But that was when the United Front government was in power. All political parties, including the BJP, agreed that DTH should not be allowed. Now the shoe is on the other foot and it is the BJP which is ruling the nation with support from allies who themselves supported the ban on DTH.

The information & broadcasting minister is Pramod Mahajan, who is also the fund raiser for the BJP. And suddenly, DTH television seems okay. And the government seems set to give a decision either way on this niche but lucrative business in the next few weeks. Mahajan's predecessor Sushma Swarajseemed in no hurry to give the go-ahead to DTH. And his minister of state MA Naqvi was quite emphatic that DTH would not be allowed independent of the broadcasting bill.

What goes with the BJP-led government? Has it forgotten the threat to national security or was there never a threat? And what goes with its allies, and the Janata Dal and the Congress? Have they been hit by a bout of amnesia about what they so strongly opposed hardly a couple of years ago? Or is it that the anti-Murdoch lobby in government and amongst politicians is no longer anti him because Chandra has made peace with the global media baron? And what about the auctioning of the direct-to-home service licences under the broadcast bill? Has all that been erased from everyone's memory? Will that be resorted to or will there be ad hocism in the DTH television business?

Of course, people will argue that things have changed in a couple of years and people can have channels that they want to watch over the Internet. So it will be useless torein in DTH. Rather, let it roll out and make money from what has to hit Indian consumers anyway. Let those foreigners who want to enter the market with their projects do so in partnership with state-owned broadcaster DD having control over most aspects of the business.

But we all know what happened when DD tied up with Measat two years ago: it did nothing. DD and information and broadcasting ministry officials simply sat on the proposal they had received for an assoication with the Malayasian DTH service. This writer is not opposed to technology nor is he sold on the threat to national security hoodoo that politicians raised, but is opposed to opportunism on the part of governments. They ban what they deem fit or is politically right; they allow what they think they should. There appears to be little reasoning and strategy behind the decisions they take.

Currently, there is no framework in place; no Broadcast Authority of India. There are no codes for advertising and editorial content on television. Whatis good for DD needn't be good for DTH television which is a niche service targeted at well-heeled people. Unless the government has a coherent strategy--apart from raising money--behind allowing DTH services, it should not. The money will disappear quickly. And we may well end up with a repeat of what happened with telecom licensing. Respected Vajpayee, Narayan, and Mahajan, please do your homework before taking decisions you may well regret in future.

Are our ad agencies ready for Net?

Here's a thought for all the advertising and marketing gurus. How prepared are you for the Internet? Agreed there are less than 200,000 web surfers today, but that number is expected to swell quickly it will cross a million in the next five years. By then payment security problems will be a thing of the past. And if even a fraction choose to mae purchases on-line it will be a lot of moolah for those Indians who set up a services that meet a need. Books, flowers, cassettes, magazines, even high ticket items such asfurniture, household implements, you name it, they will be bought off the Web.

How many advertising agencies are gearing up with a service that will meet the needs of their clients--the advertisers--on the Web? How many of them have a coherent strategy for the Web? Not many. Well if you haven't got one, get cracking on having one. It's the market of the next century. And that is only a couple of years away.

Good, but not enough

Ad agency Trikaya Grey placed an ad in a recent issue of The Asian Age. The ad had mainly white space. The only copy was at the bottom. This is how it went: "You are kindly requested to spit on this page. So you don't feel the need to do it on the streets."

While the ad has been issued with good intentions, its message will probably fall on deaf ears. The agency should work with a client/clients to sponsor spitting bowls in strategic locations all over the city. And then come out with a full-blast campaign against spitting. However, it will have to bear very highlikelihood of the spitting bowls being pinched and sold.

The writer can be reached at wanvari@giasbm01.vsnl.net.in or television@hotmail.com.