goenkar anik goenkarpon

100 beer sacks, each containing of 30 to 40 bottles each, remain to be moved from Sweetwater lake in Armabol before the Southwest moonsoon sets in Goa. Beer bottles are not the only thing which the Clean Armabol Swach Abihyan have collected for the last several weeks, plastic bottles and several others items have been collected and packed in discarded rice bags. They are on need of more rice bags and more volunteers to join the campaign. Jade Kim, a Korean born Australian citizen, a yoga teacher is the face and the driving force behind the biggest beach cleanup project undertaken in Goa. The cleanup is not over yet. And all the effort of the team, which is made up of nationals from different nationalities ranging from France, Australia, Russia, England, and also some local volunteers will be vain if the collected is not lifted from the site on an immediate basis before the rainy season sets in. Dristi Beach Cleaning servici

I've changed jobs, cities, lifestyles, adopted two cats... it's a long list. And I can tell you one thing. All those things put together are easier to do than finding the right therapist. In India. Before I finally found The One, I encountered many shoes that didn't fit. There was the one who was too nice, so nice I couldn't really be honest with her. There was the one who barely listened. The one who 'diagnosed' me in one sitting. And then there was the one who turned me into her therapist... Don't even ask.  In the past four years, I've also found myself recommending the right therapist to many MANY people, across cities. Two in the past week alone. And it's not because I'm some therapist head-hunter. No, because much like with doctors, one can't open up to just anyone. And unlike doctors, not many really want to talk about their therapist, let alone recommend them. Ruhi's story today, therefore, is hugely important. She starts off wit

INDIA Media Ownership Monitor: Who really owns the media? Indian Prime Minister Modi’s recent election victory occurred within a surprisingly tight media space, comprised of the State’s monopoly in radio news and highly concentrated regional newspaper markets that are controlled by a small number of powerful owners, some of whom have strong political affiliations. The production of media content and its distribution are becoming increasingly combined and, again, concentrated in the hands of a few. Even though India might appear as an ‘overly legislated’ country in many ways, media laws relating to concentration of ownership are fragmented, incoherent and largely ineffective – also because TV ratings remain intransparent and owned by the industry. As a result, regardless of India’s size, a small number of companies and conglomerates dominate the country’s media landscape.   These are some of the key findings of the Media Ownership Monitor (MOM), a research project carried out i

NEPAL RSF’s recommendations to amend controversial Media Council Bill Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls on Nepal’s legislators to respect a series of fundamental principles that guarantee press freedom when examining the draconian Media Council Bill that Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli’s government submitted to the parliament’s upper house two weeks ago. This controversial bill would replace the existing Press Council  with a new media regulator , the Media Council, which would supposedly be able to “deal with fake news and improve the media environment” but would in practice pose extreme grave threats to journalistic freedom in Nepal. The proposed Media Council would be able to fine reporters and editors up to 1 million rupees (8,000 euros) for violating its “code of conduct” and sentence them to up to 15 years in prison in the event of non-payment. Article 10 of the bill eliminates the principle of press independence outright by saying that “the president and members of

Like all good presentations, I am going to start this email with a statistic. In early 2016, the most popular mobile browser in India by market share was UC Browser. Yes, the Chinese Alibaba-owned one. With a 60% market share. By comparison, Chrome was languishing at 15%. Cut to black. "Three years later" appears on the screen. In April 2019, Chrome stands at a 60% market share. And UC Browser is down to 24%.  What. On. Earth. Happened. That’s our story today.  I am really tempted to give you the answer here, but I won’t. Partly because it would spoil the fun, and partly because the answer isn’t that straightforward. But let me give you some clues. You see, UC Browser based its distribution strategy on two things: content and mobile phone manufacturers like Micromax, Oppo and Vivo. Chrome, on the other hand, based its distribution strategy on one thing: Google’s operating system, Android. Browser wars are usually a war of distribution, not of product. The one who gets to the

Sunday May 26  an unique event takes place at Curdi village in Sanguem taluka in the Indian state of Goa.. Local Christian community return to this village from which they had been transplanted in 1975 during the construction of the Sanguem dam. These locals were made to abandon their homes, farms and cattle and were rehabilitated by the Goa govt. elsewhere. The original Goans had to leave behind their traditional gods and deities. Because their village got submerged under the salaulim dam waters. However, due to their strong connect to their original lands and their gods and beliefs, in this month of May, they get an opportunity to return there and pay obeisance to their gods. In the month of May only, the entire village with abandoned houses, temples, tulsi vrindavans, christian crosses, dargahs, old police station, Portuguese built roads and other structures emerge and become visible and accessible. The locals return during this time and carry out their traditional r

First, a confession. I have not watched a single episode of Game of Thrones... since season 1, not just the last one. But of course, most of the world has. Hotstar, which exclusively airs the show online in India, reported a sixfold jump in viewers for the final season’s first episode. The numbers have likely stayed strong since as viewers stay riveted, undaunted by the stray coffee cup blunders, and Hotstar laughs all the way to the bank. But what if one or more of the 30-odd video-on-demand services in India also had the rights to air GoT? Or one of the cable companies or telecom companies? Not such a fun thought for Hotstar, is it?  However, for a majority of the other VOD companies, sharing their content is slowly becoming the last resort to stay afloat. These companies started out with the same dream—of becoming the next Netflix—and went the same route, spending heavily to develop the next blockbuster. Video streaming was meant to kill cable TV, like in the US, with