The Hindu Business Line : Corporate air warfare

CORPORATE warfare, world over, has its own dimensions. The on-going process of finalising bids for the modernisation of Delhi and Mumbai airports has seen some fierce behind-the-scenes slugfest between the top contenders, and the media was periodically fed with `insights'' about the handicap of the rival groups.

Little known `aviation experts' surfaced to help draw attention to crucial details such as how one of the contender's partner airport had low international ratings. The targeted group got back by raising doubts about the ratings agency itself, because some obscure airports had made it to the top list of the best airports in the world.

But as the process of finalisation drew close, the war got dirty. Word was spread around that only two parties had cleared the technical requirements, obliquely hinting thereby that the parameters were tailored for a chosen few. This argument was used effectively to point out to the Government that two bidders for two airports meant there would be no competitive financial offers to choose from when the final selection is made. A forged letter was also circulated, intended to create bad blood among the bidders.

As the D-day arrived, one of the parties on the supposedly-lost-out-list sent helpful SMS to media persons, informing them about a last-minute meeting between the Prime Minister and the Left parties. The press turned up in good strength to report that yet another committee would review the bids.

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English not on menu

INDIA may find it difficult to compete with China in the global market, but it certainly has an overwhelming comparative advantage when it comes to global connect.

A group of Indian journalists attending a Siemen's conference in Shanghai recently got first-hand experience of how the Chinese are still way behind when it comes to speaking English — the language predominantly used by the international traveller.

The journalists had a difficult time in a Shanghai restaurant trying to convey that the food should be made spicy and finally thought they had succeeded by pointing to a green chilly. To their surprise, the food turned out to be bland, but the waiter presented chopped green chillies in a separate dish. When another journalist asked for beef, he was offered a bowl of rice.

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Sting in the tail

UNCALLED for agitation can sometimes result in a self-goal, as media persons covering Cabinet briefings found out. Since Parliament was in session till last week, a late-evening Cabinet meeting went beyond its scheduled time and the Finance Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, arrived well after 9 p.m. to brief the press about the deliberations of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA). But before he could start, some journalists protested loudly that while they were made to wait in the Press Information Bureau, the Civil Aviation Minister, Mr Praful Patel, had already briefed some others outside the venue about the most `newsy' decision of the CCEA on Air India's feet acquisition.

The ruckus led to even more delay and Mr Chidambaram finally asked when they would like to be briefed.

`Tomorrow' was the prompt response and the Finance Minister agreed. But the sting came in the tail when the Minister declared that he had a tight schedule the next day and would brief the press early in the morning at 9 a.m. Their groans notwithstanding, the next day, in the December cold of Delhi, journalists had to make an early start. Worse, the early morning drill became the norm for the subsequent week's briefing as well.

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What's in common

Chinese and Indians may be competing with each other, but being developing countries, they do have a lot in common.

In Shanghai, one could see few people following traffic rules and no one had any respect for the pedestrians, just the way most Indians are.

Even the beggars have the same attitude. They prefer to beg from foreigners than from locals.

New Delhi Bureau