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Drumbeat: Ad Buzzaar

Politics	Business	Expressions	General
World	Sports	Leisure	States

Monday, May 25, 1998

	A coalition of wise guys New Delhi is a soulless city. And it is, therefore, prone to throwing up an incredible galaxy of coalitions in its discourses. From lumpen capitalists to the well-heeled multiplex types, all find a place to come together under the capital's sun. But no issue has cast together as motley a collection of interests as the current series of nuclear tests.		China was just a red herring The government has handled reasonably well the aftermath of the nuclear tests. But the China-centric justification for the detonations has baffled Sinologists. The Foreign Office was aghast. Brajesh Mishra, upon whom Mao supposedly smiled at one time, appears to be the main architect of the strategy.
	Sanctions on realism The resumption of official contacts between India and the US is a positive development. Ambassador Naresh Chandra's talks with State Department officials in Washington were the first since the nuclear blasts of May 11 and 13 set off acrimonious and self-defeating noises in the two capitals. It is more productive to talk directly about the post-Pokharan II scenario in the subcontinent than to let reaction and counter-reaction set the new parameters of the bilateral relationship.		Back to basics The government is back to earth after its ten days in the clouds as J. Jayalalitha, loath to be out of the public eye for long, gets back to work and it loses a third minister in two months. There is nothing quite like Jayalalitha, this coalition has to concede, to restore sobriety and a sense of proportion about its own standing at a time when things could easily go to its head.

The Godzilla of capitalism
Microsoft versus the US Department of Justice has borne an uncanny resemblance to Saddam versus the globocop. There's been a slow buildup over many months. The DOJ repeatedly warned that it would have to move unless Bill Gates stopped his rogue act. And Gates, the Godzilla of Nerdopolis, projected himself as a sacrificial victim, insisting that the DOJ couldn't hurt him without hurting the interests of millions of hapless consumers.

Death by medicine
Advertisements that announce cure for AIDS, tablets that enhance memory, reduce weight, improve sex life...the list of "wonder drugs" is endless. In India, where there are over 60,000 formulations and 20,000 drug manufacturers, is anyone paying attention to the safety and quality of the products?