Last week I was at the airport on my way to Kolkota and picked up two magazines because the headlines attracted my attention.
It was the first time I have ever bought an issue of Sports Illustrated ( not even the annual swimsuit issue) May 20th issue. This was the Indian edition. Its cover read as follows:
DIRT IN CRICKET
Undercover with the betting mafia for over half a year and face to with the biggest threat to the integrity of the game. SI India finds the sports is caught in a web of money, politics and organized crime.
The second magazine was Telekha long known for its bold investigative journalism. Its cover had the following headlines :
Maharasthra Sold
The Politician-Builder Nexus
Sharad Pawar
Vilasrao Deshmukh
Ashok Chavan
Supriya Sule
Ajit Pawar
Thousands of acres of land. Thousands of crores of profit. This is the shocking story of how political leaders turned a state into a private treasury.
What are the odds of the people mentioned suing the magazines for libel ?
In addition to the above, you cannot pick up the newspaper or switch on the news without the image of the bare-chested, private jet flying yoga guru Baba Ramdev being flashed at you. He has jumped on to the anti - corruption bandwagon first initiated by a group of activists led by Ana Hazare. Baba Ramdev is threatening to go on a fast to death if the government does not declare war on " black money" among others items included in his list of demands.
There have been numerous marches, and support groups, including web based groups , all actively rooting for them.
We all hope that this will be the turning point which comes in the country's stage of economic development and will result in the decrease of corruption. However the more cynical among us, are questioning whether Baba Ramdev is the Trojan Horse being used to dilute the efforts of Ana Hazare ?
Will it result in any significant action being taken or whether as Paul Beckett the Indian Bureau Chief of the Asian Wall Street predicts that this is a choreographed play and is taking bets against the Baba starving to death.
Keep watching the headlines.
It was the first time I have ever bought an issue of Sports Illustrated ( not even the annual swimsuit issue) May 20th issue. This was the Indian edition. Its cover read as follows:
DIRT IN CRICKET
Undercover with the betting mafia for over half a year and face to with the biggest threat to the integrity of the game. SI India finds the sports is caught in a web of money, politics and organized crime.
The second magazine was Telekha long known for its bold investigative journalism. Its cover had the following headlines :
Maharasthra Sold
The Politician-Builder Nexus
Sharad Pawar
Vilasrao Deshmukh
Ashok Chavan
Supriya Sule
Ajit Pawar
Thousands of acres of land. Thousands of crores of profit. This is the shocking story of how political leaders turned a state into a private treasury.
What are the odds of the people mentioned suing the magazines for libel ?
In addition to the above, you cannot pick up the newspaper or switch on the news without the image of the bare-chested, private jet flying yoga guru Baba Ramdev being flashed at you. He has jumped on to the anti - corruption bandwagon first initiated by a group of activists led by Ana Hazare. Baba Ramdev is threatening to go on a fast to death if the government does not declare war on " black money" among others items included in his list of demands.
There have been numerous marches, and support groups, including web based groups , all actively rooting for them.
We all hope that this will be the turning point which comes in the country's stage of economic development and will result in the decrease of corruption. However the more cynical among us, are questioning whether Baba Ramdev is the Trojan Horse being used to dilute the efforts of Ana Hazare ?
Will it result in any significant action being taken or whether as Paul Beckett the Indian Bureau Chief of the Asian Wall Street predicts that this is a choreographed play and is taking bets against the Baba starving to death.
Keep watching the headlines.
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