How is TRP rating evaluated ?

                      Ramanand Sagar's Ramayan was listed in the Limca Book of Records as the world's "most viewed mythological serial" based on the TRP ratings. Recently, during the closing ceremony of XIX Commonwealth Games, it is estimated that 82% of the Indian population viewed Doordarshan Channel.
                      We hear this word 'TRP Rating' quite often. Based on the TRP rating, advertisers sponsor the programs.

Now, what is this TRP rating and how is it calculated?

                      TRP is 'Television Rating Point'. It is a scale to calculate the popularity of a channel or the program. Earlier, DART used to be the only agency which calculated this rating point for Doordarshan programs. Now, an agency is set up which works with various organizations like Nielsen in evaluating the TRP. This agency is known as INTAM which means Indian Television Audience Measurement.

How this evaluation is the done?

                         DART used manual surveying in 33 major cities to evaluate the TRP rating. However, this method is prone to mistakes and subjectivity. Various factors like age of the viewer, gender etc are supposed to be taken into consideration while evaluating them. So, this process is almost obsolete these days.

Now, two new techniques are introduced in the last ten years.

•     People Meters
•     Picture-match technique

                        INTAM uses these two methodologies for calculating TRP. It has chosen many sample homes across the country both in rural and urban parts and has installed electronic gadgets which monitor the TV channels.

• People Meters:

                        'People meter' reads the frequencies of the channels, which are decoded into the name of the channels. This data is consolidated and the agency prepares a report on this basis. But there is a small problem here... our cable operators change the frequencies many times before sending signals to our homes. Also, the frequency of the channel we see is not same all over the nation. Moreover, with the advent of direct to home (DTH) , Dish TV, Direct Plus etc., people have started using their own satellite decoders. So, frequency recognition is a tough task and hence, this process has become complex.

• Picture-match technique:

                         In picture-match technique, instead of recording the frequency, people meter continuously records the portion of the picture or the logo of the channel that is being watched on that particular television set at that particular time. Data collected from the sample homes is later used to evaluate the channel name and the popular program nation wide.

                         Many claim that all these TRP ratings are not authentic but we should understand that there is a lot of analysis associated in this evaluation. However, these agencies are not appointed by the Government of India.. so we should not except them to be 100% reliable.

Is the time same in both Dwaraka and Kashi Hills?

                       Kamal Hasanan uncle was our neighbor from 1990-93. When my bro and me were in 3rd/4th class, he got transferred to Kolkata under deputation. When we met him after one year, he said various interesting things about Kolkata. He said that in Kolkata sun sets soon at 4:30 PM and rises early at 5 AM., and added that people sleep early in Kolkata. When we asked him the reason, he said Kolkata is to the east of India.
                   

                       Later, in 7th class we studied that, sun takes two hours of time to travel from Arunachal Pradesh to Dwaraka of Gujarat. Than means, in Dwaraka, even at 6-6:30 one cannot see the sun, while in East and North East, it can be seen at 5.

                      Dhaka, which is near to Kolkata has a time difference of 30 mins when compared to India. i.e., if it is 12 in Kolkata and North East, in spite of being at the same location, it is 12:30 in Dhaka. We always used to wonder why this difference is there. Later, we have realized that time which is followed in Dwaraka is not exactly the Dwaraka time. It is almost 1 hour less that the Indian Time and 2 hours less when compared to Kolkata time. So, the sun rise time is not 6:30 AM (India Time), it is 5:30 AM in Dwaraka.

                      My grand father used to fix an auspicious time (muhurtham) for various ceremonies to be held at Hyderabad... while the muhurtham was fixed at some other place (in Kakinada, around 200KMs far away from Hyderabad in horizontal direction). Later, he used to subtract 13 minutes from that muhurtham saying that the time is different in Kakinada and Hyderabad. For example, if muhurtham is fixed at 10:34 (Kakinada Standards), when you perform rituals in Hyderabad, it must be performed at 10:21.

                       Hence, we can see that there is a lot of confusion with respect to time. This is just a problem with 200KMs. Imagine how great the problem would be when your time is calculated at Dwaraka and is supposed to be applied in Kashi hills of Arunachal Pradesh. Distance from Dwaraka to Ar.P is 3200KMs.

                       So, a standard is formulated across the nation., known as Indian Standard Time which is 5.5 hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time. This time is exact in the places of Allahabad, Kakinada and Colombo. All other people of other places should adjust their time as per that standard.

Disadvantages of having same time all over the nation:

                     Suppose, people need not follow same time all over the nation.. people in far east start their normal routines at their 6 AM which is still night in the far west(4AM). So, the east starts consuming electricity when the west is sleeping So, there will be lesser energy consumption at peak hours.

                      With same time everywhere, people in east should use lights from 4:30 PM onwards and west have to use them at morning even till 7AM. This is simply wastage of energy.

                     In the late 1980s, there was a proposal to separate the country into two or three time zones to conserve energy.. however, the recommendations were not adopted. In Assam, tea gardens follow a separate time zone known as the Tea Garden Time that is one hour ahead of IST. Since the sun sets early in Assam, work needs to be started early too.

Advantages of Unified time:

                      Only advantage which we can see is that there will be no confusion at all. How difficult it would be for us to face a situation when the Railway Inquiry Counter in Bilaspur says.. Howrah-Ahmedabad Express train would start at 12 Kolkata time, reach Bilaspur at 6AM Bilaspur time and  finally reach its destination at 12 Ahmedabad time!!!

Sarada Bill of 1929

                      Child marriage is considered to be a violation of human rights by the Human Rights Commission and is prohibited. Let us see what all efforts were made by the British India government in early 1900s to eradicate child marriages.

                       In order to curb the child marriages in India especially in the states of Rajasthan, Bombay and  Madras, British-India government has passed a resolution known as 'Child Marriage Restraint Act of 1929'. This Bill was presented by Rai Sahib Harbilas Sarda of Ajmer Presidency in 1927 to the Imperial Legislature in India. Hence, this act got the name as 'Sarada Bill'. As per this act, the husband of the under-aged girl, people who compel her to get married and parents / guardians of both the parties will be punished.

                      This bill was very famous in those days. It was the first social reform issue that was taken up in India for the benefit of women. Now, let us see how clever our (Great) Grand parents were in obeying the law...

                       My Grandmother got married at the age of 9 before this act was passed in Guntur which comes under Madras State of British India. So, at that point of time, her parents had no problem. She had a younger cousin.. and it was decided that she would get married to my grand father's brother. This marriage got fixed after the bill was passed.

Now... did they postpone the marriage to another five years..?

                      Answer is a big 'No'. They simply went to Yanam, about 150 KMs from Guntur to complete all the marriage rituals., and then came back to Guntur silently.

What is so special about Yanam... 

                       This was a small French Territory located on the Coromandel Coast about 9KMs from Bay of Bengal. It is surrounded on all sides by the Madras State (currently surrounded by East-Godavari District of AP).  It being a French- Indian colony, British Law had no value and thus there is no Sharadha bill.

                      In a similar way, people went to surrounding French (Mahe, Karaikal, Pondicherry, Yanam) and Portuguese (Daman, Diu, DNH, etc) territories in India to complete their marriage rituals. How clever they were!!!

So, I can say that my Grand Mother's cousin got married in a Foreign country.