Rachit Anand

anandrachit26@gmail.com

CAN WE LIVE IN PEACE WITH PAKISTAN?

Pakistan is the anti-thesis of India. It is created to checkmate India and to prevent India from becoming a superpower. It was a fitting reply – seen from the imperialistic perspective – to Gandhiji’s Satyagraha, which would have a domino effect on other Asian and African nations aspiring to be independent. The founding father of Pakistan, Mohammed Ali Jinnah, died a disillusioned death, seeing his dream turned into a nightmare. The subterranean forces it let loose were like demons let loose from hell, which no mortal could control. Leaders on either side of the border who held out the olive branch were stabbed in the back or literally stabbed. Prime Minister Liquat Ali Khan who met Jawaharlal Nehru in New Delhi to settle all outstanding issues between the two countries went back to Pakistan only to be stabbed to death on the floor of the House. Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri paid a dear price with his life after signing an agreement with General Ayub Khan in Tashkent. The decline of Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto began with the Shimla agreement. Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s dream of establishing peace with Pakistan ended up in the Kargil conflict.

Born in turmoil, Pakistan exists in perpetual turmoil of varying degrees. It has failed to produce leaders who can take the country out of its turmoil. And out of the turmoil came military dictatorship – Ayub Khan, Yahya Khan, Zia-ul Haq, Musharraf – and each time India hoped with the exit of one lasting peace would be established. Now we are living with the delusion of democracy in Pakistan. It is logical that what was born in turmoil will disappear in turmoil, judging from how Baluchistan, the largest province of Pakistan, is all set to repeat a Bangladesh. But what is disturbing is the nuclear arsenal that could fall into some insane hands! India needs to strengthen its intelligence system and counter-terror defence. Talks are the fig leaves Pakistan uses to cover its naked stratagem. Let not Islamabad capitalize on Manmohan Singh’s noble vision.

RUDRANI CHATTORAJ
rudranichattoraj@yahoo.com

DOWN WITH HEROES

LONG LIVE STATUES!

Not far from where once stood Nalanda and Taxilla, a woman was paraded naked! A great civilization that was the magnet of knowledge seekers of the ancient world has fallen as if from Mount Everest to the gutter. Not a day passes without someone somewhere being gang-raped in this country, someone somewhere being kidnapped and murdered, someone somewhere being acquitted of murder because the police were sloppy in presenting evidence, tacitly support the criminals. Not a single session of Parliament passes without ugly scenes and brawny displays, brains being a liability; and Kashmir, UP and Bihar MLAs could put the whole world to shame! While Kargil heroes are languish living on a measly Rs 5000 a month, millions are spent on statues to placate the towering egos of some. Brand new bridges develop cracks even before they are inaugurated, illustrating the principle of greed that rules our culture.
Where are the conscience-keepers of the nation gone? When one sees injustice all around, what shall one do? Be the perfect ostrich, be the martyr, be the leader who creates awareness and mass following before plunging into action? Any popular movement should begin with the right to recall MPs and MLAs who become a law unto themselves once elected for a five-year term. Another agenda should be to make the police accountable by forming citizens’ committees in every town and village and locality. Those cops who destroy evidence or fail to furnish them to shield murderers with political connection should be awarded life imprisonment. Bureaucrats notorious for corruption should be first exposed through the internet and later complained against if no action is taken by government. Internet journalism can be a mighty missile in fighting corruption and safeguarding the right of the citizen. Let a thousand blogs and websites bloom that democracy may flourish in this ancient land that was once a great civilization!

Garima Prasher

(garima9873prasher@gmail.com)

DESIGN AND LAYOUT

Designing and layout of a newspaper is done to attract readership and to optimize the effectiveness in presenting information. Rules and conventions have evolved over the years and almost all newspapers share well-established layout principles.

Newseum is world’s most interactive museum of daily newspaper front pages in their original unedited form. Direct access of the site can be done using the link given below:

http://www.newseum.org/todaysfrontpages/default.asp

Getting Started
1. Open a new page following the step: File- New Document (CTRL+N)
2. The document opened can be fitted to the window using the command: CTRL+0

3. The command for the toolbox to appear: F8 4. The command for the measurement box to appear: F9

Design Exquisite Mastheads
1. Masthead in The Times of India measures 5 cm in height. Select the Rectangular Tool Box tool from Tool box. Drag it on the page to create the text box. The height of the box can be controlled and measured in the measurement box. Change the measurement to five in the ‘H’ tab.

2. For typing the mast head, select the Content Tool on the toolbox and start typing.

3. Select the content of the text box using: CTRL+A

4. Size of the text can be increased using command: CTRL+SHIFT+ALT+ (.)

5. Size of the text can be decreased using command: CTRL+SHIFT+ALT+(,)

6. The content can be moved down inside the text box using: CTRL+SHIFT+ALT+9

7. The content can be moved up inside the text box using: CTRL+SHIFT+ALT+0

8. The font can be selected on choice from Measurement Box using: CTRL+ALT+SHIFT+DOWN ARROW /UP ARROW

9. To modify the font to bold: CTRL+SHIFT+B

10. To convert the font to italics: CTRL+SHIFT+I

11. To add shadow to the font: CTRL+SHIFT+S

12. To convert the text to normal font: CTRL+SHIFT+P

Look does Matter

• Import Inspiring stories

1. Create text boxes on the page depending upon the number of articles or stories you have. o Select Rectangle Text Box tool from the Toolbar o Drag on the page and create the box

2. Import the stories in the text box using: CTRL+E

3. Standard font size varies in the range of 8.5-9

4. Select the text and increase or decrease the size either by changing it in Measurement Box or by using: CTRL+ALT+SHIFT+ (.) /CTRL+ALT+SHIFT+ (,)

5. To left align the text use the command: CTRL+SHIFT+L

6. To right align the text use the command: CTRL+SHIFT+R

7. To justify the text use the command: CTRL+SHIFT+J

8. Insert the paragraphs wherever required by pressing ENTER

9. Further formatting can be done using the command: CTRL+SHIFT+F The above command opens a new window called Paragraph Attribute, where tabs like Format, Tabs and Rules are present. Set the measurement of the text box named First Line to 0.5 Rules is used to give ruling lines to the text in the text box.

10. To increase the gap between the letters to spread them use command: CTRL+SHIFT+ALT+}

11. To decrease the gap between the letters to shrink them use command: CTRL+SHIFT+ALT+{

12. Text Box can be bordered using the command: CTRL+B

• Insert lively Pictures

1. Select the Rectangle Picture Box Tool from Tool bar, present in different shapes.

2. Drag it on the page wherever the picture is required.

3. Copy the picture from the source folder and paste it in the Picture Box created.

4. Picture can be increased in size to fit in the box of desired size using command: CTRL+ALT+SHIFT+ (.)

5. Picture can be decreases in size to fit in the box of desired size using command: CTRL+ALT+SHIFT+ (,)

6. Picture can be bordered using the command: CTRL+B

7. For run-around or to maintain proper distance of the picture from surrounding text, use command: CTRL+T The above command opens a window called Modify Choose the tab Runaround and set the measurements of tabs Top, Left, Bottom and Right to 6, 12,6,12 respectively.

Specific Commands

1. To remove the Grid of the page use: F7

2. To change the setting of the quark page: CTRL+Y

3. For dropcaps(to highlight the first letter by increasing it’s size): CTRL+SHIFT+F

4. For Style Sheet creation use: F11

5. To lock the pictures and text use: F6

6. For colour box use: F12

Designing newspaper templates are just a step away, and you can begin creating your newspaper in mere moments after you go through these commands well.

All the best and exercise your creativity to do wonders.

The tabloids brought out by TSJ students

Nimit Agarwal

(nimit.agarwal@gmail.com)

THREE CHEERS TO YOUNG INDIA!

Lead kindly man

Three cheers to young Indian voters who nearly cast into the dustbin of history the moribund bandicoots of Indian politics. The discerning young voters proved that they cannot be fooled by dubious rhetoric of caste and religion. Their faith in good governance to create more job opportunities and better living standards carried the day. India voted for a strong prime minister – as suggested but not wished by L. K. Advani. The strong man India found was of course Manmohan Singh! For Dr Singh, every job that he did is a springboard for something better. How many RBI governors have become finance secretaries, how many finance secretaries have become finance ministers, and how many finance ministers have become prime ministers? This time around, he could turn from a prime minister to an ace prime minister and world statesman in his own right. The tragedy of BJP and CPM was that they were frozen in time past, unable to address the 21st century.

In contrast, Rahul Gandhi was in tune with the times, and he staged a coup by fielding the largest number of young candidates that is primarily responsible for the Congress victory. While some disgruntled politicians were busy selecting a prime minister even before the election, Rahul worked the hardest addressing the greatest number of public meetings. Priyanka’s charisma brought alive memories of Indira Gandhi’s heydays and added a new dimension to campaign rhetoric. While certain political parties drenched their campaign speeches in vitriolic, the Congress star campaigners focused on development which paid rich dividends. The grace and the dignity with which Sonia Gandhi conducted herself has enhanced her party’s credibility. Her greatest contribution to Indian politics is Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, whose elevation has won the hearts of the alienated Sikh community. A man of integrity and efficiency is a rare phenomenon in Indian politics. And now the moral of the story Election 2009: India needs an array of young politicians – doctors, MBAs, technocrats, pilots, lawyers – to make India a Superpower.

HAVE A QUESTIONING MIND: GAUTAM

Priyanka Banerjee, Meenakshi Rohatgi, Nimit Agarwal
(priyankabenji@gmail.com, meenakshi.rohatgi@gmail.com, nimit.agarwal@gmail.com)

“As journalists, it is your job to raise questions. Always have a doubtful mind and be ethical and polite.” That was Gautam Adhikari’s farewell massage to TSJ students.

In India, the ethical model is still in the development stage. If we compare journalism in India to that of the US or the UK, there is a vast difference because the process of selection there is stringent first of all, and secondly, a lot of time and money is spent on the training of journalists. “Most importantly, they are taught what should be filtered out from a haystack of information, and what should be left out.”

Though the training process is picking up in India with many institutes opening, it is still in its nascent stages. Indian journalism is grappling with a lot of issues such as stringent norms for standards and code of conduct, and the growth of numerous media companies giving rise to heavy competition.

“The most common mistake people make is to classify different kinds of media as a single entity.” Newspapers, television, internet and radio are entirely different in the ways of functioning, the audience, style and focus. “People blame the entire media universe, when say a TV channel has made a blunder.”

The entire media was blamed for the way the Aarushi murder case was reported, even though newspapers were careful about handling the events, while certain television channels went overboard. “It is true that some channels were way ahead in investigation, but it is imperative on the part of the journalist to be wary of people who might be giving statements for their own benefit. Hence the importance of questioning and cross questioning. Producing both sides of any story is the mandate of the reporter.”

Because the legal system in India is very slow, with many potholes, many journalists get away with a lot. While in countries like America, legal system is quick and hence journalists tread carefully on the lives of other people.

The question what is public and what is private is being redefined now. Our media is in the phase of “conceptual transition”. “It eventually boils down to competition, as any kind of ‘market economy’ cannot escape from pecuniary goals.” Especially in television, the pressure and competition is huge as the business is all about “eyeball catching”. Hence in the flurry of the moment, certain news channels might compromise on ethics blindly catering to the animal hunger for sensationalism. Though one cannot escape competition, one can still set a code for conduct. “The editor of a newspaper or a news channel should act as the final gatekeeper before the news is presented to the public.”

Gautam sums up his advice to media students thus:

• Keep an open and fertile mind
• Be a voracious reader
• Always ask the ‘right’ questions
• It is important to read history and economics of your country as well as the world
• Remember that you are just the ‘media’ – the plural of ‘medium’ – for news to reach the masses. We are just the “mirrors of the world around us”, and thus it is essential that we are good communicators.

CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY

JOYEETA CHAKRAVORTY

(joyeetachakravorty@gmail.com)

As early as in 1925 former Australian Prime Minister Stanley Bruce in one of his campaign speeches said, “We intend to keep this country white and not allow its peoples to face problems that are insoluble in many parts of the world.” If nations are defined by their political leadership, Australia is defined as a Whiteman’s land where colored have little scope. What’s happening today justifies the vision of the founding fathers.

Nevertheless in 1973, the Whitlam Labor government tried to redefine Australia by amending the immigration law. Being one of the major immigration nations, it is considered essential for nation building. The people of Australia have of course different opinions. The two major parties in Australia differ quite much from each other in this issue since the Australian Liberal Party, now holding the office, supports more restrictive immigration policy and the Australian Labor Party would like to be more open with immigration and allow more immigrants to come to Australia.

Recession saw a decline in the economy and unemployment rose to 8 percent, an unusually high figure by developed country standards. The migrants not only sought permanent residency status but were available for all kind of jobs. The hardworking Asians can take up even three jobs a day. This has certainly irked white Australians and probably is the major reason for the rise in racism. The fear of losing out at the hands of Asians in their own country is the major reasons of the attack and disharmony in the continent. The issue is not majorly racist, it’s the ethnicity of the Australians that is at the receiving end in these troubled times. Sure enough, in the near future Australian economy would be the worst victim.

For India to take up the moral weapon, could be stretching it too far when foreigners have been raped and murdered in our own country. When north Indians are attacked in Mumbai and mass murders perpetrated against minorities in Gujarat and Orissa, we rather abandon the moral pretext. But since a crime is a crime in any part of the world we decry it. It is a crime against humanity.