CPM completes 30 yr ruling in West Bengal

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West Bengal’s Communist government completes 30 long years in office on Thursday with a vivid ideological volte-face over promoting industry that has left its throng of supporters bewildered.

Hitherto, it has set a world record in being the only Communist government to have been democratically elected six times ever, after taking power on June 21, 1977 at the head of a coalition of Left-leaning parties that capitalized on the mood following former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s Emergency rule in India.

A divided opposition has been unable to unseat the nine-party Left Front in election after election. But with protests breaking out over the government’s decision to take over farmland to build industry, West Bengal is witnessing, perhaps for the first time, an anti-Left sentiment that is unparalleled.

It was on June 21, 1977 that 64-year-old London-educated communist Jyoti Basu took oath as chief minister of West Bengal, heralding the birth of a government that has gone on to win one election after another and seemed invincible until the recent mass protests against land acquisition.

CPM leaders say more than 13,00,000 acres of land have been distributed among poor and landless people since 1977. In a state where about 83% of agricultural land is with the poor and marginalized farmers, the programme still continues.

But with chief minister Bhattacharya, who makes no bones talking about the “mistakes” of militant trade unionism, pledging to industrialize West Bengal in a big way, many of the poor are wondering if it will be at their cost.

Front, without Left, is it possible?

A major national political front, alternative to the Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) conglomerates, has taken birth in Hyderabad.

A virtual third front that non-Congress and non-BJP leaders have been talking about all along has now become a reality. For the time being the third front will consist of Telugu Desam Party (TDP), All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagham (AIADMK), Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagham (MDMK), Samajwadi Party (SP), Jharkhand Vikas Morcha, Assom Gana Parishad (AGP), Karnataka Congress Party (KCP) and Indian National Lok Dal (INLD).

Who heads the third front is still to be awaited. This will, in all probability, be decided at the next meeting of the leaders of these eight parties to be held in Chennai soon.

However, a question raises that front, without Left assistance, is it possible by these eight regional parties.

N. Chandra Babu Naidu, TDP supremo felt that the regional parties would play vital role in the Central in the coming days to form Government.

The closed-door Hyderabad conclave, second in the series, the first having been held at Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh recently, was fruitful and ended by extending an open-arm welcome to like-minded parties to join for “building a better nation”. All these eight leaders will soon be meeting in Chennai to work out the details of the policies to be formulated for the “viable alternative front”. The date of the Chennai meet will be decided soon.

The next meeting at Chennai will also finalize the third front’s agenda for the nation, veteran AIADMK president and former Tamil Nadu chief minister, J Jayalalithaa, said.

All the eight leaders expressed the hope that more parties with similar agenda would join the Chennai meet. Even the Kerala Congress, which was scheduled to depute its representative to the Hyderabad meet, could not make it “due to some problem”.

The group of leaders strongly opposed the proposed nuclear deal that India is likely to enter with the United States for “civil nuclear cooperation”.

Besides, they angred that the Economic reorms, which is being implemented by the UPA Government.

It seems the leaders of the eight parties trying to get Left support by opposing the economic reforms through the walk of the Left way.

Anyway, we have to wait and see what happend in forthcoming Chennai conclave.

Court acqitted 1993 blast case

Of the 10 accused in the 1993 serial blasts in Hyderabad, nine were acquitted on Friday by the seventh Metropolitan Magistrate Court in Nampalli in the city. However, the ninth and prime accused in the case, Dr. Jaleel Ansari, did not attend the hearing on Friday and thus the case is posted for further hearing.

With the prime accused in the 1993 bomb blasts, Dr. Jaleel Ansari, who is alleged to have also masterminded the Mumbai blasts, did not appear before court on Friday. The case is now posted for further hearing.

Crime, corruption and investigative journalism

“ Professionally and accurately information is processed, corruption will continue to thrive without the vigilance of the media and civil society, and the bravery of investigative journalists and whistleblowers in particular.”

Assuring the right of press freedom should be a priority for every government worldwide. All too often, journalists do not have the independence they would need to reveal corruption or misuse of power, to denounce attacks on human rights and to facilitate an open dialogue between the state and civil society. The measures taken by different governments in order to control – directly or indirectly – the media differ in motivations yet share the same threat to democratic process. Again, the CPJ analysis confirms this assumption: almost one-quarter of all journalists killed over the past 15 years covered political topics, one fifth aimed at exposing corruption.

It is vital to stress the importance of free access to information and press freedom in the struggle against corruption and for the promotion of good governance of public life.

The Ethics of Journalist

The professional conduct for journalists engaged in gathering, transmitting, disseminating and commenting on news and information in describing events.

Respect for truth and for the right of the public to truth is the first duty of the journalist.

In pursuance of this duty, the journalist shall at all times defend the principles of freedom in the honest collection and publication of news, and of the right to fair comment and criticism.The journalist shall report only in accordance with facts of which he/she knows the origin. The journalist shall not suppress essential information or falsify documents.

The journalist shall only use fair methods to obtain news, photographs and documents.The journalist shall do the utmost to rectify any published information, which is found to be harmfully inaccurate.

The journalist shall observe professional secrecy regarding the source of information obtained in confidence.The journalist shall be alert to the danger of discrimination being furthered by media, and shall do the utmost to avoid facilitating such discriminations based on, among other things, race, sex, sexual orientation, language, religion, political or other opinions, and national and social origins.

The journalist shall regard as grave professional offenses the following: plagiarism; malicious misinterpretation; calumny; libel; slander; unfounded accusations; acceptance of a bribe in any form in consideration of either publication or suppression.Journalists worthy of the name shall deem it their duty to observe faithfully the principles stated above.

Within the general law of each country the journalist shall recognize in matters of professional matters the jurisdiction of colleagues only, to the exclusion of any kind of interference by governments or others.

Journalism as a career option

Journalism is concerned with collection and dissemination of news through the print media as well as the electronic media. This involves various areas of works like reporting, writing, editing, photographing, broadcasting or cablecasting news items.

Journalism is classified into two on the basis of media- (i) Print Journalism and (ii) Electronic (Audio/Visual) Journalism. Print Journalism includes newspapers, magazines and journals. In print journalism one can work as editors, reporters, columnists, correspondents etc. Electronic journalism includes working for Radio, Television and the Web. In the web, skilled people are required to maintain sites by web newspapers (which cater only to the web and do not have print editions) and popular newspapers and magazines that have their own web editions. In electronic journalism one can be a reporter, writer, editor, researcher, correspondent and anchor.

Career in journalism is a prestigious profession as well as a highly paid one. Journalist plays a major role in the development of nation. It is through them that we get information about daily happenings in the society. The purpose of journalism itself is to inform and interpret, educate and enlighten the people.

The opportunities for journalists are endless and at the same time the job has become more challenging, as the new world is proving the adage that "the pen (and the camera) is mightier than the sword." Simple reporting of events is no more sufficient, more specialization and professionalism in reporting is required. Journalists specialize in diverse areas, such as politics, finance and economics, investigation, culture and sports for newspapers and periodicals.