The Hindu : Opinion / News Analysis : Corrections and clarifications

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Wednesday, Apr 26, 2006

Opinion

Opinion - News Analysis

Corrections and clarifications

**A few readers have pointed out factual errors in the report "No new surgery on Pramod Mahajan for now" (April 25, 2006). The caption of the accompanying PTI picture read: "Steven Dean, vice-president of the Australian College of Surgery, comes out of J.J. Hospital in Mumbai after examining Pramod Mahajan on Monday." Pramod Mahajan is at the Hinduja Hospital, Mumbai, as correctly stated in the text. The reference to Manohar Parrikar as the Goa Chief Minister (he called on Mr. Mahajan) is incorrect. He is the former Chief Minister. Pratapsinh Rane is the current Chief Minister (Goa).

**In "Below normal monsoon likely" (April 25, 2006), some readers say that the sub-heading "South-West Monsoon may be 22 p.c. deficient" is misleading as the India Meteorological Department has only said that there is a 22 per cent chance that the monsoon can be below 90 per cent of normal.

**"The hills are alive with the sounds of secessionism" ("Assembly Elections 2006", April 23, 2006) was the heading of the report. It was on how the northern parts of West Bengal have seen the rise of groups seeking separate States. Pran Chopra says: "The story is about various areas wanting separate states. `Separatism' would be a better word, but not fully satisfactory either. `Want separate states' would be more accurate."

**In "Michael Schumacher back to winning ways" ("Sport", April 24, 2006), a reader says there are two mistakes. Australian Mark Webber does not drive for Renault. He drives for Williams. The text also says Renault has 51 points and Ferrari 33. Instead of Ferrari, it should have been McLaren has 33 and Ferrari 30 points, he says. The reader is right. The mistakes are in the AFP report. The accompanying table, based on data on the F-1 website, has the correct figures.

**In the Religion column "Prophet of peace" ("Variety", April 11, 2006), a reader points out: "The article says that Prophet Muhammad wrote letters to various rulers and it also suggests that he wrote and signed the very `First Written Constitution' of the world. All the recorded history says that he used to dictate to scribes, then have it read back to him. And all the preserved documents bear his seal and not his signature." Another reader says: "The date of the birth of Prophet Muhammad is incorrect as it is 570 A.D., both as per Shias and Sunnis. Further, the Quranic verse `I am But a man like you: It is revealed to me By inspiration (Revelation) that your God is One God' (Holy Quran 41:6) has been manipulated." The author of the piece Syed Ali Hashmi clarifies: "I did mention that the letters the Prophet wrote to various rulers of his time are preserved. But I did not mean he wrote the letters with his own hand. He was unlettered, indeed. What I meant was he dictated the letters. Nowhere have I mentioned that that Constitution was written and signed by him. I only mentioned, `It was he who gave the world its first written Constitution in history, which is the world's first human rights charter too.' As for the date of birth of the Prophet, it is Monday the 9th Rabiul awwal. Reputed Egyptian astronomer Mohammad Pasha falaki calculated it to correspond with April 20, 571 A.D. You can find and refer to any translation (of the verse) and you will find that I am correct. There is no question of manipulation."

**The clue Across 15 in The Hindu Crossword 8585 ("Variety", April 25, 2006) was "A Scot's backing for fraud". The answer is "scam" and not "seal", as published.

It is the policy of The Hindu to correct significant errors as soon as possible. Please specify the edition (place of publication), date and page.

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