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83 The author gives the example of the Archbishop of Canterbury and the prize-fighter to:
[1] prove that there cannot be any division of wealth based on moral standards
[2] prove that in this day and age, might always scores over religion and love
[3] prove the existence of a non-discriminating god
[4] prove that a pound of butter in worth more than any amount of candles any day

84 The word 'improvidence,' in the context of the passage, means:
[1] extravagance
[2] lasciviousness
[3] corruption
[4] indelicacy

This is an issue-less election There is no central personality of whom voters have to express approval or dislike; no central matter of concern that makes this a one-issue referendum like so many elections in the past; no central party around which everything else revolves -- the Congress has been displaced from its customary pole position, and no one else has been able to take its place Indeed, given that all-seeing video cameras of the Election Commission, and the detailed pictures they are putting together on campaign expenditure, there isn't even much electioneering: no slogans on the walls, no loudspeakers blaring forth at all hours of the day and night, no cavalcades of cars heralding the arrival of a candidate at the local bazaar Forget it being an issue-less election: is this an election at all?

Perhaps the "fun" of an election lies in its featuring someone who you can love or hate But even the general election, involving nearly 600 million voters, has been reduced to a boring non-event After all, the Nehru-Gandhi clan has disappeared from the political map, and the majority of voters will not even be able to name PV Narasimha Rao as India's Prime Minister There could be as many as a dozen prime ministerial candidates ranging from Jyoti Basu to Ramakrishna Hegde, and from Chandra Shekar to (believe it or not) KR Narayanan The sole personality who stands out, therefore, is none of the players, but the umpire: TN Seshan

As for the parties, they are like the blind men of Hindoostan, trying in vain to gauge the contours of the animal they have to confront But it doesn't look as if it will be the mandir masjid, nor will it be Hindutva, or economic nationalism The Congress would like it to be stability, but what does that mean for the majority? Economic reform is a non-issue for most people and with inflation down to barely 4%, prices are not top of the mind either In a strange twist, after the hawala scandal, corruption has been pushed off the map too

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