Excelsior... Nation

Indian Air Force scales new heights in 2004

NEW DELHI, Dec 26: The Indian Air Force touched new heights this year, holding its own with leading Air Forces of the world, both in the country and across the globe, even as it brought down its accident rate to a three-decade low.

The IAF set the tone for the year, when it emerged triumphant in joint exercises with the much-vaunted US Air Force (USAF) in february, with even the oldest aircraft in its fleet — the much-pilloried MiG-21 — running rings around the F-15.

Later in the year, the force’s Jaguar deep penetration strike fighters flew to Alaska to participate in the multinational ‘co-operative cope thunder’ exercise in July, while a couple of months later, the Mirage multi-role fighters crossed the Indian Ocean to hold joint exercises with the South African Air Force.

The IAF also played host to the Singapore Air Force, which came over in october for joint exercises.

"These forays — the first time that IAF fighters have flown out of India — marked a new highpoint for the force and have been greatly instrumental in increasing the morale of all ranks," IAF sources said.

Meanwhile, the IAF steadily augmented its power projection capabilities, by ‘seamlessly’ integrating ‘force-multipliers’ like the Il-78 Mid-Air Refuellers (MARs), while opting to emulate the American ‘buddy-refuelling’ techniques, selecting the multi-role Su-30 mki for this role.

The adoption of the Su-30 for this role, announced by Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal S Krishnaswamy at his customary press conference on the eve of Air Force day this year, will serve as major, tactical force-multiplier for the force.

In another achievement, licensed production of this versatile aircraft began near Pune.

Meanwhile, despite losing a number of aircraft in tragic accidents, including three mirages within a month, the IAF brought down its accident rate to 0.83 per 10,000 flying hours — the lowest accident rate in three decades.

However, the Air Chief said he was still not satisfied with this and the force could bring the rate down further.

IAF’s rotary-wing aircraft were no less behind this year.

A Cheetal helicopter, flown by Group Capt A S Butola and Sq Ldr S Sharma, made the world’s highest landing at an altitude of 25,150 feet on the Sasser Kangri Massif in eastern Ladakh in November, thus breaking the existing record of 24,971 feet, set by a US bell 407 helicopter.

Interestingly, the US record had aimed to supersede the record set by an IAF Cheetah helicopter landing at an attitude of 23,240 feet, while on a rescue mission earlier this year.

The cheetal — which combines the airframe of the Cheetah helicopter and the engine used in the ‘Dhruv’ advanced light helicopter — was developed by the IAF and the HAL to have a more capable machine, permitting carriage of higher payload at extreme altitudes, while the American bid provided an extra impetus.

This year also saw the formation of ‘Saras,’ a synchronised flying unit flying the ALH, which proved as popular, if not more than the ‘Suryakiran’ aerobatic team on their Kiran Mk-iis.

On the personnel side, the IAF saw several changes in its commanding echelons, which will be capped in the closing hours of the year, when Air Marshal Shashindra Pal Tyagi succeeds ACM Krishnaswamy, who retires on December 31.

Southern Air Command’s Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief (AoC-in-C) Air Marshal S K Malik succeeded Air Marshal Michael Mcmahon as the Vice Chief of Air Staff on the latter’s retirement, while Central Air Command’s senior Air Staff Officer (SASO) Air Marshal Ajit Bhavnani took over as the second Chief of the Strategic Forces Command (SFC) on the retirement of the Air Marshal T H Asthana.

Other retirements in the year included training command AoC-in-C Air Marshal B K Pandey, Maintenance Command AoC-in-C Air Marshal D C Nigam, South Western Air Command AoC-in-C Air Marshal A R D Ghandhi and Eastern Command AoC-in-C Air Marshal Manek Bomanshaw Madon.

They were succeeded by Air Marshals Subhash Bhojwani, Vijay A Patkar, Satish Kumar Jain and Avinash Deodatta Joshi respectively, while Air Marshal S Y Savur succeeded Air Marshal Malik at the Southern Air Command.

The force also got its first Woman Air Marshal, when Ms Padma Bandhopadhyaya picked up her third star on becoming the IAF’s Director General, Medical Services in October.

IAF had its share of controversy also, when two Air Vice Marshals went to court, alleging they had been overlooked for promotion to Air Marshal, because the Air Chief was ‘biased’ against them.

Their contention was upheld by the Delhi High Court as well as the Supreme Court, which quashed the Special Promotion Board-2003, and ordered a new board to reconsider them.

The court orders created an unprecendented situation, negating the promotions to Air Marshals of four top officers, holding significant posts. These included Western Air Command SASO A K Singh, deputy Chief of Air Staff J S Gujral, Eastern Air Command AoC-in-C A D Joshi and deputy Chief of Integrated Staff (operations) F H Major.

However, the Air Chief was steadfast in reiterating that he had no prejudice against any officer, and all his actions were directed towards to furthering the IAF’s efficiency. (UNI)

AIMPLB to meet Mulayam for fresh notification
in Ayodhya case

LUCKNOW, Dec 26: The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) has authorisied its general secretary to meet Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav to convince him for issuing a fresh notification to shift the Ayodhya demolition case from Rae Bareli to Lucknow.

The executive meeting of the board here last night authorised general secretary and Imarti-e-Shariat chief Maulana Nizamuddin to meet the CM and apprise him of the demand for fresh notification in the Ayodhya case.

"A letter will be sent very soon to the CM’s secretriat for an appointment with Mr Yadav at the earliest," board member and convenor of Babri Masjid Action Committee (BMAC) Zafarayeb Jilani said here today.

Disclosing details of the meeting, he said that the board will later decide if Maulana Nizamuddin would go alone or lead a delegation to the CM.

Yesterday, the board took strong exception over the delay on the part of the State Government in issuing the notification.

"Mr Yadav had demanded a fresh notification during the previous BJP and BSP Governments in the state. It is unfortunate that now with his party in power, he is sitting silent on the issue," board assistant general secretary Maulana Abdul Rahim Qureshi said.

"We have sent a letter demanding immediate issuance of fresh notification on December 4 and earlier had verbally urged the CM to take action in the matter but nothing has been done so far," he claimed.

Mr Qureshi further said AIMPLB members would again meet Mr Yadav to apprise him of the urgency of new notification for shifting case no 198/92 from Rae Bareli to Lucknow.

Spokesman of the board Dr Q U A Ilyasi had said delay in issuance of fresh notification had put a question mark on the Samajwadi Party-led Government in the state.

The Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court had already stated that the State Government could issue a fresh notification transferring the case no 198/92 to Lucknow from Rae Bareli. The previous BSP-led State Government had constituted a special court in Rae Bareli to deal with the case.

Earlier, on December 6, State Urban Development Minister Mohd Azam Khan said the State Government was considering issuing a fresh notification in the case.

In another decision, the AIMPLB decided to ask the UP Goverment to amend the law for providing property rights to married girls as per the Shariat.

The board will write a letter to the State Government over the issue and is expected to give reference of West Bengal model where the Left parties Government had amended the law to extend the right to the married Muslim girls.

Earlier, the UP Government had clarified it was considering the demand of Muslims to provide such rights to married girls in the parental property. As per the Shariat, married girls have the right to get one-sixth of the property.

The board during its executive meeting last night, also decided to take up the matter of expansion of Darul Khaza (Shariat courts) in the Districts and Panchayats of the country.

"The board will call upon recognised Muslim organisations and big Madarsas to involve them in the expansion of Darul Khaza in different parts of the state," board sources added.

The board had also decided to hold the annual general meeting at Bhopal sometime in March next. "The date will be announced after the visit of AIMPLB chairman Maulana Rabe Hassan Nadvi to Bhopal next month." (UNI)

Sonia Gandhi rules by achieving the "near impossible"

NEW DELHI, Dec 26: It was undoubtedly the year of Congress president Sonia Gandhi who achieved the "near impossible" task of handing out a shock defeat to the BJP-led NDA at the Centre, which deluded itself by a false "feel good" factor, and an equally surprise decision to give up the post of the Prime Minister which was hers.

It was also the end of an era for the party with the former Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao, hailed as the "father of economic reforms" and the first Premier outside Nehru-Gandhi family to complete a five year term, died.

For 2004 started as one of the worst of years for the Congress president, who was driven to the wall as the party lost badly in Assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh held in late 2003 on the back of a saffron surge.

Congress was the underdog and BJP the favourite as 2003 rang out and no one in his wildest dreams, including a large section of the media, spoke of Gandhi and her party having a ghost of a chance of gaining power in Delhi as talk of early poll was in the air.

With Atal Bihari Vajpayee being projected as one of the best Prime Ministers India had, the BJP-led NDA advanced the general elections to April-May from October to reap the rewards of "India shining". But, it was not to be.

"I bet none of you present here would have thought that this year I will be here as leader of the ruling party as everyone of you felt I will continue to be opposition leader", these opening remarks of Gandhi at a recent international conference reflected the mood when 2004 rung in.

But Gandhi made all the difference. Caught by the alliance bug in the wake of Shimla conclave of the party, she marshalled her forces in such a way that the saffron combine, entrenched in power since 1998, failed to match.

And when the game was won, Gandhi again did the impossible by renouncing Prime Ministership and nominating Manmohan Singh for the top Government job—an action which resulted in the AICC likening her to Mahatma Gandhi.

Determined to defeat the BJP at its own game - alliance building - Gandhi walked the exra mile in search of friends —from her next door neighbour in Delhi—Ram Vilas Paswan of the LJP to DMK’s M Karunanidhi, whose party’s participation in the United Front Government, had resulted in its downfall by Congress.

She also drove down to the residence of Sharad Pawar, who broke away from Congress in 1999 on the issue of her foreign origin and formed the NCP. Neither did she publicly show the humiliation when Lalu Prasad of the RJD gave a mere four seats to her party in Bihar, one of the most important states in the Hindi heartland.

Gandhi was acquiring new friends and was not standing on prestige as head of the country’s oldest and largest political party having Governments in over a dozen states.

The tone of Congress, which felt at Pachmarhi session in September 1998 that coalitions was a "transient phase", changed in Shimla where it underlined the need for coming together of all secular forces to defeat the BJP-led NDA.

The widow of Rajiv Gandhi, who was often derided by the BJP and Sangh Parivar on her leadership qualities, felt in the years of wilderness that unless the party captured the Centre, there was not much use of holding power in the states.

Aware that Vajpayee was able to lead the coalition for six long years as he was liberal with allies, Gandhi took an ambivalent position on the leadership issue in the event of the party led alliance came to power. This was to raise the comfort level of some allies like NCP.

A similar position on the issue of separate Telangana helped Congress to forge ties with the TRS, championing the cause of a separate state and making mincemeat of Chandrababu Naidu-led TDP in Andhra Pradesh in both the Lok Sabha and Assembly polls.

In fact, the results in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh turned the tide against the BJP-led coalition as the saffron outfit floundered while retaining allies and nine of them left the NDA in the run up to the Lok Sabha polls.

Gandhi brought in Vilasrao Deshmukh, Y S Rajshekhar Reddy and N Dharam Singh as Chief Ministers of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka respectively while Sushil Kumar Shinde and S M Krishna were made Governors.

A reason for the defeat of the BJP-led NDA was the failure of the saffron party and its allies in the south where they came a cropper in Tamil Nadu, won only one in Kerala and a handful in Andhra Pradesh crumbing the fort of Naidu, who with 27 MPs had wielded great influence in the NDA earlier.

The Lok Sabha polls saw Gandhi shifting her constituency from Amethi to Rae Bareli and inducting her son Rahul into active politics, in a move seen as making him ‘heir apparent’. Rahul was made party nominee from Amethi, a seat once held by Rajiv Gandhi.

She dispatched senior leader Salman Khurshid to UP as PCC chief in what he himself described as "make or break" opportunity in a state where the party was getting increasingly at loggerheads with SP led by Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav.

The defeat in Kerala in the Lok Sabha polls where the Congress failed to win a single seat of the total 20 seats led to Chief Minister A K Antony giving way to Oomen Chandy. The party also did badly in Uttaranchal and Punjab, where it is ruling as also in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.

But the silver lining was in Gujarat, where the party won 12 of the 25 seats, sending shockwaves in the saffron party which considered the Narendra Modi ruled state as its laboratory.

The challenges ahead for Gandhi and her party in the new year are the Assembly elections in Bihar, Jharkhand and Haryana.

While Haryana is being seen in party circles as a ripe fruit ready to be plucked in view of handsome results in the Lok Sabha polls, it is expected that with an alliance with Shibu Soren led JMM, going will be smooth in Jharkhand.

The party, however, faces a major problem in Bihar where the ruling RJD, led by Railway Minister Lalu Prasad, is a key ally of the UPA, second only to Congress in strength.

The Rabri Devi Government appears to have incurred a lot of anti-incumbency against it. A section of Congress wants to align with Paswan but another believes it would have to willy-nilly go with Lalu.

Gandhi, who is also UPA chairperson, has to manage the contradictions in the ruling alliance with the Left parties, supporting the Government from outside, would get increasingly restive with policies and programmes in view of the Assembly polls in West Bengal and Kerala scheduled in 2006. Congress is their main challenger there. (PTI)

Indian IT in 2004: from mid-way hiccups
to year-end big bang

NEW DELHI, Dec 26: The Indian IT sector faced some hiccups during 2004, yet continued to ride high on the wave of incredible IPOs, booming BPOs and proliferating PCs, and is set to close the year with a big bang as global technology giants line up to cash in on the talent-rich India market.

The year 2004 clearly belonged to Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), which brought out the largest IPO in Indian history. The Rs 5420-crore IPO in August 2004 was oversubscribed by over 7 times.

The IPO not only made tcs one of the largest companies in India in terms of market capital, it also made TCS chief S Ramadorai the "it man of the year", an award he bagged from infotech publication dataquest.

"The TCS IPO was the biggest event for Indian IT industry this year. The biggest Indian software company went public, acquiring more ammunition for acquisitions," NASSCOM president Kiran Karnik told UNI.

Homegrown software giant infosys gave another reason to cheer to India inc as IT crossed the billion-dollar threshold with its 1.06 billion dollars revenue for fiscal 2004.

"The year was good for the software sector on the whole. We are on track for 32 per cent growth in exports over over 12.5 billion recorded in 2003-04. A welcome development during 2004 has been around 25 per cent growth in domestic market, which was hitherto growing at only around 15 per cent," Mr Karnik said.

As India finally arrived on the global it map, technology giant microsoft rolled out Hindi and Kannada language interface for microsoft office under the project Bhasha and red hat followed suit, promising to cover 13 major Indian languages by early 2006.

Microsoft’s CEO Steve Ballmer also came calling on India in November and announced its first-ever lab in India and so did LG CNS global. Chip giant intel, however, is yet evaluating India as a possible destination next for setting up an R and D base.

And India continued to be the undisputed hub for offshore outsourcing despite hue and cry across the world. From analyst firm gartner to research services provider deloitte, all bet big on the Indian BPO sector. "In terms of offshore centres, India remains the undisputed leader..., " Gartner said.

"BPOs are growing vigorously despite concerns across the globe and they will continue to grow as companies recognise human potential here," Mr Karnik said.

Merger and acquisition talks and deals in the outsourcing sector took place throughout the year, but the real one to catch the eye was IBM’s purchase of BPO company Daksh, a deal that could signal further acquisitions in the space in 2005.

Another important development was General Electric (GE) decision to offload 60 per cent stake in its BPO operation GE Capital International Services (GECIS) to private investment firms general Atlantic partners and oak hill capital partners for about 500 million dollars.

However, amid all sugar and honey, a circular from the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) on taxation of IT-enabled Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) units in India worried NASSCOM, the apex software body, as it could hurt the outsourcing sector.

A revised version, incorporating NASSCOM’s views was finally issued on September 28, 2004. "However, the present circular is also inhibiting business as the liability remains on the parent company outsourcing to India. We are saying that the liability should be with the Indian arm," he added.

On the hardware front, buoyant it consumption continued as desktop PC market grossed 17.1 lakh units during the first half of the current financial year, showing a growth of 37 per cent. PC sales are expected to touch 40 lakh units this fiscal, said the data by IT hardware forum mait.

MAIT executive director Vinnie Mehta told UNI that the impressive sales were despite the budget 2005 provision doing away with 8 per cent excise duty on computers without a similar cut in inputs, which slowed down sales in July and August.

"Yet, overall the year has been very good. A notable trend is the price cut in notebooks, which moved on from being a corporate item to a household one as prices dropped from Rs 80,000 to Rs 40,000 this year. Even PC prices were down to around Rs 17,000, boosting sales," Mr Mehta said.

Despite all round growth, infrastructure is the biggest bottleneck for the industry. India needs to strengthen physical as well as educational infrastructure to sustain the spectacular growth in IT, infosys mentor N R Narayana Murthy said.

"India has to improve its airports, roads, power, schools and set up more institutions of technology if it is to sustain the growth it has made and encourage more and more foreign companies to operate in the country," Mr Murthy said.

Mr Karnik echoed these views and said: "Besides physical infrastructure, manpower shortage is also a concern for the Indian IT industry. With this kind of growth, you need large employable numbers and the earlier this is addressed, the better it will be for the industry," he added.

And towards the year-end, the infamous MMS case sent tremors across the IT industry after Baazee.Com CEO Avnish Bajaj was arrested and later released on bail. It led to a global debate on the need for changing the IT Act.

NASSCOM, in partnership with the Union Ministry of Communications and Information Technology is working on amendments that will be needed to be incorporated in the IT Act to effectively address the issue of cyber crime, he said.

As the year draws to a close, the IT industry is more than bullish about its own prospects as India rewrites history and future of technology. "We will better the growth figures next year," Mr Karnik added. (UNI)

Christmas, new year: party, party all the way...

NEW DELHI, Dec 26: No more watching celebrities party ‘live’ on the television. Most Indians want to be a part of the fun, partying the whole night for Christmas and new year.

Fuelling the trend are hotels - from five-star to the local restaurants, which have lined up something or the other for the two events. Infact, as some in the business say, it is a party a day, the whole week from Christmas to new year.

From barbie shaking hands across the country with young girls and a lady Santa distributing gifts, most markeeters try to make it a Christmas with a difference.

"As markets open up, there is need to have something different. These occasions can no longer be a regular event. So they are planned in such a way as to attract consumers," says a marketing expert.

"Infact, differentiation is the name of the game," he says .

"Also, it is a buyer’s market, where people want value for money. It is the middle class and the young crowd which is driving the business on these occasions," says Vikas Mehta, general manager, Gourmet Gallery.

"Their entry into the party scene has also been facilitated by multi-cuisine restaurants and food courts, where they can have the fun without any dress code or even restrictions on mannerism," says Mehta. Moreover, the cost here is also very less compared to five-star hotels.

"While Diwali still remains a festival to be celebrated with the family for most Indians, Christmas and new year have no religious overdose and they are occasions largely to be celebrated. "It is a party a day, from Christmas to new year," those in the business say.

Also, watching television is no longer the preferred way of spending the new year eve. "It is no longer the prime attraction. While partying earlier was restricted to the elite, today even the middle-class wants to enjoy and participate in the celebrations," says T S Sodhi, of opus lounge.

With spending power increasing, shelling out Rs 1500 -2000 per couple is not much of a problem, he says adding "many places are even offering separate dance floor for kids."

With more youngsters entering into the party circuit, these two events are not just a phenomenon, but have become a reason to party, says Sandeep Madan, GM, marketing, Nirulas.

The last few years have seen concept of Valentine Day, Christmas and new year catching up and most events are thus planned and organised around them... And in next few years they are bound to become as big as Diwali, says Madan.

The industry around these events is growing by 20-25 per cent annually, he says.

A major change this year has been that there is no ‘dhamaka’ around these events. Huge ads are missing, hotels are not spending much on advertising in print and visual medium. The stress is on personal communication, says Rabindra Seth, a well-known travel writer.

The trend has set in, there is no need to announce a party or for that matter white Christmas, says Seth.

"Also, it is the young crowd which makes up for most revellers. The BPO boom has given more money in the hands of youngsters, who make up for the crowd at these parties," he says.

Also this is the time for food festivals and theme parties, when the concept blends with the theme of the restaurant. For the first time perhaps most restaurants and hotels here served Turkey on Christmas.

Others tried and recreated the original Christmas theme as it was celebrated centuries ago. Another restaurant through its food tried to take those partying into the ‘days of the raj’ and transport them again into future.

Keeping alive the Christmas tradition are also many food chains offering Christmas tree cookies, ginger bread man, Santa hampers - all to keep the religious flavour alive.

The party spirit notwithstanding, for most in rural India, it is still watching television and sitting before a bonfire, the most preferred way to usher in the new year, says P Vasanthi, Director, Centre for Media Studies. (PTI)

Restoration of 9.5 interst rate on EPF remained elusive

NEW DELHI, Dec 26: The confrontation between the Central trade unions and the UPA Government on increasing interest rate on the EPF to 9.5 per cent further deepened even as the Centre introduced the "diluted" employment guarantee bill in the Lok Sabha and withdrew the standing orders relating to fixed term contract employment during 2004.

While the Left trade unions, led by AIITUC and CITU, continued their pressure for raising the interest rate to 9.5 for 2004-05 and subsequently raising it to 12 per cent, the Government only gave an assurance that the increase is under its consideration.

Meanwhile, membership of the country’s largest social security fund—the EPF—swelled to over 40 million during the year.

The Government introduced a National Rural Employment Guarantee Bill, 2004 in the Lok Sabha on December 21 to guarantee the rural poor 100 days of employment every financial year. However, the bill fell short of the expectations of those hoping for a full-fledged Employment Guarantee Act.

The trade unions said the bill is a travesty of the draft prepared by the National Advisory Council(NAC), let alone the initial draft prepapred by concerned citizens.

The Central Trade Unions expected that with the new Government at the Centre, issues relating to the workers would get priroirty, but the way the promised employment guarantee bill was "diluted" and no concrete measures taken to amend other related labour issues like the payment of Bonus Act, payment of gratuity and Contract Regulation Act, a wrong signal went among the workers.

Besides, no serious steps were taken to activate the tripartite consulation machinary so much as that the Indian Labour Conference due for the year could not take place.

The Government insisted that it tried to carry social partners along by way of tripartite mechanism and held standing labour committee, a precursor of ILO, which the Labour Minsitry failed to convene even as the year came to close.

The year witnessed shifting of Labour Minister Sis Ram Ola to Mines after complaints of non performance of the ministry.

The assurance on comprehensive legislation for a 370 million strong unorganised workers sector also remained unfulfilled. The Central Trade Unions have been pressing for long for enactment of law to protect service condtions and social security interest of vast millions of workers, who are the backbone of nation’s economy.

There must be a Government funded social security and a guarantee of minimum wage and other welfare benefits, the Central Trade Unions demanded. Non-implementation of Minimum Wages Act was another area of concern even as it is prescribed by the states under the act.

On the Government part, housing subsidy for beedi workers was doubled from Rs 25000 to Rs 40000 per unit. The Government announced a one-time grant of Rs one crore to State Governments for setting up a hospital for them and the mine workers.

The trade unions were also unhappy over the decsion of the Government to introduce a new pension scheme for fresh recruitees in the Central Government on the grounds that it is discriminatory and that a defined pension benefit had been left to the mercy of market operation.

On the positive side, the Employees State Insurance Corporation(ESIS) enhanced the wage ceiling for coverage of employee from Rs 6500 to Rs 7500 whereby the corporation net in over one lakh employees as large percentage of them had been going out of the coverage range. In order to equip the workers with skills in the competitive environment, the Labour Ministry decided to modernise industrial institute of training and announced the Rs 800 crore ambitious plan for revamping.

The ministry suspended immigration of workers to Iraq and its neighbouring countries following the kidnapping of three Indian drivers, who were later released.

Despite fingers raised at the "misgoverance and malpractices" prevailing (as alleged by trade unions) in the EPFO, the Government claimed that the recovery of default providetn fund arrears increased by more than six times during 2004.

The Government also establised a national commission to examine the problems facing enteprises in the organised, informal sector. It will make appropriate recommendations to provide technical, marketing and credit support to these enterprises. (UNI)

NCP made major stride in Maharashtra in year 2004

MUMBAI, Dec 26: Maharashtra witnessed crystallization of political contours between Congress and anti-Congress forces, symbolized by the Shiv Sena-BJP saffron combine, and clear marginalization of the third front or the Left front after both Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in the state this year.

NCP, headed by a regional Satrap Sharad Pawar, made a major stride in its fifth year of inception by emerging as the single largest party in the 288-member Assembly clearly setting the alarm bells ringing in the ally, Congress camp.

With NCP spreading its wings, its partner Congress decided to bring back Vilasrao Deshmukh, a known Pawar-Baiter, who occupied the most coveted seat, replacing the incumbent and first dalit Chief Minister Sushilkumar Shinde, who won the state back for the ruling Democratic Front Alliance.

The exchange of chairs between the Proverbial ‘Do Hanso Ka Joda’ reminded one of poetic justice. It was Shinde, who had replaced Deshmukh on January 18, 2003 and had to make way for his pal after the 2004 Assembly polls.

But Deshmukh’s second innings at the high office is marked with difference this time. Unlike his previous term, he would not be excessively dependent on the Left front and the independents for the survival of his Government.

The Assembly polls clearly marginalized the Left front and peasants and workers party, once the main opposition party, leaving just two members in the lower House. Similarly, the number of independents and smaller party nominees getting elected to the State Assembly has dwindled.

Though, the Congress and NCP — the ruling partners, haggled initially over the Chief Minister’s post, they subsequently chalked out a formula under which Congress got the top job and NCP more ministerial berths.

In the number game, the DF may enjoy a comfortable majority in the lower House, ensuring the stability of the ruling alliance, but a tottering economy with a debt of rs 110,000 crore, electricity shortage, removing developmental backlog of backward regions and malnourishment in tribal belts are some of the daunting tasks ahead of Congress-NCP combine.

Shinde, despite being successful in halting the march of saffron combine to mantralya, was dispatched to Andhra Pradesh as Governor.

Similarly, S M Krishna, the it savvy former Chief Minister of Karnataka, was made the Governor of Maharashtra, replacing Mohammed Fazal, who by departing from the gubernatorial protocol on many occasions, created a flutter.

Though Krishna’s appointment appeared to have given potent ammunition to the main opposition Shiv Sena, in view of the former’s anti-Maharashtra stance over the boundary row between the neighbouring states, the astute politician took the wind out of sails of the saffron party by paying homage to the martyrs of the Unified Maharashtra Movement.

The Sena, which vociferously opposed Krishna’s appointment as the Governor, had demanded that the former Karnataka Chief Minister should pay respect at the historical Hutatma Chowk in south Mumbai after taking over the new assignment or face stringent agitation.

But the year 2004 had begun with the four major political parties namely Congress, NCP, Shiv Sena and BJP bracing themselves up for the General and Assembly polls.

The saffron combine, then running the Union Government, was hoping to retain its power at the national level and storm back in Maharashtra replacing the "inept and ineffective" DF.

But Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s whirlwind tour of the state in contrast to BJPs hi-tech campaign ahead of the Lok Sabha polls caught the fancy of the common man catapulting the party and its allies to power at the Centre.

The victory in the Lok Sabha polls, gave the Congress-NCP confidence to ward off the anti-incumbency baggage and take on the demoralized Sena-BJP saffron combine.

Ahead of the polls, Shinde turned Santa Claus, doling out sops for every region and section of the society. In his bid to overtake Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray, who had announced free power to farmers, if the saffron combine was voted to power in the state, Shinde announced implementation of the scheme without taking into consideration its financial implication.

Within days, the instances of electricity theft increased and the already energy-deficient state started experiencing a shortage of 300 mw during the peak hour.

Painting a grim energy scenario, the state energy board officials warned that if the Government fails to set up a new energy generation plant then Maharashtra will be facing an electricity shortfall of more than 7,000 mw by 2010 and most of the prime cities across the state will be experiencing load shedding.

Going by the current indication, the Government plans to scrap the free power scheme by March 2005 and the Sena-BJP will not miss an opportunity to embarrass the Government for reneging on its pre-poll assurance.

Another issue that will dog this Government will be extending the cut off date for regularizing slums in Mumbai till year 2000.

At present slums that have been come up before January one, 1995, enjoy the protection. But the Congress and NCP’s joint manifesto had assured extending the deadline to 2000, a move that can jeopardize attempts to turn Mumbai into another Shanghai besides inviting the wrath of the Shiv Sena.

Congress, which had made inroads in the Mumbai, a traditional bastion of Sena, can hope to delineate its base among the city’s middle-class and intelligentsia, if it goes ahead with the plans for slums.

Another challenge staring Deshmukh Government will be bringing the state economy back on the rails. The state faces a debt hovering over an astounding sum of Rs 110,000 crore and many irrigation and developmental projects are in a quandary for lack of funds.

Seeking financial assistance from the Centre or borrowing low interest rate loans to set off the large interest rate debt, financial assistance for Mumbai’s development and city’s infrastructure and reviving the controversy-ridden enron power project are some of the steps this Government will have to undertake along with the UPA.

Besides all these pressing problems, Deshmukh will have to deal with a stronger ally and ensure the Congress growth in the days to come.

The NCP will be making all out efforts to strengthen its base and has handed over the reins of the party to the younger generation, virtually sidelining old turks like Vijaysinh Mohite-Patil, Padamsinh Patil and Chhagan Bhujbal.

In the opposition camp, Sena’s control has been passed on mostly to the party’s executive president Uddhav Thackeray with Sena patriarch Bal Thackeray drawing the policy guidelines.

The BJP has brought in Nitin Gadkari, known for his proximity to Sangh Parivar, in place of Gopinath Munde. Gadkari’s task will be strengthening the organization during his three-year stint to gear up the party for the next Assembly elections. (PTI)

Miss World Priyanka Chopra gets relief from SC

NEW DELHI, Dec 26: Prominent filmstar and beauty queen Priyanka Chopra has got a major relief with Supreme Court dismissing a Special Leave Petition filed by her secretary challenging a bombay High Court order staying criminal proceedings in a cheating case against her.

In an interim order on December 1, the High Court had stayed the criminal proceedings initiated by a Mumbai Court on a complaint by her secretary charging her with having committed various offences including cheating, forgery, criminal breach of trust and defamation.

The SLP by Prakash Jaju, a Bollywood financier, submitted that the High Court erred in staying the summons issued by a metropolitan Magistrate who found that a prima facie case was made out against the 26-year-old actress.

Jaju, who has accused the ‘Aitraaz’ actress with falling out of a 2002 contract which made her liable to pay 5 per cent of her earnings to him, alleged before the court that after terminating the agreement with a month’s notice, she tampered with the document to decrease the notice period from six months to one month.

He further contended before the Apex Court that the High Court, while granting an interim relief to the former Miss World, went beyond its powers by considering a copy of an allegedly forged agreement submitted by the actress with a different termination clause.

Contrary to settled laws that defence documents cannot be looked into at the intial stage, the High Court also took into account a report by a handwriting expert which stated that the agreement before the trial court did not bear Priyanka’s signature. This was despite the establish rule that if allegations in the complaint fulfilled the ingredients of an offence, courts should not quash criminal proceedings, the SLP contended.

The Apex Court, however, found no reason to interfere with the interim order of the High Court. Mr Justice N Santosh Hegde, before whom the matter was mentioned by advocate P D Sharma last week, took the petition on board and dismissed it ‘in limine’.

Jaju alleged that he invested crores of rupees in promoting the bareilly girl whose career clicked with ‘Mujhse Shaadi Karogi’. However, the filmstar later made an attempt to get out of the agreement after she started getting good business.

Priyanka on the other hand, has been contending that the order by the Magistrate directing her to appear in person was issued mechanically as there were no documents to support the charges levelled against her.

She told the HC that Jaju had been causing nuisance and sending "filthy and blackmailing messages," since the criminal proceeding were initiated against her. (UNI)