MSM (Mint) on MSM Lifting Images from Blogs in India

Mint did an article on Mainstream media lifting images from blogs and I thought it was a good one. It didn't even spare the home publication Hindustan Times-

The Hindustan Times, which is published by HT Media Ltd, has also faced similar allegations. For instance, Archana S.R., a Bangalore-based photographer, blogged last month that a Mumbai supplement of the Hindustan Times had reproduced her photo of an eco-friendly Ganesha idol, without permission.

“We would not tolerate any infringement of copyright, be it infringement on the part of our journalists or someone else infringing on (our) copyright,” says Sanjoy Narayan, recently appointed editor-in-chief of the Hindustan Times. “There is a need for greater awareness all around about the sensitivity of copyrights. Digital media is relatively new in India, and sometimes people don’t realize that creative work online is also published under copyrights.”

Mint, which is also published by HT Media, has specific guidelines for its staff on both text and photos as part of its Code of Conduct, which says: “We don’t copy the work of others… We do not plagiarize, meaning that we do not take the work of others and pass it off as our own.” (The full Code is available on Mint’s website, www.livemint.com.)

Images from Bangalore around Dusshera Time

I clicked this picture in Jayanagar in Bangalore two years back. In India banana leaves are used in may festivals and I found it quite interesting that the traffic police booth was decorated with it on Ayudh Pooja. I have not seen anything like this in the North India, where I have lived for most of my life.

This second picture is clicked around Bangalore, where a festival procession got our car stranded. So I got out stretched my legs and clicked a few pictures. The colors most definitely are striking.

Just Flowers

Flowers and Only Flowers

There is so much happening around, complete turmoil in the global markets, very little travel and lots of work that is only partially getting done. So flowers without any reason.

Sea Buckthorn Drink- Spiti Magic, Spiti

Spiti Magic- Sea Buckthorn Drink

Last year when we were trekking in Spiti we were introduced to this refreshing drink called Spiti Magic. When asked what is it made of, pat came the reply- Sea-Buckthorn! Now what was that?

We were patiently explained that it is made of the same thing that Leh Berry is made of! Now that felt familiar as Leh Berry is available even in the plains.

Spiti Magic- Sea-Buckthorn Drink

When I sipped it first, I was not sure if I liked Spiti Magic, after all it had a strange taste. But gradually over the trek, I grew to like the drink. So next time you find yourself in Spiti, try it. They also make tea of Sea-Buckthorn that is also different and has a tangy taste! But I somehow prefer my tea boiled and with milk and sugar! Unless I am trekking.

Maggi Omelet in a Trek, Cooked on Wood!

One of our Group Members Cooking Omelet and Maggi on Har Ki Doon Trek, as the Canteen Owners Look and Pose for Pictures

I have to admit I am quite fond of Maggi even on an ordinary day (packaged noodles sold in India by Nestle. And as soon as you take the name of any corporation the current turmoil in the global market starts creeping in my thought process, even though Nestle is not a bank!). On treks I just love Maggi.

If you trek in the Himalayas, along the path you can find temporary canteens selling Maggi, eggs and tea (and what a pity that this year I did not manage to trek at all!) and many of us wait eagerly to come across such a canteen. With big groups like YHAI (Youth Hostel Association of India) that usually have 50 people trekking, such points get jammed. I mean 20 of us would reach together and demand Maggi or tea or some such thing.

Yet, it has always been worth the wait and food tastes so different after a long walk!

Lazy Sunday Photo- Forbidden Berries and Fall Colors Oxford, UK

A Lovely Tree in Oxford

As my last trip has been to Oxford, UK I keep thinking about it. The tree in the picture was full of red berries and this is from my October-November stay. I loved the fall colors. And I was given strict instructions not to eat the berries!

The Book Tag

Since I ran away from the last tag, I thought I would pick up a tag by Emma that I could not complete and it was months ago. And this time it is about books. The list of the books is long and I have read much less than what I would ideally like to read! But then I am going to do it even if I can tick just ten of the list of 106!

I am supposed to bold the ones that I have read, underline the ones I have read in school, italicise the ones I have started but didn't finish. I am surprised that 'The Lord of the Rings' is not included in the list. It is one of my absolute favorites.

1. Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
2. Anna Karenina
3. Crime and Punishment
4. Catch-22
5. One Hundred Years of Solitude- Don't know why but I could never finish this one.
   
6. Wuthering Heights
7. The Silmarillion
   
8. Life of Pi: a novel
9. The Name of the Rose D
10. Don Quixote
    
11. Moby Dick
12. Ulysses
    
13. Madame Bovary
    
14. The Odyssey
15. Pride and Prejudice
16. Jane Eyre
17. The Tale of Two Cities
18. The Brothers Karamazov
19. Guns, Germs and Steel - I am reading this now so I guess this could be bold.
20. War and Peace
    
21. Vanity Fair
22. The Time Traveler's Wife
    
23. The Iliad
24. Emma
25. The Blind Assasin
26. The Kite Runner
27. Mrs. Dalloway
28. Great Expectations
29. American Gods
30. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
31. Atlas Shrugged
32. Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books
33. Memoirs of a Geisha
34. Middlesex
35. Quicksilver
36. Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West
    
37. The Canterbury Tales
38. The Historian: A Novel
39. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
40. Love in the Time of Cholera
41. Brave New World
42. The Fountainhead
43. Foucault's Pendulum
    
44. Middlemarch
45. Frankenstein
46. The Count of Monte Cristo
47. Dracula
48. A Clockwork Orange
49. Anansi Boys
50. The Once and Future King
51. The Grapes of Wrath
52. The Poisonwood Bible
53. 1984
54. Angels and Demons
55. Inferno
56. The Satanic Verses
57. Sense and Sensibility
58. The Picture of Dorian Gray
59. Mansfield Park
60. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest- Loved this one
    
61. To the Lighthouse
62. Tess of the D'Urbervilles
63. Oliver Twist
64. Gulliver's Travels
    
65. Les Miserables
66. The Correction
67. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
68. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
69. Dune
    
70. The Prince
71. The Sound and the Fury
72. Angela's Ashes: A Memoir
73. The God of Small Things
74. A People's History of the United States: 1492-present
75. Cryptonomicon
76. Neverwhere
77. A Confederacy of Dunces
78. A Short History of Nearly Everything
    
79. Dubliners
80. The Unbearable Lightness of Being
    
81. Beloved
82. Slaughter House- five
    
83. The Scarlett Letter
84. Eats, Shoots and Leaves
85. The Mists of Avalon
86. Oryx and Crake
87. Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed
88. Cloud Atlas
89. The Confusion
90. Lolita
91. Persuasion
92. Northanger Abbey
93. The Catcher in the Rye
94. On the Road
    
95. The Hunchback of Nortre Dame
96. Freakonomics
    
97. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Enquiry into Values
98. The Aeneid
99. Watership Down
100. Gravity's Rainbow
101. The Hobbit- Another of my absolute favoriyes.
     
102. In Cold Blood: A True Account of a Multiple Murder and its Consequences
103. White Teeth
     
104. Treasure Island
     
105. David Copperfield
     
106. The Three Musketeers

One person that I know and how reads a lot is Steve of Gonomad. I wonder if he will pick up this tag.