ജീവിതത്തില് ഒരിക്കലും നമ്മുടെ സ്വന്തം നാട്ടില് നിന്ന് മാരിനില്കാന് ആഗ്രഹമില്ലാതെ അധ്യാപനം ഇഷ്ടപെട്ട ഒരു സാധാരണ കുട്ടിയായിരുന്നു ഞാന്.പക്ഷെ സഹാജര്യങ്ങള് എന്നെ കഴിഞ്ഞ 13 വര്ഷത്തെ ഊര് തെണ്ടിയാക്കി. അധ്യാപക ദമ്പതികളുടെ മകനാണെങ്കിലും എന്ട്രന്സ് ബഹളത്തിലോ,മത്സര പരീക്ഷകളിലോ തള്ളിയിടാതെ പഠന സ്വാതന്ത്ര്യം തന്ന എന്റെ മാത പിതാക്കളുടെ വിശാല മനസ്കത അന്ന് സഹ അധ്യാപകരുടെ അവഹേളനം കുറച്ചൊന്നുമല്ല നേടിയെടുത്തത് .വൈക്കം മടിയത്ര സ്കൂളിന്റെ മടിത്തട്ടില് നിന്നും ഓസ്ട്രേലിയ വന്കരയിലെ ഏറ്റവും പുരാതനമായ ഈ സര്വകലാശാല അങ്കണത്തില് നില്ക്കുമ്പോള് കഴിഞ്ഞ കാലങ്ങള് ഒരു ഭീതികരമായ സ്വപ്നമായി മനസ്സില് ഇന്നും അവ ശേഷി ക്കുന്നു.ഗുജറാത്ത് ഭൂകഭ ത്തില് തകര്ന്നു വീണ കെട്ടിടങ്ങളുടെ അടിയില് കിടന്നു നിലവളിച്ച സഹപാഠികളും,ആ കറുത്ത 26 ന്റെ ആദ്യ നിമിഷങ്ങള് ഒപ്പിയെടുക്കാന് ശ്രമിച്ച കാമറ കയ്യില് നിന്നും തെറിച്ചു വീണതും ആ ഒരു നിമിഷ ത്തെ വെപ്രാളം കൊണ്ട് താഴേക്ക് ഓടിയിരങ്ങിയതിന്റെ പിന്നാലെ മൂന്നാം നിലയിലെ തൂണ് ഇടിഞ്ഞു വീണതും എങ്ങനെ മറക്കാന്......എന്നെ ഗുജറാത്തി ഭാഷ പഠിപ്പിച്ച കീര്ത്തി എന്നാ മേഹസന സുന്ദരിയുടെ ചീഞ്ഞളിഞ്ഞ നഗ്ന ശരിരം കണ്മുന്പില് പലപ്പഴും തെളിഞ്ഞു വരുന്നു.....ആ മാസങ്ങള് കച് മേഗലയില് എല്ലാം നഷ്പെട്ടവ്ര്ക്കായിമാറ്റിവച്ചു ജീവിച്ചതിന്റെ പുണ്യമാണ് ഇന്നും ബാക്കി .......പക്ഷെ ഞങ്ങളുടെ കൂട്ടത്തില് നിന്നും പൊഴിഞ്ഞു പോയ 7 പേര് ....ഒരു വര്ഷത്തെ ഇടവേളയ്ക്കു ശേഷം പുരാതനമായ ഹോസ്റെലിന്റെ പൊളിഞ്ഞു പ്രകൃതിയുടെ സംഹാര തന്ടവത്തില്പൊളിഞ്ഞു കിടന്ന ജനല് പാളിയിലൂടെ നോക്കുമ്പോള് കണ്ടത് കഴിഞ്ഞ ദിവസം വരെ ക്യാമ്പസ് രാജാക്കന്മാരായി വിഹരിച്ചിരുന്ന ഖാന് കൂട്ടം ഒരു ശവകൂനയായി മാറിയതാണ്.....യൂനിവേര്സിടി ഹോസ്റെളിലെ ഏക ന്യുനപക്ഷ അന്തേവാസി യായി അങ്ങനെ ഞാന് മാറി......ആ ദിവസങ്ങളില് നുള്ളി പോലും നോവിക്കാതെ എന്നെ കാത്തു സൂക്ഷിച്ച ഹിന്ദു സഹോദരന്മാരെ ഞാന് എങ്ങനെ മതഭ്രാന്തന്മാരായി മുദ്ര കുത്തും.എന്നെ ഏറ്റെടുത്ത ABVP യൂണിറ്റിന്റെ സ്നേഹത്തെ എങ്ങനെ ഞാന് വിധിക്കും.രണ്ടു മാസങ്ങള്ക്ക് ശേഷം ക്ലാസ്സ് തുടങ്ങിയപ്പോഴാണ് മനസിലായത് ഞങ്ങളുടെ ദിപര്ത്മെന്റിലെ പലരും ഈ ലോകത്തോട് വിടപരഞ്ഞെന്നു....അങ്ങനെ ഞങ്ങളുടെ സ്നേഹിതകള് പലരും കല്യാണം കഴിക്കാതെ വിധവകളായി വിരഹ വേദന അനുഭവിക്കുന്നതും ഞാന് മനസിലാക്കി......ഇന്നും ആ സര്വകലാശാലയും അവിടുത്തെ കൂട്ടുകാരും എന്റെ മനസ്സില് നിറഞ്ഞു നില്ക്കുന്നു ....അതോടൊപ്പം ആ ദിവസങ്ങളില് ഒറ്റമോന് ആപത്തൊന്നും വരരുതെന്ന് ദിവസങ്ങള് മുഴുവനും മുട്ടുകുത്തി പ്രാര്ത്ഥിച്ച എന്റെ അമ്മച്ചിയുടെ നിസഹായ മുഖവും,,,,,
1998 -2002 വര്ഷത്തിലെ ഗുജറാത സര്വ കല ശാലയിലെ എകണോമിക്സ് ബിരുദ വിദ്യാര്ഥി ആയിരുന്നു ഞാന്...
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Thursday, July 22, 2010
SPECIAL ECONOMIC ZONES AND DEVELOPMENT INDUCED DISPLACEMENT IN INDIA
The past decade has seen an amazing attraction with a progressing and attracting, high speed globalization (Friedman 2004). Industrial and trade policy reforms of the nineties are designed to improve the productivity performance of Indian industry by attempting to inject more competition from within the economy as well from world economy. The objective is to strengthen the growth capability of the economy in the medium run and help Indian industry to becoming internationally competitive. Trade policy reforms have been at the centre of the New Economic Policies of the nineties. For the first time the policy makers have attempted to integrate the Indian economy with the world economy by doing away with the complex system of import licensing and making an open commitment to lower tariff rates on imports (Agarwal 2004).The growth of Indian export industry started on 1992 but its emergence on the year 2000.This period has witnessed a major shift in direction, and approach. The EXIM (export-import) Policy has introduced a new scheme from April 1, 2000 for establishment of the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) and Export Promotion Zones (EPZ) in different parts of the country. SEZs will be permitted to be set up in the public, private, joint sector or by the State Governments. SEZs of India are in three categories: (a) multi product SEZs occupying a minimum 1000 of hectares of land (b) sector specific SEZs occupying minimum of 100 hectares of land, (c) BPO and biotech SEZs occupying a minimum of 10 hectares of land in backward States such as Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Manipur, Tripura, Himachal Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Sikkim, J&K and Goa and the Union Territories (Ministry of Commerce and Industry 2010). During the Jawaharlal Nehru’s period, foreign collaborations were promoted in certain sectors and foreign investment was encouraged. First Export Processing Zone (EPZ) was set up in 1965 at Kandla, in Gujarat and Santa Cruz EPZ in Mumbai became operational in 1973.
SEZ is an almost self contained area with high class infrastructure for commercial as well as residential inhabitation. The units operating in these zones are to be deemed as outside the country’s customs territory and will have full flexibility of operations. These kinds of policy changes have made many employment opportunities in various sectors and high growth of foreign exchange earnings. At the same time this development helps to the urbanization and rural infrastructure developments.EPZ and SWZ exports has increased in India from less than Rs.1 million in 1966 to over Rs. 97727 million in 2002. Over the same period, total employment increased from 70 to around 89,000, net foreign exchange earnings increased from Rs. 0.16 million to Rs. 43195 million and value addition increased from 21% to 44% (Ministry of Commerce 2004).
The second stage of SEZ development started with the SEZ Act, 2005, supported by SEZ Rules, has come into effect on 10th February 2006. In a short span of about three years, 576 SEZs applications have been granted for setting up and 319 have been notified. As per the government statistics SEZ provide 3.87 lakh employment opportunities. Physical exports from SEZs have increased from Rs. 66,638 corer in 2007-08 to Rs. 99,689 corer in 2008-09, registering a growth of 50%. There has been overall growth of export of 620% over past five years (2004-09). An investment of Rs. 1, 08,903 corers has been made in SEZs. This includes Foreign Direct Investment of US $ 2.29 billion.( SEZ India 2010)
Name of the Zone Established State
Nokia Special Economic Zone Tamil Nadu
Mahindra City SEZ Tamil Nadu
Apache SEZ (Adidas Group) Andhra Pradesh
Mundra Port and SEZ Gujarat
Moser Baer SEZ, Noida Uttar Pradesh
Wipro Limited Andhra Pradesh
Divvy's Laboratories Limited Andhra Pradesh
Flextronics SEZ Tamil Nadu
ETL Infrastructure IT SEZ Tamil Nadu
Wipro Limited, Karnataka (2 SEZ)
Biocon Limited Karnataka
Serum Bio-Pharma Park Maharashtra
Manyata Promoters Karnataka
Chandigarh Administration, Chandigarh
Hyderabad Gems Limited Hyderabad
Maharashtra ADCL Maharashtra
liance Gujarat, Maharashtra
Suzlon Infrastructure Ltd Many states
Sahara Group Maharashatra
Source: Various national dailies published in India between January1st 2008 and May1st 2010.
On the other side of the coin, SEZ regulation stipulates a minimum land requirement of 1,000 hectors. But most of the multi billion project established in more than minimum required land. Average calculation of minimum land used for SEZ is more than 1, 00,000 hectors. This means millions of people displaced from their ancestral land in this decade. Most of the SEZ projects are private owned or public private partnership. It is run and administered largely by the private sector for generating export oriented and profit making activities. The 1894 Act allows the government to acquire land for a "public purpose". It was originally devised to create a system of irrigation canals and roads. But in recent decades it has been used to buy land from reluctant margin less farmers for private profit oriented business. Forcible acquisition of land under the colonial Land Acquisition Act of 1894 and discrimination against underprivileged small landholders is the bad side of developing SEZ. At a time of displacement, relief and rehabilitation issues were not clearly resolved and SEZs posed a serious challenge to the regulatory framework governing the acquisition of land.
The Indian corporate giant Reliance has developed a SEZ at Chirner, a suburb in Mumbai. Reliance wants the entire stretch from Navi Mumbai to Dharamtar creek and plans to make it Mumbai's satellite city which would spread over 35,000 acres. The government on its part is acting as a perfect real estate agent and will eventually acquire 45 villages for the Reliance project. Although the government has issued the notifications for land acquisition the local people and local population have no clue for land value. As per the local reports Reliance has been trying to buy up land at Rs.3 lakhs to Rs.4 lakhs for an acre. In contrary, the market rate is said to be anywhere between Rs.20 lakhs and Rs.40 lakhs per acre. This SEZ has displaced 45 villages and 250,000 people (FrontLine 2006). The irony is that most of those land acquired are owned by Agris and Kolis, traditional farmers and fisher men community of Maharashtra, who have already faced many displacement from Mumbai and Navi Mumbai metropolitan.
West Bengal witnessed pitched battles in 2007 at Nandigram and Singur. Nandigram is the site of a proposed 4,050 hectare SEZ to be developed by Indonesia's Selim Group. Singur was the destination of Tata business group to build a car factory on 403.5 hectares of land. Because of people resistants these projects has call back by government authorities (South Asia Revolution 2008). In Andhra Pradesh just two SEZs in Kakinada and Vishakapatnam account for around 16,500 hectares( Kujur 2007). In Maharashtra, the Navi Mumbai SEZ alone is spread over an area of around 5,000 hectares, including 1,850 hectares of regional park zone (NMSEZ 2010). As pert the geographical identification both of these Special Economic Zone areas are constructing in a fertilize land.
To set up such a large number of SEZs there is a need for land on a large scale to be acquired. The total land area of India is 29,73,190 sq km out of which 16,20,388 sq km area is used for agriculture (agricultural area). The share of the agricultural area in the total area is 54.5 per cent and the non-agricultural area in India is 13, 52,802 sq km. The total area for proposed SEZs (formally approved and principle approved) is approximately 2061 sq km which would not be more than 0.069 per cent of the total land area and not more than 0.12 per cent of the total agricultural land in India. (Ministry of Agriculture 2008). In September 2006, Mrs. Sonia Gandhi, the President of the Congress Party, made a statement that expressed concern about the acquisition of prime agricultural land for the establishment of the SEZs. She said that she was concerned about the displacement of agriculturists and directed that there should be greater sensitivity for the concerns of agriculturists while the SEZs were being set up. After this statement Mr Sharad Pawar, the Minister for Agriculture, himself interested in the SEZs in Maharashtra, was quick to give a response that only marginal lands were being used. The Commerce Minister, Mr Kamal Nath, said that he had already written to all the Chief Ministers that there should be no acquisition of agricultural lands (Front Line 2006). With the comparison of above statements the ruling party leader and ministers itself declines the arguments of Ministry of Agriculture in the term of utilising fertilised land for establishing Special Economic Zones.
It is clear that from the precedent practices, most of the Special Economic Zones are being planned and structured on fertile land. If we analyse the regional geography of India SEZs are being set up not only on non agricultural land but also on agricultural land especially in the case of Punjab, Haryana, UP, Kerala, West Bengal, and Maharashtra. For example Punjab which considered as the high productive agriculture state of India, have allowed 13 Special Economic Zones owned by Multi National Companies (Punjab News Line 2007). Land for even such gigantic projects was acquired using the coercive powers provided by the Land Acquisition Act 1894. The act narrowly defined persons affected by an acquisition to be either land owners or occupiers. It is offering limited compensation to the affected population. Large scale acquisition covered entire villages and their common property resources like tanks, grazing lands and village forests. Apart from this, the Indian village are consisting of many categories of persons other than land owning farmers and tenant farmers. Agricultural labourers, artisans and other servicing populations while not owning land but depend on it directly or indirectly are also directly affected the displacement . The law, government and authorities did not recognize and considered their rights as affected parties.
At the time of rapid economic development time of the country more than 76% of the Indian population is still living in agricultural field. Agri cantered model of development was prevalent during the 1950s and the 60s. Now also, Agriculture contributes approximately one fifth of total gross domestic product (GDP). It provides the means of livelihood to about two thirds of the country’s population and over 70% of the population still lives in rural areas (European Commission 2007). Agriculture is the key employer with around 60% of the labour force, down from 70% in the early nineties. In details 2000-01, 67% of work force were depending on agricultural sector and contributed about 27% of national income (National Commission for women 2005). This declining share was mainly due to the fall in public investment in rural facilitation particularly since the mid 1990s .Then also it is the single largest private sector occupation. Agriculture accounts for about 10 percent of the total export earnings and provides raw material to a large number of industries. But the controversy is, the Commerce Ministry expects the zones to draw nearly 600 billion Indian rupees ($13.5 billion) in investment by 2010 and create 890,000 jobs. But an internal assessment of the Finance Ministry has estimated that by 2010 the country will drop about Rs.1, 60,000 cores in direct and indirect taxes because of the SEZs across the country. Government of India wants to follow ‘Chinese way’ but while in China there are only six SEZs, in India 123 SEZs have been established just in three years and over 400 SEZs are in pipeline. This shows that proper ground work has not been done before implementing the concept of SEZ in India. It has made a huge imbalanced development attribute to the rural population and villages which has measured as the ‘soul’ of democratic India.
SEZ is an almost self contained area with high class infrastructure for commercial as well as residential inhabitation. The units operating in these zones are to be deemed as outside the country’s customs territory and will have full flexibility of operations. These kinds of policy changes have made many employment opportunities in various sectors and high growth of foreign exchange earnings. At the same time this development helps to the urbanization and rural infrastructure developments.EPZ and SWZ exports has increased in India from less than Rs.1 million in 1966 to over Rs. 97727 million in 2002. Over the same period, total employment increased from 70 to around 89,000, net foreign exchange earnings increased from Rs. 0.16 million to Rs. 43195 million and value addition increased from 21% to 44% (Ministry of Commerce 2004).
The second stage of SEZ development started with the SEZ Act, 2005, supported by SEZ Rules, has come into effect on 10th February 2006. In a short span of about three years, 576 SEZs applications have been granted for setting up and 319 have been notified. As per the government statistics SEZ provide 3.87 lakh employment opportunities. Physical exports from SEZs have increased from Rs. 66,638 corer in 2007-08 to Rs. 99,689 corer in 2008-09, registering a growth of 50%. There has been overall growth of export of 620% over past five years (2004-09). An investment of Rs. 1, 08,903 corers has been made in SEZs. This includes Foreign Direct Investment of US $ 2.29 billion.( SEZ India 2010)
Name of the Zone Established State
Nokia Special Economic Zone Tamil Nadu
Mahindra City SEZ Tamil Nadu
Apache SEZ (Adidas Group) Andhra Pradesh
Mundra Port and SEZ Gujarat
Moser Baer SEZ, Noida Uttar Pradesh
Wipro Limited Andhra Pradesh
Divvy's Laboratories Limited Andhra Pradesh
Flextronics SEZ Tamil Nadu
ETL Infrastructure IT SEZ Tamil Nadu
Wipro Limited, Karnataka (2 SEZ)
Biocon Limited Karnataka
Serum Bio-Pharma Park Maharashtra
Manyata Promoters Karnataka
Chandigarh Administration, Chandigarh
Hyderabad Gems Limited Hyderabad
Maharashtra ADCL Maharashtra
liance Gujarat, Maharashtra
Suzlon Infrastructure Ltd Many states
Sahara Group Maharashatra
Source: Various national dailies published in India between January1st 2008 and May1st 2010.
On the other side of the coin, SEZ regulation stipulates a minimum land requirement of 1,000 hectors. But most of the multi billion project established in more than minimum required land. Average calculation of minimum land used for SEZ is more than 1, 00,000 hectors. This means millions of people displaced from their ancestral land in this decade. Most of the SEZ projects are private owned or public private partnership. It is run and administered largely by the private sector for generating export oriented and profit making activities. The 1894 Act allows the government to acquire land for a "public purpose". It was originally devised to create a system of irrigation canals and roads. But in recent decades it has been used to buy land from reluctant margin less farmers for private profit oriented business. Forcible acquisition of land under the colonial Land Acquisition Act of 1894 and discrimination against underprivileged small landholders is the bad side of developing SEZ. At a time of displacement, relief and rehabilitation issues were not clearly resolved and SEZs posed a serious challenge to the regulatory framework governing the acquisition of land.
The Indian corporate giant Reliance has developed a SEZ at Chirner, a suburb in Mumbai. Reliance wants the entire stretch from Navi Mumbai to Dharamtar creek and plans to make it Mumbai's satellite city which would spread over 35,000 acres. The government on its part is acting as a perfect real estate agent and will eventually acquire 45 villages for the Reliance project. Although the government has issued the notifications for land acquisition the local people and local population have no clue for land value. As per the local reports Reliance has been trying to buy up land at Rs.3 lakhs to Rs.4 lakhs for an acre. In contrary, the market rate is said to be anywhere between Rs.20 lakhs and Rs.40 lakhs per acre. This SEZ has displaced 45 villages and 250,000 people (FrontLine 2006). The irony is that most of those land acquired are owned by Agris and Kolis, traditional farmers and fisher men community of Maharashtra, who have already faced many displacement from Mumbai and Navi Mumbai metropolitan.
West Bengal witnessed pitched battles in 2007 at Nandigram and Singur. Nandigram is the site of a proposed 4,050 hectare SEZ to be developed by Indonesia's Selim Group. Singur was the destination of Tata business group to build a car factory on 403.5 hectares of land. Because of people resistants these projects has call back by government authorities (South Asia Revolution 2008). In Andhra Pradesh just two SEZs in Kakinada and Vishakapatnam account for around 16,500 hectares( Kujur 2007). In Maharashtra, the Navi Mumbai SEZ alone is spread over an area of around 5,000 hectares, including 1,850 hectares of regional park zone (NMSEZ 2010). As pert the geographical identification both of these Special Economic Zone areas are constructing in a fertilize land.
To set up such a large number of SEZs there is a need for land on a large scale to be acquired. The total land area of India is 29,73,190 sq km out of which 16,20,388 sq km area is used for agriculture (agricultural area). The share of the agricultural area in the total area is 54.5 per cent and the non-agricultural area in India is 13, 52,802 sq km. The total area for proposed SEZs (formally approved and principle approved) is approximately 2061 sq km which would not be more than 0.069 per cent of the total land area and not more than 0.12 per cent of the total agricultural land in India. (Ministry of Agriculture 2008). In September 2006, Mrs. Sonia Gandhi, the President of the Congress Party, made a statement that expressed concern about the acquisition of prime agricultural land for the establishment of the SEZs. She said that she was concerned about the displacement of agriculturists and directed that there should be greater sensitivity for the concerns of agriculturists while the SEZs were being set up. After this statement Mr Sharad Pawar, the Minister for Agriculture, himself interested in the SEZs in Maharashtra, was quick to give a response that only marginal lands were being used. The Commerce Minister, Mr Kamal Nath, said that he had already written to all the Chief Ministers that there should be no acquisition of agricultural lands (Front Line 2006). With the comparison of above statements the ruling party leader and ministers itself declines the arguments of Ministry of Agriculture in the term of utilising fertilised land for establishing Special Economic Zones.
It is clear that from the precedent practices, most of the Special Economic Zones are being planned and structured on fertile land. If we analyse the regional geography of India SEZs are being set up not only on non agricultural land but also on agricultural land especially in the case of Punjab, Haryana, UP, Kerala, West Bengal, and Maharashtra. For example Punjab which considered as the high productive agriculture state of India, have allowed 13 Special Economic Zones owned by Multi National Companies (Punjab News Line 2007). Land for even such gigantic projects was acquired using the coercive powers provided by the Land Acquisition Act 1894. The act narrowly defined persons affected by an acquisition to be either land owners or occupiers. It is offering limited compensation to the affected population. Large scale acquisition covered entire villages and their common property resources like tanks, grazing lands and village forests. Apart from this, the Indian village are consisting of many categories of persons other than land owning farmers and tenant farmers. Agricultural labourers, artisans and other servicing populations while not owning land but depend on it directly or indirectly are also directly affected the displacement . The law, government and authorities did not recognize and considered their rights as affected parties.
At the time of rapid economic development time of the country more than 76% of the Indian population is still living in agricultural field. Agri cantered model of development was prevalent during the 1950s and the 60s. Now also, Agriculture contributes approximately one fifth of total gross domestic product (GDP). It provides the means of livelihood to about two thirds of the country’s population and over 70% of the population still lives in rural areas (European Commission 2007). Agriculture is the key employer with around 60% of the labour force, down from 70% in the early nineties. In details 2000-01, 67% of work force were depending on agricultural sector and contributed about 27% of national income (National Commission for women 2005). This declining share was mainly due to the fall in public investment in rural facilitation particularly since the mid 1990s .Then also it is the single largest private sector occupation. Agriculture accounts for about 10 percent of the total export earnings and provides raw material to a large number of industries. But the controversy is, the Commerce Ministry expects the zones to draw nearly 600 billion Indian rupees ($13.5 billion) in investment by 2010 and create 890,000 jobs. But an internal assessment of the Finance Ministry has estimated that by 2010 the country will drop about Rs.1, 60,000 cores in direct and indirect taxes because of the SEZs across the country. Government of India wants to follow ‘Chinese way’ but while in China there are only six SEZs, in India 123 SEZs have been established just in three years and over 400 SEZs are in pipeline. This shows that proper ground work has not been done before implementing the concept of SEZ in India. It has made a huge imbalanced development attribute to the rural population and villages which has measured as the ‘soul’ of democratic India.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
IMF “International Financial Regimes are a tool of a US led empire”
There is a striking contrast in the global economy. Living standards and the quality of life are steadily on the rise in the industrial countries as well as in a number of emerging economies. But both are stagnating in a number of the poorest countries, in particular in Africa and Asia. Some African countries are even regressing. The income gap between the rich and the poor has never been so great.
The International Monitory Fund (IMF) has analysed the reasons behind the failure of the many countries that have not taken advantage of the last half-century's prosperity (Laerzen 2001). These reasons are complex: economic mistakes, institutional shortcomings, political instability, chronic civil disturbances or armed conflict. And we must also take into account external factors such as sudden changes in the terms of trade, the recent flare-up of petroleum prices, or the paucity of foreign capital. On the other side critics emphasised on, across the world, the lives of millions of people are in the hands of two of the most powerful financial institutions - the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB). These banks hold the major share of the debt currently payable by the 'Third World'. This debt first accumulated in the '70s when poorer countries borrowed in order to develop their economies. But when the world recession hit in the '80s huge numbers of countries found they could not able to repay their loans (workers solidarity 2001). This was when the IMF and WB first stepped in. It continues now also and is being increased day by day. At present, approximately two thirds of world trade is conducted in dollars and two thirds of central banks' currency reserves are held in the American currency which remains the sole currency used by international institutions such as the IMF and World Bank. This atmosphere has made many major economic advantages to United States. Every country needs dollars to repay their debts to the IMF and other international financial institutions. Other than this they need dollar to conduct international trade and to build up their currency reserves. The US provides the world with these dollars by buying goods and services produced by foreign countries. So long as the dollar remains the dominant international currency. The US can continue consuming more than it produces and build up its military strength (Spatacist1998).
The debates are going on after 65 years of formation of IMF and IBRD and it will be continuing. But based on the political interferences of these International financial regimes, I argue that IMF and World Bank end up serving powerful interests of United States leads capital imperialism. At the end of World War II most of the western countries are distressed. The United States only the nation could rebound the shattered western region and oppose USSR led communist bloc. This bloc had begun very strong in different parts of the world. For these reasons US has took leadership in financial and political aspects and it continues today also. The IMF and World Bank are funded by member nations but it is at different level. Wealthy nations are paying more and poor countries pay less based on the economy. But voting power also attached the funds which offered by the share holding countries. One dollar one vote system has been helping US to impose their likes and dislikes because US is the main fund providing nation. It’s clear that IMF and World Bank always implement the policies of US lead Imperialism. More over US is the only nation with Veto power (Tussoint 2004).
Article IV section 10 of IBRD article stipulates
“The Bank and its officers shall not interfere in the political affairs of any member; nor shall they be influenced in their decisions by the political character of the member or members concerned. Only economic considerations shall be relevant to their decisions, and these considerations shall be weighed impartially in order to achieve the purposes (set by the Bank) stated in Article I.”
The Bank has found many systematic means of getting round the prohibiting its operations taking “political” and “non-economic” considerations into account, one of the primary objectives of its charter, from its establishing onwards(Shihata 2001) . But the Bank has repeatedly contravened article IV of its own statutes. In practical, the Bank has made many choices based on political considerations. The quality of governments’ economic policies is not the determining element in its choices to support or help. The Bank has often lent money to the authorities in countries despite the dismal quality of their economic policies and a great degree of corruption. Most of the time, Bank choices relative the countries that play a major shareholders’ interests and it is starting with the United States. As per the different historical and political experience from 1947 to the collapse of the Soviet bloc, World Bank and IMF decisions were determined in large part by the criteria which have included avoid shoring up self-reliant models and support strategic allies of the western capitalist bloc and in particular of the US. In addition to this WB and IMF refused to help regimes seen as a threat by the United States government (Delgado 2007). Other important thing is shareholders have provided funds to large-scale projects (WB) or policies (IMF) enabling major industrialized countries to increase exports.
Romania was the one of the best examples in US invasion through financial regimes during the time of cold war. From1947, Romania was brought into the Soviet bloc. In 1972, Romania was the first Soviet satellite Country to joined the bank. Since 1965, Mr.Ceaucescu had been Secretary-General of the ruling Communist Party. In 1968, he criticized the USSR’s invasion of Czechoslovakia and Romanian troops did not take part in the Warsaw Pact operation. In August 1969 US President Nixon has made an official visit to Romania after many decades. This presidential visit has leads to Joint venture involving equity participation, which has introduced in 1971 and New Economic and Financial Mechanism introduced in 1979 with the support of IMF. In 1972, a consular convention to facilitate protection of citizens and their property in both countries was signed. Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) facilities were granted, and Romania became eligible for U.S. Export-Import Bank credits. A trade agreement signed in April 1975 accorded Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status to Romania under section 402 of the Trade Reform Act of 1974(DISM Journal 2006). This status was renewed yearly after Congressional review of a presidential determination that Romania was making progress toward freedom of emigration. All these financial set-ups and arrangements are showing the US involvement and interest to transform a central planned economy to capitalist investment flow.
Asia financial rescue package is the other best experience of financial invasion of American interest. The rescue packages of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the Asian financial crisis of 1997-1999 shows that Asian countries had lost the economic sovereignty of the countries having to seek its assistance. These nations would no longer direct or control their own economic or social policies. In particular, policy conditions tied to IMF loans would pave the way to foreign ownership and domination of the economy, especially in the financial sector. Over $100 billion from the IMF, the World Bank, the U.S. government, and other institutions went to South Korea, Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines to help their governments pay billions of dollars owed to U.S., European, and Japanese banks, to re-establish business confidence, and to persuade foreign investors to return to their markets. In exchange, the four countries agreed to restructure their economies by shutting down insolvent enterprises and banks, ending monopolies, phasing out government restrictions on investment, and opening their markets even further to foreign capital, easing restriction of foreign ownership and making it easier to dismiss workers (Richadson 1998). Those moves have paved the way for a massive sell-off of Asian assets to foreign companies. The result of the Asian economic reformation has badly reflect the national economic stability and natural growth.The IMF has imposed on Thailand and South Korea, the condition that they must allow higher foreign ownership of their economy, especially in the financial sector. According to various domestic and international media reports, the market access conditions were believed to be placed in the IMF package at the insistence of the United States.
As part of its deal with the IMF, Thailand was asked to allow foreign banks to own more equity in the local banking sector. In October, the government announced it would allow foreign institutions to hold a majority stake in operating financial institutions for up to ten years, after which any further capital increases would have to be sold to local investors, if the foreign share is more than 49%. (Bangkok Post 1997). Specifically, foreign banks and financial institutions are seeking to take over local financial institutions. This opened the door for foreign banks to take advantage of the situation and had raised their share of the banking business. The local Thai banks were reeling from overdue loans and many were suffering from a weak capital base. Foreign banks had taken over the local banks, taking advantage of the latter's present vulnerable situation. According to the Wall Street Journal December 1997, “the restructuring of Thailand's financial system is expected to result in foreign majority ownership in many of the country's 15 commercial banks." On 26 November, the American financial institution, Citibank signed a memorandum of understanding with First Bangkok City Bank and said it planned to buy a stake of at least 50.1%, although the price was not yet fixed. This was the first salvo (International Herald Tribune 1997). The foreign companies mentioned are American International Group Inc., Development Bank of Singapore etc. All but two of the 58 troubled finance companies have been closed by the government. One of the survivors, Bangkok Investment Co. has proposed being 80% acquired by the American International Assurance subsidiary, AIG Consumer Finance Group. (Asian Wall Street journal 1997).
In Thailand, meanwhile, the American Chamber of Commerce is pressing the government to open up the economy further to foreign firms. It called for additional financial liberalisation, lifting of all restrictions on foreign ownership of assets and participation in the services sector and tariff cuts. It would not be surprising if further loans to the IMF client countries would come with more conditions promoting the foreign firms' access.
In South Korea, the IMF also forced the government to allow foreigners to have a larger share of the Korean economy, which had till then been relatively protected. According to a Reuters report 5th December 1997 on the IMF terms: "Foreign investment in the capital markets will be liberalised and direct foreign investment procedures will be simplified and made more transparent. Foreign entities will be allowed to buy 50% of the equity of a listed Korean company by end-1997 and 55% by end-1998, paving the way for foreign takeovers of Korean firms. Foreign banks could be allowed to form joint ventures and set up subsidiaries” (Reuters 1997).Before the IMF deal, the shareholding limit for foreign individuals was 7% in a specific Korean company stock, while the combined foreign shareholding limit was 26% in a stock. On 11 December, the ceiling on a combined or individual basis was raised to 50%.
US businesses had made scrutinising opportunities created by the IMF measures, which had opened the South Korea's financial sector and allow greater foreign ownership of South Korean companies. The biggest potential winners are financial firms, including commercial banks and brokerage houses. "For these companies, the bailout means short-term advisory business and long-term investment opportunities, and expansion of existing operations and investment in Korean firms." (Asian Wall Street Journal 1997).
The IMF is also pushed South Korea to accelerate the schedule for allowing foreign entry into the domestic financial sector, including allowing foreign banks to establish subsidiaries and brokerage houses. The IMF also wants South Korea to remove restrictions on foreign companies' access to domestic money-market instruments and the corporate-bond market. After the transformation US and other non-Korean foreign firms are dominating the financial services scene in Korea. Another IMF condition was that South Korea must allow Japanese products, greater access to its market. Previously, imports of Japanese goods had been restricted because of Japan's large trade surplus with South Korea. It was also reported that the conditions forcing South Korea to give greater ownership access to foreign companies and more trade access for Japanese goods were injected into the IMF package at the insistence of the US and Japan.
What the US could not achieve through bilateral pressures on South Korea, or through negotiations in the World Trade Organisation, they have been able to do through IMF. The US is the country which has by far, the largest influence on IMF Secretariat policies. Also, the pledges of US$5 billion by the US and US$10 billion by Japan to the total US$55 billion rescue package gave the two countries the handle with which they could shape IMF conditions.
According to the Financial Times December 1997 "The full opening of the capital markets will pave the way for foreign takeovers of Korean companies and increase foreign competition in the financial sector, heralding the end of the nation's protectionist economy."(Financial Times 1997). The administration also linked the Asian crisis to U.S. national security interests, saying that serious social unrest in Indonesia and other Asian countries could somehow lead to involvement by the U.S. military and could threaten the use of the Indonesian sea lanes, through which about 30% of global shipping passes (shorrock 1998).
Globalization, basically defined, is the increasing interdependence, integration and interaction among people, organizations and governments in disparate locations around the world. After six decades ago, the concept of globalization became closely associated with Washington's policy agenda for the world. IMF and World Bank have systematically lent to States in order to influence their policies with United States. The examples given in this study show that political and strategic interests of major capitalist powers to other countries.These recent developments in the countries undergoing IMF and WB imposed conditions are a lesson for other countries, for they give a clear picture of what could happen if the latter were also to fall under the IMF's fascination.
The International Monitory Fund (IMF) has analysed the reasons behind the failure of the many countries that have not taken advantage of the last half-century's prosperity (Laerzen 2001). These reasons are complex: economic mistakes, institutional shortcomings, political instability, chronic civil disturbances or armed conflict. And we must also take into account external factors such as sudden changes in the terms of trade, the recent flare-up of petroleum prices, or the paucity of foreign capital. On the other side critics emphasised on, across the world, the lives of millions of people are in the hands of two of the most powerful financial institutions - the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB). These banks hold the major share of the debt currently payable by the 'Third World'. This debt first accumulated in the '70s when poorer countries borrowed in order to develop their economies. But when the world recession hit in the '80s huge numbers of countries found they could not able to repay their loans (workers solidarity 2001). This was when the IMF and WB first stepped in. It continues now also and is being increased day by day. At present, approximately two thirds of world trade is conducted in dollars and two thirds of central banks' currency reserves are held in the American currency which remains the sole currency used by international institutions such as the IMF and World Bank. This atmosphere has made many major economic advantages to United States. Every country needs dollars to repay their debts to the IMF and other international financial institutions. Other than this they need dollar to conduct international trade and to build up their currency reserves. The US provides the world with these dollars by buying goods and services produced by foreign countries. So long as the dollar remains the dominant international currency. The US can continue consuming more than it produces and build up its military strength (Spatacist1998).
The debates are going on after 65 years of formation of IMF and IBRD and it will be continuing. But based on the political interferences of these International financial regimes, I argue that IMF and World Bank end up serving powerful interests of United States leads capital imperialism. At the end of World War II most of the western countries are distressed. The United States only the nation could rebound the shattered western region and oppose USSR led communist bloc. This bloc had begun very strong in different parts of the world. For these reasons US has took leadership in financial and political aspects and it continues today also. The IMF and World Bank are funded by member nations but it is at different level. Wealthy nations are paying more and poor countries pay less based on the economy. But voting power also attached the funds which offered by the share holding countries. One dollar one vote system has been helping US to impose their likes and dislikes because US is the main fund providing nation. It’s clear that IMF and World Bank always implement the policies of US lead Imperialism. More over US is the only nation with Veto power (Tussoint 2004).
Article IV section 10 of IBRD article stipulates
“The Bank and its officers shall not interfere in the political affairs of any member; nor shall they be influenced in their decisions by the political character of the member or members concerned. Only economic considerations shall be relevant to their decisions, and these considerations shall be weighed impartially in order to achieve the purposes (set by the Bank) stated in Article I.”
The Bank has found many systematic means of getting round the prohibiting its operations taking “political” and “non-economic” considerations into account, one of the primary objectives of its charter, from its establishing onwards(Shihata 2001) . But the Bank has repeatedly contravened article IV of its own statutes. In practical, the Bank has made many choices based on political considerations. The quality of governments’ economic policies is not the determining element in its choices to support or help. The Bank has often lent money to the authorities in countries despite the dismal quality of their economic policies and a great degree of corruption. Most of the time, Bank choices relative the countries that play a major shareholders’ interests and it is starting with the United States. As per the different historical and political experience from 1947 to the collapse of the Soviet bloc, World Bank and IMF decisions were determined in large part by the criteria which have included avoid shoring up self-reliant models and support strategic allies of the western capitalist bloc and in particular of the US. In addition to this WB and IMF refused to help regimes seen as a threat by the United States government (Delgado 2007). Other important thing is shareholders have provided funds to large-scale projects (WB) or policies (IMF) enabling major industrialized countries to increase exports.
Romania was the one of the best examples in US invasion through financial regimes during the time of cold war. From1947, Romania was brought into the Soviet bloc. In 1972, Romania was the first Soviet satellite Country to joined the bank. Since 1965, Mr.Ceaucescu had been Secretary-General of the ruling Communist Party. In 1968, he criticized the USSR’s invasion of Czechoslovakia and Romanian troops did not take part in the Warsaw Pact operation. In August 1969 US President Nixon has made an official visit to Romania after many decades. This presidential visit has leads to Joint venture involving equity participation, which has introduced in 1971 and New Economic and Financial Mechanism introduced in 1979 with the support of IMF. In 1972, a consular convention to facilitate protection of citizens and their property in both countries was signed. Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) facilities were granted, and Romania became eligible for U.S. Export-Import Bank credits. A trade agreement signed in April 1975 accorded Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status to Romania under section 402 of the Trade Reform Act of 1974(DISM Journal 2006). This status was renewed yearly after Congressional review of a presidential determination that Romania was making progress toward freedom of emigration. All these financial set-ups and arrangements are showing the US involvement and interest to transform a central planned economy to capitalist investment flow.
Asia financial rescue package is the other best experience of financial invasion of American interest. The rescue packages of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the Asian financial crisis of 1997-1999 shows that Asian countries had lost the economic sovereignty of the countries having to seek its assistance. These nations would no longer direct or control their own economic or social policies. In particular, policy conditions tied to IMF loans would pave the way to foreign ownership and domination of the economy, especially in the financial sector. Over $100 billion from the IMF, the World Bank, the U.S. government, and other institutions went to South Korea, Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines to help their governments pay billions of dollars owed to U.S., European, and Japanese banks, to re-establish business confidence, and to persuade foreign investors to return to their markets. In exchange, the four countries agreed to restructure their economies by shutting down insolvent enterprises and banks, ending monopolies, phasing out government restrictions on investment, and opening their markets even further to foreign capital, easing restriction of foreign ownership and making it easier to dismiss workers (Richadson 1998). Those moves have paved the way for a massive sell-off of Asian assets to foreign companies. The result of the Asian economic reformation has badly reflect the national economic stability and natural growth.The IMF has imposed on Thailand and South Korea, the condition that they must allow higher foreign ownership of their economy, especially in the financial sector. According to various domestic and international media reports, the market access conditions were believed to be placed in the IMF package at the insistence of the United States.
As part of its deal with the IMF, Thailand was asked to allow foreign banks to own more equity in the local banking sector. In October, the government announced it would allow foreign institutions to hold a majority stake in operating financial institutions for up to ten years, after which any further capital increases would have to be sold to local investors, if the foreign share is more than 49%. (Bangkok Post 1997). Specifically, foreign banks and financial institutions are seeking to take over local financial institutions. This opened the door for foreign banks to take advantage of the situation and had raised their share of the banking business. The local Thai banks were reeling from overdue loans and many were suffering from a weak capital base. Foreign banks had taken over the local banks, taking advantage of the latter's present vulnerable situation. According to the Wall Street Journal December 1997, “the restructuring of Thailand's financial system is expected to result in foreign majority ownership in many of the country's 15 commercial banks." On 26 November, the American financial institution, Citibank signed a memorandum of understanding with First Bangkok City Bank and said it planned to buy a stake of at least 50.1%, although the price was not yet fixed. This was the first salvo (International Herald Tribune 1997). The foreign companies mentioned are American International Group Inc., Development Bank of Singapore etc. All but two of the 58 troubled finance companies have been closed by the government. One of the survivors, Bangkok Investment Co. has proposed being 80% acquired by the American International Assurance subsidiary, AIG Consumer Finance Group. (Asian Wall Street journal 1997).
In Thailand, meanwhile, the American Chamber of Commerce is pressing the government to open up the economy further to foreign firms. It called for additional financial liberalisation, lifting of all restrictions on foreign ownership of assets and participation in the services sector and tariff cuts. It would not be surprising if further loans to the IMF client countries would come with more conditions promoting the foreign firms' access.
In South Korea, the IMF also forced the government to allow foreigners to have a larger share of the Korean economy, which had till then been relatively protected. According to a Reuters report 5th December 1997 on the IMF terms: "Foreign investment in the capital markets will be liberalised and direct foreign investment procedures will be simplified and made more transparent. Foreign entities will be allowed to buy 50% of the equity of a listed Korean company by end-1997 and 55% by end-1998, paving the way for foreign takeovers of Korean firms. Foreign banks could be allowed to form joint ventures and set up subsidiaries” (Reuters 1997).Before the IMF deal, the shareholding limit for foreign individuals was 7% in a specific Korean company stock, while the combined foreign shareholding limit was 26% in a stock. On 11 December, the ceiling on a combined or individual basis was raised to 50%.
US businesses had made scrutinising opportunities created by the IMF measures, which had opened the South Korea's financial sector and allow greater foreign ownership of South Korean companies. The biggest potential winners are financial firms, including commercial banks and brokerage houses. "For these companies, the bailout means short-term advisory business and long-term investment opportunities, and expansion of existing operations and investment in Korean firms." (Asian Wall Street Journal 1997).
The IMF is also pushed South Korea to accelerate the schedule for allowing foreign entry into the domestic financial sector, including allowing foreign banks to establish subsidiaries and brokerage houses. The IMF also wants South Korea to remove restrictions on foreign companies' access to domestic money-market instruments and the corporate-bond market. After the transformation US and other non-Korean foreign firms are dominating the financial services scene in Korea. Another IMF condition was that South Korea must allow Japanese products, greater access to its market. Previously, imports of Japanese goods had been restricted because of Japan's large trade surplus with South Korea. It was also reported that the conditions forcing South Korea to give greater ownership access to foreign companies and more trade access for Japanese goods were injected into the IMF package at the insistence of the US and Japan.
What the US could not achieve through bilateral pressures on South Korea, or through negotiations in the World Trade Organisation, they have been able to do through IMF. The US is the country which has by far, the largest influence on IMF Secretariat policies. Also, the pledges of US$5 billion by the US and US$10 billion by Japan to the total US$55 billion rescue package gave the two countries the handle with which they could shape IMF conditions.
According to the Financial Times December 1997 "The full opening of the capital markets will pave the way for foreign takeovers of Korean companies and increase foreign competition in the financial sector, heralding the end of the nation's protectionist economy."(Financial Times 1997). The administration also linked the Asian crisis to U.S. national security interests, saying that serious social unrest in Indonesia and other Asian countries could somehow lead to involvement by the U.S. military and could threaten the use of the Indonesian sea lanes, through which about 30% of global shipping passes (shorrock 1998).
Globalization, basically defined, is the increasing interdependence, integration and interaction among people, organizations and governments in disparate locations around the world. After six decades ago, the concept of globalization became closely associated with Washington's policy agenda for the world. IMF and World Bank have systematically lent to States in order to influence their policies with United States. The examples given in this study show that political and strategic interests of major capitalist powers to other countries.These recent developments in the countries undergoing IMF and WB imposed conditions are a lesson for other countries, for they give a clear picture of what could happen if the latter were also to fall under the IMF's fascination.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Murdochization of INDIAN media
As many other countries the greatest contributor to trends towards infotainment in India has been Murdoch. Murdoch was responsible for first music television channel in Indian language and the first successful adaptation of an international game show in India called Kaun banega cororepati? Other than this STAR has started the 24 hour news channel in Hindi. News Corporations extensive control of both programme content and delivery system had made a hugely powerful player in the Indian visual media Industry. Murdoch was able many others to understand the potential of media in world largest continent. Starting with Hollywood based programme and reorganized Indinaized programs. Although Murdoch business interest in India is wider than Indian television industry. STAR India will pump roughly $100 million into six Indian language channels. This implication has prepared for the media sector in a developing country where one-third of the population is illiterates. Sonwalker noted that newspaper aggressive pursuit of profits in the last decade and the adoption of a corporate culture that gives an over-riding primacy to marketing rather than editorial. It has led to news becoming a product that is no different from soap or toothpaste. It was the main impact of Murdochization in India’s transformed climate of media liberalization.
One of the key aspects related to the increase in the size and influence of the middle class. It has focused specifically on the media which has seen a dramatic shift in the last decade in their content. It projected middle-class values and concerns. Prominent sections of media have emerged as the vehicle for the articulation and voluble advocacy of middle-class interests (Appadurai 1996). But Murdochization effect on the Indian media has created, media house are profit-driven enterprises, with the focus on maximizing advertising revenues. The demise of the local language press even as there is an unmatched media boom in India. The regional operated press could not stand up to competition from global media, especially in the face of a systematic marginalization of the resources. The state of the regional operative media is perhaps reflective of the feelings of the minority population in different states of India. The entrance of global media operators in regional languages has badly affected to the traditional press culture. In past few years there was lot of traditional media houses, which was stand for the poor and needy has acquired by media capitalists like Murdoch.
India’s media industry, since the advent of satellite television, has become ratings driven. It functions to create profits for television companies, advertisers, and manufacturers. It is not geared to serving the development needs of the state or the educational needs of its citizens. Thus, in this country where according to various studies more than half the population hovers close to starvation and destitution, media narratives make no references to poor and lower middle class Indians who have all but been erased from public consciousness. Media narratives feature the rich and up-coming middle classes or the wealthy among Indian population.
The Murdochization effect badly affected even Indian news channels. News broadcast is veering towards increasing tabloidization .The news avoids all reference to harsh realities of urban and rural India, such as languishing agricultural growth across the country, and increasing pollution and lack of civic amenities in towns and cities and to give greater coverage to crime, celebrities, films and fashion. The lack of relevance to the real India, and a constant reiteration of India’s potential in media, has sparked a reappearance of nationalism. There is a new confidence among Indians in their country and they feel that India is a country to be reckoned with in the global arena. Media has created catch phrases like ‘Team India’ that refer to an all encompassing and singular Indian identity. But most of the time these captions has used for commercial purpose during the time of different events to promote the channel under the guideline of Corporate Social Responsibility
One of the key aspects related to the increase in the size and influence of the middle class. It has focused specifically on the media which has seen a dramatic shift in the last decade in their content. It projected middle-class values and concerns. Prominent sections of media have emerged as the vehicle for the articulation and voluble advocacy of middle-class interests (Appadurai 1996). But Murdochization effect on the Indian media has created, media house are profit-driven enterprises, with the focus on maximizing advertising revenues. The demise of the local language press even as there is an unmatched media boom in India. The regional operated press could not stand up to competition from global media, especially in the face of a systematic marginalization of the resources. The state of the regional operative media is perhaps reflective of the feelings of the minority population in different states of India. The entrance of global media operators in regional languages has badly affected to the traditional press culture. In past few years there was lot of traditional media houses, which was stand for the poor and needy has acquired by media capitalists like Murdoch.
India’s media industry, since the advent of satellite television, has become ratings driven. It functions to create profits for television companies, advertisers, and manufacturers. It is not geared to serving the development needs of the state or the educational needs of its citizens. Thus, in this country where according to various studies more than half the population hovers close to starvation and destitution, media narratives make no references to poor and lower middle class Indians who have all but been erased from public consciousness. Media narratives feature the rich and up-coming middle classes or the wealthy among Indian population.
The Murdochization effect badly affected even Indian news channels. News broadcast is veering towards increasing tabloidization .The news avoids all reference to harsh realities of urban and rural India, such as languishing agricultural growth across the country, and increasing pollution and lack of civic amenities in towns and cities and to give greater coverage to crime, celebrities, films and fashion. The lack of relevance to the real India, and a constant reiteration of India’s potential in media, has sparked a reappearance of nationalism. There is a new confidence among Indians in their country and they feel that India is a country to be reckoned with in the global arena. Media has created catch phrases like ‘Team India’ that refer to an all encompassing and singular Indian identity. But most of the time these captions has used for commercial purpose during the time of different events to promote the channel under the guideline of Corporate Social Responsibility
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
hiNGLISH,mANGLISH,kANgLISH..............ISH
The definition of communication is shared in the Webster's Dictionary as "sending, giving, or exchanging information and ideas," which is often expressed nonverbally and verbally. Communication begins with language, the distinctive ability which has made possible the evolution of human society. India has Different religion, variant ethnicities and multi language communication. The mixture is called ‘Diversity in Unity’. But the differences always keep their individuality, if its language or religion.
English has enjoyed a special status in India because of the country’s colonial history and it still continues to be a widely spoken language in India. With the growth of international trade and formation of the United Nations Organization, the world, increasingly felt the need for one language to converse. English took over this role. Indian young generation also follow that rule in neo globalizing period. The average Indian youth are more comfortable with English than their parents. In urban neighbourhoods, most users are very comfortable with ‘Hinglish’ a hybrid of Hindi and English. In a multi-cultural place, where the population is a floating one, youngsters are comfortable not only in English but also speak the national language and a local language. Thus normal day to day activities are conducted in this strange mixture. One of the most popular songs on the Indian airwaves these days is “pappu can’t dance sala” bilingual, part descriptive, part narrative with a sprinkling of slang and brand names. This song personifies Indian youth of the moment. The study conducted by University of Wales, recently projected that at about 350 million, the world's Hinglish speakers may soon outnumber native English speakers. Economic liberalization, infiltration of satellite television and other global trends is changing the socio economic fabric of India. Thus, North-South language divide is disappearing and Hinglish has become the common linguistic communication mode. This is more commonly seen in urban and semi-urban centres of India, but is slowly spreading its root into rural and remote areas via television and word of mouth, slowly achieving vernacular status.As Hinglish is gaining popularity, people belonging to states where different dialects are used, are creating their own unique brand of Hinglish. The Indian film industry and advertisement sector have always embraced Hinglish and nowadays viewers see a greater number of songs in Hindi + English.
Language specialists specified, a language dies every two weeks. Half of the world’s languages may not be spoken in the next century. This is an extremely serious concern. Hindi is the second-most widely spoken language in the world. It is the dominant language of India, which is also the world’s second largest nation in terms of its population. But now westernization is over ruling the ancient Indian language which has a sound traditional back ground. The existence loss of a language has claimed as the devaluation of a culture.
English has enjoyed a special status in India because of the country’s colonial history and it still continues to be a widely spoken language in India. With the growth of international trade and formation of the United Nations Organization, the world, increasingly felt the need for one language to converse. English took over this role. Indian young generation also follow that rule in neo globalizing period. The average Indian youth are more comfortable with English than their parents. In urban neighbourhoods, most users are very comfortable with ‘Hinglish’ a hybrid of Hindi and English. In a multi-cultural place, where the population is a floating one, youngsters are comfortable not only in English but also speak the national language and a local language. Thus normal day to day activities are conducted in this strange mixture. One of the most popular songs on the Indian airwaves these days is “pappu can’t dance sala” bilingual, part descriptive, part narrative with a sprinkling of slang and brand names. This song personifies Indian youth of the moment. The study conducted by University of Wales, recently projected that at about 350 million, the world's Hinglish speakers may soon outnumber native English speakers. Economic liberalization, infiltration of satellite television and other global trends is changing the socio economic fabric of India. Thus, North-South language divide is disappearing and Hinglish has become the common linguistic communication mode. This is more commonly seen in urban and semi-urban centres of India, but is slowly spreading its root into rural and remote areas via television and word of mouth, slowly achieving vernacular status.As Hinglish is gaining popularity, people belonging to states where different dialects are used, are creating their own unique brand of Hinglish. The Indian film industry and advertisement sector have always embraced Hinglish and nowadays viewers see a greater number of songs in Hindi + English.
Language specialists specified, a language dies every two weeks. Half of the world’s languages may not be spoken in the next century. This is an extremely serious concern. Hindi is the second-most widely spoken language in the world. It is the dominant language of India, which is also the world’s second largest nation in terms of its population. But now westernization is over ruling the ancient Indian language which has a sound traditional back ground. The existence loss of a language has claimed as the devaluation of a culture.
Profit motivated journalism
During the period of globalization television, radio, and press media have become increasingly globalized. Globalization is predicated upon a dominant liberal economic model, which involves creation of a global market economy and the rise of multinational and transnational corporation’s income.
The Indian Entertainment and Media Industry have out-performed the Indian economy in last one decade. It is raising with the economic growth and rising income levels. According to Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and Price water House coopers (PWC) report on “Media & Entertainment- 2008” it recorded a growth of 17% in 2007 over previous year. Industry size reached Rs. 51,300 Crore in 2007, up from Rs. 43,800 Crore in 2006. Advertising industry recorded a growth of 22% in 2007 over 2006 .It is contributed 38% of the industry’s revenues. Indian Entertainment and Media Industry projected to grow by 18% cumulatively over the next five years; projected to reach Rs. 1,15,700 Crore by 2012. Foreign investments in the Entertainment and Media (E and M) industry reached a record high of US $211 million in 2007. The industry saw the entry of new players and existing players expanding by diversifying into new segments, spreading their presence across value chains, broadening their horizons by increasing their geographic presence. For example Indian cooperate giant Reliance Group has entered in the filmed entertainment and radio segment. In 2005, Reliance Capital bought a majority stake in Adlabs which have a strong presence in entertainment segment. Reliance also made its entry into the radio segment by bidding for over 50 FM radio stations across the country with aggregate bids of over INR 1.5 billion. Rather than this direct foreign investment took place in Indian English dailies such as Hindustan Times and Business Standard by Henderson Global and Financial Times respectively.
The Indian Entertainment and Media Industry have out-performed the Indian economy in last one decade. It is raising with the economic growth and rising income levels. According to Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and Price water House coopers (PWC) report on “Media & Entertainment- 2008” it recorded a growth of 17% in 2007 over previous year. Industry size reached Rs. 51,300 Crore in 2007, up from Rs. 43,800 Crore in 2006. Advertising industry recorded a growth of 22% in 2007 over 2006 .It is contributed 38% of the industry’s revenues. Indian Entertainment and Media Industry projected to grow by 18% cumulatively over the next five years; projected to reach Rs. 1,15,700 Crore by 2012. Foreign investments in the Entertainment and Media (E and M) industry reached a record high of US $211 million in 2007. The industry saw the entry of new players and existing players expanding by diversifying into new segments, spreading their presence across value chains, broadening their horizons by increasing their geographic presence. For example Indian cooperate giant Reliance Group has entered in the filmed entertainment and radio segment. In 2005, Reliance Capital bought a majority stake in Adlabs which have a strong presence in entertainment segment. Reliance also made its entry into the radio segment by bidding for over 50 FM radio stations across the country with aggregate bids of over INR 1.5 billion. Rather than this direct foreign investment took place in Indian English dailies such as Hindustan Times and Business Standard by Henderson Global and Financial Times respectively.
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