Notice anything odd?

If you did, pat yourself on the back! What you noticed (if you did) is a fine (if somewhat blatant) example of subliminal messaging.. What is that? I hear you say…Well, pl watch the clip again..this time more carefully..particularly from 4:46 onwards..

Now tell me, notice anything odd? No? OK, here goes.. The particular bit I am referring to is about Arun Nehru – a close confidant of Rajiv Gandhi. Sh Nehru is most widely known for his alleged role in the Bofors scandal that allegedly involved “political payments” to Congress Party. Sh Nehru is currently a member of the Janata Dal.  Now notice the “party symbol” in the background. Odd, no? To the best of my knowledge, Sh Nehru is not – was not – a BJP member.  And I don’t believe he has ever contested any election on the BJP’s symbol. Yet not once, not twice but 4 times in this clip - in a short span of 60 seconds – he is shown against the backdrop of BJP’s lotus symbol! IBN *might* have still “redeemed” itself (somewhat) if they had similarly shown Rajiv Gandhi against the Congress’ symbol. But do you see that anywhere in the 7-min clip? Check for yourself! If you think this is “harmless” – or that I am making a mountain out of a molehill, pl read this:

University College..researchers have found the first physiological evidence that invisible subliminal images do attract the brain’s attention on a subconscious level. The wider implication for the study…is that techniques such as subliminal advertising, now banned in the UK but still legal in the USA, certainly do leave their mark on the brain.

Any wonder the credibility of mainstream media continues to drop? Also read:  Subliminal messages can affect our brains (via Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences) and more in case you are really keen.

Also read: Pathetic or Disgusting? You Decide.. and the post on Burying Bofors..

* Thanks to usual satire (via CenterofRight) for alerting me to this…

For those who came in late, the entire Great Joke that is Indian Media series: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11, Part 12, Part 13, Part 14, Part 15, Part 16, Part 17 and Part 18. Enjoy.

The ‘cartoon’ that led to JU professor’s arrest. From top to bottom: 1. Mamata Banerjee points to Indian Railways’ logo and tells Mukul Roy: “See Mukul, the Golden Fortress”; 2. Mukul Roy points to former railway minister Dinesh Trivedi and exclaims: “That’s an evil man!!!”; 3. Mamata says: “Evil man, vanish!”

Apparently, this “image” – or to be more precise circulating this “image” via email has landed a person in jail.

Professor Ambikesh Mahaptara of Jadavpur University was arrested this morning (Fri) for forwarding derogatory cartoons about West Bengal Chief Minister Mamta Banerjee.

The cartoons are based on Sonar Kella, the famed movie by Satyajit Ray, showing two peple in a dialogue. The mail forwarded by Professor Mahapatra allegedly shows Mamta Banerjee and Mukul Roy, Central Railway Minister of plotting together to get rid of former Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi. The professor is supposed to have forwarded the mail to atleast 65 people.

…“Professor Ambikesh Mohapatra has been arrested for spreading derogatory messages against respectable persons,” said Sujoy Chanda, Deputy Commissioner of Kolkata, without divulging the names of those who are supposed to have been defamed. Subrata Sengupta, Professor Mahapatra’s neighbour has also been arrested…reports state that in retaliation to this (i.e. “spreading derogatory messages“), he was (also) attacked by workers of Trinammol Congress, as he returned home from work.

The chemistry professor..has been booked under Section 66 of Information Technology Act, 2000 and Section 500 of Indian Penal Code, which mounts up to punishment for defamation. [link]

There is no doubt that the Professor has been arrested although the charges are not yet clear.

…Police sources say Subrata Sengupta, a neighbour of Mahapatra, has also been arrested. Among the charges slapped against the two are some sections of the IT Act. The cartoon in question has been doing the rounds in West Bengal after Mamata forced Trivedi out of the rail ministry and put Roy in his place. Apparently, the cartoon is a caricature of Satyajit Ray’s detective masterpiece on celluloid Sonar Kella. The police have come to know Mahapatra has sent the mail to about 65 people. However, it is not yet clear what are the charges that the police has slapped against the professor. [link]

This NDTV clip suggests that he was arrested for insutling the modesty of a woman, humiliating women, defamation and sending offensive messages through a computer. He has since been released on bail and apparently after writing a “letter”. Unbelievable, right? If you share my outrage (and I do hope you do), please share this post/ link with all your friends and family…Make sure this is widely read..and make sure that Didi understands that India has moved far beyond censorship.

P.S. At least some of you may remember Mamata-Di’s recent move to “limit” the number of newspapers in state-libraries. So much for “Poribartan”.

IMPORTANT: I am waiting for independent verification of these reports. If it turns out that the Professor was *not* arrested for sharing/spreading this image, I will delete this post and publicly apologise on this  blog to Mamata Banerjee and Trinamool Congress. As of now, I am standing by this post.

By the way, defamation laws are a major “risk” in India. To understand better, please read: On Scandalous Information and “high-profile” people

Somewhat Related: Retiring to become an Imam in Paschim Banga*.. and On Blogs, Comments, Liability and Being Sued

Images Attrribution: Professors’s photograph, courtesy IndiaWires; “Cartoon” courtesy, BharatKalyan97

I don’t know how many of you read this bit of “news” today morning (emphasis added, throughout)…

We will Close Down All Illegal Mines in Goa: Parrikar

Proposed move could further impact the iron ore industry and drag down mining growth in the country

Read it again…India’s largest selling English newspaper would have us believe that attempts to “close down illegal mines in Goa” will hurt mining industry and “drag down mining growth in the country“. Wait there is more…

..A dip in its production due to the closures will hurt international contracts and has the potential to hurt allied industries like financing, transport and producers of earth-moving machinery

Funnily enough the miners themselves “welcomed Parrikar’s efforts to close down illegal mines“. And the Secretary of the Exporters Association is quoted as saying: “Illegality affects the operations of legal miners. It is absolutely a step in the right direction,”

For those who may not know or remember, Parrikar was the “head of a ministerial panel investigating the extent of illegal mining of iron ore, he had pointed at a loss of about . 3,000 crore to the state government due to unaccounted mineral exports and mining beyond lease permits. ..He had also pointed at a criminal nexus between mine owners and various authorities. The Public Advisory Committee had submitted the report to the previous Goa Assembly Speaker last October, but could not table it on the floor of the House due to refusal of members of the then ruling Congress party to sign on the report.”

Is this another shameless example of “paid media” or is this more the case of a poor reporter who has been bullied into a contradictory headline? You decide.  Going by Times of India’s logic,  the government should not make any attempts to unearth black money since it might hurt India’s savings industry, no?

Adjacent Post: Of Indian Media and Elections..

Somewhat Related: The entire Great Joke that is Indian Media series: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11, Part 12, Part 13, Part 14, Part 15, Part 16 and Part 17. Enjoy.

• Ramlila Maidan crackdown: SC pulls up Ramdev, Delhi Police – IBNLive.com
• Midnight crackdown: SC raps Baba Ramdev, Delhi police – Hindustan Times
• SC blames Ramdev, police for 2011 Ramlila Maidan crackdown – Daily News & Analysis
• Baba Ramdev guilty of negligence: Supreme Court on Ramlila crackdown – NDTV
• Ramdev, cops slammed by SC for Ramilila midnight mayhem- Expressindia.com
• SC: Delhi cops abused power at Ramlila,Ramdev equally guilty- Indian Express
• SC hauls up govt, Ramdev for Ramlila crackdown – India Today
• SC pulls up Ramdev, police for negligence at Ramlila protest – Firstpost

Quick Quiz: Which is the odd one out?

Highly Recommended: Be Wary of Prime Time?, from which this excerpt:

…Let us see this once again. Which political party would you associate the word “Scam” with? Answer: All political parties. Yes, despite the fact the most corrupt government ever in the history of India is presently ruling us.

Courtesy Jnsbmi, here is a ToI story (emphasis added). Notice the headline and the tweet in which it was mentioned:

Gujarat accounts for 6% of India’s dubious bank transactions

Nov 2, 2011, 12.46AM IST TNN [ Ankur Jain ]

Gujarat has generated the fourth highest number of reports relating to dubious banking transactions in the last four financial years, according to a govt report.

AHMEDABAD: There is something more than that meets the eye with financial transactions in the state. According to a recently released report buy union finance ministry’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), Gujarat has generated the fourth highest number of reports relating to dubious banking transactions in the last four financial years in the country.
Out of the total 17,209 dubious transactions reported across India in four financial years from March 2006 to March 2010, Gujarat accounted for around 1,032 or 6 per cent of the country. However, the only silver lining is that the state is way behind Maharashtra, which leads the pack of such transactions with 29 per cent, Delhi with 12.1 per cent and West Bengal with 7.3 per cent.

Here is the tweet from ToI:

Guj accounts for 6% of India’s dubious bank transactions toi.in/rI_IFb

Bonus: This is from Mail Today and comes courtesy Sh Gopi Maliwal:

Stranded travellers not Modi’s relatives http://bit.ly/vwiXTn ! See headlines n text: TrashToday forever!

Related Post: In which some people are more “equal” than others

and the entire series: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11, Part 12, Part 13, Part 14, and Part 15.