Thursday, May 13, 2010
Election Days Are Here Again
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Revisiting the Press Club , Mumbai Elections 2006
We are posting the list of candidates put up by the Forum For Democracy And Development (FDD) in the last elections of the Press Club, Mumbai , held in the year 2006. Alongwith it , we are also posting the FDD Election manifesto for that elections and a separate appeal issued by its presidential candidate , Pradip Vijaykar who had managed to win.
President : Pradeep Vijayakar (The Times of India)
Chairman: Vinod Khatri (Navbharat Times)
Vice-Chairman: Chandra Shekhar Sant (Sr Marathi Journalist)
Secretary: Oommen A Ninan (The Hindu)
Joint Secretary: Nandkishore Bharatiya (Navbharat Times)
Treasurer: Sai Prasan (The Financial Express)
Managing Committee (MC)
1. Satish Nandgaonkar (The Telegraph)
2. P. Raghu Mohan (Business India )
3. Vikas Khot (Hindustan Times)
4. M V Ramsurya (The Economic Times)
5. Prasad Mokashi (Loksatta)
6. James Manalody (The Asian Age)
7. Prakash Deshmukh (Sakal)
8. M C Govardhana Rangan (Reuters India)
9. Manoj Bhoyar (Sahara Samay TV)
FDD offering outside support to an independent woman candidate:
Sashi (Shashikiran Shrivastava) (The Times of India)
ELECTION MANIFESTO OF
Forum for Democracy and Development (FDD)
Press Club Mumbai Elections 2006-08
Give Your verdict in favour of Forum for Democracy and Development (FDD)
For the progress of the Mumbai Press Club in a democratic and transparent manner
Rapid development of the Press Club can be possible only if all the members are encouraged to participate in the decision making process.
The MHADA Housing Project hanging for the last three years can be a reality only if it is expedited in a democratic and transparent manner.
And, the resources for the construction of the Press Club building, pending for the last several years, can be generated only if donors of funds have a faith that their contribution would be properly utilized for lifting the face of the entire Press Club instead of any single individual.
Mr Oommen Ninan, Treasurer in the outgoing Managing Committee along with another MC member Satish Nandgaonkar have joined hands with a group of people who believe in the participatory democracy for the speedy growth of the Press Club.
Agenda for the year 2006-08:
Speedy implementation of Mhada Housing Scheme in a transparent manner,
Introduction of the Medical Insurance scheme for the members and staff,
Master plan for the entire Press Club instead of a peace-meal approach. The work would be carried in a democratic and transparent manner.
Creating an Information Hub through the `Meet the Press' Programmes.
Informing members about the Job opportunities available in the media both in print and TV.
FDD would also introduce two important amendments in the Press Club Constitution:
Any officer-bearer or the MC involved in violent activities in the Club premises would be suspended within 72 hours by the Managing Committee. And, SGM would be called within seven working days of the incident to constitute a three-member Independent enquiry committee to probe the incident which would give its report within one month.
2. The AGM and not MC would appoint a three-member election committee to conduct a free and fair election of the Press Club.
Note: The vision statement of Mr Pradeep Vijayakar, FDD's Presidential candidate is attached.
Taking journalists to another level
By Pradeep Vijayakar
I joined the Mumbai Press Club in 1974 as its junior-most member. I spend happy days interacting with seniors in a cross section of journalism, economic, news, cultural besides my own branch sports.
There have been any number of well-meaning people wanting to take the club forward but the concrete steps have been taken only in the last decade. I am happy to have been president of the club for three years of those ten.
There are pressing times for journalists. The system of accountability has come into the profession. Perform or pack up. Stragglers have no place. The system of appraisal can easily weed out the shirkers.
Plus there are new concepts, We are told: "Your company does not owe you your job." Or "Human resource development is not about people but about putting systems in place".
In such a situation I feel the Mumbai Press Club has a role to play in taking journalists to a higher level. By showing the way in helping them de-stress and increase their productivity.
No doubt its prime task is to be a place for relaxation, to forget your work and unwind.
That we can do. But the club can also help side by side in the multi-dimensional development of the journalist.
In whichever organisation one works only one dimension of one's personality is utilized by the organization. But we know our journalists have many sides. Only they don't show it. I think the Press Club can be the right place for this hidden talent to surface.
Press Club also has a role towards society the emerging breed of journalists. Our neighbouring Mumbai Marathi Patrakar Sangh, of which I am a life member, has coaching classes in journalism. No such thing at our place.
I have been teaching journalism at various places. And I can tell you the students are still groping around. A place like Press Club with its vast base of experienced journalists can be of huge help to this student group.
Above all we want journalists to love each other, live in an atmosphere of mutual respect.
The Press Club can achieve this with its webside. By getting journalists to write about each other, juniors writing about their seniors, what they learnt from seniors, profiles of journalists who have been personalities in their own right. I can tell you we have a treasure in our club. Only they are under wraps.
Hopefully all these things will change. If you allow us to.
Polling Date : August 26, 2006
Time : Between 12 (Noon) and 8 PM
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Attack on media -in Maharashtra & Gujarat
The Gujarat Police has slapped sedition charges on The Times of India, Ahmedabad, for suggesting that Ahmedabad’s new Commissioner of Police, Mr O P Mathur, had underworld links. If the Commissioner was offended, he was within his rights to have initiated criminal and civil proceedings of defamation against the publication and its employees. But sedition?
In Thane, hoodlums claiming to represent an outfit known as Shiv Sangram Sanghatana,
attacked the house of Kumar Ketkar, editor of the Marathi daily “Loksatta”, in broad
daylight and subjected him to verbal abuse and terror before the police arrived a full 40
minutes later. Ketkar’s offence? In a satirical vein, he had questioned the need for the
Maharashtra government to spend Rs 300 crores on erecting a statue of Shivaji in the
Arabian Sea when Maharashtra’s children are malnourished, have no access to schools
and our farmers are committing suicide.
If an arm of the state can press so serious a charge as sedition on one of India’s biggest media groups with such impunity, what could be in store for smaller publications and individual journalists? Is this not a direct attack on the freedom of expression and opinion? Are the cops above criticism? Can criticism of an individual police officer amount to sedition? Is government policy not subject to democratic debate and discussion?
As for the Ketkar case, time and again, mob rule has prevented the slightest whiff of dissent when the subject matter is even vaguely related to Shivaji. And more often than not, these mobs have had overt or covert political support: this is a handy device for silencing opposition to pet causes. If an editor of Kumar Ketkar’s standing of a mainstream publication can be intimidated in such a brazen fashion, what hope for other dissenting journalists?
In fact, this growing lack of tolerance to any criticism from the media also extends to the judiciary. In September 2007, three journalists and the publisher of “Midday”, a New Delhi eveninger, were convicted by the High Court for contempt of court for arguing that the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court may have had an undeclared conflict of interest while deciding some cases involving the shutting down of small shops and commercial establishments. Another senior activist and journalist was pulled up for even suggesting that a discriminatory system of justice is prevalent in our courts when granting bail. Remember, the judges have also ruled that they are not subject to scrutiny under the Right to Information Act nor are their individual assets a matter for public scrutiny.
A clear trend is now emerging. On the one hand, various arms of the state are cracking down on the media whenever unpalatable facts are uncovered. On the other, bands of ruffians are unleashed on the media, generally with the patronage of politicians and sections of the administration, to silence even the mildest criticism. This dangerous trend appears backed by every political party across the spectrum. Such intimidatory tactics also have a demonstration effect and are intended to create a climate of fear. No disquieting questions are to be raised regarding the economic, political and social fallout of India’s tryst with globalization and financialisation.
Are mediapersons going to be cowed down by such blatantly intimidatory ploys? Are we going to be content to play the role of passive spectators? To ask inconvenient questions is the raison d’etre of journalism. Are we a mature democracy or are we fast becoming a backdoor banana republic?
We invite all freedom-loving citizens and groups to attend a meeting on “Who benefits from intimidation of the Media?” at Mumbai Marathi Patrakar Sangh, Opposite BMC Headquarters, CST on 12th June 2008 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Among the speakers
are Kumar Ketkar, editor, Loksatta, Aspi Chinoy, Supreme Court lawyer, P.Sainath, Editor ( rural affairs) The Hindu, Teesta Setalvad, Citizens for Justice and Peace, Neelkanth Paratkar, President, Brihanmumbai Union of Journalists.
Issued by: Brihanmumbai Union of Journalists, Mumbai Marathi Patrakar Sangh, Citizens for Justice and Peace, Communalism Combat, Lokshahi Haaq Sanghatana, Committee for the Protection of Democratic Rights, Forum against Oppression of Women, Stree Mukti Sanghatana, Akshara, Women’s Centre, Awaz-e-Niswaan, Trade Union Solidarity Committee, Trade Union Centre of India and other organisations
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Take out a protest march from Press Club to Mantralaya
June 5, 2008
Mr Deshmukh, we do not want to be your MP or MLC –but do not expect us to be quiet when goons of your coalition attack journalists
Even as residence of the Loksatta Kumar Ketkar was attacked by goons of the ruling Democratic Front in Maharashtra on June 5, 2008 , the State Chief Minster Vilasrao Deshmukh regretted the same day that he could not nominate any writer or journalist to the Sate Legislative Council .
“We had two chances spread over six years to nominate 12 persons each time, but politics of coalition has changed norms earlier set” , Mr Deshmukh , addressing at a function felicitating the Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha member and former editor of Maharashtra Times , Bharatkumar Raut in Manralaya said .
“We had two chances spread over six years to nominate 12 persons each time, but politics of coalition has changed norms earlier set”, he added and promised to try to get some journalists become MLC next time
For the record Mr Deshmukh condemned the attack on the residence of Loksatta editor Kumar Ketkar. Saying “ One may not agree to what he has written, but the attack on him is not acceptable.
For the same record Deputy Chief Minister and Home minister of the state R. R. Patil also condemned the attack saying “ seven persons were arrested on the spot in this connection .They are charged with rioting which is a non-baillable offence.Ketkar residence in Thane was attacked by Shivasangram workers. They were protesting against an editorial in Loksatta on the idea of Shivaji memorial in the Arabian sea. Shivasangram is run by the NCP State vice president and ex-MLC Vinayak Mete.
We condemn this attack and suggest all the journalists to take out a protest march from The Press Club, Mumbai to the Mantralaya
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Hemant Shirodkar wins two wards in the press club photo contest
Twelve photo-Journalists were honoured this evening at the Press club , Mumbai by Sony Entertainment Television (SET) chief operating officer, Albert Almeida. However , only half of them were present in peson to receive the awards.
A week-long exhibition of their award-winning photos was also unveiled at the Club , which in association with the SET has been organising for the last five years a contest among the city-based photographers to showcase the best photographs that have captured Mumbai and itsnever-say-die spirit through an annual calendar.
Press photographer Hemant Shirodkar of Times of India baggedtwo prizes for his entries in the contest this year.
A total of 35 news photographers who are members of the Club,participated in the contest sending in over 450 images. Out of these12 images were adjudged as winners.
The photojournalist who have clicked these 12 images areA. Srinivas (The Indian Express), Ashish Rane (Mid-Day), DeepakSalvi (Mumbai Mirror), Dilip Kagda (The Indian Express), FawzanHusain (Freelancer), Ganesh Shirsekar (The Indian Express), GoutamSen (Sahara), Hemant Shirodkar (Times of India,2 images), SachinHaralkar (Mumbai Mirror), Vijayanand Gupta and Vikas Khot (HindustanTimes).
Thursday, January 24, 2008
CLB restores non-monopolistic character of UNI
| |
CLB chairman S. Balasubramanian passed the final order on a company petition filed by ABP Private Ltd; Manipal Media Network; Kasturi and Sons Ltd. and the Printers (Mysore) Ltd. for a declaration that the resolution purported to have been passed at the UNI Board meeting on September 2, 2006 relating to allotment of 10,208 shares of Rs. 100 in favour of Media West Private Ltd. was “illegal, null and void.”
In its 41-page order, the CLB said: “It is an admitted fact that in the UNI, notwithstanding that there is no restriction on the number of shares that a member can hold, there has never been a single majority in the nearly 40 years of UNI’s existence and, therefore, creation of an absolute majority now is definitely a deviation from the long standing practice.”
It said: “In a company, where there is no single majority, the affairs of the company would be carried on more democratically, which position has now been affected by creation of a single majority by the allotment of impugned shares. Therefore, the shareholders can legitimately voice a grievance of oppression.”
The petitioners had contended that the purported allotment of shares in favour of Media West at the September 2, 2006 UNI Board meeting was ultra vires the Articles of Association of the company, which provided “that no share or shares shall be allotted or transferred to any person other than the owner of any newspaper in India, and Media West not being an owner of a newspaper published in India is not eligible or competent to acquire shares in the company.”
The CLB held that as the Board had not specifically considered the eligibility of Media West to become a member, it could not have allotted the shares to Media West, and that impugned acts had changed the character of the UNI and that the entire exercise suffered from lack of transparency.
The CLB said, “Consequently, Media West ceases to be a member and, therefore, it has become ineligible to have its nominees on the Board. Accordingly, its nominees shall cease to be additional directors with immediate effect.”
The CLB pointed out that the admitted position was that the UNI was in financial distress.
Now that the allotment had been declared as null and void, consequent to which the company would be deprived of funds, it was now the responsibility of the Board, more particularly the petitioners, to find ways and means to mobilise funds either by way of subscribing to the shares, if offered or by way of long term loans, or in any other manner.