Babubuzz

Call it the last gasp of the public sector. In this era of price cuts, clearly, the government-owned telecom giant wants to steal the show. In long distance, mtnl outshone Bharti by announcing lower rates. In cellular too, it wants to be the big brother. Users of mtnl’s cellular service, Dolphin, who were warned by many to beware of the sarkari service, are having the last laugh. Many are yet to get their first bill despite several months of use. And no, the company has not forgotten their addresses, as the subscribers have been regularly receiving New Year, Holi and Baisakhi greetings. Wanna change, Essar and Airtel users?

Even as the Centre’s almost given up the war on the fiscal front, thanks partly to the debacle in the Delhi municipal elections and the harsh criticism of reforms at Goa, Maharashtra has announced its plan to introduce a Fiscal Responsibility Bill. And if your thoughts veered towards Enron, you’re quite correct. The state’s revenue deficit ballooned in the last fiscal year to Rs 6,245 crore, more than double the target, because of reimbursement of mseb losses, aid to sugar cooperatives and higher spend on the employment guarantee scheme. Going by the trend in states verging on bankruptcy, who’ll be the next to pay lip service to the fiscal discipline cause? Kerala? Or Uttar Pradesh?