| 
Media and issues of responsibility
- The time has come when some introspection by the Indian media is required. Many people, not only those in authority but even ordinary people, have started saying that the media have become irresponsible and wayward, and need to be reined in.
- Under the Constitution of India, freedom of the media is part of the freedom of speech guaranteed by Article 19 (1) (a). However, no freedom can be absolute, and reasonable restrictions can be placed on it.
- One of the basic tasks of the media is to provide truthful and objective information to the people that will enable them to form rational opinions, which is a sine qua non in a democracy.
- One of the defects is that the media often twist facts.
- A second defect concerns the issue of paid news
- A third defect is that the media often portray non-issues as real issues, while the real issues are sidelined. The real issues in India are economic, that is, the terrible economic conditions in which 80 per cent of our people are living, the poverty, unemployment, lack of housing and medical care and so on. Instead of addressing these real issues, the media often try to divert the attention of people to non-issues.
- Here is a fourth defect. Bomb blasts have taken place near the Delhi High Court, in Mumbai, Bangalore and so on. Within a few hours of such a bomb blast, many TV channels started showing news items that said that the Indian Mujahideen or the Jaish-e-Mohammed or the Harkatul-Jihad-e-Islam had sent e-mails or text messages claiming responsibility.
- TV screens and published in newspapers tends to create the impression that all Muslims are terrorists, and evil — which is totally false.
- There are two ways to remove these defects in the media. One is the democratic way, that is, through discussions, consultations and persuasion — which is the method I prefer. The other way is by using harsh measures against the media, for example, by imposing heavy fines on defaulters, stopping government advertisements to them, suspending their licences, and so on.
- In a democracy we should first try the first method to rectify the defects through the democratic method.
- If the media prove incorrigible, harsh measures may be required.
- Till now the function of the Press Council was only adjudication. I intend to make the Press Council an instrument of mediation
Nutrition, sanitation halt India's human development index climb
- Inter-state inequalities have significantly narrowed in the last decade, but nutrition and sanitation are still big concerns, says the Human Development Report 2011.
- The report, brought out by the Institute of Applied Manpower Research (IAMR) and the Planning Commission, measures the human development index (HDI) on the basis of state net domestic product.
- India's HDI between 1999 and 2008 increased by 21 per cent from 0.387 to 0.467
- Kerala has retained its lead in HDI, followed by Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Goa and Punjab.
- The 11th Plan aimed at inclusive growth.
- We are fast moving towards social inclusion, as there is vast improvement in indicators among the scheduled castes and tribes and Muslims, whose parameters are converging with the national average.
- On the high rates of child malnutrition, Gujarat's figures (69.7 per cent children up to age 5 were anaemic and 44.6 per cent were malnutritioned) show that economic growth is no guarantee for reducing malnutrition
Govt wants at least one woman director on every company board
- The Government has proposed a minimum of one woman director on the board of companies. This will be part of the proposed Companies Bill.
- Every company shall have a board of directors consisting of only individuals as directors and shall have minimum number of (a) three directors in case of a public company, (b) two directors in case of a private company and (c) one director in case of a one-man company
- It further says, “Every company shall have a maximum of 15 directors, excluding the director nominated by the lending institutions, which are governed by the special stature, provided that such class or classes of companies as may be prescribed shall have at least one woman director.”
Montek for rationing of water, hiking user charges
- Mr Montek Singh Ahluwalia, has advocated rationing of water and increase in user charges.
- Water is a commodity that has to be rationed. I don't think that pricing will provide all the solutions. But then, how do you ensure that a scarce resource is properly harnessed and distributed
- He talked about a bottom-up approach for subsidy eradication. “You can have a system that says that the first so many litres of water are free for the really poor. Above that, you charge a higher rate that covers the subsidy. You can have this system for everybody
- Apart from Approach Paper, water and energy, issues such as the Planning Commission's Rs 32 per day, per person poverty line and corruption are likely to figure prominently in the NDC meeting.
