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http://www.instablogs.com/ India and Nepal to revise Kosi Treaty Decision by both the countries to review the Kosi treaty is welcomed especially after the utterly futile mud slinging match that ensued between India and Nepal following the devastating floods in river kosi. The treaty signed in 1956 gives India the entire responsibility for design, construction, maintenance and repair of the kosi barrage leaving Nepal with little or no role to play in the project within its own territory. Yet, India continues to blame Nepal for the annual deluge conveniently forgetting the corrupt politician – engineer – contractor nexus within its borders that siphons million for repair and construction of embankments works that are never done. When Nepal next sits with India to discuss the Treaty, it must ensure that we get fair right to decide upon the matters which affect the people within our borders. It is for both the countries to ensure that any revised water agreement between both successfully prevents the reenactment of current tragedy. Satellite channels becoming popular in Egypt The fasting month of Ramadan is raining profits for broadcasting companies in the Middle East. 30 days of fasting in the month of Ramadan have transformed the long hours of darkness into prime viewing time. The month takes up as much as half the annual production budgets of some networks and generates a similar proportion of advertising revenue. Competition for airtime in the season also grows fiercer. The variety of programs aired is bewildering than ever. It includes fresh drama serials, score of religious Ramadan specials, celebrity chat-fests and reality shows etc. Satellite television has taken off in the region like nowhere else. In wealthy Gulf States, some 95% of households own digital receivers; even in poorer countries, such as Jordan and Morocco, the satellite penetration rate now tops 75%. Not surprisingly, the number of free-to-air channels available on Arab satellites has grown six fold in the past five years. For sure, gone are the days when people waited for the sound of canon shots to break their fasts its time to switch over to satellite television. Unity pact signed between Mugabe and Tsvangarai Mere glance at the fragile national unity pact signed between Mugabe and Tsvangarai through South African mediation, points towards the challenging days laying ahead before Zimbabwe. The division of powers proposed by the pact between two centers will provide enough opportunity for both the parties to be at loggerheads with each other. Success of the deal requires visionary leaders. Presently, Zimbabwe does not have a leadership which is ready to bury its differences and work for the good of the country. The whole pact is a sham construct. It allows Mugabe to retain himself as an absolute monarch after all the misery and despair he inflicted upon the ordinary people. Zimbabwe needs Tsvangarai’s leadership along with a viable economic reconstruction program to bail the country out of its current political and economic hardships. We should work for a Zimbabwe sans Mugabe. Indian Girl commits suicide over Big Bang fear It exemplifies the new height scaled by the Indian TV channels in terms of showcasing their irresponsibility. Such was the extent of media hype surrounding the experiment that people actually rushed to the temples to perform special prayers fearing the end of the world. This has not happened for the first time. Before this, natural phenomenon such as eclipses have been foolishly and thoughtlessly associated with black magic, blood sucking vampires and bad omen. Such programming only generates superstitions and fears in the minds of emotionally weak persons. The media should own up its responsibility for causing this untimely death and refrain from airing programs that generate nothing but fear and useless superstition. http://www.instablogs.com/

• Release Date

  Sep 19, 2008

• Runtime

  06:34