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An India Blooms News Service and Vivekananda College Initiative

SATURDAY, JANUARY 29, 2011

By Divyanshu Dutta Roy & Anusua Sarkar

GIRL POWER IN B-TOWN [P2]

22 DAYS TO GO! [P4]

ven with a response that is nearly nowhere as groundbreaking as it was initially hype-projected by some, mobile number portability services in India have ushered a new era of customer freedom.

@VodafoneIN: @ShravanRN Sorry for the inconvenience, we'll get back to you shortly with assistance. This is corporate ball-busting in the 202nd decade of civilization where the independent user, irrespective of their genuineness of claims, is powerful enough to make a goliath get down to its knees and ask forgiveness. So when Indias telecom secretary R Chandrasekhar said, It is the open season now, as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh flagged off mobile number portability (MNP) on Jan 20, the statement rang with significance for over 62 percent of the nations people who own cell phones.

Sample this exchange between a disgruntled user, who shares his anguish with his network provider over a short message on Twitter to his about 400 followers, and the carrier that swoops in to appease the customer: ShravanRN: @VodafoneIN Should i think of MNP or are you going to rectify my problem? Cross connections for 3 weeks ! *disgusting*

obile number portability (MNP) services went live across India on Jan 20, Thursday, after about a year of delay, allowing the users to swap carriers without changing their mobile numbers, which is likely to jack up competition in an already cut-throat market. Indias cell phone market, with about 750 million subscribers is the fastest growing in the world and offering some of the cheapest tariffs anywhere,

IT IS THE M

OPEN SEASONNOW
veers dangerously close to an oversaturation Expert Speak point, experts say. And that it already seems to be doing. Pushed back for months, MNP was formally Despite majority of reports claiming announced open on Thursday, after a trial that the switch factor isnt as huge as run in Haryana since November last year, by some had thought it to be, a telecoms telecoms minister Kapil Sibal who said the sector analyst says MNP is not likely to service was only about to intensify the be a fizzle-bang in its net effect. competition. Its like the nuclear bomb. Sure Flagging off the services, Prime Minister nobody used it as much as everyone Manmohan Singh said, It is expected that thought, but we havent had world this service will go a long way in enhancing wars since then, have we? he told customer satisfaction. IBNS over telephone, wishing to remain unnamed. MNP is generally being seen as a boon for the late entrants to sector with a smaller user base who can now lure away customers from larger rivals with cheaper rates, better value added services (VAS) and other hooks. Established players too put up a straight face for the launch all saying they were confident of retaining their users even though most agree that tariffs and the average revenue per user (ARPU) are likely to go down even further. Tata Teleservices, Indias fourth largest service provider said it was confident of retaining its 85 million happy and satisfied customers. TTL's MNP strategy will ride strongly on a simple tariff structure and strong customer care and service levels. Deepak Gulati, Executive President, Mobility Business Division, Tata Teleservices Limited said. Tata Docomo, with their active MNP campaign hit everything from television, Google search results and an extremely aggressive Twitter campaign. Idea hit some right notes with its No Idea? Get Idea. adverts and Vodafones Everybodys welcome campaign also was received well. State-owned BSNL also does not want to stay behind, and to turn around its dwindling numbers, it is lining up offers including free voice and data usage apart from a free switch. Conditions Apply

To switch numbers, customers will have to pay a maximum of Rs 19 to the new operator High value customers in the post-paid which has the option to waive the fee or segment are likely to have the biggest reduce it to incentivize the switch. say in the spar among carriers. Among the things to be kept in mind, Carrier Reception however, is the fact that telecom circles cannot be switched. India is divided into 23 Relatively late entrants to the sector in region-based telecom circles, with Uttar India companies like Uninor and MTS Pradesh being the largest. are wooing customers with offers like discounted call rates, low priced Also balance in pre-paid connections cannot handsets, tariff vouchers and money be carried over and switching between GSM back schemes. and CDMA carriers will require the customer to buy a new handset. Welcoming the launch, Uninor said it does not expect it to be a game The switch is said to take seven working days changer. The Indian arm of Norways and will be done between 12 am to 5 am. In Telenor said that it does not intend to Jammu and Kashmir and in the North East, launch an advertising blitzkrieg unlike it will take 15 working days. its peers to attract users. Once switched, the user must stay with an Instead it intends to advertise its operator for at least three months and can dynamic discounts on call rates and change again only after 90 days. seek trials.

ADMISSIONS OPEN!

UGC Sponsored Certificate Course PHOTOJOURNALISM & VIDEOGRAPHY

Eligibility: Higher Secondary Passout or Equivalent

Dept. Of Journalism & Mass Communication, Vivekananda College, 269 DH. Road, Kolkata 63, Phone: 9433304519 / 9433953908 / 9230403260

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The journey for this paper began when we decided to try out something different than our traditional in-house publication. Thats why we, the students of Department of Journalism and Mass Communication of Vivekananda College, have collaborated with India Blooms News Service to join the best of professional practices of the real world and the passion and enthusiasm of our students. We are probably among the first academic institution to have partnered a real world news agency to come out with something like this. Hope you like our work. When one comes to think of it, it turns out that best things in life are not the perfect ones. Dreams, a relationship, an art, happiness, all seem to be what they are because of what they aren't : perfect. It is the desire to grow into something much better that makes them as fantastic as they seem to be. And it's with that same faith that this journey begins. Printed pages are many, this is ours, something that is never perfect but always gets one step closer.

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vol. 1 issue 1

INDIABLOOMS SATURDAY, JANUARY 29, 2011

With the recent releases riding on the shoulder of female leads, it is the season of power women films in Bollywood. 'No One Killed Jessica' leads the pack, but many more releases are setting a new trend. Sreetama Basu and Supriyo Hazra report t is said that art imitates life. And true to this adage. the multi billion dollar Bollywood industry rides on the crest of films which are often inspired by real life events and with women calling the shots. While in some films men play second fiddle, in a film like No One Killed Jessica (NOKJ), there is not even a male love interest of either of the two female leads thrown in for box office reasons. The female leads of No One Killed Jessica are not glammed up. They are not ravishing beauties performing hipswinging numbers, shedding clothes or

They are simply films about people, striking a balance between men and women. And thankfully for me, a lot of interesting films are happening these days, despite the fact that I only want to do roles that are challenging and excitThus with this movie the film makers ing, says Vidya Balan. proved a point that surely they are no more afraid of offering women lead roles with absolutely no eight packed hero to Talking of women centric film, the world

with the two women protagonists in the film who fight against the multiple obstacles that junk the Indian societypolice, political muscle power and a judiciary hamstrung by hostile witnesses.

SHEPOWER
support her. Bollywood film industrys noted trade analyst Taran Adarsh says hopefully the success of No O n e Kill ed of B-town has produced number of such films like Ashutosh Gowariker's JodhaaAkbar where the sheer strength of the character of Jodhaa, played by Ashwariya Rai goes to show the paradigm shift Bollywood has undergone with respect to projecting female leads. One of the biggest banners in the country Yash Raj Films, produced films Aaja Nachle and Laaga Chunari Mein Daag,which were pragmatically different in their formats, but had the women playing the central roles. Still, it will be a mistake if one forgets to mention, Mother India, one of the pioneer films based on the power of the fairer sex, with actor Nargis Dutt in the lead role many decades ago. Jes sica will silence those w h o refuse to change with the changing times. Many more movies have been made in Bollywood, where, women have made their screen presence felt quite strongly. Khoon Bhari Maang, Damini, Arth, Water, Baabul are a few of them.

BOLLYWOOD:

editorialboard
Chief Advisor: Dr. Tapan Kr. Poddar Editor: Sujoy Dhar and Arnab Kr. Banerjee Creative Editor: Susanta Paral and Shib Sankar Datta Photo Editor: Ashoke Majumder and Anirban Basu Roy Chowdhury Circulation Manager: Dipanjana Basu and Shreyashi Dhar Advertisement Manager: Rajjyeshwer Saha Student Editorial Board Team Leaders Supriyo Hazra & Divyanshu Dutta Roy Members Soumyajit Majumder Akash Goswami Sreetama Basu Priya Dey Anusua Sarkar Suman Chaudhury Shakuntala Shaw Piyali Mondal Snigdha Sharma Advisory Board Asim Mitra Subir Ghosh Sajalranjan Maity Dr. Rajib Kar Chowdhury Dr. Subarna Kr. Das Dr. Manas Pratim Das Sanjay Chatterjee Sukanta Chatterjee

In a world where woman is keeping pace with man and has entered all fields of professionalism, Bollywood, in its own way, is paying respect to womanhood, the N o O n e K i l l e d respect she deserves. Jessica collects Rs 20.70 crore [ 270 million Presently, the audience is all eager to playing the love interests of the all rupees which is nearly $ 5.9 million] net powerful hero, something the Indian in Week 1, excellent, he tweets. audience is used to watching for decades. With the success of NOKJ, B-town shifted its focus from the all powerful, larger than life male protagonist to an equally powerful but more realistic female character. However, it can be said that the glitzy world of B-town has produced womencentric films in the past to its audience.

In 2010, films like Ishqiya (meaning Lovestruck), also starring Vidya Balan in the role of a stoic semi-rustic woman who Based on the controversial Jessica Lall uses two men to avenge her renegade murder case, that had ushered collective spouse, became a hit. media campaign and civil society outrage in India, eventually leading to the At the fag end of the year the film Mirch conviction of the killer after a tough legal (Spice) dealing with women infidelity battle, NOKJ was appreciated by the created ripples for its bold statement on audience. female sexuality. The film showcases actor Vidya Balan in a deglamorised bespectacled look as the sister of the victim, while the hugely popular Bollywood diva Rani Mukerji essays a hard-nosed TV journalist modelled after a famous Indian TV personality. The landscape of Indian cinema is changing. Different combinations are now at work. The gender issue is blurring, Rajkumar Gupta, the director of NOKJ says. watch the sultry Priyanka Chopra in Vishal Bharadwajs forthcoming release Saat Khoon Maaf where the National Award winning actor of Fashion, has seven husbands, all of whom she kills. Are men listening?

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According to Vidya Balan, the lead actress of NOKJ and Ishqiya, now there are films being made based on the stories In a thrilling journey, the audience races and subjects where women roles are from police stations to courtrooms to treated with equivalent significance. news channel sting operations, along

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INDIABLOOMS SATURDAY, JANUARY 29, 2011

Students will clash one on one on February 10 at the Department of Journalism, Vivekananda College at a speech competition.

SPEECH

Participants will deliver their speech on a known topic for a total of 15 minutes which will further be divided into two phases. Ten minutes of speech will be followed by a five-minute Q&A session. First phase of 10 minutes and the second phase of 5 minutes will be allotted for over that topic by the judges.

The annual inter college fest 'Prerona' will be organised by Vivekananda College Students Union in the 3rd week of February

Annual sports was organised by the students union of Vivekananda College in the second week of January as students from various departments of the institution participated in multiple events likebadminton, cricket, shot put, 100m race, 200m race, relay race.

SPORTS

The 2nd year Commerce department emerged champion in the cricket tournament while the achievement of Mehemuda Khatun of Dept. of Journalism and mass-communication, 1st year was appraised as she bagged six medals. Prizes will be distributed at "PRERONA" the inter-college fest hosted by Vivekananda College.

A science workshop will be organised on 5th March in collaboration with Indian Science News Association
In an attempt to educate people about environment, a fair was organised in Chandannagar, jointly by an Non Governmental Organisation named Sabujer Avijan and West Bengal Pollution Control Board, Govt. of West Bengal from December 23 to 26.

ENVIRONMENT

On 25th December a seminar was organised by Eastern Indian Science Club at Rabindra Bhawan auditorium in collaboration with Vivekananda College
Like every other year, Kolkatas iconic cultural destination, Nandan, will stage the 10th International Social Communication Cinema Conference in collaboration with Film and Social Communication Institute, Department of I & C. A.; Government of W.B.

FILM FEST

The Journalism and Mass communication department of Vivekananda College, Thakurpukur, hosted a stall in the fair. Students of the college contributed to various information, charts, photographs showing concern about environment and the ways to prevent pollution. Few films on environment made by the students were also shown in the fair prem-ises.

The event is organized by Roopkala Kendra, where the students from the college will participate for gaining more in depth knowledge from the fields of film. The conference will start from 15th February and will end on February 21.

ocated in the Southern fringes of the city, Vivekananda College, Thakurpukur has nurtured talent in students for decades. The institute offers multiple courses that effectively empower the students in crafting their future in a better way. Apart from providing the students with Honours and General Courses. The institute also caters various professional courses that provide the students an edge in gaining practical knowledge besides theoretical education The Department of Journalism and Mass Communication has flourished significantly over the years. Besides great faculty, the department also has well equipped infrastructure needed to make the students properly trained in this sector. From a good computer laboratory to a separate practical studio, the department has it all. The department offers three-year bachelor degrees on journalism in Honours and General categories under the University of Calcutta. A one year post-graduate diploma is also offered here on the subject under the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU). The department recently started offering a one-year certificate course, recognised by the University Grants Commission on photojournalism and videography.

Sharing her experiences in the department, a student said, We often participate in independent documentary productions. One of the documentaries, Sampadito, was screened at the 9th International Social Communication Cinema Conference at Nandan and has been archived by the Chalachitra Satobarsho Bhavan under the West Bengal Department of Information and Cultural Affairs. A number of documentaries on environment and science were also screened at a recent environment conference organised by the Pollution Control Board, Govt. of West Bengal. We often participate in study trips which the department organises. We have visited number of places located all around Begal for first hand practical knowledge like Kakdwip, Chnadannagar, Maniktala Bazar, Maidan, Chingrighata Wetlands, Sobhabazar, she informed. Not only in audio-visual journalism, students here gain first-hand experience in the field of print journalism as well. Sambad Pratidhwani in Bengali and Reverb in English are two such publications which the department publishes and we actively participate in preparing it, she said. Frequent Seminars and workshops are organised by

the department both at state and national levels every year. Two UGC sponsored seminars on Science Journalism and Media Communication (State level) and a seminar on Development Communication and role of media (National level) were organised recently. IGNOU has teamed up with the college to provide opportunities in distance education. Featuring primarily weekend classes, the courses are especially tuned to equip students with the latest in careeroriented theoretical knowledge. Subjects under IGNOU programmes include rural development, journalism, commerce and social work. The Vidyasagar University too provides distance study options through the college. Postgraduate courses are available in zoology, environmental science, history, English and Bengali. Ultimately, what makes my college and my department stand out is their foresight. With their forward looking decisions and initiatives, I am getting an exceptional launch pad for my future, she said.

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INDIABLOOMS SATURDAY, JANUARY 29, 2011

Countdown for the cricketing carnival has begun as the Subcontinent pads up to host the mega event. SUPRIYO HAZRA and PIYALI MONDAL pick the favourites

H MERUN
Australia dominated the game for the past couple of years as they won all the previous three edition of the mega cricketing event. But this time the Australian team does not seem to be in that form which they used to be with their top players like Shane Warne, Andrew Symonds, Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist playing. And with a recent defeat at the hands of England the team surely seems to have lost much of the momentum, though it will be wrong to remove them from the list completely. I always think Australia cant be ruled out since theyve had a good history in this tournament and finally Id pick South Africa as the fourth semi-finalist. But you never know I may be well off the mark! Paul Collingwood remarked. So whether it will be India or Australia or some other nation lifting the trophy, twenty-two days later, the biggest cricketing event is sure to take away breaths of 22-yard action fans.

he final moments of preparation are going on in full swing at multiple venues in India as the Subcontinent gears up to host the much awaited festival called the ICC Cricket World Cup. It is after 1996 World Cup in the subcontinent that the fight for the Cup is back here. And what makes it really interesting is surely the buoyant hopes of the Indian team to perform well and clinch the trophy this time. Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are jointly hosting the Cup along with India, with the latter hosting the highest number of the matches. The event will begin from February 19 at Bangladesh when India take on the former. It will be interesting to see how the Indians play in this match after their shocking defeat by Bangladesh in 2007.

In 1996, India had reached the semi finals but their dreams were shattered as they were defeated decisively by Sri Lanka at Despite the fact that some of the key the Eden Gardens. players in the squad like Sachin Tendulkar (who returned from the South In the last edition at the Caribbean Africa series mid way), Sehwag, Gautam islands the team faced a darker phase as Gambhir are suffering from injury, the they failed to pass the group stage of the team looks balanced enough for the World Cup under the captaincy of Rahul World Cup with all-rounders and new Dravid. comers like Yusuf Pathan and Virat Kohli

However, a comparatively good perfor- clicking well with the willow. mance in the past couple of One Day International series, which includes the It is probably all these factors and a good recently concluded performance by South Africa tour, bowlers like the surely give India a experienced Zaheer much needed moand Harbhajan mentum. along with the fresh blood that has In the past four aroused new hopes years India have in the hearts of the performed excepIndians this time. tionally well under Dhoni and has "I think this Indian risen steadily up team has got a the ICC ODI ranterrific chance of king charts. breaking the jinx of the host country not And the squad for winning the World 2011 looks quite Cup. I believe this robust and fresh, team has got the despite lots of capability of controversy over the selection of Piyush winning the World Cup," Gavaskar told a Chawla. national channel. English player Paul Collingwood also feels strongly that India will perform well at the world Cup: On current form Id hope to put England into a semi-final, it would be hard to not put India in there with the strength in their batting and in home conditions theyll be tricky to play against.

Published by the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, Vivekananda College, Thakurpukur in association with India Blooms News Service.