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Fundamental point
By ruling that the right to free speech is conditioned by the circumstances in which it is exercised, the Supreme Court has made a crucially important point. It has said that employees do not have the right to infringe service rules in order to undermine the prestige or efficiency of their organisation. Had this issue been raised a couple of decades ago, Indian public sector undertakings would not be drifting, derelict hulks today.
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Earplugs, anyone?
Words. Words. Words. The nation should pride itself for having acquired, thanks entirely to its vibrant democracy, a unique vocabulary of venom. Indigenous wordsmiths, speech-specialists and spin-doctors are drinking deep at the wells of invective in order to provide the necessary sound and fury to the final phases of campaigning. The last few weeks have seen words like "liar", "mad man" and "barbarian" fly thick and fast as competitive sloganeering seems to be the most rewarding activity on the campaign trail.
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So tell us, Priyanka
It's all so much fun. And so easy. Just hitch a ride on one of those jets your mother uses, take cover behind her steely visage, lap up the adoration of the crowds and then, with flashlights popping, walk up to the mike and say a sentence or two in whatever language they speak out there.It must be easy, it must be fun, because we've seen you, your husband and now your brother as well, laughing, smiling, waving. No big-time Hollywood star ever played an easier crowd.
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Everybody loves a good lesson
In all the agonising about the Asian crisis, someone rightly -- if sardonically -- noted how quick India had been to learn "lessons" from it. The reason is not far to seek. On the face of it, the Asian flu seems to support all the anti-globalisation instincts of Indian politicians. For a long time, in the recent ascendancy of Adam Smith's invisible hand, they did not know where to hang their unfashionable notions. Then Asia happened, obligingly giving them their peg.
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