Victers Channel Failures Suppressed By Media

Kerala has an educational channel to make virtual class room technology available to remote villages. Equipments made available free of cost by the prestigious ISRO, supplies and maintenance undertaken by famous Hughes Limited and funds liberally released by the Government of India, it is but headed by greedy government people who force this poor students’ channel always out of air.

News media have long been issuing two derelict officers’ press notes as news reports.

We have heard about paid news and paid suppression of news. But Kerala media have long been publishing two derelict government officers’ ridiculous press notes as news reports. We shall see why. Kerala’s central government-aided educational channel Victers went off air on 09 September 2015 around 08 AM. The Hindu National Daily on 15 September 2015 published two news articles on this incident in which they quoted IT @ School Director and Executive Director of Victers channel, Mr. K P Noufal, and Channel Chief On Deputation from Public Relations Department, Mr. Salin Mankuzhi, as answering ‘media queries’. These two news articles raise so many questions in the minds of the reading public, especially among those who know something about channel transmissions in general, and about this educational channel owned by state and run badly by two government officers like private enterprise in particular. On the date, the media reported the channel out of air 5 days back, but actually it was 8 days back. Erring like this on facts concerning another television channel operating from the same city is out of ordinary. These news reports appear like one-sided press notes prepared and issued by these two derelict officers of government, releasing to public what they had to say to escape from punishment. In fact, news papers in Kerala have long been releasing these two person’s press notes manipulated and clothed as news reports. The reason is, Kerala Press Academy at Kakkanad, Kochi has business affairs with this channel and is a partner in one of their programmes. Cheating readers and violating press ethics are condemnable but not uncommon in the media world. People have the right to know what actually happens in this Victers Government Educational Channel of Kerala for which, it is now clear, they cannot depend on news papers and other channels who are excessively soft and considerate when reporting on Victers Channel. The news paper report mildly says that ‘the Transmission Hub developed a fault’ which is another form of saying ‘please do not blame these two officers’.

Reputed Indoor Broadband Unit suppliers won’t give commissions to lowly channel chiefs.

ISRO supplied the transmission equipments ten years back. The hub and related accessories are now outdated due to non maintenance and lack of replacements, and that was why the channel went out of air. Hubs in Broad band Transmission Studios are common connection points with multiple ports for all devises in that channel’s network, which handles data-carrying frames arriving as packets in each port, copy these packets to every port in the hub whether they are destined to these ports or not, and amplifies and transmits data frames to ports in the destination personal computers, such that all segments of a Local Area Network can see all packets of data without missing one. Ordinarily, a hub cannot distinguish the intended destination of a frame, so it broadcasts the frame to every port, to ensure that the intended port also would pick it up. It is a safety system which ensures that every segment is there to be viewed and listened to, at the expense of increased net traffic and longer response time. Today there are Active, Passive, Intelligent and Switching type of hubs to rectify these drawbacks, but the Channel’s Executive Director Mr. Noufal in this news report has not revealed which one his channel uses. As it is the function of the hub to transmit recorded signals to the air, its maintenance is of paramount importance to a channel. Other channels regularly maintenance their hubs and they function smoothly too, but authorities of Victers channel did not care for maintenance, in spite of repeated warnings from technicians and service engineers. Naturally, the channel went off air. Hub is a network of equipments which is housed in a room under the supervision of a Hub Engineer attached to the channel head quarters, deputed from the supplying company. In this case, the supplier is known to be the reputed US firm Hughes India Limited, suppliers of Indoor Broadband Units the ISRO authorized as Nodal Agency for maintenance of the hub and who is noted for not giving commissions to petty officers like channel chiefs and directors. 

How will sophisticated companies work with ignorant channel people?

As early as in March 2015, Deshabhimani Daily of Kerala had reported that the Encoder of this Channel went faulty and Victers Channel had vanished from air. The channel had enough funds made available by government to purchase a new Encoder but these two officers found the easy way of renting an Encoder, and this Encoder had been helping the channel to remain in air since March 2015 till September. The rented Encoder will cost the channel around Rs. 40,000/- per month as rent and the renting agency would only be glad to take it back from this useless channel headed by wrong people. Who would find it easy and pleasant to deal with two senseless morons? This Encoder must have been still working as it was private-supplied, but components in the decade-old Dish Antenna supplied by ISRO must have broken down, sending the channel out of air. We can ask, whether new component parts for the dish antenna could not have been purchased. But it is a process made complicated by the conditions and appointments made in this channel. Broken down components would be outdated versions with which alone would an outdated hub work. If components are to be replaced, the hub also will have to be replaced and the dish antenna too. The end result- everything will have to be replaced.

Throughout India, officers have a tendency to purchase things from non rate-contracted suppliers who give commissions, or not purchase at all.

The Director General of Supplies and Disposals [DGSD] has a rate contract system with suppliers for procuring articles needed by government. It is to be strictly followed by all government departments in states as well as at the centre, to keep away from the Comptroller and Audit General of India’s and the Accountant General of India’s objections. Broadband equipments and accessories are no exemption. We shall wonder if satellites too have been included in that list! Purchases can be effected only from DGSD suppliers, and only at contracted rates, that too only after negotiation of prices- i.e. at prices negotiated through discussion and bargaining to lower than contracted rates, and again only through tendering. In this process it is very difficult and almost impossible for departmental officers to obtain commissions from suppliers. Therefore, throughout India, officers have a tendency to purchase articles from non-contracted suppliers- many of them government firms- who will readily give commissions, or not purchase at all. Inability to do this in present circumstances, especially with vigil eyes watching, was what actually resulted in not purchasing necessary equipment in time from the authorized nodal agency, while 2 crores rupees allotted by government were idling. The Hindu news report quotes Mr. K P Noufal as saying he could not arrange to update equipments because the ISRO will not give Clearance. How can ISRO give clearance if he wants to purchase equipments from agencies other than the officially-authorized one which won’t give commissions? For two years while the Director officiated in the post, he had plenty of time to complete paper work formalities, and now he weeps before press that paper work was what delayed things- two long years of successfully delaying and blocking paper work for commission, while sitting in the Executive Director’s chair! So this is how and why equipments failed and Victers channel went out of air. It is known this channel has a long purchasing history with Keltron, noted for giving commissions, and presently entrusted with the charge of installing Time Punching Systems in all government offices. You can naturally guess what is going on behind. 

Victers selected an ugly non-Keralite name against good advices.

The Executive Director of the channel, Mr. K P Noufal, a political appointee of the ruling Congress Party and Muslim League, seems to know nothing about the history of this channel; he told media that ‘the name Victers was coined by ISRO which is a common name for all states’. It is not so. ICT-enabled educational channels in other states have other names. In Andhra-Telengana it is Mana TV, in Karnataka Jnana Taranga, in Tamil Nadu Arasu Network, and in Maharashtra it is Vyas, and so on. In Kerala also, it was then heard that a famous littérateur poetess advised them to take upon a sweet Malayalam name but the authorities did not listen to, particularly an adamant IAS officer. It was also heard that the present name Victers was devised by him against good advice. This channel originally started as Edusat Video Conferencing in 2005, opened by late Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, the then Hon’ble President of India. In those times it was just a live video-conferencing facility between the main studio housed then at Gorky Bhavan, Soviet Cultural Centre, Bakery Junction, Trivandrum and 14 District Edusat Training Centres, in live interactive online mode. Since 2006 it has had a real channel concept and adopted Recorded Offline Transmission. Victers as a channel was officially inaugurated in 2006 by Mr. V S Achuthanandan when he was Chief Minister of Kerala.

Channel’s Executive Director lying his way into media.

Some confessions made by the Executive Director Mr. Noufal in this news article by The Hindu are ridiculous. [1] ‘Updating of equipments has to be done on an All India Basis since all states share the same spectrum’: This does not answer the question what he has done during his tenure to maintenance the equipments under his control in the state. [2] ‘ISRO is not giving clearance for updating of equipments’: How will ISRO give clearance if the equipments are wished to be purchased not from their authorized and rate-contracted agent Hughes India, for commissions? [3] ‘Last month, a senior officer from ISRO visited our studio and realized that we are different from the channels in the other States, as we are developing several hours of our own content’: It is true this channel is indeed different from other government educational channels in other states: Unlike others, this channel does not make any curriculum-based educational content but makes only cheap and vulgar entertainment content which would stretch for hours and hours at government expense, in which old and agèd experts could be excluded from and lovely young girls could be engaged as presenters and the Channel Chief could regularly pose like a cinema star. [4] ‘Only one ISRO agent makes the needed equipments and there is a lot of paper work’: After two years in office, he has only succeeded in slackening paperwork on the hope that in the end everyone including ISRO will become tired and allow purchase from agencies who would give commissions.

Will Channel Chiefs lie this much frequently and boldly to news papers?

Channel Chief Mr. Salin Mankuzhi lied to media when he said ‘30 new programmes started in the current year, out of which 10 live, brought in more viewers for the channel’. Where did he get this statistics on viewership? He had told reporters in the same ‘interview’ that ‘the channel has not yet conducted a viewer-ship survey. In this digital age, will anyone gauge viewer-ship based on ‘the number of calls they get in phone-in programmes’? The channel which boasts of ‘Phone-In Programmes for rural schools and Medical and Engineering Entrance Examination coaching classes’, supposedly using the world’s latest technologies, ‘has but only one telephone in the office’ to cater to the whole world, he says! Which government will not permit obtaining multi telephone connections, or even a switch board with staff, if asked in writing by the Channel Chief? We know obtaining an additional telephone connection for a government office will not bring commission. Do not think about obtaining commissions everywhere. 

Who will run a badly-kept car, in a bad road, without a spare tire?

 

The media was eager to claim in their report that the programmes aired by this channel are curriculum-based educational programmes. In fact, there are no curriculum-based educational programmes aired by this channel but only vulgar entertainment programmes, as verified by their programme schedules. Anyway, to save face, the media seems to have noted that this channel does not have a back up system as other channels do. Who will run a badly maintained car in a bad road without a steppini tire? It startles us to learn that this channel has no back up- stand by arrangements- to meet emergencies like going out of air due to components failure. The channel is now available only in its online stream which no one views. Without Virtual Integrated Classroom Technology-enabled Edusat for Rural Schools, what V I C T E R S? Replacing and updating components, including the non-operational Transmission Hub by purchasing new ones is the only sensible option left before authorities to bring the channel back on air and make it useful to children. But from the fact that the education minister’s office always protects these derelicts, it is sure these two officers, goaded by their urge to squeeze commissions, will only move for temporarily replacing them with borrowed or rented ones, until the ground is clear for purchasing new ones from suppliers who are ‘co-operative’ and willing to give commissions. Or, is this education minister’s office a third partner?

People will not stand watching when rich rogues close doors of light in poor students’ face.

Had there been no such channel in existence, there would have been no uproar. But now that it has been there for a few years thanks to central government and ISRO, has gained the attention of students and they are using it as a learning aid regularly, a habit now, the destruction of this state’s educational channel by two wicked and irresponsible officers can only be viewed seriously by the public. The student, teacher and parent community know that the education secretary, education minister and the chief minister view the destruction of this channel by their deputies lightly, like buffoons in a comic circus, as they have no scope for ever appearing in this channel and these deputies are their own political appointees. But if they do not look into the activities and practices going on in this channel which are detrimental to the interests of poor students, and do not take immediate remedial action including disciplinary action against their deputies, sometime soon more media people will liberate themselves free from this unholy association of thugs and media, and more good and informative investigative articles will appear and more impartial people will begin to take their firm stand against criminalizing and corrupting their children’s educational channels. People will not stand aside watching when rich rogues destruct poor students’ educational means at will and close the doors of light in their face.

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Images Courtesy: Sahyadri Archives, Trivandrum
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[By arrangement with the author]

Also read: Victers Educational Channel Falling From Sky

Links to original news articles in The Hindu:

1. Snag takes VICTERS channel off air. September 15, 2015 05:47 IST
http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Thiruvananthapuram/snag-takes-victers-channel-off-air/article7653971.ece

2 Focus on self-produced programmes. September 15, 2015 05:47 IST
http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Thiruvananthapuram/focus-on-selfproduced programmes/article7653973.ece

Tags: Victers Channel, IT At School, Kerala Education, Salin Mankuzhi, K P Noufal, IT Director, Virtual Class Rooms, IT Education, Phone In Programmes, Corruption In Kerala, Kerala News, Media In Kerala,


[Updated on 17 September 2015]


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A Home Away From Home For Writers A Farce

A place for writers! Are writers such gregarious? Will writers ever flock together, and will it ever be good? It is like cheap politicians and state ministers visiting Europe at government expense and on return insist that there should be total computerization in their electricity-short country! ‘A place for writers’ exists in European countries but in the Orient it is rare. It is seldom that good writers co-habit with others. When a writer is immersed deep in writing and his wife comes and demands ‘hold this child’, what better distraction is there to land him onto life’s immediate realities and keep him away from lunacy through constant flight in imagination? So, a ‘Home Away From Home’ for a writer is not good for the Orient unless he is the ‘fifth husband living with the sixth wife’. Such homes are useful for him if he is interested in sexual acrobatics and Bacchus Worship. Kerala’s writers’ boycotting this idea of a ‘Home Away From Home’ is a sign of their good breeding. 

One may ask what wrong is there in providing writers with cozy quarters, good living, peaceful atmosphere, and the opportunity to mingle with equal intellectuals. Well, if he cannot provide the means for these in his homestead and share such golden atmosphere with his wife and children, he does not deserve such settings. Writers who created great literature almost always lived in poverty, isolation, seclusion and neglect. They were always burdened with financial and parental problems in family. Only just a few were free from family encumbrances or blessed with richness in money and companionship. Fewer still were helped by generous royalties from publishers. This did not deter them from writing fine books and poetry, and many did not have the consolation of seeing their works printed in their life time. Authors like Ethel Lilian Voynich, the author of The Gadfly, even did not know they were printed and read. It is when there is pain and loneliness in soul that the soul speaks with itself. That is when, and how, literature is born. Without knowing this architectonics of literature, it is in vain to think about flocking writers to one place and housing them in supposedly adequate dwellings.

Social media sites are praised here in this news article- they need no praise. They are far higher in a level beyond praise, compared to the little-minded big news papers and the petty staff behind them. They provided people with the democratic rights for freedom of expression which the executive, legislature, judiciary and media denied them. They also provided people the right to speak directly and to dissect and examine openly the policies and lives of so-called people’s representatives who became a class unto themselves. They are the fifth estate, allowing people to speak directly, without subjecting themselves to the mercy of arrogant news paper editors. Whatever deficiencies and money-orientation Google, Face Book and other internet platforms have, they provided people with this democratic right to speak directly, without needing anyone to represent them. 

Some people hold the wrong belief that social media sites are used for expressing oneself without revealing identities. This wrong notion stems from one’s acquaintance limited to only with those who fear expressing opinions publicly. Millions of people use these platforms to express their opinions and views fearlessly and publicly, without hiding their identities, which is what terrorizes world governments. These people do not fear governments, firmly believing that people are masters and governments are servants, tilting political equilibriums everywhere gradually. When people speak directly- which is for the first time in this world- the servants will have to obey. Governments are loosing grip and people are recapturing power. Tomorrow they will read government bills in senate and parliament and vote online and veto. It is real people behind Google Plus and Face Book and Blogs, and they do not commit the base crime of hiding identity from other real people. There may be exemptions, like the writer here observed, especially in totalitarian states like China, but such helpless anonymous are far few in numbers to be noted.

It is understood that whatever posted in these social media sites adds to people’s education and free thought. If a writer has received something from the world, he has the obligation to give it back someday, free. Internet is a free information highway and those who use it only for monetary gains are violators of the spirit of this magnificent discovery of mankind and frowned upon by everyone. Some writers do not release their articles and books in social sites, fearing that people will read them free and their revenue will dwindle. So, they post only a link to their publisher and condemn dissemination of free knowledge, yelping phrases like DRM. 

There is no wonder the writers of Kerala ignored this project for ‘A Home Away From Home’. They might have looked up who this writer who was offering them a sanctuary was and might have found that he was a person who writes poetry without perfection in rhyme and metre and without even punctuation and proper capitalization, and decided to keep away from him for ever. Also, the tiny and inconspicuous interface of this author’s website might have screamed of selfishness and incompetence as a warning. The writers of Kerala are not that cheap or misguided.

[In reply to news article ‘Kerala shattered my dreams’ dated 29 April 2015 in English Manorama Online]

Link to original news article: 

http://www.manoramaonline.com/literature/interviews/interview-t-p-rajeevan.html

Govt. Will Promote Culprits In SSLC Result Discrepancies!

IT@School was assigned the responsibility of publishing the SSLC Examination Results of Kerala 2015 in the official portal. They did this on the 21st of April and there was an avalanche of complaints and exposure of a bunch of discrepancies. Thousands of cases of missing results were reported. They had to take down the results from their special portal finally. No sooner this happened than they began to accuse prestigious institutions more long-standing, efficient and loyal than them. Through the state education minister and a few reputed news papers, they spread the rumour that a few staff in the Examination and Tabulation Cell in the Education Directorate erred and the software provided by the National Informatics Centre malfunctioned. The news papers were more eager to spread this lie than others, the reason for which we shall see towards the end of this article. To save his darlings from exposure and prosecution for psychologically shocking children, the education minister Mr. Abdu Rubb, with no mentionable qualifications to be an education minister, even went to the extreme of accusing that ‘the new software developed by National Informatics Centre (NIC) was responsible for the mistakes’ and said ‘the government might seek an explanation from NIC!’ He was not willing to admit that the IT@School Director, primarily responsible for this misdemeanor, was a close relative of another state minister and appointed to this post purely based on religious relations, rather than academic qualifications and skill in IT. Widespread mistakes throughout the state were lightened and portrayed as ‘isolated anomalies’ by the minister Mr. Rubb. The software provided by the NIC was used in other states also and there were no such complaints reported in the other states. All software released by the NIC are done so only after successful test runs and here also Kerala was provided with a viable and valuable software, evidenced by the fact that massive data could indeed be uploaded by the education department through this software. According to NIC officials, their software was clean and it was the education department officials, especially the IT@School Mission, who were responsible for glitches, and mistakes.

An emergency meeting was convened by the education minister which sure must have been consisted of the real culprits responsible for these discrepancies in the examination results, for the minister after this meeting came up with the accusation that ‘the discrepancies were due to glitches in the software developed by NIC.’ Mr. Oommen Chandy, the chief minister of Kerala, claimed that these discrepancies were ‘minor issues, blown out of proportion by media’. He also alleged that the ‘media is terrorizing children’. So the question arises, who is terrorizing children actually and what are the punishments for terrorizing little children who are shocked to find or not to find their examination results in the supposed places? If some child takes his or her life, will Mr. Oommen Chandy or Mr. Abdu Rubb or Mr. K P Noufal arrested? Now Mr. Kunhalikkutty, the Industries Minister, who had no reason to comment, says that ‘there is nothing extra-ordinary in SSLC examination results’. He surely is frightened about the fouls and discrepancies the IT@School Director Mr. Noufal committed which are exposed now, in spite of journalists in Kala Kaumudi, Mathrubhumi and Malayala Manorama having tried like mad through untimely articles to white-wash and praise this IT@School Director.

Mullahs And Ayatollahs In Education Minister's Office

Everything we hear about the Education Department of Kerala nowadays proves that it is in the grip of under-educated and intolerant religious fanatics who formed themselves into a party whose role is essential for the survival of the present government in Kerala which have only a two or three seats’ fragile majority in the state assembly. Just go through this news article in English Malayalam Manorama and see how people of a particular sect supposed to be under the strict ethical control of their religion go to extremes, sure of the mullas and ayattollas in the Education Minister’s office and the Directorate of Public Instruction protecting them. In Saidalavi’s school in Malappuram, based on a fake medical certificate from a Dr. Koya, a teacher named Aneesh was accused of beating a peon and charged with misbehaviour, was suspended and later found dead in a lodge. Mr. Saidalavi and Mr. Koya thought Mr. Abdu Rabb would protect them, for they belong to the same religion, perhaps to the same mosque! The Education Department ordered a probe, after the unruly decisions of the school management came out, and how the school principal and the educational authorities went along with the management, fearing reprisals from the Education Minister’s office, was exposed. Now it will appear like the Education Department was clean and it was a few low level officers the culprits. Unless these officials who are now under suspension were not sure of the department’s top officials’ okaying the school management’s actions, how could they have dared to channel their actions this way, ending in the suicide (or murder?) of a teacher? Unless the Director of Health Services accepts bribes and presentations from medicine companies, how will a dictor in a dispensary accept a small bribe? Unless the Director of Education is known to be protecting religious fanatics and misbehaves, how will a lowly Deputy accept a fake medical certificate and go along with the wrong action of the management? There have been so many allegations of irresponsibility and religious favouritism against the Education Department, accusing them of religious favouritism and gross irresponsibility. How come almost all key positions in this important department are filled up with people belonging to the Education Minister’s religion- in this case Muslims- and most of them under-qualified? Just look at their Government Diary or this department’s official website to see if this allegation is true. Doesn’t this department expected to be shaping future generations have at least a little bit of shame to think everything on religious lines? Isn’t there a little decency expected of this department? How tired and disinterested might have they made those proficient and skilled officers of other religions in this prestigious department! If there are not enough officials belonging to the minister’s religion, every post will be filled up through deputation. The perfect example is the posting of Mr. K P Noufal, an unimportant academic from some minor college in Malappuram with no particular special background except Muslim League relations, who was deputed as the IT @ School Director and who is believed to be being considered as the next Higher Secondary Education Director. If every key post is filled with religious, caste and creed-oriented this way, then what kind of education can this department give the future generations of Kerala? It is dangerous to divide the higher offices in the state’s education department this way. There is a Chief Minister in Kerala and a few state ministers who were, in their youth, eloquent orators on the very subject which is remarked here. They now behave like they have gone blind. There are fire-brand organizations like the Democratic Youth Federation of India, Yuva Morccha and the Youth Congress. They behave like paralyzed old men when the situation of the education department of Kerala being filled up with religious fanatics is mentioned. There are international Keralite organizations in England, America and the Middle East who make their presence known each year through news of Onam Celebrations abroad, but they are unresponsive when the question of the educational future of Kerala’s children is pointed out. There are scores of newspapers and magazines like Malayala Manorama, Mathrubhoomi, Kerala Kaumudi, Kala Kaumudi, Chintha, Janayugam and Madhyamam who claim themselves to be overflowing with investigative journalists, but who piss in their pants when the real threats to Kerala’s future demand themselves to be exposed.

[In reply to news article ‘Aneesh's suspension violation of rules: Education Dept report’ dated 14 April 2015 in English Manorama Online]
 
Link to news article:
Aneesh's suspension violation of rules: Education Dept report

Tuesday 14 April 2015 09:30 PM IST

http://english.manoramaonline.com/news/kerala/aneesh-s-suspension-violation-of-rules-education-dept-report.html

 

Is Kala Kaumudi White-Washing Blackened Public Figures?

The Media can survive only through honest and responsible reporting. It is true that ‘responsible and authentic reporting and cross-checking before publishing is very difficult, but sensationalizing news is very easy. So, media reporters in Kerala, India, go after sensationalization of news, or they just invent news where none exists. The Governor of Kerala P Sathasivam’s observation that print media is loosing ground to the unimaginable developments in information technology and the high literacy rate in Kerala prevent print media from loosing ground is also right. But, whether the print media of Kerala would take these observations seriously and revert to its old truthful reporting style is doubtful. Ignorance, laziness and arrogance of Kerala’s journalists- young and old- have gone to such extremes that a return to former self is no more possible. Most of them degraded themselves as propagandists and pen-pushers for the rich, the handsome and the powerful. We shall examine the attitude of Kerala’s print media to such dire warnings, by examining one single issue of a once-popular magazine of Kerala. The magazine is Kala Kaumudi Weekly and the issue number is 2066 of 2015 April 15. We know this weekly was once famous for its authentic reporting. It’s Editor Mr. M S Mani and Sub Editor Mr. N R S Babu made public for the first time in a unique article of its kind the stories of how state ministers and top bureaucrats of Kerala stole into wild reserves under the title Kaattu Kallanmaar [Wild Thieves]. The fine literary reviews of Prof. M Krishnan Nair were also read in that weekly. Mr. S Jayachandran Nair’s editorials also were noted. But what kind of things is now happening in this publication, for example? The issue under scrutiny proves beyond doubt that it is now devoted entirely to white-washing blackened public figures and senior government officers. Pages 16 to 19 is titled ‘V C Not Unqualified, Sir’, arguing that Vice Chancellors of Universities needn’t be Professors and can be IAS Officers. Why this untimely and irrelevant article? For answer, go to pages 48 and 49 where a retired IFS officer regularly writes columns after retirement and whose appointment by Oommen Chandy Government as Chairman of the Higher Education Council of Kerala resulted in the Government of India’s objecting to this posting and withholding central funds, on the grounds that he is not a professor. On March 24, 2015, an internet article titled ‘Victers Educational Channel Falling From The Sky’ appeared, pointing out, how the Channel Chief and the IT @ School Director ran this channel and transmitted DTH against Prasar Bharati Regulations. Within two days, Deshabhimani Daily reported that this channel is out of transmission and accused it of heavy corruption and favouritism. Within a week, the channel and the IT authorities got notices from GOI and had to answer questions from the Public Relations Department, the Education Department and the Ministry of HRD and called an All Staff Meeting. IT Director Mr. K P Noufal also sought expert help from outside. As diversionary tactics he came up with Digitizing School Textbooks Project and media covered him liberally. English Malayala Manorama Online even published his article under Editorials. Kala Kaumudi in the issue under this examination devoted pages from 24 to 27 to white- wash him and Mr. Salin Mankuzhy, the channel chief on deputation. Remember that the channel head was a co-traveller of Kala Kaumudi Magazine in the past. If Mr. Noufal obeys the instructions of this ‘expert’, this extra-governmental nexus can get him posting as the Higher Education Director. So, you get the picture? This is what they call power journalism now!

[In reply to news article ‘Governor stresses need for authentic reporting’ dated 13 April 2015 in English Manorama Online]

Link to original news article:

http://english.manoramaonline.com/news/kerala/governor-stresses-need-for-authentic-reporting.html

Why Work And Genius Are Recognized Only Years Later?

The greatest novel created in this world to have inspired and transformed every intelligent revolutionary in every continent- God Fly- was written by a lady named Ethel Lilian Voynich who died around 90 years of age, never knowing about the rebellion her work was causing around the globe. It was translated into so many languages around the globe and made everyone who read it a revolutionary but she passed away knowing nothing about it. Such experiences are very common and frequent in the field of literature. So many authors have departed from the world, knowing not the impact their creations are causing around them. There are also so many instances of a writer being totally ignored in his times but reverently read in later years. The classic example is Socrates himself who spoke through Plato. We read Plato's works as classic creations now, but had it been so in the B.C.Sixth Century also, Athenian rulers would not have dared to arrest, prosecute and poison Socrates. Sir. Thomas Moore's Utopia is the final word of such visionary works but he was imprisoned. Had he been read and valued by his contemporaries, he would not have been imprisoned. In modern times, the most neglected writer was the real genius of London, Dr. Johnson. He was a very poor scholar who started a tutorial on the hope that he can live by with tuition fees. Only 'below half a dozen' students went to his tutorial which means a decent three or four, in his biographer James Boswell's words. The neighbouring tuition centres in London run by pea brains were brimming with students. But those three or four students walked straight into history. He used the prefix Dr. only once in his life- on the front cover of his interesting and famous dictionary to which writers still turn for ideas.

[In reply to Linked In discussion: It happens that a work is not understood by his contemporaries, but has evaluated many years later. What mechanisms causing this? Started by Rosarita Morandini]

What Is The Price Of Happiness In The US?

It is time we seriously read Alexander Pope's that famous poem, Quiet Life, alternatively titled Solitude, describing the characteristics of a happy life, which are satisfaction, self-sufficiency and piety. When viewed from this philosophical angle, the question is how much money would an internally satisfied, self-sufficient and pious family need to remain happy, which we can be sure, would be far less than the $75,000 benchmark for supreme happiness, as calculated by the two Princeton researchers. Satisfied here means satisfied with what he is having at present, not interested in increasing his landed properties, buying another house or improving one, contented with the old car, deciding to live without dogs and costly pets and keeping away from expensive trips. Self sufficiency means keeping at least a cow in the house for milk. Piety is unchanging, unwavering belief and confidence in oneself and in the goodwill of the community one lives in. Actually, how much will such a family need to live on happily in U.S. standards? After going through the findings of this University research, we can find that they erred in two things: that higher incomes only make people happier to a point is not a new finding. The Oriental Studies Faculty of Princeton University, if approached, would have told them it has been the accepted philosophy of living in Asian countries for centuries since the time of Gauthama Buddha. The other error is, their finding that after that benchmark, additional income buys life satisfaction but not happiness. The researchers will know the exact position when they leave research and when and if become rich men. Additional income beyond a reasonable benchmark buys life not happiness but fear.

[In reply to Linked In discussion: What is the price of happiness in the US? started by Michael Segal, Higher Education Professional]

Is E Book Downloading A Robbery?

An author is not an isolated island. Whatever he feels, enjoys, learns, writes, creates, is a part of community. Without the teaching of a community no writer can live and educate himself, let alone write books. Otherwise, he ought to have lived where he has never communicated with a human being, in which case the question of he publishing a book will never arise at all. So, plainly speaking, what one has written, he cannot hide from community, if he publishes. If he publishes, it means he releases the book for circulation in the community. Like community did not restrict his free access to knowledge, he too cannot restrict community's free access to knowledge. It is a matter of keeping decency, loyalty and principles of repayment. It is his own duty to see that his writings reach everyone, free, once released in internet, or as downloadable e-books in devices. Never shall a poor man denied the contents of a book because he is poor and so cannot purchase a book. One can say that as he already has the devise to download and read an e-book, he must be a rich man and therefore has to pay for reading, which is far from reality. A poor man who want to have knowledge will have only an internet connection which is neither a luxury nor costly. In most countries, it is now one of the rights of the citizen. But he will not have money to buy online books. Let him also read and learn, without damaging his dignity the least. Some of them will want to hold the book physically in their hands. They will purchase the book from book shops and the writer will get his repayment. He should be satisfied and contended with that. Do not please use the term piracy here. It is instead the right to knowledge. Every writer in this world is a pirate, using the collective knowledge of the community for conceiving, plotting and creating the book, expressing what he has to say pirating again at least the style of speech of others like his father and mother. Even Einstein and Bill Gates did not invent anything new of their own but made use of the collective knowledge of the community, accumulated through ages.

[In reply to Linked In discussion: E book downloading a robbery? Started by Stanislav Dimitrov]

Why Isn't India's Economic Progress Steady?

Indian economy has brief and intermittent periods of growth and going back. The growth periods would be periods of liberalization or other economic reforms. During these growth periods the persons closely associated with this growth amass great fortunes of their own and disappear or they continue to be in the administration for a few more years. When things begin to come out exposing them, the economy reverts to its former position of stillness. But within that time a considerable portion of national wealth would have reached Switzerland, the Kay Islands or the Bahamas. Therefore, paradoxically, it is wise for India to have no such periods of growth. India’s money and India’s resources would stay in India by not growing this way. No economic growth of India has ever stayed with the people or has advanced the country’s economy at least through a decade. There is no dearth of economic planners in India. The simple way the Indian authorities find to escape from the allegation of too many people remaining below the poverty line there is to draw the line further below 23 rupees per day and move others to the ‘above poverty line’. It is that simple. And this discovery of an Indian family living well with 23 rupees per day having the middle class status was made by the Planning Commission of India whose members live in delusion and who spend 23 lakh rupees for renovating just three lavatories in their headquarters! They roam the world capitals for gathering information and holding discussions on how to plan India! How much far can an Indian official go to live with people’s money and cheat the nation? This Commission is the finest example. What planning did they do in all these years? It is they who planned tele-conferencing for overall co-ordination of development. Why don’t they themselves tele-confer instead of touring the world? There is this story of an ancient Indian prime minister who served Chandragupta Maurya. His name was Chaanakya who was the person who discovered Chandragupta from anonymity, trained him in war techniques, enabled him to defeat his co-brother and emperor Nandagupta and become himself an emperor. It was him who formulated the laws and rules for administering a model nation which later became famous in history as Chaanakya Rules. This prime minister lived on the outskirts of the city in a hovel. One night the emperor visited him to seek advice on some national matter. No sooner he mentioned a matter concerning the administration of the country than Chaanakya put out the oil lamp he was burning and lighted another. His student, the emperor, asked him why he used two lamps. The prime minister’s answer was that one was for his domestic uses and the other was for conducting national business. Oil to be used for discussions on the nation’s administration shall not be used for personal discussions! That was India before 2500 years and the Mauryas planned and ran their nation well.

India's Slow Economic Development Is A Blessing

A country which is not developing as fast as other countries expect means only one thing: their natural resources are not being depleted as fast as other countries. The people living there are wise enough to store as much resources as possible for their coming generations. This is what happens in India. Indian mothers are notoriously famous for eating too little to survive and setting aside almost all they cook for their children. India lives in her thousands of villages, not in the great cities. In this aspect Gandhi was absolutely right and his belief that what industrialization needed for India is the production of articles needed for the people of these villages is right and justifiable. Agriculture and rural industries were what he emphasized as the way to the progress of India. What industries he envisioned did not need the support of large infrastructure, would not have needed large investment and would have eradicated unemployment in the villages. But the steps of India faltered when the socialist Nehru, under the inspiration and influence of the Soviet Union, decided to turn to heavy industries as the pathway to Indian economic progress. He did not live long enough to see the soviet economics collapsing in their own Russia. Neither did he envision his successors in the party and in the administration selling out these state-owned heavy industries to private rich men and these private rich men selling out India to the world corporates. It was foolish of India, who was once noted for the export of tea, cotton and steel, to converge on software outsourcing which flopped when the main customers in Europe and America dropped in business as each wave of share price downfall struck. Large numbers of students were encouraged to study these things which never have a domestic demand and they did get great salaries inconceivably high in Indian standards for a time. But when the tide collapsed and their income shrank, being unable and untrained to cope with such sudden set backs in career, many of these bright students became preys to depressive moods and eventually many became psychiatrically disturbed. Marriages collapsed and hospitalizations increased. None has ever studied the impact on software employees of this phenomenon of getting prestigious jobs and huge salaries for a time and suddenly falling from this fine financial position to nothingness. No notable products were turned out by the Indian software industry and many Indian software companies lost their contracts through sloppy work. India has never wished to become a super power, and they have never wished to have a higher growth rate, except those politicians who wished to have a place for them amongst the world’s national leaders.

Eastern economics is not something which is focused on over-exploitation of resources in the nature. Think about a people who ask the tree’s permission and forgiveness for cutting it for inevitable purposes. Tree worship or Animism was and is prevalent among Indians the equivalent of which can be seen in history only in the aborigines of the American continent. Even before polluting a river for catching a few fishes for the unavoidable dinner, long rituals of prayers, flower submission and even sacrifice of some living creature to appease the river would have been over. It was when Michel Jackson startled the world with his ‘Save The World’ video that the ignorant world countries recognized the hold and usefulness of this cult, in the modern times. It was not Michel Jackson’s discovery but the custom and cult are there existing through the generations. If some soil has to be removed from the upper crust for cutting a trench and constructing a house or a canal, there are other intricate poojas. Does the world know that the Indian Space Research Organization engineers before launching world class satellites and the very advanced Indian Navy Commanders before putting a new sub or ship to sea holds very long and ardent poojas in their prayer rooms? It is not because they are not advanced and civilized but because they are advanced and civilized that they do this. Traditionally and historically, the Indians are a god-fearing and nature-obeying people. Their economy and politics also is developed in a like manner from the same cultural sources. The world economists do not understand this and they never can. Malthus and Caine and Adam Smith and Marx never touch the lives of the Indians. They have their own economic heritage. When Russia and China embraced Marxism pretending that they had no mentionable economic heritage, they were digging their own burial pits for their traditional economics because no nation having a long history of traditional economic advancement can stray long from the beaten down path. We have seen the bookish economics thrusted on Russia collapse and we will soon witness the un-Chinese economy which enslaved China also withering away. No one need grieve because it is the destiny of unripe economic philosophies crowned upon the heads of ancient people. Major economic research houses of the world like Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs needn’t be told that India is far behind in economic growth. They themselves have reported otherwise many often. These research houses which generally cater to fund managers who just have to achieve their targets are not relied upon much by the long-term investors like those who are expected to invest in India. When all have looted their share, there would not be much in India to accelerate any growth in the future. Let India close her doors. Enough for a century has gone out to corporates.

First release title: What Does A Country Not Developing As Fast As Other Countries Really Mean?

 

Will China Hold Referendum On Communism?

Many people think China is prospering but it is a momentary rise because it is unaccompanied by a resultant cultural rise. No great literature, art, music or philosophy is emerging from China. Economic prosperity unaccompanied by cultural upliftment is hollow, unstable and absurd. It is like developing the muscles of a single hand through rigid, non-stop exercising while those in the legs, abdomen, shoulders, back and neck remains as of yore. It is kind of unproportionate, unnatural, unstable state of psyche, close to sickness. Great philosophers in India, China and Greece condemned such development. Many modern day philosophers also have taught the dangers of unspiritual prosperity, which was what brought the mighty Roman Empire down. It is the mind, free thought and unhindered will that brings about, nourishes and retains a healthy civilization. So, what economic development we now are shown from China is ballooned up, a mirage which will vanish and expose the harsh realities, just like the underlying poverty of the Big Brother in Russia was exposed once the state’s suppressive propaganda collapsed. It is a real fact that majority of the Chinese population oppose their government’s almost all actions publicly or in their minds. Where there is a vent, their anger steams out. The world also knows that it is because of the brutal policing by the Chinese Communist Party that the government there is not toppled by people. By no standards is it now a peaceful and quiet nation. Indeed China was a mighty, trustworthy, civilized great nation, before Chairman Mao came into power. The cruelties and murders of the millennium old dynasties were nothing when compared to the mean, treacherous slaughters of the Communist Regime. Then they began to export not communism but cruelty to other peaceful nations. India, Nepal, Tibet, Burma, Hong Kong, Philippines- all these nations and their people well know that China is a mad rogue nation now, becoming very similar to Saddam Hussein’s Iraq and Ayatollah Khomeini’s Iran, perhaps more despotic. Gauging from the present rising of people’s protests, where is democracy, communism and socialism in China? Is the world willing to tolerate and allow yet another timid aggressive nation among them? What the world hoped would prevent the aggression of China were the two great democracies in the world- America and India. But heavy Chinese investment in their nation made the Americas passive. Prospects of arrival of huge capitals as Yuan made India silent. Embracing Dalai Lama and shaking hand with the Premiere on the back is the foreign policy of these two nations. It was the American Freedom Struggle that inspired Europe to freedom. It was the Indian Struggle for Independence that liberated Africa. What is a few soiled Yuan notes when compared to the glorious moments in human history? But the world people now have learned about the pact between these great democracies and the last existing autocracy. That is why people now turn to the online internet highway as a last measure and that is exactly why China deletes people’s websites. The world well knows, it is people versus government there, unsupported by the world.

No one will deny that the totalitarian China witnesses more people’s riots than India. Lack of civil rights and poverty are the main causes. The people of China joined the Chinese Communist Party in 1945 to fight and defeat the 5 million strong Kou Min Tang and their new slave masters devised the commune system which enslaved them. Without people’s support, the CPC could never have beaten the Kou Min Tang and without the commune system, the Chinese could never have become slaves of the state. China accuses Tibetans to have been made natural slaves by feudalism. The Chinese invented through their communist party the commune system which enslaved them. The Communist Government in China forced people in 1950 to experiment with the commune system, which in modern times, existed only in the printed books. It took them 28 years to find out that this system won’t work. In 1978 it was discarded and China somewhat opened up. But what justification was there to compel and force a great hardworking people to loose 28 years from its history to seek a nowhere-existing philosophers’ stone? The communist administration in China from 1949 to 1979 was totally different from the administration from the 1980s to the present times. Atrocities and mass murders committed by The Gang of Four and the great folly of the Great Leap Forward are past but not unforgiven. Who will answer for the lost decades in Chinese people’s lives? More people in a nation mean more heads in the nation to think. In this respect India is not behind China, in fact, far more advanced, because the Indian heads are absolutely free to think what they like, unlike their brothers in China who are just suffocating for free thought. How will they think sincerely for the state if they are suffocating for freedom? And who says the Chinese are happy about the slavery to state they are committed to in the present political structure of the country? Even though China has more people than India, the collective thought of the nation is far less creative and productive than that of India. If a referendum is conducted in China on whether communism shall continue or democracy need be adopted, it would be a 0: 100 vote.

First release title: Will China Hold A Referendum On If Communism Is To Continue?

Why Deny Mutation Of Dengue Viruses In Kerala?

Mutation Of Dengue Viruses Happens In Kerala But Experts Deny It.

National Virology Institute in Pune, India was entrusted by the government of Kerala with the responsibility of studying possibilities of gene mutation that might have been happening to Dengue Viruses in Kerala. This disease has been spreading in Kerala at unprecedented rates and following people's alarm and continuous protests, the government was forced to do this. The team from Pune consisted of so called experts in the field such as Dr. Kalpana Beruva, Dr.B.V.Tendale and Dr. Ratnakar Sahu. The Institute has a sub centre at Alappuzha, the data collected and information available where was handed over to the team of experts. They also conferred with Rajeev Gandhi Institute of Bio Technology Centre, Trivandrum.

Blood samples collected from 100 dengue patients were sent to their mother lab in Pune. The team inspected the most-dengue-affected areas and the hospitals in those areas. Their conclusion is that there has been the least possibility of mutational change to dengue viruses in Kerala, based on the facts that it will take at least 10 years for genetic mutational changes to happen to dengue viruses and dengue began to spread widely in Kerala only since 2006.

The World Health Organization classifies dengue as a Zoonosis. ‘A zoonosis or zoonose is any infectious disease that can be transmitted between species from animals to humans or from humans to animals. Agents that can carry infectious organisms that may be zoonotic include dogs, bats, horses, monkeys, mosquitoes, fishes, pigs, sheep, flies, goats and humans. Infectious agents can be bacteria, fungi, parasites and viruses. Of the many zoonoses than can be contacted to human beings, the most common are anthrax, brucellosis, chagas disease, cholera, cow-pox, dengue fever, ebola, H1N1flu, hantavirus, nipah fever, plague, Q-fever, rabies, salmonellosis and yellow fever. The major factor contributing to the appearance of zoonotic diseases in humans is increased contact between human and wildlife. Either human activity can move into areas of wilderness or wild animals can move into areas of human activity. In the past the latter happened due to anthropological or environmental disturbances but in the modern times it happens due the man’s habit of keeping animals in homes as pets’. According to Encyclopedia Britannica, ‘Zoonosis is any infectious disease transmitted between humans and other vertebrate animals. The term was originally defined to describe a group of diseases that humans may acquire from domestic animals. This definition has been modified to include all human diseases that are acquired from or transmitted to any other vertebrate’. 

Flaviviridae Flavivirus is the virus which causes Dengue fever. ‘The Flaviviridae are a family of viruses that are primarily spread through arthropod vectors, mainly ticks and mosquitoes. Most of these viruses are transmitted by the bite from an infected arthropod, mosquito or tick, and hence, classified as arboviruses’. We know, evolution and mutation are a continuously happening thing in nature and human intelligence is still now unable to halt, check, control or modify its course, especially when it is happening in the world of microbes. Pluto was a satellite of the Sun till two or three years ago but all of a sudden now it is not. Even Cambridge Book of Astronomy has to be modified on this account of a few observers’ views and opinions of celestial bodies. Today a flavivirus responsible for dengue is considered to be belonging to the category of diseases transmitted only through mosquitoes and never through dogs. Many others of such diseases were also thought to be so, till they acquire the ability to get transmitted through the secondary intermediary vector, independent of the primary first. Something that is yesterday transmitted through mosquitoes today gets transmitted through ticks and tomorrow it will develop itself into establishing independent animal transmission routes, defying mosquitoes and ticks. Mutations and evolutions do not wait for scientists to prove or for academics to classify and record. Microbial mutation and evolution occurs at multiple rates of scientific progress, every day, every hour. That is why millions still die out of microbial infections, scientists and physicians standing helpless. In the story, the Martians die on the earth because they are encountering microbes for the first time in their lives. In the real world, men die in millions because even though his body is seasoned against microbes, he cannot cope with their fast-rated mutation and ever happening changes in their ways of operation.

First reported on 30 July 2013 

Move Moral Policers To Mental Hospitals

Moral policers in Kerala are delusional and need treatment.

The curse of Kerala is teachers like Prof. Joseph Mundasseri not becoming education ministers, doctors not health ministers and engineers not public works ministers. Political parties do not prefer educated professionals to become party members, contest in elections and represent party in the state cabinets. As long as it does not happen, Taliban-inspired state ministers will, according to their religious agenda, try to bring about moral policing in schools and colleges. Is this state minister bold and committed enough to allow police enter campuses when law and order of this country is challenged there? A few anti-social elements are born with the inherent tendency to harass, intimidate and exploit students who are peacefully learning in the educational centres in the state, expose these sacred institutions to betrayal, hatred and violence and prepare way for terrorists to come and go freely in these sacred establishments of society. This decision by the state educational authorities is plainly religion-inspired and harm-motivated to constitute moral police wings in schools and colleges. When every other way to facilitate terrorist organizations’ tricks to invade Kerala were closed by the brilliant officers of Kerala Police and National Security Agencies, they came up with another plan to make the same thing possible by influencing and ordering politicians in their payroll to create administrative support for this idea. If properly inquired into, it can be proved that this idea was discussed and hatched in religious institutions. In Afghanistan 150 girl students were recently poisoned through drinking water by Taliban to prevent girls from getting educated. Here in Kerala also the same objective is aimed to be achieved by making campuses hell for decent and obedient students and girls can thereby be ordered to not go there. There are people behind this move who have perfect training to disrupt the tranquillity in Kerala’s social life. A few years back, there was this Arabi Nikkahu when the Arabis came to Kerala, gave money to poor parents who could not send away their daughters in marriage, married those little girls and spoiled them and when the Arabis had to go back after a few weeks, simply deserted them. It was safe prostitution disguised as marriage. When consciousness of Kerala roused against this, it stopped. Then came the Love Jihad from the same quarters when Hindu and Christian girls were systematically captivated by trained young men, given a child and abandoned in the expectation that such children born out of wedlock would be rebellious enough to join the ranks of terrorists when they grow up. Literate Kerala exposed this and police intervened in many places and it lost its speed. Then came the Moral Policing which was another word for blackmailed prostitution. When it was duly exposed it also waned. Now this state minister publicly approves the rightness of moral policing even in schools! Whom does he represent?

Someone in the Education Department of Kerala wants to introduce something like a Dharma Sena to watch up teachers and students, the job supposed to be assigned to parents. This is clear indication of the education department being run by the nervously broken down. It is strange to note that moral policing factions, who had been looking into the cultural, political and marital activities of people in the northern districts of Kerala, never looked into the most prominent feature of the social and political life in Kerala-corruption. Never once did they block a single government official or politician who is notoriously noted for corruption. They centred on man-woman relations in targeted families where they liked to see some kind of immorality which they could not make use of directly by blackmail. So they turned to moral policing, in strict imitation of the abhorrent Skimmetty Rides described in Thomas Hardy’s novels. This makes clear the source and inspiration for this wave of moral policing-bribery and corruption gangs that wanted to divert people’s attention away. And money offered by anti-national elements for causing disruption in social life was an added bonus. Corruption is the only field where some kind of policing is needed and no state minister in Kerala has ever come forward with a genuine formula, invention or scheme for blocking corruption. How can one deny one’s roots and lifeblood? If cricket bats and hockey sticks are going to the law enforcement tools for moral policing, what if acid bulbs and gas canisters are used by defenders? Taliban says they are moral police. Does the state education minister of Kerala who publicly support moral policing in schools deny that moral policing is Talibanism or Talibanism is moral policing in disguise? If police can’t curb social crimes using the national civil code and the criminal procedure code, or if the police force of the state has become too much of a hindrance and obstacle to law breakers, is it not legalizing moral policing in schools creating parallel policing, fulfillment of the long cherished dream of religious fanatics and outside-the-nation-terrorists? Political parties in Kerala have been doing this moral policing through their goon gangs the last of which was conducted at Onchium village in North Kerala, resulting in the manslaughter of a rebel communist party leader. In whatever name moral policing is called, it is violation of criminal procedure code, something to be booked under. No one has the right to teach others what is right and what is wrong, unless he violates something that is proved as violation by a constitutional body and also no one has the right to monitor a student or a teacher or a parent unless warranted by an act of suspected crime. Privacy of neither a child nor a grown up man shall not be violated by hr new goons. Even cabinet ministers, parliament members, diplomats and Supreme Court judges are charged with sexual harassment, seduction and rape. Who are these clean people of Kerala the education minister and education department are going to constitute the Moral Police Force or Dharma Sena or whatever it is called, with? 

On some occasions, when some particular kind of news reaches people, they would however be forced to say that some kind of people’s policing is necessary at some places. Trivandrum has a very good avenue running between Kawdiar Palace Junction and the Vellayambalam Governor’s Residence. The road is wide and tree-lined, thanks to the earlier Maharajas. Rich boys from the families of high ranking police officers and administrative service personnel roam this road in their high priced motor cycles and cars at all hours of the day, defying speed limits and killing street walkers. It was also the hobby of these boys to race along side young girls going to tuition classes in the very early mornings. Nearby homes could never rest or sleep peacefully. Dozens of fast motor cycles and cars revved up Kawdiar Street day and night and people thought: Had the Maharaja was still ruling, all these boys along with their fathers would have been hanged even without a trial! Even the home minister or the chief minister did not interfere. When conscientious police officers interfered and booked a few chasers and racers, telephone calls from their superior officers came, asking them to release the boys at once and escort them back to their assembling cafe. At last people gathered and beat the boys one by one mercilessly when the fathers became furious and ordered the police to book the people. Receiving people’s money as salaries, growing up their sons as biting dogs and ordering subordinate officers to arrest people who dared to touch their sons: that was what these rich officers did. It was plain abuse of authority. So the local factions of a couple of youth organizations including this DYFI entered the scene and beat the boys publicly. Now the officers and their sons are silent because it would the abominable corruption stories of the fathers that would be coming next in newspapers. It is incidents of governmental non-interference like these that boils the blood of local people to organize themselves as moral police and fight back. A man selling adulterated food, a person peddling drugs, another accepting bribe for doing his official duties, a gang of government officials doing corruption in ingenious ways, a group of elites doing obscene dancing in an all night club, such persons have never been moral policed by anyone. It is two people walking hand in hand in a park, a lady wearing a scanty dress, a lady suspiciously standing in a bus stop waiting for someone, who has ever been moral policed. This denotes only one thing- the suppressed sexual frustration of the moral policers. Moral policing expresses itself in the form of abuse and assault on the supposed offender; it has never taken the form of halting the supposed offender in his act till the police arrive. Therefore it is never a form of correction but only an outlet for venting the anger and frustration of the mentally disturbed. Had they stopped where the law could take over, it would still have been justified.

The conviction of morality depends on the culture, tradition and upbringing of a person. What he considers as moral would be immoral to other individuals and communities. It is our frustration over our own miserable state of affairs that make us intolerant to other persons’ views and opinions and mind not our own business. Each community in the world will have its set of morals. In some communities it is taboo to eat pork and in some communities it is eating the cow’s meat that is taboo. In most temples in the Hindu community, fish is forbidden inside the compound but there are a few temples where fish is offered to the deity inside the shrine. Most communities consider a man marrying his sister’s daughter a crime but many communities permit only such marriages. Most religions deny polygamy but there are a few which freely promote it. So, what one community considers as a crime would be the accepted moral in another community. A community which exists by doing only the wrong things will not exist for long, thereby eliminating the need to correct them. Thinking that our community’s set of morals shall be accepted by all other communities and subverting other people’s fundamental rights to believe in his own community’s set of morals is defying the rule of law in the land. Judging one’s actions unilaterally, deciding he has wronged and meting out punishment by civilians is something outside the machinery of law and order. Wherever such an offence occurs and police is not booking those persons under the law, the police are simply not in the right tracks there. No need to emphasize the importance of police, but to reform it to become people-friendly is the only option. Those who like to moral police someone, are advised to police themselves, or go to some asylum to get treatment without wasting time. But political parties, parliamentarians and police officers associating themselves with criminal minded persons and eliminating or silencing enemies through brawn power is what influenced people, set the example and moved them to this path. Moral policing was actually devised to prevent free dissemination of ideas. When a few writers made statements or wrote books which were condemned by religious fanatics, especially Muslim fanatics and terrorists, they issued Fatwa, ordered destroyal of those books, hunting those writers and if possible, eliminating them. Once the taste of this kind of uncontrolled vandalism was enjoyed, it became irresistible to be called back by anybody, even by those who originated it. So, it turned to other channels of venting frustration and transformed itself into moral policing. It is an accepted fact that only persons with an immoral side to their character have ever tried to become a moral police. They actually cloak their evildom with pseudo morality. Where constitution of a country allows freedom of speech and freedom of expression, someone attempting moral policing should immediately be arrested and removed from society.

A man selling adulterated food, a person peddling drugs, another accepting bribe for doing his official duties, a gang of government officials doing corruption in ingenious ways, a group of elites doing obscene dancing in an all night club, such persons have never been moral policed by anyone. It is two people walking hand in hand in a park, a lady wearing a scanty dress, a lady suspiciously standing in a bus stop waiting for someone who have ever been moral policed. This denotes only one thing- the suppressed sexual frustration of the moral policers. On some occasions, when some particular kind of news reaches people, they would however be forced to say that some kind of people’s policing is necessary at some places. Trivandrum has a very good avenue running between Kawdiar Palace Junction and the Vellayambalam Governor’s Residence. The road is wide and tree-lined, thanks to the earlier Maharajas. Rich boys from the families of high rank officers and administrative service personnel roam this road in their high priced motor cycles and cars at all hours of the day, defying speed limits and killing street walkers. It was also the hobby of these boys to race alongside young girls going to tuition classes in the early mornings. Nearby homes could never rest or sleep peacefully. Dozens of fast motor cycles and cars revved up Kawdiar Street day and night and people thought: Had the Maharaja was still ruling, all these boys along with their fathers would have been hanged even without a trial! Even the home minister or the chief minister could not interfere. When conscientious police officers interfered and booked a few chasers and racers, telephone calls from their superior officers came, asking them to release the boys at once and escort them back to their assembling cafe. At last people gathered and beat the boys one by one mercilessly when the fathers became furious and ordered the police to book these people. Receiving people’s money as salaries, growing up their sons as biting dogs and ordering subordinate officers to arrest people who dared to touch their sons: that was what these rich officers did. It was plain abuse of authority. So the local factions of a couple of youth organizations including DYFI entered the scene and beat the boys publicly. Now the officers and their sons are silent because if they dare book members of these youth organizations, it would the abominable corruption stories of the fathers that would be coming out next in newspapers. It is incidents of governmental non-interference like these that boils the blood of local people to organize themselves as moral police and fight back.

News first reported in July 2012

Victers Educational Channel Falling From The Sky

There are hundreds of educational channels in the world. Organizations like BBC, ABC and You Tube also have theirs. In India, since 1989, there are quite a number of government-owned and private educational channels. In Kerala also there is one- Versatile ICT Enabled Resource for Students, or Victers Channel, funded by central government and run by state government. An investigation into it reveals unexpected corruption, mismanagement and favouritism, making this good dream vanish. 

Opinionated pea-brains sent to remould the channel in the lines of caste, community and religious fanatics.

Kerala is the highest literate state in India. Keralites live and work in every part of the world. They are educated, intelligent and hard working, as their neighbours and employers in whichever countries they work in would say. The world’s largest electronics and software forms are proud of their Keralite employees. Therefore it is unbelievable that a government educational channel in their native land which was expected to have served well their children deteriorated through corruption and mismanagement and became a haven of cheap fortune-seekers and political gamblers. The irony is that this situation was brought about by the caste, community and religious elements in Kerala’s education minister’s office who sent an opinionated pea-brain to head this institution and remould it in the lines of caste, community and religious fanatics, and that is whom this represents now. There are thousands of Keralites in India and abroad who are able to lead this educational channel to success and brilliance but the Kerala Government and the Education Department want it to remain in a wormy pit- Kuzhi in the native language of Malayalis. 

The idea is to make the whole country a great class room, linking from remote hamlets to the great metros.
 

The idea of educational channels in India is to prepare exam-centric capsules on physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics and languages and air them through satellites to prepare students for regular examinations and competitive tests. Content from School Examination Boards, Universities and Technological Institutes would be made available for this purpose and beamed across space through satellites, capsulizing them into real-time lectures. The whole country would become a great class room, from remotest villages and hamlets to great cities and metros, linked through digital networks. That is the conception behind Information and Communications Technology-Enabled Virtual Class Rooms. 

Education broadcast space is steadily being filled up with stars. No one will say the future of e-learning is dark.

Terms like E Learning, Virtual Class Rooms, Flexible Learning Frameworks and Educational Broadcasters are becoming common. Launching educational channels, establishing production houses and providing technology-driven learning solutions are now everyday activities even in under-developed countries. Of course, getting regulatory approvals is hard in many countries but educational broadcasts are now a priority with many governments. Conventional education systems of countries are not much interactive, while young population is increasingly tech-savvy and interactive. That is how, and why, interactive web-based education is gaining momentum in the world. Telecom companies provide services in Direct To Home and Internet TV formats, which are liberally being used by educational channels. There are subscription-based channels with least advertising, and private channels have paid portals and free portals. Contents are made available through desk-top computers, lap-tops, palm-tops and mobile phones. There are 24-hour channels and morn-to-night channels. Also content is made freely available in You Tube to watch online, or download and watch in leisure at homes. Recognizing good potential, more and more institutions, companies and organizations are entering this segment. Education broadcast space is steadily being filled up with stars. No one will say the future of e-learning is dark. 

The operation of every educational channel in India is governed and supposedly regulated by three departments of the Union Government of India.

Under the current policies of the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, government departments are not permitted launch Direct To Home channels. At the same time, the Ministry of Human Resources Development has been calling for at least a 1000 educational channels to be established, to provide quality education to remotest villages. As a compromise, it was decided that the Human Resources Department can start educational channels by signing up with Prasar Bharati Corporation, the owner of all government channels in India, a part of the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting. Under this agreement, HRD can start and operate channels but broadcasting licenses would be held by the Department of I & B. Prasar Bharati will not sign MOUs with individual channels but only with a consortium of several educational channels. Transponders for airing programmes will be provided by the Department of Space under this agreement. So, the operation of every educational channel in India is governed and supposedly regulated by three departments of the Union Government of India. 

Educational channels in India, unless registered under the Companies Act, cannot attempt DTH transmission.

Setting up of TV Studios in states was the first step for this massive mission and the HRD Ministry allotted amounts, initially Rs. 50 Lakhs, from the funds of National Mission on Education through ICT to each studio, on the assumption that ‘there would be 20-25-minute live lectures by eminent faculty across prominent institutes, and students will be able to put queries to teachers; they would be able to SMS queries on a given number and the teacher will be able to answer right away.’ When in 2011 HRD was very near to launching 1000 educational channels, new guidelines came into force in 2012, according to which only companies registered under the Companies Act are permitted DTH transmission. So, now, educational channels in India, unless registered under the Companies Act, cannot attempt DTH transmission. Government departmental institutions cannot even think about airing anything other than pre-recorded programmes up-linked to Edu Sat, to be received in schools using only special receivers. Why should educational channels have to air live programmes instead of pre-recorded ones? Looked from every angle, it is unnecessary. Even after hundreds of universities and thousands of schools are linked with bandwidth, live programmes are still spendthrifts for government educational channels. They are not only unnecessary but expensive also. Government educational channels do not need live telecasting unless they are competing with private and commercial channels which they are not expected to do. Why should they compete with commercial channels, unless to satisfy the rotten egos of their directors? 

Victers Channel broke every rule of the Government of India, to please local religious fanatics.

In India, according to the norms of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, starting an educational channel is not easy. In present circumstances, such channels cannot broadcast live. They can only produce prerecorded visuals, uploaded to the exclusive Educational Satellite Edusat of India, which could only be received and viewed in schools using special receivers. This Victers Channel in Kerala dared to break every rule of the Government of India and broadcast live, even though their pages would never load, due to incompetence in running and managing. Also the schools in Kerala have no computers and no broadband connectivity. Government would explain that thousands of computers were purchased for schools, which is true, in a way. They indeed were purchased in thousands, for pocketing commissions by departmental purchasing officers. None of them worked in schools and most of them did not even reach the schools. The schools do not have funds for getting the non-working ones repaired or getting the inoperable ones replaced. Broadband were connected to schools in noisy and pompous inaugural functions with state ministers present but were disconnected when payments defaulted. So now most of the schools neither have working computers nor connectivity. Even though Victers Programmes uselessly steal a lot of teaching time, teachers still try to make them available for students as it is the only channel allowed in schools. As school computers and connectivity are namesakes, a few parent-teacher organizations in parts of Kerala begged local Cable TV Providers to connect this government channel to schools and that is what is going on now. It is just a threadbare presence this much-dreamt-about educational channel has in schools now. 

Escape from exposure of corruption by involving media in corruption.

Which is the easiest way for escaping from exposure of corruption, mismanagement and abuse of authority? Certainly it is pleasing news paper men and television channels men, and if possible, carrying on corruption involving them. That was just what Victers Channel in Trivandrum did. They brought about a clandestine programme named Fourth Estate to hide their own corruption by involving media in a diabolic plan conceived in the Public Relations Department. It is not strange that the media in Kerala, which is very quick and sensitive in reporting corruption and favouritism in other government institutions, did not report any of the corruption in Victers Channel. 

The answerable department has no control and the controlling department is not answerable!

Government aimed to create virtual classrooms in remote villages using computers and satellite relays. The Government of India gave each state a television production station and facilities for up-linking programmes to educational satellites. These television stations in state capitals are well-equipped, to produce literally anything, thanks to the liberal assistance with central government funds. In Trivandrum, running of the Victers Channel is assigned to the IT At Schools Mission under the Department of Education of the Government of Kerala. The Director of Public Instruction is answerable for whatever happens in this channel, but the DPI has no control over this channel. It is run by another government department, the Public Relations Department, which is not answerable for the activities of this channel. The answerable department has no control and the controlling department is not answerable! That is the clever set up created by government secretaries and ministers in the capital, to make possible their own private agendas and corruption in this channel. 

The least-qualified man the better to lead an educational channel!

1. Victers Channel: Interface Not Working

Who will be selected to head this educational channel in the state, normally? A person with exceptional skills in the fields of academic instruction as well as in the entertainment field would be the first choice of anyone. If a bureaucrat with these skills could be found, it would be suitable for government. But such talented and brilliant people needn’t always be fit to carry on corruption and favouritism at the order of political gurus and motivated authorities. So, they decided to send a person with no particular qualification to head a channel- a minor Public Relations Officer on deputation- to lead Victers Channel.  

Two public relations men meet, conspire, plan projects, execute jointly and pocket money of two reputed public institutions.

Two Information Officers of the Public Relations Department are sent on deputation to two institutions which are partly or fully enjoying government funds. We shall see what happens next, which is typical in Kerala where bureaucrats are involved. Mr. V. Salin of PRD is deputed as Head, Edusat, State Project Office, State Council for Education, Research & Training, Poojappura, Trivandrum, to govern Victers Channel and Mr. N. P. Santhosh on Additional Charge as Secretary, Kerala Press Academy, Kakkanad, Kochi, renamed since then as Kerala Media Academy. They come up with this idea of producing a television series on journalists titled Fourth Estate utilizing the manpower of Victers Channel, relaying it for thrice in the channel and then storing the digitals in the Academy Archives. This programme wasted channel manpower and materials but the digital rights to the end products were to be owned not by the channel but by the academy. And no money came to the channel funds too. If the academy has a product with them, they pays, as is in government. These digital articles were not a gift from Victers Channel to the Press Academy. So, logically, we can assume that the academy paid for the material, the payment did not reach the channel, and the two officers pocketed the money. The Director of Public Instruction and the Director of Public Relations did not think it necessary to take any disciplinary action against these two officers and remove them from the posts. We can guess this has been going on for a long time.

2. Public Relations: Officers On Deputation

What is such tempting in Delhi Trade Fair for an educational channel to sacrifice Schools Science Fair?

This was not a singular incident. Someone wanted a full digital video coverage of the New Delhi Trade Fair of December 2014 and was willing to pay. This Victers Channel Head jumped at the chance for making money. Staff, equipment and funds of the channel were diverted to cover this fair at New Delhi which had nothing to do with educational channels. The team including the director stayed around two weeks in the country’s capital and returned with a few hours’ rushes as video cassettes. Because staff, equipments and funds were not available in Trivandrum due to this Delhi affair, the School Science Fair- an important event in Kerala’s educational sector- could not be, and was not, covered. Rushes of the Delhi Fair must rest with the channel, unedited, making people believe it was just a mistake in deployment of manpower, materials and money. It was not a mistake. The party who wanted that footage wanted only an unedited copy of the footage which they must have got edited beautifully by professionals. No doubt they paid which must have been pocketed. The unedited rushes at the channel were a decoy to make people think they were never used by anyone. Look, how much damage was done by a decision of a Channel Chief- multi faceted damages- resulting in unnecessary coverage of a Delhi fair, abandon of a much necessary coverage of a School Science Fair, and pocketing a considerable sum unlawfully, abusing one’s authority!

Shame to a million Malayalis world over.

On the occasion of the National Teachers’ Day of India on September 5, 2014, the Prime Minister decided to address the students of the nation through all Indian channels. Victers Channel in Kerala was the only educational channel in India to decline to air the Prime Minister’s speech to the country’s students. As a gesture of challenge, they telecast the State Education Minister’s pre-recorded interaction with students at the time. The government of Kerala did not care and did not bring this to the notice of the Government of India. The DPI and the DPR did not consider this as a crime but continued to use channel authorities as convenient tools for personal objectives.

Programmes polluting the sensitive, fresh and innocent brains of Kerala’s children.

There are dozens of regular programmes aired through cyber space by this fallen channel to pollute the sensitive, fresh and innocent brains of the little children of Kerala. A close look at just three of their regular programmes would warrant a closer and thorough examination of all their programmes- approved and rejected- and activities.

Light House is a live Question and Answer Phone-in-Programme, attended by professional doctors, aired every Friday from 2.30 to 3.30 PM. It was meant to discuss the everyday little problems of children- their physical and emotional inabilities generally- presented by parents. As each week passed, it became more and more vulgar, unfit to be aired to schools, with more sexual questions and perverts taking over. Lack of decent etiquettes and morals, lack of home work and lack of dedication on the part of channel authorities caused this demoralization of the programme.

Kids’ Question Corner (Kutti Chodyam) was designed to inspire students by interacting with inspirational personalities by bringing students and leaders from the various strata of society to interact with each other in the channel studio. At first these inspirational personalities were fine cine actors, lyricists, playback singers, playwrights and writers revered by all. Then they became tarnished state ministers whose names were frequently read, associated with corruption. Then came cheap politicians whose unruly behaviour in public causes uproars. It proved only one thing- the cheap and worthless things the director of this channel was a slave to, intellectually. The channel authorities failed in realistically anticipating what questions an intelligent child might ask in Kerala. 

Fourth Estate was an endeavour to select a few media men, ask them questions and bring out their views and opinions. Had they brought a TJS George or a TVR Shenoy to the screen, it would have been inspiration for children. But they brought to studio yellow-paper pen-pushers, asked them ridiculous questions and received back answers which were more ridiculous. This farce has been going on for years. If it was journalism they intended to cover in this programme, it was never touched. It is just a confusing programme, of dubious origin. Fourth Estate is aired at 7 PM every Sunday. 

News Channel! Kerala state already has dozens of news channels. In the midst of these news channels, Victers Channel diverts precious time, money, man and materials to produce news and telecast. And, in the name of news, they show state ministers’ and politicians’ irrelevant functions. It continues for two years, pleasing camera-hungry rogues.

It is time this misguided entity be wound up, or revamped and saved through the wise and timely interference of the Government of India.

Images:


1. Victers Channel: Interface Not Working
2. Public Relations: Officers On Deputation

Tags: Educational Channels, Victers Channel, IT@School Kerala, Corruption In Kerala, Essays, Articles, Investigative Journalism, Media In Kerala.

[By arrangement with the author]