Robber barons and Robin Hood
P Chidambaram's 1996 Budget was often criticised as an unprecedented largesse to the rich, since never had a budget given so much to so few who matter in this country. Moral arguments apart, the success of the VDIS has shown two things. How giving out a bit is also the best way of getting something out of the rich -- in this case a cool Rs 11,000 crore -- and also that with a little bit of creative thinking, an original idea works even in a society as cynically clever as ours.
Airwaves for all
If three major political parties whinge about how they are being projected on radio and television, then perhaps the Prasar Bharati board is doing okay after all. While the Samajwadi Party and the Congress accused the board of being biased in its treatment of them, on Monday it was the turn of the BJP to point fingers. Party president L.K. Advani even stated that if his party were to come to power it would review the decisions taken by the corporation.
Unity in adversity
The announcement of a new front by Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Kanshi Ram and Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Laloo Prasad Yadav is unlikely to cause much impact. Apart from the duo, the other leaders who have joined hands to form the much-trumpeted third front have neither much to brag about themselves nor wield any influence worth the name.
Silent coup in CPI(M)
Factional fights in the Kerala State unit of the CPI(M) reached a decisive stage this week with the elections to the State committee at the party's State conference. Not only did it mark the downfall of the faction controlled by the CPI(M)'s trade union (CITU) bosses, it also made public a fight that has been waged inside the closed rooms of party offices.
A conflict between law and morality
The Supreme Court is caught in a contradiction concerning the implementation of its May 7, 1997 full court unanimous decision which set up an internal system for examination of complaints against judges. The contradiction has come to the fore in the case of Justice M M Punchhi on the one hand and the high courts on the other.
Anand, genius on board
In the fast lane, Viswanathan Anand would be spending the most crucial two days in his chess career from today in Lausanne. It is not just the difference between Rs 5.4 crore and Rs 3 crore, the purses for the champion and the runner-up that Anand will be worried about at the moment. It is about winning the World championship title and conquering the Olympus; it is about leaving all that he has done for the last 10 years behind; it is about starting a new life; it is about finding a fresh meaning in his life.
