Eyewashes

We had to wait till the guy from Financial Times got up and asked a great question at the satyam press conference. A clear-cut question and not a lecture like the guy from Aaj Tak decided to give or some of the more classy uninformed ones by other business telly reporters. I was also puzzled at why print kept so quiet on the whole - the telly channels sent their bruisers in, the newspapers should have done the same, the biggest business story in a few months - you should send your big guns.
Anyway, the conference was an eyewash - Ram Mynampati could not clearly answer any question let alone explain why they hadn't filed a police complaint against Ramalinga Raju. They claim they are responsible to their employees but Ramalinga raju wrote a metaphorical suicide note and while it could well be dishonest, one thing has to be taken at face value - the man committed a massive fraud. Mynampati is trying to be Gerald Ford to Richard Nixon but while like Ford he has inherited the hot seat he isn't the highest power in the land.
My underlying question remains, who on earth is buying Satyam shares? Over 70 per cent of the company traded hands yesterday - is the Raju family trying to buy back the company after scaring investors off and will they then claim that Ramalinga Raju was 'mentally disturbed'? Some online forums are even reccommending Satyam shares. I do not really believe this scam is over - something is still horribly fishy.
Moving beyond Satyam - Read Eric Schmidt's assertation on Fortune about how Google really, really wants newspapers to survive. After stealing all their advertising! Heh!

Oops!

While the capital yesterday endured a police state scenario for the Olympic Torch Relay (which was only watched by policemen) which this author has not seen in living memory – and that includes the chaos that ensued following Rajiv Gandhi’s murder or the insanity that precedes Independence Day and Republic Day, Bombay was agog about how two-failed actors had taken a rag for a ride. Now, I believe the media should have boycotted the evening function and that both actors possibly do not realise the enormity of what they have done, and their reputations will probably be shot at every possible opportunity now, but none the less.

While the media is now questioning motives, who is to blame? The reporter evidently did all his groundwork, called up both parties to check the story and can 'technically' be the victim over here, my question is why was this on Page 1 in the first place? I want to know who the PR chap was who thought of the idea, because this will have blowback!

Anyway that said, a well-orchestrated con-job can catch out many journalists - The Smoking Gun exposed Akon - singer of that horrible track 'Smack That' as being a fraud but for years no-one questioned the guy. Now Akon is a lot bigger star that these two failing Bollywood ex-stars (well, one was never a star) so will this ruin his reputation. Yes, it will.

We'll forget about this story soon because the Indian Premier League starts today, and after all non-boycotts have been resolved, let's see how it turns out. I've decided to go watch the first game at the newly floodlit Kotla tomorrow, so I'll report from that.