelist – Why do see same panelist on all debates, some time looks like panelist have no other jobs just to appear on these shows with no objective and no sense. Their point of view is so biased and emotional, rarely we see panelist with facts.

and please understand degree from Oxford US doesn’t mean you have intellect or knowledge.

Here is the old picture of ‘Media who is connected to whom’ – I need a better source and updated picture, please share if you have one…

Do read “Why I quit the media”

I also wanted  to comment on this article on firstpost  “Justice Katju, you’re not an editor an certainly not God”

Anant Rangaswami in his article wrote

“Indian media is very often playing an anti-people role. It often diverts the attention of the people from the real problems which are basically economic. (About) 80 percent people are living in horrible poverty, unemployment, facing price rise, health care (problems),” said Justice Markandey Katju, chairman of the Press Council of India, in an interview with Karan Thapar on CNN-IBN.

Of all the statements made by Katju, this one is most alarming. If the media, in their wisdom, choose to focus on certain areas more than some others, it is of no consequence to the Press Council. It is, simply, an editorial call. It is a call, which in the long run, will be judged not by Katju, but by readers and advertisers.

It’s an editorial call?… Sir, whole issue is around quality of editors and their bias.

Judged by readers– are you listening to your readers ?

Judged by advertisers – This is true, media can hide story around a corporate house as they are biggest advertisers.. that’s how news are published?

I wanted to write a lot, but it will be difficult to read that much of frustration, hope you got my point..

And finally as Mr. Rajdeep Sardesai says Editor’s take — I will say ‘Reader’s take’

“It’s time that strong controls should be put in place which can stop or reduce corruption in our 4th pillar. Journalist and editors need to invest more on finding truth, focus on key issues and not on sensationalism, reduce bias in articles/stories, do fair coverage, do not push hidden agenda, present facts and not twist them, educate people of India, create awareness around social issues, innovate how you present do not copy CNN or BBC anchors, show more news, less ads and do not create fake or twist tweets” Good Night

#isupportJusticeKatju

Whole India is debating about corruption, Govt’s Lokpal Bill and JanLokpal. This debate is even more intense on social media platforms like  Twitter & Facebook. & My hypothesis is that this debate is not on actual points of bill but on headlines & keywords. Trying conduct a poll and see where people stand on both bills.

Please share this on Twitter & Facebook for improving the sample size of participants. Will share the analysis once it is completed.

To share it on Facebook, either use the Facebook buttons below or copy paste this text

“http://www.acepolls.com/polls/1227404-governments-version-of-lokpal-jan-lokpal”

To share it on Twitter, either use the Facebook buttons below or copy paste this text

“Government’s version of Lokpal & Jan Lokpal – Vote at http://acepolls.com/polls/1227404″

Dr Manmohan Singh,

In 2004, you were an accidental prime minister after Congress’s marginal victory over incumbent BJP, Gandhi dynasty placed you as someone who they can trust and who will vacate the chair for PM in waiting. You accepted the command and started the job of PM, answerable to 1 person instead to the citizens of this country. This young India waited to hear from you for months and but we only got pre written ‘off the shelf’ speeches which lacked depth and sincerity. Suddenly, one day you rose to defy everyone and somehow passed the nuclear deal, still not sure was that your guts or pressure from someone outside. As much as history will remember you for good & bad of nuclear deal, you will also be remembered for ‘Cash for Vote’ scam. 

Lets fast forward to 2009, where you find yourselves again with the PM job, what you failed to realized this time was that last time you were accidental and people didn’t vote for you but in 2009 people voted for you, showed trust and faith in you. This new India was very optimistic and hopeful about you, about your Honesty and Integrity. 2 Big words, these words remind me of following Quote by Spencer Johnson

 “Integrity is telling myself the truth. And honesty is telling the truth to other people.”

 Lets go back to time of 2009, you gave us 100 day promise to control prices, its now 100 200 300 400 days and you still ask us to have patience. This whole time CWG mess was happening, your office has been accused of being aware of everything, A Raja was looting the nation and what did you do. You first told us that there is nothing wrong; everything is done for the good of country. Then you launched Kapil Sibal who gave us famous Zero loss theory. What were you thinking seriously…. and then your team of Manish Tiwari, Digvijay Singh, Kapil Sibal, and Chidambaram come out in public domain and start accusing everyone else. What are we in sixth grade..? You did … you did it… They started spinning the facts & tweaking statistics using selective references… This is was the time, that we the nation realized 2009 was mistake, trusting you was mistake… whom are you shielding, dynasty who only come out for selective photo session with farmers, who do not have any opinion on the crisis in India, this is what I call ‘Power Without Responsibility’

 I failed to understand why did you fail us……you had the biggest opportunity to put India on right path, show leadership, motivate this country, show hope and suddenly its shattered and people don’t know whom to trust.. Why did you do that…?

 Do you still think that people are on road for Anna’s lokpal bill? If you think so then you are mistaken, they are there to oppose your silence, your inaction, and your cabinet & ministers arrogance. They are protesting against the system and Anna & lokpal are only the medium.

 We were not expecting a magic wand (a copy paste word used by all your ministers in crisis) but expect sincerity & honesty in dealing the issue but we don’t see that… you still think that you are on payroll of congress instead of people of India.

 Was this article harsh? May be but I am angry. India is angry.

So now we have Google+, Facebook and Twitter, the three most used social (time wasting) activities. A lot has been written about strength and weaknesses of both Google+ and facebook. As a user, I just want one place/ tool that can  replicate status at Fb , G+ and Twitter and like me many are asking for something like this. So, here is my post on ‘How can you have a status update replicated on all three, Fb, Google+ and Twitter’.

Note: This feature is only available in Chrome browser and at a personal level I feel Chrome is much better than mozilla or IE. I am yet to see and test any app with similar feature for android or iphone.

So this Chrome extension is called ‘Helper for Google+’ by kupriyanov.  As per the author’s it adds extra functions to Google+. Get desktop notifications on new posts. Share Posts via twitter. Translate posts with Google Translate. Bookmark posts faster for reading later (also to delicious.com). Linked #hashtags. Search in posts and profiles directly from your omnibox.

This extension adds twitter and translate link to every Google Plus post.
 * Share Google+ Posts with people on twitter.
 * Translate posts with Google Translate to language specified by you
 * Notifier – Get desktop notifications on new posts, also with sound. (mouse over notification to freeze it)
 * Bookmark Google+ posts for reading them later. Faster and easier!
 * Bookmark posts on Delicious
 * Share posts on facebook
 * Linked hashtags in posts for better search
 * Search in Google+ posts and profiles directly from your omnibox (address box), just type there”plus” (see screenshot) and type your search query.

To add/update any extension to Chrome you can see this video.

Google Chrome Extension

‘Google+ Helper’ is available under productivity, not sure if my company will agree if this increases productivity . You can also install it from this link.

Do let me know if you found this post useful and how was your experince with ‘Helper for Google+’

Update: In case, after installing you do not see Facebook or twitter option, please go to Chrome > settings> tools> Extensions > ‘Helper for Google +’ Options and enable Facebook and Twitter

Got this in email today, Excellent read.

Update: Now Samjwadi Party’s official page on facebook also mentions that Bhagat Singh was hanged on 14th Feb

In LAHORE On 14 Feb 1931, Morning The Legendary BHAGAT SINGH, RAJGURU & SUKHDEV Were Hanged To Their Deaths.
We Only Celebrate Valentine Day………:)
Lets PassThis Massage To Everybody And Salute Their Sacrifice ……

—-Original Post—–

Bhagat Singh died 37 days before due to Wikipedia Loophole & Celebrity Tweet

This is a classic example of how Wikipedia and other powerful social websites can be used to spread rumors. With start of Valentine’s day I noticed ‘Bhagat Singh’ trending on Twitter in India. I was surprised and when I clicked on ‘Bhagat Singh’ I noticed the top tweet by @mritunjoykjha (Executive Editor with IBN7(IBN18))

” On 14.2.1931, Lahore, in morning time the legendary BHAGAT SINGH, RAJGURU & SUKHDEV were hanged..Happy Valen.. Day”

Later on this tweet was deleted, but before that I was able to take this screenshot

Furthermore, I was shocked to see that an Executive editor of IBN tweeted such a thing based on a sms. Hello this is basic knowledge and you are editor ohh Executive editor..

This reaffirmed the understanding of most of tweeples that media no more check fact they only need sensationalism. Ok, mistakes happens…agreed..what do you do next…you correct it and apologize for mistake but our Executive editor just conveniently deleted the tweet but by that time it was too late. Most of the tweeples started RT without checking facts. It was shocking to see lack of history knowledge among the tweeples, guys you are suppose to be educated ones.

Now coming back to floating SMS, this is for sure is a planned & deliberate effort to create rumor. I checked history Wikipedia page on Bhagat Singh and here is what I found at 01:44, 14 February 2011 someone with id Tarunkashyap 025 changed the date to 14th Feb from 23rd March which was later corrected by Asdofindia . Tarunkashyap 025 again changed the date to 14th feb  on 02:10, 14 February 2011 which was corrected by Vnitinv. Interestingly, this time Nani1only change it to back to 14th Feb which was later corrected by other user.

Profile page of ‘Nani1only’: “Hi this is nani1only for JNTUACEP and Flashworld people For others from FSF-AP, Swecha, TechM, and ILUGC, this is tuxnani For all others am Rahimanuddin Shaik”

(cur | prev)  07:06, 14 February 2011 Pacchu77 (talk | contribs) (46,150 bytes) (undo)

(cur | prev)  06:59, 14 February 2011 122.181.170.34 (talk) (46,148 bytes) (undo)

(cur | prev)  06:10, 14 February 2011 203.197.52.189 (talk) (46,148 bytes) (undo)

(cur | prev)  06:06, 14 February 2011 Nani1only (talk | contribs) (46,148 bytes) (Reverted to revision 413827394 by 117.192.246.116; the exact event is today, but it is deliberately changed, so putting it back. (TW)) (undo)

(cur | prev)  05:29, 14 February 2011 Vnitinv (talk | contribs) (46,152 bytes) (undo)

(cur | prev)  05:19, 14 February 2011 117.192.246.116 (talk) (46,148 bytes) (undo)

(cur | prev)  02:10, 14 February 2011 123.236.125.191 (talk) (46,150 bytes) (Undid revision 413803336 by Tarunkashyap 025 (talk)) (undo)

(cur | prev)  02:08, 14 February 2011 Tarunkashyap 025 (talk | contribs) (46,156 bytes) (undo)

(cur | prev)  02:06, 14 February 2011 Asdofindia (talk | contribs) (46,150 bytes) (Undid revision 413799764 by Tarunkashyap 025 (talk)again death date) (undo)

(cur | prev)  02:05, 14 February 2011 Asdofindia (talk | contribs) (46,153 bytes) (Undid revision 413799483 by Tarunkashyap 025 (talk)changed death date without source)(undo)

(cur | prev)  01:45, 14 February 2011 Tarunkashyap 025 (talk | contribs) (46,156 bytes) (undo)

(cur | prev)  01:44, 14 February 2011 Tarunkashyap 025 (talk | contribs) m (46,153 bytes) (undo)

(cur | prev)  23:22, 13 February 2011 Hnsampat (talk | contribs) (46,150 bytes) (rv vandalism) (undo)