Anand Bala

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7 Blog Followers
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Following: 47
Following Blogs: 4

Latest Activity

Letting CAT2009 out of the bag (and 40 Million USD in outsourcing)

Anand Bala posted an article on - Nov 28, 2009, 9:54 am
I have some serious problems with the way IIM has been restructuring entrance tests. The fiasco on the first day of the computerized CAT 2009 (Common Admission Test) proves that there is some substanc...
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A Reminder of 26/11 – Sponsored by the media

Anand Bala posted an article on - Nov 26, 2009, 1:00 am
-------------- Update: Based on comments and messages recieved I am not wearing a badge, armband or ribbon to commemorate 26/11. I don't believe I need to. My way of commemorating the civilian...
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An Open Letter to Prannoy Roy (another rant on the Media)

Anand Bala posted an article on - Nov 13, 2009, 9:52 pm
Dear Mr Roy At the outset I must place on record that you and Appan Menon have done more for the media than most others. Appan Menon was my favourite journalist and he had the potential of becomi...
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Urban Activists and Their Double Standards

Anand Bala posted an article on - Nov 5, 2009, 6:15 am
A discussion group dedicated to one of the most elite neighborhoods in the country has been rife with discussion about a land grab. An order by the Supreme Court to preserve a piece of lung-space has ...
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The Broadcasting Media in India – Willing captains to Bush Apologists?

Anand Bala posted an article on - Oct 31, 2009, 2:39 am
Bush Apologists have found a new offensive ally amongst the Anchors of Indian Media. The Hindustan Times Leadership Summit was where George W Bush received a standing ovation from the Indian media. ...
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BJP - Going Downhill in Karnataka as well

Anand Bala posted an article on - Oct 29, 2009, 9:30 am
It has barely been a few weeks since Karnataka was ravaged by a “10,000 year flood”. Rehabilitation and reconstruction operations should have been on in full swing under the supervision of the Chi...
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How the media can get in the way

Anand Bala posted an article on - Oct 28, 2009, 9:27 am
Live coverage of ...The Thana pipeline accident showed journalists, camera crews and photographers hampering rescue and clearance operations by their presence in large numbers. In the background one c...
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Participants in the hostage handover? (A copy of my Letter to TheHoot.org)

Anand Bala posted an article on - Oct 28, 2009, 9:18 am
This letter originally appeared @ www.thehoot.org TheHoot.org on Oct 24th 2009 Dear Hoot, The behavior of the media in their coverage of the Atindranath Dutta release has me confused. News C...
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Checklist of things Condemned by the media

Anand Bala posted an article on - Oct 28, 2009, 8:58 am
Condemn the Naxals (agree) Condemn every single peaceful resistance movement taking place in 200 Indian districts. Condemn the NGOs Condemn the people who work in the NGOs Condemn the activ...
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Techcrunch and going to Chile (and how Americans forget history)

Anand Bala posted an article on - Oct 11, 2009, 6:05 am
I fell off my chair laughing at a piece in TechCrunch titled Chile Wants Your Poor, Your Huddled Masses, Your Tech Entrepreneurs. The premise of the argument is that Chile is a great place to inv...
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Why does the media hate moderates (and why intellectual is a bad word)

Anand Bala posted an article on - Oct 10, 2009, 12:38 am
There are several reasons behind why the Indian English Broadcasting media snaps, barks and spits at moderates. What they are doing to the moderates on the Naxal debate is exactly what their favorite ...
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Stating the Obvious (and why Obama got the Nobel Peace Prize)

Anand Bala posted an article on - Oct 9, 2009, 7:38 am
Image from PoliticalCartoons.com Barrack Obama managed to bag the Nobel prize for peace. As most parts of the world are still getting back on their chairs after rolling on the floor laughing, let...
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Why is Chidambaram Waiting? Why "announce" a counter-offensive?

Anand Bala posted an article on - Oct 8, 2009, 8:29 am
A military operation is typically strengthened if there is a surprise element. Our Home Minister has announced Operation Green Hunt well in advance and has been publicizing it with gory pictures in th...
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Can Red Paint Camouflage a Blood Bath? (and the Media's cry for blood)

Anand Bala posted an article on - Oct 7, 2009, 7:42 am
The signs in the media are ominous. There appears to be a “calibrated” approach to building consent for definitive and armed action against “naxals”. Operation Green Hunt is what this campaign...
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Operation Green Hunt - The Indian version of Shock Therapy

Anand Bala posted an article on - Oct 6, 2009, 6:20 am
70,000 paramilitary forces are about to enter the poorest districts in India. The excuse for this march of troops is a Maoist Rebellion. Are we on the verge of a civil war that pit's urban India a...
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The Iraq Playbook - New Delhi's Surveillance Plans

Anand Bala posted an article on - Oct 5, 2009, 5:53 am
If the SiliconIndia.com website is to be believed, then "BOSCH may provide security systems for commonwealth games" Surveillance is supposedly at the heart of counter-terrorist operations. I won...
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Condeming Violence (and getting neatly labelled in the process)

Anand Bala posted an article on - Oct 3, 2009, 9:32 pm
Condemning violence is becoming problematic these days. If you condemn violence against women and terror strikes, people will nod their heads in agreement. It is when you start condemning other forms ...
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Jeffery Sachs: The First Son of Disaster Capitalism on Climate Change

Anand Bala posted an article on - Oct 1, 2009, 5:04 am
Milton Friedman was the father of contemporary disaster capitalism and the ideologue behind capitalist genocides post 1970. If he is the undisputed father than Jeffrey Sachs is the leading contender f...
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Remember Yeltsin? (and understanding the root of the Naxal violence)

Anand Bala posted an article on - Sep 29, 2009, 6:07 am
When the democratically elected parliament of Russia was attacked by tanks and burnt black by Boris Yeltsin, the western media labeled it as a victory for democracy. The country's oil and gas coul...
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Azadi! Azadi! - Democracy, the Indian Army and Kashmir

Anand Bala posted an article on - Sep 29, 2009, 5:09 am
I came across this paragraph in the article titled "Is Democracy Melting?" by Arundhati Roy. The war in the Kashmir valley is almost 20 years old now, and has claimed about 70,000 lives. Tens of th...
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An Interview with Robert Fisk

Anand Bala posted an article on - Sep 23, 2009, 6:54 am
Unfortunately I have still not been able to lay my hands on Robert Fisk's book "The Great War for Civilisation: The Conquest of the Middle East". I hope to get a copy soon though. It has been reco...
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The Goldstone Report Summary (and an excercie is précis writing)

Anand Bala posted an article on - Sep 22, 2009, 7:12 am
Background  The media is India is largely silent on the Goldstone report and is obsessing over Twitter, a war with China and nuclear weapons. Since the media in India chooses to ignore the repo...
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Salma Sultan's Question on contemporary Broadcasting

Anand Bala posted an article on - Sep 20, 2009, 7:20 am
Most Indian's of my age grew up watching Salma Sultan on DD. It was nice to see her in the studios once again, albeit in the gaudy setting of NDTV and CNN IBN, on the occasion of DD's 50th ann...
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FDI in Agriculture by TNCs (and a shallow Op-Ed in The Hindu)

Anand Bala posted an article on - Sep 19, 2009, 3:33 am
Today’s edition of The Hindu carries an article titled “Developing countries now dominate global agricultural plantation business”. The article was written by Premila Nazareth Satya...
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How free is free-market?

Anand Bala posted an article on - Sep 17, 2009, 6:32 am
Ever since the gray clouds of economic recession started to gather over America, we have been treated to an unending cloud-burst of political rhetoric on the beauty and virtue of the free market. Thes...
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CapitalClimate: WaPo Blog Policy Promotes Climate Astroturfing

Anand Bala posted an article on - Sep 16, 2009, 1:11 am
Interesting post on the Capital Climate Blog that touches upon some of the issues that I have been trying to deal with in my blog. CapitalClimate: WaPo Blog Policy Promotes Climate Astroturfing
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Anand Bala is following the blog Gizmodo
Anand Bala is following the blog MLB Trade Rumors

Joe Wilson Apologizes For Shouting "You Lie!" At Obama

Anand Bala Sep 15, 2009, 2:03 pm
Who will apologize to the families of 100,00 civilians dead in Iraq?
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Agricultural Imperialism

Anand Bala posted an article on - Sep 15, 2009, 6:29 am
When a country is being bombed by drones it presents a unique opportunity for capitalist imperialists to alienate people from their land. Land is the one asset that can prevent a person from falling p...
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Explain this to me like I am six year old

Anand Bala posted an article on - Sep 14, 2009, 9:29 am
If you can-not allow an athlete found guilty of drug abuse to compete in a sporting event, how can you allow a sporting event to be managed by a known drug felon? (I am referring to Lalit Modi and his...
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Does size really matter?

Anand Bala posted an article on - Sep 12, 2009, 5:42 am
When it comes to a nuclear phallus, does size really matter? Questions around an arms build up in the subcontinent is raising it's ugly head again. At the risk of being called sexist, I would lik...
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Unions?

Anand Bala posted an article on - Sep 11, 2009, 2:54 am
Jet Airlines pilots put up the worst possible case for a union. They acted arbitrarily, were blackmailing the company, and were out maneuvered by the company and the media. They now make unions of whi...
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NDTV Greenwash

Anand Bala posted an article on - Sep 10, 2009, 3:57 am
This article of mine, originally appeared under the Title "Go Green or Smoke Screen" at the TheHoot.org. The link to the complete article is here. Since they are making their greenwash campaign an ann...
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9/11, it's aftermath, and the failed war on terror

Anand Bala posted an article on - Sep 9, 2009, 4:34 am
In two days the papers, airwaves and twitter will be filled with memories of 9/11. We will be told again and again of how innocent Americans fell victim to the greatest war crime in the history of ter...
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Declare Advertisers

Anand Bala posted an article on - Sep 8, 2009, 4:10 am
It is becoming increasingly obvious that the media is willing to sell more than just advertising space. e.g. Anil Ambani The print media was completely sold-out (pun intended) during the elections. (T...
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Nightly Snacking May Speed Weight Gain

Anand Bala Sep 7, 2009, 9:30 am
Dugh! talk about stating the obvious
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Anand Bala has rated TechnicaVita 9.4 out of 10

Anand Bala - Nice take on twitter for building a support network. Steers clear of astroturfing which is a problem with such sites today. Nice layout
Sep 7, 2009, 9:11 am

Astroturf - A better term for Manufacturing Consent

Anand Bala posted an article on - Sep 7, 2009, 1:31 am
The Hindu ran a piece today from The Guardian on Astroturfing titled "Dealing with Fake Support". The Astroturfing principle is very similar to Chomsky's manufactured consent and is a more vulgar...
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Media on Air India vs Kingfisher

Anand Bala posted an article on - Sep 6, 2009, 6:28 am
The recent engine-fire incident on the Tarmac in Mumbai was handled a little inappropriately by the media. All the passengers made it out safely and relatively unscathed. This was something that neede...
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US Open Court-Speed Conspiracy Theory

Anand Bala Sep 6, 2009, 1:24 am
In cricket, it is an accepted practice to doctor the pitch to suit the home team. That is why winning an away series is rated higher than winning a home series.
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Anand Bala is following the blog TechCrunch

Child Care Providers Prepare For H1N1 Flu Virus

Anand Bala Sep 5, 2009, 5:04 pm
What about Malaria? Oops sorry, that is not a first world disease, my mistake. Wrong place to ask such a question
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Sarah Palin Defends "Death Panels" Statement on Health Care, Challenges Obama

Anand Bala Sep 5, 2009, 12:45 pm
Synonyms for Sarah Palin - dugh!, self-destruct, foot in mouth and head injury
Anand Bala Sep 5, 2009, 5:02 pm
American drones never miss killing children and women in NWFP in AfPak
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Anand Bala is following the blog Media Matters

Boston prep school nixes all the books in its library, replaces them with 18 e-readers

Anand Bala Sep 5, 2009, 12:46 pm
Talk about manufacturing consent. Next thing you know he will only allow kids to read twitter updates. What a moron!
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