Real-time scenes from a war zone; a choice of five dozen TV channels; privately-owned radio stations; instantaneous mail and access to a cornucopia of information, anywhere, anytime. Media in India has been truly transformed-and it has, in turn, transformed India.

New information and communication technologies (ICT), especially satellite television and the internet are the drivers of globalisation. It is ICT's role in the transfer of information and funds, in facilitating dispersed manufacturing and integrating markets, and in building brands, that makes globalisation feasible.

Globalisation was accelerated-possibly initiated- by the entry, coincidentally, of international TV channels broadcast via satellite and disseminated through cable. The programmes also portrayed a different life-style: hedonism, promiscuity, instant gratification, violence, and a ''me first'' attitude.

Whether these programmes, quickly adapted and cloned by Indian channels, are responsible for a change in attitudes and values of people, is something only time will tell. The signs of increasing social and gender violence and an enjoy-now-pay-later attitude can, arguably, be attributed in some measure at least, to television.

Yet, it is this same technology of satellite television that was used, with such outstanding success, a quarter century ago, to take education to remote parts of rural India through the pioneering site project. In a 'new and improved' avatar, an interactive element was added in the 1990s and exciting work done in training women panchayat members, industrial workers, and farmers. What better answer to the Luddities, who believe all technology is a tool of tyranny?

At the same time, TV's less-glamorous cousin, radio, was left to die of neglect. The partial privatisation of fm some years ago brought in a vivacity that breathed a new life into urban radio. Meanwhile, quite unsung and known to but a few, local radio did some outstanding work in areas like healthcare. Unthinking centralisation and commercialisation unfortunately killed much of this initiative.

Even as India emerges as a leading player in information technology, some extraordinary work is being done in using it in rural India. The wired villages of Wama (Maharashtra), the acclaimed infotech project in Dhar (Madhya Pradesh), and experiments in tele-medicine in Himachal Pradesh have had great impact.

In the urban areas, innovations like e-seva in Hyderabad have revolutionised delivery of civic services. Yet, access to the internet is dismal. Both computers and connectivity are scarce, denying millions the basic right of access to information, and hence, to education and development.

Undeniably, we have come a long way. In many areas, we have shown the way by creating information pagdandis, paths made by need, paths that meet the requirements of the disadvantaged. Yet, we often seem to have lost direction. After being there first, we have-rather like Aesop's hare-stopped and slept.

It is quite amazing that the country that pioneered large scale satellite broadcasting 25 years ago does not have a direct-to-home (DTH) service. Equally disconcerting is the fact that communications is not used as a major tool for tackling serious problems (like education, health, and rural development), even though proof-of-concept work has been done.

Today, not only are data, voice, and picture delivered through the same pipe, but there is increasing use of digital and computer technology in the content production process in all media, including print. The entertainment sector, a major segment of the economy, is increasingly integrating with information and communication technology, creating a new ice age.

With an audience of some 400 million across 70 million television homes, television along with other conventional and new media (internet, mobile devices) offers extraordinary market opportunities. At the same time, industry can no longer shun its responsibility to the larger social possibilities and to the disadvantaged. Not surprisingly, there is also a business potential and imperative in this. What is needed is a new social contract.