War And Peace II
In the Moscow Declaration Against Terrorism, Prime Minister Vajpayee and President Putin have reiterated friendship between India and Russia during peace time and shared firepower in case of war with a third party.

Inside The Secret World Of Bin Laden
Exclusive excerpts from Peter L. Bergen's Holy War, Inc. Currently terrorism analyst for CNN, Bergen met bin Laden in Afghanistan in 1997. His book is a sprawling thriller on the world's most wanted fugitive and his empire of terror.

Clash Of Comrades
Bhattacharya's economic reforms are stymied by differences with Politburo purists.

NEWSNOTES

SPOTLIGHT
Smoking Us Out of Our Holes

The supreme court directive banning smoking sparks a debate on the definition of public places

Let's clear the air. Smokers, rest your minds. The Supreme Court's ban on smoking in public places does not extend to roads. In its verdict delivered on a writ petition filed by Maharashtra politician Murli Deora, the court has clearly listed the spaces that it terms "public places": health facilities, educational institutions, auditoria, libraries, public offices, court buildings and public transport.

It, however, draws the line at restaurants and "places of amusement", although both are included in an anti-smoking bill pending before Parliament. Any more doubts? Government offices across the country now have to be no-smoking zones. But private firms can decide for themselves. Puffing on cancer sticks on trains and buses is out, but bus stops and railway platforms ... now there's a grey zone. Definitions the world over cut it very thin. A moving car was deemed a private place and a stationary car a public place by a British court recently. "Our definition of public place was based on the concept of closed spaces," says Indira Jaising, counsel for the petitioner. "So bus stops and railway platforms are definitely a problem. Given the fact that they are not enclosed in this country it will be difficult to implement the ban in these areas."

But Jaising bristles at the suggestion that the court is trying to enforce an unenforceable law-Delhi and Rajasthan already have acts in place, while the Kerala High Court has deemed smoking in public places a "public nusiance". "If traffic laws can be enforced," she asks, "why not this?"

Cigarette manufacturers have been rather quiet on the issue. A spokesperson for the industry who does not wish to be named "because we are still studying the implications of the ruling" says, "We are just glad that the court has not been ambivalent, that it has excluded certain places from the purview of the ban."

—Anna M.M. Vetticad

BAZAAR

Cell Phones Get Lighter
MORE COMPETITION, CHEAPER RATES

RINGING SUCCESS: Mobile phone service providers are engaged in a price war

At the end of this cellular war, your mobile phone bill may be a lot smaller. With the decision to allow a fourth cellular operator in each state soon, existing operators are desperately trying to grab as much of the market as they can. And that means tariffs will probably be cut further.

But that mean lower profits for operators as the current rates do not leave much room for manoeuvre. So it is the activation charges, pegged at a high of Rs 1,000, that are tinkered with. Rentals are down too-in Mumbai Hutchison Max and BPL Mobile reduced monthly rentals by Rs 100 to Rs 295. In August, both waived activation charges for a month to counter a similar move by mtnl.

With more than 40 per cent of the subscriber base comprising pre-paid customers, they're being offered rate cuts and value-added services too. The average revenue per subscriber in Mumbai and Delhi is now Rs 1,100 a month, and is expected to come down to Rs 800. Consumers can also expect more value-added services like WAP and SMS.

Yet India's five-million subscriber base is what China adds in a month. "In the Mumbai area, we have only 7,00,000 cellular users in a population close to 20 million," says BPL Mobile coo B.P. Singh. Things can only get better.

—Vivek Law

French Fleet

When four French warships docked at Mumbai for a two-day exercise with the Indian Navy, it was just one in a series. Earlier this year, a French nuclear submarine gave invaluable tips on the tricky art of anti-submarine warfare. The strategic interest in this case could be commerce. France and India are negotiating a deal for four Scorpene submarines, each worth $ 300 million
(Rs 1,400 crore).

—Sandeep Unnithan

MetroScape

Bangalore Exhibition: Atul Sinha

Delhi Boutique: Azeem Khan Couture

Chennai Book Store: Landmark

Mumbai Water Sports: H20

A series of populist announcements puts Rajnath Singh in a spot. With Uttar Pradesh financially crippled, he stands to lose whether he implements the promises or not, writes INDIA TODAY's Special Correspondent Subhash Mishra in
Blank Plank