KetanTanna profiles Jason Lewis, a man who has led an amazing life and now devotes his life to the world of  environment and inspiring children. Jason Lewis is a man extraordinaire. The 47 year old from Yorkshire in England dons many hats, that of an explorer, an author and a speaker and formerly that of […]
The Final Exit
Long before it became fashionable to write on mercy killing plea forthe late ArunaShanbag, Mumbai gave germ to an idea which was far ahead of its time. The idea of “Death with dignity†was floated and actively implemented. KetanTanna reports. ArunaShanbag very briefly looked at me when I entered her room in KEM Hospital along […]
“When individuals feel valued and respected”
Against the backdrop of mounting violence worldwide, Buddhist organisation Soka Gakkai Internationals (SGI) Indian arm Bharat Soka Gakkai (BSG) is holding a symposium entitled Universal Respect for Human Dignity: The Great Path to Peace, which is based on SGI President Daisaku Ikedaâs 2016 peace proposal. Vishesh Gupta, Chairperson of “ Bharat Soka Gakkai speaks to […]
Women are still lagging far behind
“Women are still lagging far behind if you are talking about gender parity†Educator and feminist NandiniSardesai talks to KetanTanna about feminism and what it takes to be a woman in a man’s world. FPJ: What does feminism mean? NandiniSardesai: It’s a very contextual term and again it would vary from community to community. Sometimes it […]
Censorship makes India fall
“Censorship makes India fall two places on global internet freedom chart “ A recently released global report on the internet freedom rated India 39th in 2012, a slip from two places last year. A recently released global report on the internet freedom rated India 39th in 2012, a slip from two places last year. The […]
Proactive manipulation of web content
Large swathes of online content are disappearing, and the losses are far more difficult to reverse than the mere blocking of a website, says KETAN TANNA, analyst of the India section of the Freedom House report on Freedom on the Net 2012, released last week. 300? 400? 500+? Take your pick. No one really has […]
Freedom On The Net (2012)
Freedom on the Net 2012 A Global Assessment of Internet and Digital Media
Freedom on the Net 2011
Fat is no weighty issue for this club
APPU, JUMBO, elephant, mota, buffalo-these are just a few names by which huge or fat people are characterized and ridiculed. Naturally, few extra-large people wear their fat well or feel at ease while socializing. Now, things are about to change. Extra large people will soon have their own club in Bombay and be able to […]
TV sets destroyed to avoid evil influence
TRIED OF the “corrupting” influence that the television has on your child? Feel sick of the vulgarity, violence and sleaze that many TV programmes project? And, ever been engulfed in violent rage and felt like destroying your TV set? “Please go ahead, destroy your evil TV set” would be the advise of thousands of residents […]
It doesn’t always pay to be pricey(off beat)
It doesn’t always pay to be pricey(off beat) THE GLITZY shopping mall CrossRoads, aamchi Mumbai’s answer to New York’s Bloomingdale, is learning the hard way that acting pricey does not pay. So, the management has “put on hold” the scheme introduced in August to keep out the “riff-raff”. Only well-heeled denizens equipped with cellphone, club […]
CRIME CAFES OF THE NEW MILLENNIUM flayed
TILL LAST year, it was the dark, smoky bar that used to be the haunt of criminals in Mumbai. On the threshold of the new millennium, it’s the cyber café, call it Crime Café if you will. Cheats, swindlers, high-class call girls and even prostitutes are making a beeline for cyber cafes to conduct their […]
George Fernandes becomes an eligible bachelor
Fernandes becomes an eligible bachelor, courtesy cyber squatters “Hi! I am George Fernandes. I am currently single. So any good looking girls out there who are interested in someone who is cute, funny and likes socializing, then I am the guy for you. Contact me at fernandesgeorge@hotmail.com or at my homepage, www.georgefernandes.com”. No. It is […]
Mumbaikars invited to play Pied Piper
WANT TO make a fast buck in Mumbai? Kill rats. Yes, rats. Stung by the death of 30 persons of leptospirosis in and around Mumbai, the Brihan Mumbai Municipal Corporation has announced a scheme for public: Kill a rat and get paid Rs 5 for it. The only rider is that a minimum of five […]
Credibility crisis for GIA?
Mumbai: There is a sense of disbelief among the diamond czars of India as news is slowly percolating about the resignation of Thomas C Yonelunas, CEO of the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) Laboratory following review of policies and practices at the GIA lab. Four GIA staffers have been sacked as well. Thomas M Moses, […]
GIA certificate scandal gets murkier
Mumbai: The certificate scandal at the Gemological Institute is snowballing into major crisis with GIA announcing that the names of diamond dealers who may have violated GIA’s Code of Ethics have been turned over to law enforcement officials. GIA has also made it clear to them that it will no longer accept diamonds from them […]
Diamond industry cheers Argyle growth plans
Mumbai: The Indian diamond industry, which has been perpetually starved of rough stones for cutting and polishing, was eagerly awaiting this announcement. On Thursday, Rio Tinto Diamonds, owner of the Argyle diamond mine in Australia, said that it would invest $760 million for expansion of the mine. It also plans to establish a centralised diamond […]
NRIs tighten grip over diamond trade
Indian Community Bags Five Seats On The Six-Member Board Of Antwerp Trading Body Ketan Tanna | TNN Mumbai: Diamond traders of Indian origin have formalised their domination over the industry in the world’s diamond capital. Five dimantaires of Indian origin have been elected to the six member board of the prestigious Antwerp-based Hoga Raa Voor […]
US co’s woes to hit diamond industry hard
Mumbai:News about financial trouble at New York-based M Fabrikant & Sons, the largest US importer of diamonds from India, has the country’s diamond industry worried. According to a report in Israel-based newspaper Globe, Fabrikant owes $400 million to creditors, of which $200 million is owed to US banks, and $200 million to suppliers. Fabrikant has […]
Certificates of Illusion?
Certifigate scandal has landed diamond industry in a dilemma. Ketan Tanna offers tips on how to escape unscrupulous traders The scandal over diamond certification by the Gemological Institute of America is snowballing into a major controversy with industry watchers calling it certifigate. Indeed, are diamond gradation certificates just an illusion? The resignation of Thomas C Yonelunas, CEO […]
Diamond sales hit rough patch
Wary Industry Expects Christmas Demand To Boost Revival Hopes Ketan Tanna | TNN Mumbai: There are not many cheerful faces in Mumbai’s Panchratna building or the adjacent Jewel building in Opera House which house offices of the ‘who’s who’ of the Indian diamond industry. Diamond exports have declined over two consecutive quarters, due to slack […]
When a film scares diamond merchants
A tale of how diamonds fund brutal African wars is troubling the Indian traders, reports Ketan Tanna Women may appear to like tiny things but you may never hear any one of them say, “Honey, don’t you think this diamond is way too big?” The influence of diamonds over women is unshakeable. But now, the […]
The Rough Benefit
Local beneficiation was the hot topic at the International Diamond Conference – Mines To Market 2005 – held May 24 and 25 in Mumbai, India, where Botswana President Festus Mogae addressed the issue in his keynote speech commenting, “We have no intention, for now, of making the export of rough diamonds illegal or uneconomical by […]
Industry Leaders Advise on Supply Chain
Diamond players addressed supply chain, marketing, and sales issues at the Mines to Market International Conference in Mumbai, India. With Rapaport Groups’s CEO, Martin Rapaport, moderating the panel of speakers, it was serious stock-taking time among lighter moments. Recounting a joke, Rapaport’s message was “don’t sit on inventories” to which Mehul Choksi, chairman and CEO […]
Penny Responds to Issues Facing DTC
Reporter Ketan Tanna caught up with De Beers’ managing director designate, Gareth Penny, at the Mines to Market Conference in Mumbai, India. With regards to the Belgian Polish Diamond Dealers Association (BVGD) decision to approach the European Commission on ending Supplier of Choice, and any partnership between De Beers and ALROSA, Penny said, “Anybody is […]
Four Companies in India Made DTC Sightholder
Kiran Exports, Bhansali & Co., Mine Stone, and Tara Jewels -all in Mumbai, India– are among 11 added to the new sightholder list release by the Diamond Trading Company Barring Tara Jewels, the other three were accepted after two application attempts. However, late in the day on June 9, all four were happy that they […]
India’s Diamond Factories Unregulated
The furor over the benzene poisoning of four diamond cutters in India’s diamond city Surat, has led to the unearthing of the startling fact that only 431 of over 10,000 diamond units in the state of Gujarat have been registered under the Factories Act that specifies the working conditions of factory workers among other things. […]
State Bank of India Wins Antwerp Case
The State Bank of India (SBI,) a state-owned Fortune 500 bank, has won a money laundering case involving the bank and some of India’s diamond dealers, in a court of appeal in Antwerp. Belgian authorities had filed a case in 1997 alleging that SBI employees were indulging in and encouraging money laundering by giving credit […]
Interview with Dilip Mehta of Rosy Blue
Dilip Mehta, CEO of Rosy Blue, spoke with Rapaport News in Mumbai, India, for the “Mines To Market” conference. Excerpts from the interview follow: On rising rough prices that the polished market does not keep pace with. It is a challenge. The market has become saturated. However, South East Asia, the Far and Middle East are […]
Ayodhya plan
Shankaracharya of Sringeri peeth Jagadguru Bharathi Teertha tells Ketan N Tanna about his Ayodhya plan A pontiff with a difference The Sringeri Shankaracharya is obviously a very unusual pontiff. He asks questions, which would put media planners and publicity-conscious politicians to shame. I meet him under full public glare of his devotees and there seems […]
about Kabir Bedi, fidelity and critics
Chat show host Nikki Bedi talks to Ketan N Tanna about Kabir Bedi, fidelity and critics Chat show host Nikki Bedi talks to Ketan N Tanna about Kabir Bedi, fidelity and critics Just right for the idiot box It is well past 10pm, and I am in Nikki Bedi’s bedroom at Empress Court building in […]
Votary of the middle path
Commerce Minister Pranab Mukherjee talks to Ketan N Tanna about his differences with the Finance Ministry Votary of the middle path I am a religious person and ardent reader of Chandi paath. An important aspect of Chandi is that whatever we are seeing or doing is nothing but maya (illusion). Nothing is everlasting. When I […]
why Kashi and Mathura should not be on BJP’s agenda
“BJP Leader Atal Behari Vajpayee tells Ketan N Tanna why Kashi and Mathura should not be on BJP’s agenda” The loneliness of a reasonable man Taqkdir ne mera kahan sath diya? (When has luck been on my side?),” laughs Atal Behari Vajpayee sardonically. As the sun sets outside his 6, Raisina Road residence, Vajpayee is in […]
Art And The State-of-the-Art
When a ‘mouse’ selects your ‘brush’ from a screen displayed menu of choices. Following which a command assigns a colour, same as dipping a real brush in to paint; the artist simply moves the device across a table, resulting in a swathe of colour on the screen; and an exquisite design gradually emerges; it is […]
Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI)
No single factor has contributed as much to the electronics revolution as miniaturization. The pinnacle being VLSI. At the leading edge of the technology, we are now operating at the .5-micron level. And by the turn of the century hope to touch .25 microns. The interest in VLSI growing in India. That international conferences are […]
Are You In Your Right Mind?
Indians are known to be strong on analytical thinking and arithmetic reasoning-skills associated with the Left Brain. But in today’s creativity-driven world, is the Left Brain enough, asks Ketan Tanna In June 2005, General Motors vice-chairman Bob Lutz, while speaking at a shareholder meeting, said his company could not be managed just by the left, analytical […]
Class prejudice: a tale of three girl students
“For reasons unknown, the gross and glaring in-built inequity and class-bias of post-independence India’s school system has not bothered the nation’s know-all central planners and social engineers. Mumbai which is a microcosm of India provides the best example of the unquestioned class disparity of Indian education. Ketan Tanna reports” When national luminaries led by the President A.P.J. […]
Careless experiment
Hardly has the Maharashtra government recovered from the embarrassment of being forced to withdraw its resolution imposing a means tested fee structure upon aided English medium schools in the state, when it has landed itself into another school and curriculum-related mess. A July 15 resolution introducing board exams (the Primary School Certificate Examination — PSCE), […]
Quo Vadis
Quo vadis the Mumbai colleges? In a shocking disclosure, Dr A D Sawant , joint director of higher education, Maharashtra Government, under whose purview the city colleges function told Education World that the Mumbai city colleges in his assessment do not have more then “150-160 academic days in a year “. This in effect means […]
Savio da Gama
Mumbai-based Savio da Gama (21) is a musician with a difference. With 26 musical awards under his belt — more than one for each year of his life including a Rs.15,000 annual five-year scholarship and a citation from the Hyderabad-based Rajaji Trust — da Gama has already achieved more than most musicians achieve in a […]
Sawaal dus crore ka: Is Anupam Kher in or out?
It’s a million dollar question. Is Anupam Kher in or out of Sawal Dus Crore Ka (SDCK)? With both Kher and Zee TV singing different tunes, there’s no way one can as yet ‘freeze’ eit-her ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to that. Going by recent media reports, one gets the impression that Kher has been booted out […]
How heroes fudge box office takings
SO YOU thought only cricket matches could be fixed? Here in Mumbai, even the box office collections of newly released films can be fixed. They call it “ticket phadna”. An insecure star, who is sometimes also the film’s producer, arranges to block-book the first week’s shows and, hey presto, the “House Full” boards go up. […]
Sippy sons set sights on Sholay 2000
FOR ALL those die-hard Sholay fans, there is some good news. A sequel to sholay titled Sholay 2000 is on it way and that too by the makers of the original Sholay film. It has been 25 years since Sholay stole its way into the hearts of millions of Indians and turned out to be […]
Maharashtra minister clamps down on rock music
He is at it again. The self-appointed guardian of morality in Maharashtra Minister for Cultural Affairs has instructed the Stage performance Scrutiny Board to censor each and every word that goes into making a song especially rock music. It was only last week, that Pramod Navalkar rocked the rock world when he decided to “strictly […]
Lata laments dearth of lilting Music
MUMBAI, April 11. “It is not me, just one Lata Mangeshkar saying it, many people bemoan the deterioration in the quality of music and lyrics. I feel this too (deterioration) will change, may be for the better and may be the glorious period of music, well written” says well-known singer Lata Mangeshkar. However, the legendary […]
CAN THE NEW VIDEO MAGAZINES SURVIVE
“CAN THE NEW VIDEO MAGAZINES SURVIVE IN THE CUTTHROAT MARKET? A SPECIAL REPORT” Charles Darwin may well have been talking about the future of the video magazines when he propounded the theory of survival of the fittest. Indeed, survival of the fittest will be the name of the game in the video magazine market, which […]
Nandy accused of blackmailing TV sponsors
IS FORMER editor and flamboyant media personality Pritish Nandy a blackmailer? Does he arm-twist institutions into sponsoring his programmes that appear on various channels? The Industrial Development Bank of India’s sole advertising agency, Adfactor, certainly seems to think so. The agency has lashed out at the “dirty blackmailing tactics” of Mr. Nandy and senior officials […]
A graphic account
“Computer animation is the new rage in fields ranging from advertising to hairstyling” Switch on your TV set in time for the nine o’clock news. And as aggressive strains of music seep into your offended ears, you will see a globe hurtling through space almost as if it wished to invade your living room. Just […]
FRAMED
FRAMED A new breed of ad filmmakers hits the screen It is a fact almost universally acknowledged that the advertisements that are flashed on our TV screens are invariably more entertaining than the programmes that follow. Entire families have been known to stare spellbound at the small screen as a young girl emerges from her […]
The war of words
One of the deadliest weapons being used by both Iraq and the US led multinational forces in the Gulf war is the weapon of disinformation. While the world press attention is focused on the actual gory war, little attention is being paid to the media war, the ‘doctored’ information that is emerging from the two […]