While STAR News, like the Zee News , concentrates on providing interviews, hourly updates and analyses to do with Kargil, its USP is fast becoming the daily telecast of the defence briefings. Meanwhile, the staff of STAR TV in Mumbai have initiated a contribution for the Kargil soldiers.

Shola Rajachandran of Sony TV says that the channel is due to telecast live a star-studded concert being organised by Smita Thackeray's Mukti Foundation on July 4. The foundation proposes to donate Rs 50 lakh to the martyrs' families on the occasion. For Sony, the tie-up makes good business sense and the channel can redeem itselfby pledging support to the Kargil cause.In Mumbai is the only TV channel to have strongly voiced its support for the Kargil jawans. Rajiv Bajaj, president, In Network, says, "Our boys are dying on the front, but the media reserves all the coverage for the World Cup. Kargil versus cricket-it's a question of national security versus entertainment!" "My message is that our boys in Kargil are dying for you and me. There they are, shivering in the bitter cold, not complaining, not endorsing cold drinks or credit cards. So many of them are the sole providers of their families. That one cheque which their families receive from the sarpanch's office is their only means of survival. What are we doing for them?" he asks. Bajaj decided to prepare a short interactive film in which he let viewers decide whether the Indian jawans were being treated fairly, whether they were getting the respect and recognition that was justly theirs. The film also asked whether a fund should be set up in Mumbai for the families of themartyrs. "And the response has been tremendous," he says. "Our phones haven't stopped ringing. Ninety-eight per cent of the respondents say there should be such a fund, and that they are willing to contribute to it."

The former editor of The Daily has another reason to exhort the city's residents to watch the developments. He says, "We in Mumbai are insulated from the realities of the border. What we don't realise is that we are on the border. We are within firing range of Karachi, and should a war break out, we would be the first to be hit. In fact, we have been hit. Have you forgotten the bomb blasts of 1993?"

When asked what Zee TV is doing to help the Kargil cause, Ranjan Bakshi, vice president, Corporate Communications, appears flummoxed. Then he quickly says, "Oh, there is something in the offing. I cannot give details yet. But when Zee does something, it has to be different from what the others are doing. So wait and watch." That almost sounds like he were working out a fantastic discount scheme.One only hopes this apathy has nothing to do with the satellite channels' viewership across the border.

AIR pitches in

The Vividh Bharati service of All India Radio is inviting messages for soldiers stationed on the Kargil front. Listeners can call on (022) 203 1341 from 10 am-12 noon and again between 3-5 pm every day. The hour-long programme named Hello Jaimala will intersperse these messages with popular Hindi film songs and will be broadcast each day at 10 pm.