Vis-a-Vis

L.K. ADVANI leader of the Opposition versus JAGAT SINGH son of former external affairs minister Natwar Singh

"Congress ka lafda hai, woh toh bakra hai (Congress is the main culprit, Natwar Singh is the scapegoat)."

"Didn't Matherani say that the Congress delegation went to Iraq with the blessings of Sonia Gandhi?"

EPILOGUE: The oil-for-food imbroglio has caught the Congress on slippery ground.

VOICES

"If you touch it (the Taj Mahal), we will come down (on you) like a tonne of bricks."

Supreme Court to the Archaeological Survey of India

"The Trinamool Congress is the only visible face of Opposition unlike others who tend to run with the hares and hunt with the hounds."

Mamata Banerjee, Trinamool Congress chief

"When some people quit, it does not mean that the Shiv Sena is finished. It will not be a problem for the party."

Uddhav Thackeray, Shiv Sena executive president

"Dhoom has a bigger show of cleavage than Jism but no one would dare question Yash Chopra. This is hypocrisy and I won't be part of it."

Pooja Bhatt, filmmaker

"There's a joker in every team who keeps the boys laughing. In this team Yuvraj Singh plays that role."

Sunil Gavaskar, former India Test cricket captain

THE BUZZ OF THE WEEK

Officials in the Finance Ministry are hoping that the Sensex will hit the 10,000 mark around the time when the finance minister presents Budget 2006. That it might be in for a correction is what is making them uneasy.

PICTURE SPEAK

DEFIANT STAND: Uma Bharati speaks out

DELHI::When the axe finally fell, the decision was swift and unanimous. It took the BJP's Parliamentary Board barely 20 minutes on the evening of December 5 to expel Uma Bharati, the rebel sanyasin. After the meeting, the party leaders left it to general secretary in charge of Madhya Pradesh, Arun Jaitely, to read out the expulsion order to the media.

Bharati is still defiant. Refusing to accept the expulsion, she claims that she is the real BJP and thereby cannot be expelled. She is contemplating pleading her case against the party's disciplinary committee headed by Ram Naik. Dressed in bright saffron and sneakers, she says, "The party is like a plane that has been hijacked. Advaniji and Atalji are the two pilots while four terrorist have boarded the plane." The reference was to the Gen Next quartet of Jaitely, Sushma Swaraj, M. Venkaiah Naidu and Pramod Mahajan. There is also no time frame being given for Bharati's expulsion, though the norm is a six-year period. The party leadership has made it clear that there is little hope left for Bharati; the door has been slammed in her face with rather a loud bang.

Interestingly, Mahajan began the meeting by reading out her reply to the show cause notice. Clearly in a combative mood, Bharati had reiterated all her allegations of indiscipline against L.K. Advani, Jaitley, Swaraj and Mahajan. After reading her complaints, Mahajan joked, "Maybe we all should leave and reinstate her as general secretary."

Bharati is vocal about her problems with the party but silent about her future. There is talk of floating a party, but she says all decisions will be taken after she completes her march to Ayodhya. Stopping for innumerable soundbytes and rallies, Bharati has ensured that she stays in the headlines. At least for now.

-By Priya Sahgal

CONFERRED:: Upon Prime Minister Manmohan Singh the title of Professor Honoris Causa by Moscow State University.

ELECTED: Udai Narain Chowdhury as the Speaker of the Bihar Legislative Assembly. He is the first Dalit to hold the post and was elected to the Bihar Assembly for the first time in 1990.

REOPENED: Following the recommendations of the Nanavati Commission, the CBI has re-registered seven new cases against "unknown people" for fresh investigations into the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.

PICTURE SPEAK

Purie with Echostar's Jody Martin; Nasdaq lit up

NEW YORK: At precisely 7 p.m. on December 1, the giant screen on the outer face of the Nasdaq building in the heart of Times Square in Manhattan, lit up with a promo from TV Today-part of the India Today Group-in all its black and red splendour. Inside, the TV Today team led by group Chairman Aroon Purie, his wife Rekha and TV Today CEO G. Krishnan launched the two 24-hour news channels-Aaj Tak and Headlines Today-in the US. "The India Today Group has always realised the importance of Indians in North America and 23 years ago we launched India Today International. It is a proud moment for us to now bring news live from India with the launch of these two channels," said Purie.

TV Today has tied up with the Echostar dish Network, the leading satellite service provider for South Asian programming in the US. "We are excited to serve as the exclusive pay TV provider of Aaj Tak and Headlines Today," said Phil Klein, vice-president (marketing) for dish Network. According to Krishnan, Aaj Tak is in a vantage position to serve the global Indian. "The partnership with dish network will benefit South Asian viewers also as they will have access to news as it happens here," he says. TV Today's strategy envisages a gradual spread internationally. Next stop: Britain, Canada and South Africa.

-By Anil Padmanabhan

PICTURE SPEAK

OFFSIDE: Bhowmick was caught on the wrong foot

KOLKATA: He would have been just another Central government officer arrested on bribery charges. But Subhas Bhowmick is no ordinary babu. He is Indian football's Jose Morinho and Alex Ferguson rolled into one. So it was shock, anger, and then disgust among Kolkata's football-crazy fans when the celebrated East Bengal coach was arrested last week at the South Club, was caught red-handed while allegedly receiving a bribe of Rs 1.5 lakh from a Kolkata-based businessman. A superintedent with Central Excise Department, he had reportedly demanded Rs 4 lakh as bribe, and the latter had promised to pay him part of that amount at the Club. As the two met, Bhowmick smelt a rat and tried to flee but five CBI officials intercepted him at the club gates.

Bhowmick is also coach of the East Bengal football club where he draws an annual salary of Rs 10 lakh. In 2003, he steered East Bengal into winning the Asean Cup. Though East Bengal are keeping their fingers crossed in the hope that he will get a clean chit, they have already begun the hunt for a new coach.

-By Swagata Sen

Index