ChinmayC Blog

Media-persons, including this writer, have the habit of prioritizing news stories/reports on the basis of how many people have died or are adversely affected, which is actually necessary to structure a news bulletin, always a tough job doing justice to the stories, selecting them and giving the prominence a story deserves. When a reporter comes in to the newsroom stating that an accident or any kind of such tragic happenings has occurred in which 2-4 people have died the news editor would just grimace it away and most often would ask it to be included in the scroll. If the fatalities are around 10 it normally gets into the bulletin as an important story, and when the toll is more than 15/20 then it becomes a headline news story. Well, this is unfortunate indeed; but in a hyperactive newsroom it becomes unavoidable. However, such stories are never taken as a good news story.   Deaths are always unfortunate whatever be the number, because for the person who succumbs in an accident ...

Photo: english.sakshi.com Tragically ironical that in the time the ‘StayHome’ mission people of Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh should find themselves forced to run out of their homes in the early hours today terror- struck. A polystyrene gas plant of the LG Polymers near Visakhapatnam started leaking gas in the early hours and the deadly gas started entering into the homes of more than 1000 people of five villages in a 3km radius of the chemical plant. Shocked inhabitants ran out of their homes into the streets breathless and with a burning sensation. Several of them fainted or lost consciousness and fell in the streets while many others ran, sat down or stood there helplessly or loitered around in a daze. However, as against the StayHome irony, at least COVID preparedness of the district helped give immediate relief to the affected with ambulances, oxygen cylinders and ventilators kept in readiness. National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) was also called in. Bringing back memories o...

It’s now nearly a fortnight since the flash floods devastated the north Indian state of Uttarakhand leaving a trail of endless sufferings and indomitable courage. Torrential rains and cloudbursts led to the flash floods the fury of which was beyond our human imagination. The floods swept away or swallowed up anything that came its way—pilgrims and tourists; cottages, houses and buildings; guest houses and hotels; huge chunks of land mass and roads; hills and hilly tracks and the temples and even the sacred idols in this holy state of the Char Dham Yatra pilgrimage. After the rescue of more than 100000 pilgrims thousands are still trapped and missing. While the official death toll has been pegged at around 1000 sources say it could be beyond 10000 when you account for the fact that thousands of missing persons have not returned still. Mother Nature punished her greedy children one more time in such a telling manner that the governments and the people of our planet earth better stop and...

Merry Christmas to all of you! May this blessed occasion fill your lives with loads of joy and boundless happiness. With New Year 2012 round the corner the celebrations are set to go on! And, we must celebrate to make ours and others' lives happy and meaningful. With a note of grief we remember the terrible tragedy in Philippines a little more than a week ago. More than 2000 people lost their lives or were still missing  and more than 300,000 are still depending on emergency aid in the devastating flash floods that hit and swept away the southern island of Mindanao. There is no Christmas celebration for the victims there and in our celebrations we must think of them and wish them all the good in the coming times. There are in fact several huge human tragedies in the past two months and we must never get carried away with our celebrations. I am sorry to say that I could not give condolence messages to the affected people including several friends from our blogging community in good ...

Death toll in Kolkata country liquor is likely to cross 150 and even more. The people who take country liquor are mostly daily labourers, rikshaw pullers and other poor ones. After manual hard work these people just want to forget the stark reality of their existence and take liquor they can afford. The 'business' of such liquor does not allow them even this necessary 'luxury'! The owners of country liquor shops mix poison with the drinks to make money from the poorest of the poor! The state of West Bengal was ruled by the so-called communists who talk of the interests of the proletariat, but in reality they allow the misery of rikshaw pullers who run with bare feet to hand-drive their loads on the cruel streets of Kolkata to go on! Such deprived souls normally die of TB in young age. A little comfort in their horribly short lives is robbed by the 'business' of spurious liquor. Hand pulled rikshaws still exist only in West Bengal. The new Chief Minister of the s...