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38 things to look forward to In 2004

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38 THINGS TO LOOK FORWARD TO IN 2004

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JANUARY
The year of the monkey, by the Chinese calendar. Prime Minister Vajpayee travels to Pakistan for the SAARC summit, and who knows, given the encouraging noises both sides have been making, it might just set the tone for things to come. The World Social Forum meets in Mumbai. How well is the Pope?

FEBRUARY
Delhi plays host to the Sustainable Development gabfest. The Academy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles will be held a month earlier than usual. Is it going to be ‘Return of the
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King’? Will Johnny Depp bag an Oscar for ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ or ‘Once Upon a time in Mexico’? Will Shujaat Hussain Khan follow in the footsteps of Pandit Ravi Shankar, Zakir Hussain, Vishwamohan Bhat and grab a Grammy? What are the goodies Jaswant Singh will roll out in an election-year budget? Shane Warne, banned for a year after the dope scam, will become available for selection. But will he be picked?

MARCH
Chandrababu Naidu’s Andhra Pradesh should go to the assembly polls around this time, give or take a month. Poll winds are likely in Karnataka and Maharashtra, too.
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Depending on how the party of her great-grandfather, grandmother, father and mother fares, will Priyanka Gandhi finally throw her hat into the Congress ring? Television eyeballs will be firmly focused on the first Indian cricket tour of Pakistan in 15 years. The American presidential poll process kicks 
off with Super Tuesday primaries in 12 states.

APRIL
Can FIIs sustain their interest in the Indian stockmarkets if the dollar bounces back? If the good run at the stock-markets continue, look forward to the biggest listing in recent times, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS). The three Korean giants- LG, Samsung, Hyundai-too will try to woo investors but it is unlikely all three of them will do in one go.

MAY
The Annual film festival at Cannes. The 9/11 Commission is due to publish its report on the 2001 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington D.C. Unlikely it will ask for that time-honoured Indian tactic: an extension. Is it reasonable to expect the CBI probe report on the Judeo affair by now, or will it seek an extension ahead of the polls?		JUNE
The UEFA Euro 2004 begins June 12, finals July 4. Expect a rash of internet worms, viruses and targeted hacks. You have read the book, now prepare for the film. ‘Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban’ opens in theatres across the world.

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JULY
The birth centenary of JRD Tata. Will Lance Armstrong reign supreme at the 91st Tour de France as well? The 22-day, 3,395 km race begins July 3. Unless the BJP surprises everybody with early polls, the firmest indications of the 2004 general elections should come around now. Watch out for some really long-jumps from party to party, and some really cozy alliances. America’s Democratic Party meets in Boston. Will the current frontrunners Howard Dean, Wesley Clark get the nod, or will Hillary Clinton jump in?

AUGUST
Iraq’s constitution should be ready around now, after 12 months of deliberation. How much longer
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will the Americans stay in an election year? The modern Olympic Games begin in the very city where it all started: Athens. On the strength of their performances in 2003, do Dhanraj Pillay and his men have a really solid chance of bringing back a gold?

SEPTEMBER
The UN General Assembly meets in New York. Foreign trip number (well, we lost count) for Prime Minister Vajpayee. The countdown begins to the general elections in the world’s largest democracy, India, in case you have forgotten. The biggest movie in Indian big screen history, Ram Gopal Verma’s ‘Ek’ (starring everybody), should take concrete shape.

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OCTOBER
If all goes as scheduled, this should be election month. ‘The Godfather Returns’: Mark Winegardner comes up with the fourth part of Mario Puzo’s saga of the Corleone family. Will Vajpayee suddenly emerge a surprise frontrunner for the prize everybody says he is hankering after: the Nobel?

NOVEMBER
America goes to the polls. Will the war that critics say George W. Bush began with the elections in mind end up tripping him?

DECEMBER
The Ratolympics: rats trained by teams of student psychologists compete in track, weight-lifting, long-jump, tightrope and climbing events at Nebraska Wesleyan University.

LOOKBACK
Ram Guha: Congress ! N. S. Jagannathan: BJP ! Ian Berry, Elizabeth Dalizel, Ami Vitale and Steve McCurry: Freezeframe ! C. Rajamohan: Foreign Policy ! Ayaz Memon: Cricket ! War ! Terror ! Corruption ! Showing The Way ! Cricket ! Rest of Sport ! News Breakers ! The Milestones ! The Books ! Leisure And Entertainment ! Dubious Distinction Awards ! Crossword

LOOKAHEAD
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