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Politics	Business	Expressions	General
World	Sports	Leisure	States

Friday, May 29, 1998

	After the hangover Almost unbelievably, there has hardly been a murmur of dissent against the detonation of a series of nuclear devices. It is as if the nation has woken up to a new-found pride and an assertion of its ``rightful'' place as a major world power. The mood is one of undiluted exultation: the celebrations show no sign of ending. There has even been talk of showing the world that India is not a nation of eunuchs, which is a macho boast if ever there was one.		Maybe a bomb for the front pages It is argued that China's nuclear status looks plausible because it crowns huge economic advances. It is just the other way around. Chronologically, it is economic advance which crowns China's nuclear might.
	The vision thing Now for the bad news. The Economic Survey for 1997-1998 confirms all the apprehensions about the economy. The growth rate is down to 5% from 7.5 only a year before. The fiscal deficit has overshot the target of 4.5% of GDP by over 1.5%. Grain output is down 5 million tonnes. Exports are barely limping along at 2.6%, imports not doing much better at under 7%.		Nuclear wise The Prime Minister's first statement in Parliament provided the broad framework of the government's nuclear policy. It does not answer many of the questions raised by the confusing crosstalk in official circles over the past ten days. But it is the first step towards articulating a clear policy and is therefore welcome. The significant aspect of the statement lies in the commitments to restraint, to exercising independent judgment on security issues, to global disarmament and to multilateral agencies such as the United Nations.

The scoop that wasn't
Had B D Jatti, the former acting president, been adamant till the end of that day I would have cut a sorry figure and caused a huge loss to the newspaper with which I began my journalistic career in Cuttack. But with fortune favouring a fool like me, a disaster turned out to be scoop for the paper, the News of the World.

Test of wisdom