The continuing unrest over the Amarnath land transfer seems to have driven the Jammu and Kashmir administration to panic. On August 3 Jammu administration blacked out two local tv news channels and sealed the offices of two Hindi dailies for allegedly whipping up communal passions. Chief secretary S S Kapur said action was taken against the media houses which defied the official advisory.

11 pm, any day of the week. Surf Indian news channels and you will find nothing but dramatized crime stories in gory details. If you want to catch up with any news other than crime at this hour, you do not have much of a choice. This is just one example television rating points or trps influencing the content of television channels in a manner that leaves little choice for viewers. trps

>> The Spanish police have arrested five hackers they describe as being among the most active on the Internet. The hackers, who include two 16-year-olds, are accused of disrupting government

It seems that television is following in the footsteps of 16th European invaders to Latin America. A British reality tv company has been accused of starting a flu epidemic that left four people

Focussing on agriculture and agro-commodities Muhammad Zamir Since my stint as Permanent Representative to FAO, while being Ambassador to Italy, I have been involved in keeping track of the steady evolution that has been taking place in agricultural practices not only in Bangladesh in particular but also within the developing world in general.

When parents think about their children's exposure to environmental risks, they might think of lead, pesticides or grass pollens. In fact, the greatest environmental exposure for most children is television. They spend more time watching television than in any other wakeful activity, and it affects their health and well-being in significant ways. For too long parents and even pediatricians have asked: "Is television good or bad?" Television is inherently neither; it's time to move beyond such black or white thinking.