Mumbai notes — Scribes flay Broadcast Bill

July 16: The editor of the Mahanagar newspaper Nikhil Wagle launched a frontal attack on the Broadcast Bill, which provides for 49 per cent equity in the Indian media to foreign media barons. Speaking at a seminar on `Foreign Ownership of Media- A Process of Liberalisation or Cultural Invasion, he said this would amount to a cultural invasion, which was already having a deleterious influence on our minds.

Noted Hindi writer and journalist Dr Ram Manohar Tripathi also warned against the criminal invasion on Indian culture if foreign ownership of media was permitted on our soil. He said there was already enough influence of foreign culture on the Indian mind. He lamented the declining quality of journalism, and stressed the need for building our own identity. Veteran journalist M V Kamath in his speech said Indian journalists have enough competence to take on any attempts of invasion, and opined that foreign ownership would not affect language journalism as it had already penetrated the depths of the Indian rural strata. Many speakers felt that the Western media had always been biased against Indian issues.

FY admission listThe list of candidates selected to the first year BA/BSc/BCom by the university Admission Cell are available with the respective centres from today till July 21. The students who applied at the following centres, viz. the university of Mumbai, Fort, L.U. & M.V. College, Andheri (E) or Ramniranjan Jhunjhunwala College, Ghatkopar are requested to approach the principal of the allotted colleges with the original receipt of application between 10.30 am to 1 pm on 17th, 19th and 21st July 1997 for admission failing which their admission will be treated as cancelled.