RESEARCH

Screaming headlines declaring India's first 'swine flu' death followed by measured editorials advising people level-headedness, or the sight of people moving about masked followed by pacifying messages from doctors days later. Honey-I-Blew-Up-The-Kid has been the story of media's information management on the potential H1N1 worldwide pandemic, which in India is still merely an outbreak W hen I left Frankfurt, Germany, I got on a deadly 747, and I am gonna go home on a deadly 747 and connect in Chicago, which happens to be a deadly airport, to get back to deadly Atlanta..." Daniel C Rutz, Global Health Communications Team Leader of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, was reacting to the opening sentence of a report that had appeared in The Times of India , which said, "The deadly H1N1 swine flu virus continues to spread across school students in Delhi..." Another report that had appeared in Mail Today found the "government in a tizz

Suspecting foulplay is unfortunate __________________ Chandramouli Suresh __________________ T he general elections in India concluded a couple of months ago and the ruling Indian National Congress-led United Progressive Alliance won. The Congress party won over 200 seats. The main opposition BJP was pushed to a distant second securing a little over 115 seats. Just about two months since the results were announced, the Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) that have been used for so many elections for several years are suddenly finding themselves mired in allegations of being dysfunctional. Leader of the Opposition LK Advani says: “We should revert to ballot papers unless the Election Commission is able to ensure that EVMs)are foolproof and every possibility of their malfunctioning is taken care of”. The same sentiment is being echoed by many other opposition parties who have bitten the dust in the recent general elections. Further, we have been seeing, hearing and reading stories of develo