IIJNM Beats - Bengalooru Habba

As part of our coursework at the Indian Institute of Journalism & Media, we are required to shoot, edit and produce stories on our own,for the in-house bulletins.

This particular beat story is about how security has been upped at the Bengalooru Habba which was inaugurated on 15 Febuary 2009.

Another One Bites the Dust..

Maharashtra chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh and his deputy are forced to walk the plank after mishandling of the Mumbai terror attacks

By Dilraz Kunnummal

Maharahtra has become the platform for the political blame game after the Mumbai terror attacks. It has indeed become a political playground of sorts. Not that it wasn’t one before, what with the Raj Thackarey-Udhav Thackarey competition to protect the Marathi Manoos against North Indians. But the first snakebite in this game after the Mumbai attacks was when Vilasrao Deshmukh, the chief minister took along his son and an acclaimed film-director with him to visit the terror sites. His deputy RR Patil, actually told the media that what happened in Mumbai was a “small incident” that “can happen in big cities.” Both Deshmukh and Patil received a lot of flak for their handling of the state’s security and the high commands of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Congress, who run a coalition in the state, asked the duo to resign.

Front runners to be the next chief minister included Sushil Kumar Shinde and Narayanan Rane but after Deshmukh’s resignation, caste considerations predominated and another Maratha, Ashok Chavan took the oath of office as the 15th chief minister of Maharashtra. The deal, as of now, is that Congress will have 22 ministerial berths in the cabinet and the NCP will have 24. After declaring its choice of chief minister, the Congress took another 3 days to finalize the names of 18 members to the cabinet.

But just as it was an issue during Deshmukh’s time, a divided Congress cannot decide who to award the remaining three berths to. After a gap of 5 years, the NCP’s Chhagan Bhujbal is back as the deputy Chief Minister. But the irony is that he was asked to step down in 2003 due to his alleged involvement in protecting Abdul Karim Telgi, the multi-crore fake stamp scam mastermind..

NCP chief Sharad Pawar, who dismissed the Mumbai carnage as ‘system’s failure’ chose Bhujbal as the deputy CM. The primary reason for Pawar to back Chavan was to neutralise Rane, who hit back at the decision saying that the only reason Chavan was chosen was because he is former union home minister S.B. Chavan’s son. Although Pawar’s favorite was said to be Shinde, his primary concern was to get rid of Rane.

Rane burnt his bridges when he said he had no faith in Congress president Sonia Gandhi anymore, which is the equivalent of lese majeste in the Congress. He accused the Congress of obsequiousness and said that the Congress only needs loyalists like Deshmukh. He was promptly suspended.

The others in the cabinet include Jayant Patil as home minister, Dilip Walse as the finance minister; education minister Vasant Puarke, Textile Minister Satish Chaturvedi and newcomers include Nitin Raut, Nasim Khan, Shobha Bacchav and Satish Patil among others. Many feel that the inclusion of Shobha Bachhav in the cabinet is to appeal to women voters in the state.

It took a good ten days for the exit of Deshmukh from his submitting his resignation to the election of Chavan. The reason it took so long for both the NCP and Congress to find a compromise. Maharashtra politics has become a treacherous vendetta game after the Mumbai attacks. In the run up to next year’s Lok Sabha polls, one can only expect politics in the state to become even nastier.


[This appeared in the in-house newspaper of the Indian Institute of Journalism & New Media on December 18, 2008. It came as the leader on the opinion & editorial page. Picture courtesy - Google images]

Air Turbulence

Recent near misses at Indian airports underscore the precarious state of air safety in the country. A mid-air collision was averted when Kolkata-bound Indian Airlines flight IC 206 with 43 passengers on board came dangerously close to an IAF transport aircraft. The previous day IC-866 aborted takeoff to avoid colliding with one of 3 helicopters that formed a part of President Pratibha Patil’s entourage. According to a report in the Times of India, while13 near misses were reported in 2003, the number rose to 15 in 2004, 21 in 2005 and 26 in 2006. One of the main reasons for this perilous situation is increasing congestion in air space. According to air safety consultant, Capt A Raghunath, another reason for the near misses is the severe shortage of Air Traffic Controllers (ATCs). “There is a severe shortage of ATCs. What's more, they have no duty time limitations unlike in the US, Singapore, Japan and Europe. So you could have a tired ATC who might miss out a critical point.”

India has more than 10 commercial airlines, two cargo airlines, 65 non-scheduled operating airline companies and several helicopter operating firms but just four flight inspectors to conduct safety audits and to issue licenses to pilots and crews. The universal standard is one flight inspector per airline. The civil aviation minister says that there are in the process of appointing at least 15 more flight inspectors. India has been inconsistent in meeting the air safety standards of the International civil Aviation Organization and now faces the threat of being downgraded to category A, which has will put India on par with countries like Uganda and Serbia. If it is downgraded, flights from India to the US will face stringent security measures. Air safety has become such a major concern that pilots from Air India, Jet Airways and Kingfisher airlines have decided to set up a common forum to address the issue. “It will help synergise the vast international experience of our fellow professionals in India as well as abroad to promote passenger safety and enhance operational efficiency in the current global economic environment,” a spokesperson of the Indian Pilots’ Guild told the Times of India.

[This appeared in the in-house newspaper of the Indian Institute of Journalism & New Media on February 12, 2009. It came as the leader on the opinion & editorial page. Picture courtesy - Google images]

IIJNM Beats - Private Security Business

As part of our coursework at the Indian Institute of Journalism & Media, we are required to shoot, edit and produce stories on our own,for the in-house bulletins.

This particular beat story is about how private security firms in Bangalore have seen an increase in business post the Mumbai attacks.

AMPHI ADDA SERIES - Euthanasia

Amphi Adda, the discussions held at the Indian Institute of Journalism & New Media amphi-theater every week.

The topic for this was "Should Euthanasia be Legalized?". The moderator was Zoya Thomas. It was shot and edited by Ayanesh Ghosh.

AMPHI ADDA SERIES - "1130 deadline"

Amphi Adda,the discussions held at the Indian Institute of Journalism & New Media amphi-theater every week.

The topic for this was "Is the 11.30 deadline making life difficult for Bangaloreans?". I was the moderator and it was shot and edited by Debanjan Nath.

AMPHI ADDA SERIES - 'Should Prostitution Be Legalized?'

Amphi Adda,the discussions held at the Indian Institute of Journalism & New Media amphi-theater every week.

The topic for this was "Should Prostitution Be Legalized?". The moderator was Moushmi Manek. It was shot and edited by Bharat Sharma.

AMPHI ADDA SERIES - 'Economic Recession & its Implications'

Amphi Adda,the discussions held at the Indian Institute of Journalism & New Media amphi-theater every week.

The topic for this was "Economic Recession & Its implications on India". The moderator was Tasneem Balapurwala. I shot and edited it using Premiere Pro.

AMPHI ADDA SERIES - Need for Police Reforms

Amphi Adda, the discussions held at the Indian Institute of Journalism & New Media amphi-theater every week.

The topic for this was "Is there a need for police reforms in India?". The moderator was Hemant Gairola. It was shot and edited by Rakesh Nair.

AMPHI ADDA SERIES - Advertisement

Amphi Adda,the discussions held at the Indian Institute of Journalism & New Media amphi-theater every week.

This is an advertisement that has been used in the in-house bulletins, produced at IIJNM. i have edited using Premiere Pro. Pictures & Videos Courtesy IIJNM Students.