Good Economics,
Risky Politics
Defying the pressures of politics, Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha has come forth with a bold, hard budget. He has committed the Government to a slew of daring economic reforms through this year's budget. But, beyond the initial euphoria generated by sheer promises, lies a rough road to fulfilling them. Will the pressures of coalition politics and an irrational Opposition allow him to deliver?

Interview:
Yashwant Sinha
"It is my budget,
not the PMO's."

Smeltdown
The NDA Government handsomely wins a vote moved by the Opposition in the Lok Sabha against the privatisation of Bharat Aluminium Company (BALCO), but it should now start worrying about the poor response to bidding for strategic partnership of public-sector units.

Progress Report
With an overwhelming response from readers, the CARE TODAY society had funds flowing in from all quarters to aid it in its efforts to help those rendered homeless and jobless by the devastating earthquake of January 26.

Reeling Estate
Gujarat is witnessing a strange phenomenon with the two hands of the Sangh Parivar, the RSS and the VHP, earning public goodwill and the BJP leadership finding itself in the hot seat over links with the building mafia.

Bust to Dust
International outrage doesn't deter the Taliban militia from pushing ahead with its plan to destroy historical statues, including the 2,000-year-old Buddha statues in Bamiyan.

Piecing the
Ahar Puzzle Excavations of sites from the 4,500-year-old Ahar culture provide clues to the link between the Harappans and their predecessors.

VIEWPOINT: RIGHT ANGLE

Privatising Is Political

Don't let secrecy and cronyism jeopardise the end of socialism

By Swapan Dasgupta

Successful politics being essentially an exercise in positioning, it is to the credit of the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Government that it didn't allow the shrill indignation over the sale of BALCO to derail its commitment to privatisation. If the brave promise held out in Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha's Budget of a further disinvestment of 27 public-sector companies is even partially fulfilled, the next 12 months could see privatisation emerge as the new battleground. For those who have lamented the erosion of ideology in politics, that would be a heartening development.

Tragically, the recognition of privatisation as a political issue is confined to those who still nurture Nehruvian dreams and Marxist delusions. The champions of disinvestment have been unable to gauge the political potential of their actions and have taken refuge behind a wall of bureaucratic obfuscation. If the recent controversy over BALCO is any indication, the Government persuaded the cognoscenti but didn't quite win the political battle. Although Chattisgarh Chief Minister Ajit Jogi's allegation of a Rs 100-crore payoff was a decorative element facet of the Congress-Left position that the public sector is sacred, it served a political end. It bolstered a perception that underneath the gloss of disinvestment lay the murkiness of crony capitalism. The Government's initial lack of openness encouraged this thinking. Minister of State for Disinvestment Arun Shourie genuinely felt privatisation is too serious a business for the front pages and was outraged when BALCO made it to the headlines. At one point he even considered scrapping the deal rather than have a question mark put on his integrity.

Though Shourie's personal integrity and Vajpayee's unflinching support finally saved the day on BALCO, the Government has lessons to learn. It is now clear that the Disinvestment Department's obsessive secrecy must give way to full transparency verging on an information overload. The Government must not only be above board, it must be seen to be so. It doesn't help when the Ministry of Telecommunications and the Department of Disinvestment propose a scheme for the privatisation of VSNL with the strategic partner purchasing a mere 14 per cent. Although the proposal was shot down by the Cabinet last month, it fuelled fears of privatisation becoming a euphemism for cronyism. This, coupled with inter-corporate rivalries and the disquiet over the intrusiveness of the Prime Minister's Office vitiated the air during the BALCO sale.

For the Government, the core problem seems to be the lack of a political approach. Just as P.V. Narasimha Rao embraced liberalisation under pressure from the IMF, Vajpayee's commitment to privatisation seems to stem from the fiscal deficit. Apart from Arun Jaitley, who approached disinvestment with the zeal of a crusader during his stint in the department, and Sinha there has been no attempt by ministers to link privatisation to either good economics or the battle against over-politicised sloth. The Government, for example, hasn't considered schemes for partial divestment of PSU shares to the public at a discounted rate, a move that established the virtues of a stakeholder democracy in Britain. It has opted for disinvestment by diktat, a politically unviable approach . If the Government hopes to win future battles over Maruti, Air-India and VSNL, it must first convince people its actions are both necessary and ethical. On both these counts, it suffers from a failure of communication and more.

MetroScape
Personality Matters Those behind the Grasim Mr India contest think it is one up over other male pageants.
But is it?
more...

Looking Glass

Mumbai: Swarovski Boutique

Delhi: Colours 'n' Spice

Delhi: Mindscapes

The Keoladeo National Park Sanctuary in Bharatpur gets an unprecedented number of migratory birds due to the dry spell last year. But experts feel another drought could be disastrous, writes INDIA TODAY's Supriya Bezbaruah in
Despatches.

"The only obvious competition is in bhangra," say the Pakistani duo of the music group, Strings, in conversation with INDIA TODAY's Sonia Faleiro in
Interviews.