INDIA BROUGHT DOWN TO ITS KNEES

Picture taken from Ndtv.com

As terror looms over Mumbai, the rest of India just can't seem to get sleep due to the ongoing misery, which has set its home in the country, over the past few months.

The recent terror attacks in Jaipur, operation BAD - (Bangalore, Ahmedabad and Delhi blasts), the Assam blasts and now the Mumbai blasts, have left over three hundred dead and many injured. Amidst the battle of politics and religion, is the common man who suffers. When I turn on the television to grab some news, all I see is the increasing number of people dying, loud cries of women and children, angry men who believe that their religion is not respected, distress and frustration. India is a country where a number of religions co-exist and no religion teaches brutality to human beings.

These blasts have been so drastic, that the pain is clearly felt in the pictures. The three day terror strike has confirmed the fear in the minds of Indians, who have been subjected to this form of inhumane treatment. It has changed a lot for India in terms of its economy because the terrorists targeted the financial capital of the country. The fact that the terrorists inside the hotel specifically asked for American and British nationals, puts India's tourism industry in a tight spot because tourists from across the world will think twice before setting their foot on the Indian land. And the fact that, India now features in the top twenty most dangerous places will only accelerate this.

The question that arises in everyones mind is that who could be behind the blasts? As wrong as it may sound, the first answer to this question in the minds of the public is Pakistan. Pakistan's repeated violation of ceasefire at the border of Jammu and Kashmir, a disputed state between the two countries, goes on to suggest that they are not yet ready to accept peace along the border. The confession of Mohammad Qasab, the only terrorist caught at the Mumbai blasts that ten terrorists had left from Pakistan provides clear evidence of Pakistan’s involvement.

With India having lodged protests with Pakistan over terror strikes, it is clear that the situation is not a very light one and needs to be handled with care. One could go on and on with the past record of discussions and meetings amongst politicians of India and Pakistan for a solution, but honestly speaking nothing has been done to put an end to it. Every Indian is angry with its government, as they have failed to protect them by all means.

India is now a battleground where man fears man. I as an Indian, feel safer staying in England than my own country, but what about my family and countrymen back home. Every Indian needs to think twice before leaving their homes.

The question that now arises is, whether this turmoil could lead to another Indo-Pak war of 1971 or the Kargil war?

"Online can be serious, if it wants" says Neil McIntosh

A picture of Neil McIntosh by Sophie Borazanian.


"If you break a story online, you will be rewarded and people will come back to you" said the outgoing editor of the Guardian, Neil McIntosh.

At a talk given by him at the University of Westminster, Neil spoke to the students about the growing popularity of online journalism and how this was affecting newspapers."

"They are losing a lot of jobs and cutting costs. No one is really suspecting it will close but the sales aren't doing anything great at The Independent" said Neil, while explaining how the regional newspapers were in trouble more than the national ones. Titles such as Scotsman and Herald were going to face turbulence in the near future.

McIntosh also shared with us his thoughts on what award winning journalist Nick Davies, also the author of 'Flat Earth News', had to say about the quality of journalism. He claims that journalists have so much pressure on them and as a result they have no time to concentrate on the true story itself. He also said that, jobs cuts was another reason which was going to ruin the quality of the news stories.

"The relentless impact of commercialization has seen our journalism reduced to churnalism" said Nick Davies.

Neil also added, that though online journalism is doing well, websites do not have much of an impact on the sales of newspapers.

Sharing some of his personal sentiments on leaving the Guardian to join the Wall Street Journal next year, Neil said, that Guardian was a wonderful place to work in as there is a huge amount of freedom of writing. "It is extremely hard to leave the Guardian - not many people do" said Neil.

OLD PEOPLE AND THE NET

(http://www.huntsdc.gov.uk/Health/Services+for+Older+People.htm)

http://www.businessstrata.com/Win/News-Archive/Marketing-News/?storyId=12878&title=Number+of+older+internet+users+in+the+UK+continues+to+grow
Marketing news says: Number of older internet users in the UK continues to grow.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2004/nov/18/onlinesupplement3
Article by Jim McCllelan on old people and the internet, includes some facts and figures in 2004.

http://www.melbpc.org.au/pcupdate/2011/2011article5.htm
Percentage of different age groups using the internet in Australia, showing the old age group to be the fastest growing.

http://www.statcan.ca/Daily/English/010824/d010824b.htm
A link showing the minimum usage of the internet by people 60 and over in Canada in 2000.

http://74.125.77.132/search?q=cache:MLPWbIjl-FkJ:www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP_Seniors_Online_2004.pdf+percentage+of+old+people+using+the+internet&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=8&gl=uk&client=firefox-a
A report by Sussanah Fox called 'OLD AMERICANS AND THE INTERNET'


http://www.webmasterworld.com/forum10/3970.htm
A blog discussion by people on the use of the internet by 'oldsters' with some facts.

The Daily Mail

The Daily Mail, which was first published in 1896, has always been known as a newspaper mainly for women. It has always taken a soft yet a strong approach towards issues.

Comparing the online and the print version of the newspaper, it is clear that though the two are similar in some ways, yet they have their differences. A main point to be noted is that, the print version has limited space to utilize, whereas, the online version has a lot of space to play around with and to try new and different things.

Some other general differences that can be see between the two versions are; it is obviously easier to access different stories and advertisements on an online version as compared to the hard copy. It is also convenient to go back to any news story in archives, immediately. The online version of the Daily Mirror is extremely interactive, as they receive a lot of comments on their stories. They also have a different section for debating certain hot issues and this gives a chance to the public to share their opinions.

Talking about The Daily Mirror individually, in terms of multimedia, it is not very active. The website does not consist of many videos and the few that do exist, are taken from youtube. But the website definitely does believe in big pictures, as it can be seen that, many news stories are supported by pictures to make it more interesting.

Lastly, The Daily Mirror, is hugely targeted at women, as it has a separate column called Femail, where all the women gossip is available.

Teen pregnancies higher in India than even UK, US.

A still from the movie 'Juno', which dealt with teenage pregnancies.


Shocking as it sounds, teen pregnancy in India is high with 62 pregnant teens out of every 1,000 women. In comparison, 24 British teens get pregnant before their 19th birthday while the figure is 42 in the US.

I came across this article, 'Teen pregnancies higher in India than even UK, US' which states, that in India the reasons for teen pregnancies are, child marriage, illiteracy and high infant mortality. India’s neighbours Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Nepal are also struck by similar problems with younger women getting pregnant, whereas the number of pregnant teens in Pakistan is much lower at 36.

Interestingly, this article states all facts and figures about teenage pregnancies in various countries and the reasons for it. The consequence of this unfortunate problem is the death of a large number of women, as they do not get proper care.

Personally, I feel that though India has come a long way, there are still a number of social evils that exist in its society. The country is not very open to certain issues such as sex education, which can be extremely helpful in avoiding teen pregnancies. At times, young girls do not even know that they are pregnant until the fifth month of their pregnancy.

Also, child marriage is another matter that has the Indian social structure messed up. Though, there has been a drastic decrease in this, the country still has a lot of work to do. Getting young girls married off and then forcing them to have children at such a young and innocent age, not only takes their childhood away from them but in many cases, it has taken the lives of many.

In a nutshell, I feel that all of us must stand up against such an unfortunate problem that has not only, India but the entire global society diseased.