The Hindu : Opinion / News Analysis : Corrections and clarifications

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Wednesday, Oct 22, 2008
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Corrections and clarifications

A detail in the second paragraph of a New Delhi report “From Uri, with goods” (October 21, 2008) was “… traders from Rawalkote in the Jammu region”. Rawalkot is in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, as mentioned in an Islamabad report “LoC trade to begin today” (October 21, 2008). It said “There is some confusion about the opening of the second trade route connecting Poonch on the Indian side to Rawalakot in PoK ….”

The strapline of a report “Veteran film director Sridhar dead” (North India editions, October 21, 2008) was published as “This follows extensive talks with legal and transport experts”. It was an editing error.

The caption of a combo standalone photograph titled “MNS targets job aspirants” (October 20, 2008) was “Victims Again: Shiv Sena and MNS activists attack candidates who came for a railway board examination at the Thane railway station ….” It should have been a Railway Recruitment Board examination. The Railway Board is different from the Railway Recruitment Board.

A report (Karnataka/Tamil Nadu Bureaus) “Adiga’s Booker win thrills friends, kin” (“Newscape” page, October 16, 2008) quoted Mr. Aravind Adiga’s cousin Ramesh Kumar Mohan Rao as saying the writer, who was born in Chennai, studied in Chennai till standard nine after which he moved to Mangalore where he completed his schooling. However, the last paragraph said that “after his [Adiga’s] family moved to Mangalore from Chennai, he joined the Canara School in 1981-82 for standard II. He joined St. Aloysius primary school in 1983-84”. The Mangalore Bureau clarifies that the detail in the last paragraph is right.

A sentence in the third paragraph of a report “How Chandrayaan-1 will be put in the moon’s sphere of influence” (“Science & Technology” page, October 16, 2008) was “The PSLV has been modified to lift the 1,304 tonne [Chandrayaan-1] satellite and attain a highly elliptical orbit”. It was an error. The Indian Space Research Organisation describes Chandrayaan-1 as weighing 1,304 kg at launch and 590 kg at lunar orbit.

A report “Stormy NIC meet likely” (October 12, 2008) said, in the penultimate paragraph, that “The last meeting of the reconstituted 141 member NIC was held on August 31, 2005, nearly a year after the Congress-led UPA came to power”. A reader said that a report “National Integration Council reconstituted” (February 3, 2005) had mentioned that the UPA Government had announced reconstitution of the National Integration Council (NIC) under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, and that the 103-member NIC has been constituted after a gap of 12 years having held its last meeting in 1992. So, was the NIC’s total number of members 141 or 103? The Special Correspondent clarifies that the reconstitution of the NIC is a continuous process. After the UPA Government came to power, it reconstituted the NIC and the total number of members, including all Chief Ministers, went up to 141. However, it was reconstituted days before the 14th meeting of NIC on October 13, 2008, by including the Samajwadi Party leaders Mulayam Singh Yadav and Amar Singh. Thus, the total number of NIC members stands at 143.

A sports correction (October 18, 2008) “Giles Simon takes out James Blake at Madrid Masters” gave the result as Simone Bolleli bt Andy Murray 0-6, 1-2 retired. The figures got reversed. It should have been “6-0, 2-1 retired”. It is not Simone Bolleli who defeated Andy Murray but vice-versa. So the report should have been “Andy Murray bt Simone Bolleli 6-0, 2-1 retired.”

A New York Times article “Spinning a web of lies at digital speed” (Op-Ed, October 14, 2008) began with a quote — “‘A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is still putting on its shoes.’ — attributed to Mark Twain.” The quote has never been verified as originating with Mark Twain. It may have originated with Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-92) who attributed it to an old proverb in a sermon delivered on Sunday morning, April 1, 1855. Spurgeon was a celebrated English fundamentalist Baptist preacher. His words were: “A lie will go round the world while truth is pulling its boots on.”

Is the Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission, Mr. Ahluwalia or Dr. Ahluwalia? Reports use both versions. The Planning Commission clarifies that he is Mr. Ahluwalia. (His educational qualifications are “B.A. (Hons.) Economics, Delhi, M.A., Oxford University, M.Phil., Oxford University”.)

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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