Two Winners And A Photo Finish
According to the INDIA TODAY-ORG-MARG opinion poll, there will be clear winners in two states, but a tight finish in a third.

The Last Rampage
To offset
J. Jayalalitha's slight edge, a pugnacious M. Karunanidhi gives it his all in what is his final electoral campaign.

The Sixth Sense
A mercurial Mamata Banerjee vs a dependable Buddhadev Bhattacharya. The mismatch leaves the Left Front with a premonition of victory.

Secular Stake
Even as the Church makes a blatant move to play a more political role in the state, the CPI(M) nominates a priest to woo minorities.

One Man Barmy
India's apex social sciences facilitating body is rocked by civil war: the chairman says he is being opposed by both RSS ideologues and leftist academics.

Changing Order
An ageing profile and a frustrated officer corps leads the force to consider VRS and restructuring.

Liquid Asset
The Rs 700-crore industry has attracted many players. Now, purity will decide who stays in business.

Board Of No Control
Tax authorities say the BCCI spends more money on meetings than on matches.

DEFENCE: THE ARMY

Report Recommends Inclusion Of Artillery Into General Cadre

The report has suggested that artillery should be included in the general cadre on an experimental basis till 2005. Currently, an artillery officer has to opt for the general cadre to command brigades, divisions, corps and the army. The rules are such that he can't go back to artillery branch. This means that while an infantry brigadier can command an artillery brigade, an artillery officer cannot command an artillery brigade if he has opted for the general cadre. General Shankar Roy Choudhary, Rajya Sabha member and former army chief, says that he is all in favour of artillery being included in the general cadre. He said the artillery has shown in the recent past that it is very much a combat arm and its units undergo physical hardships similar to the infantry and the armoured corps formations.

VRS: ARMY STYLE To end the ageing of the army, officers of ranks between lt-Colonel and Major-General need to retire. An estimate of how many should:
CURRENT STRENGTH	Officer's Rank	SHOULD RETIRE
	Captain
22,487		none
	Major
14,948		none
	Lt-Colonel
3,859		1,158
	Colonel
3,364		841
	Brigadier
822		206
	Major-General
196		40
	Lt-General
59		none

If General Joshi's report is accepted in toto, then command of infantry, armoured, mountain and artillery brigades will be open to all those in the general cadre pool. The appointment for commanding a formation, according to the report, will be made by a board and not the military secretariat branch. The secretariat will only lay down the qualitative requirements. Those cleared by the board, which has been modelled on the lines of the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, will be appointed after being approved by the chief of army staff. The best man for the job appears to be the yardstick.

There are major changes in the dress code too. The Joshi Committee has recommended that there should be one uniform for brigadiers and above. Currently, the colours of the lanyard, cap and belt of any officer show regimental affiliations. General Joshi's study has also advocated restructuring of the Intelligence Corps. According to the report, there should be an intelligence battalion at the corps level and another at the command level. This step has been suggested to improve dissemination of intelligence within a formation to ensure quick reaction. The study suggests that there should be greater intake of women officers and more discussions between the intelligence community and civilian experts. The central army commander is in favour of increasing the entry of women officers into branches such as air defence artillery, aviation and intelligence. It has suggested that number of women officers should be increased from the current 426 (2.7 per cent of the support cadre) to 788 (5 per cent).

This last may be the least contentious issue. For the rest, the recommendations will have to battle entrenched opinion before they can become rules.

MetroScape

Bond Free
The Savoy in Mussoorie must be the only hotel, apart from the Raffles in Singapore, to have a thing about writers. So, it was quite kismet when publisher Pramod Kapoor of Roli Books and author Namita Gokhale, who has an imprint with him, hosted the Ruskin Bond Festschrift—a Writers' Retreat in honour of that gentle Indian Roald Dahl, Ruskin Bond.
more...

Looking Glass

Delhi Cinema:
Canadian film festival

Delhi Art Fest:
Documenta

Bangalore Play:
Little Theatre