Rajiv

Niche marketing is firmly entrenched in the publishing world, judging by the career of Suzanne Finnamore. Her 1999 comic novel, Otherwise Engaged, cataloged events leading up to a wedding, while her slim new book, The Zygote Chronicles (Grove Press, 126 pages, $22), offers a comic account of a San Francisco advertising executive who is expecting her first baby. Like her previous effort, Finnamore's second novel will be of interest only to those who are or have been involved in similar circumstances.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Advanced Micro Devices Inc. said yesterday that it would immediately begin shipping clones of Intel Corp.'s 486-series computer chip in light of a federal judge's decision to overturn a jury verdict that had blocked sales of the chips.While the initial shipments by Advanced Micro will be small, the decision's long-term impact could include higher earnings for Advanced Micro, slimmer profit margins for Intel and still lower personal computer prices for consumers.Intel shares plummeted $12.25 yesterday, closing at $97.75 in Nasdaq trading, while Advanced Micro rose correspondingly, to close at $28, up $3.875.

THE LOGISTICS of India's election defy the imagination. The electorate is some 590-million strong, nearly half illiterate. People vote on ballots with varied languages and picture symbols. Their voting is usually as informed and intelligent as anywhere. The turnout will exceed 60 percent and results are not due till May 10.Yes, there are arrests and sporadic violence. But by comparison with most countries, the election is remarkably fair and free. Voters are disillusioned with the Congress Party that always said it was for the poor and disgusted with its corruption.

INDIAN VOTERS deserted the ruling Congress Party by the hundreds of millions in the largest free election ever held. Out of the chaos will come a coalition government. It will be led either by leftists representing low-caste Hindus, Muslims and Marxists; or by high-caste Hindu extremists who would abolish the secular laws and protections for minorities and launch a nuclear arms race.The Congress Party, in power most of the time since 1947, rolled back British imperialism. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)

NEW DELHI, India -- After two weeks of political turmoil, India got another new government yesterday, but even before the new prime minister took office there were signs that he may have trouble holding together a fractious 13-party coalition that almost broke apart in last-minute wrangling over Cabinet posts.For many Indians, it was a sobering moment as the political establishment gathered for the swearing-in of the country's second government in 17 days.The tableau that went out across India on television -- of the new prime minister, H. D. Deve Gowda, looking onto an assembly that included two other men who have been prime minister in the past three weeks -- did little to allay the concerns.

NEW DELHI, India -- As vote tallies piled up yesterday in a series of important state elections, the humiliating defeat of the Hindu nationalists and the stunning resurrection of India's once-dominant Congress Party became ever more starkly apparent.Voters outraged by the spiraling prices of onions, tomatoes and potatoes -- essentials of the Indian diet -- swept the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party from office by landslide margins where it had been deeply entrenched. The party lost in Delhi, the district that includes the nation's capital, and in the Hindi heartland state of Rajasthan.

NEW DELHI, India -- Sonia Gandhi's leadership of the Congress Party -- which long ruled India but is now a shadow of its former self -- faced its most crucial test yesterday as voting in India's gargantuan monthlong national election moved to the Hindi heartland.The biggest prize is Uttar Pradesh, the north Indian state with a population of 160 million. Once a bastion of Congress power, it sent three members of the Nehru-Gandhi family to serve as members of Parliament and as prime ministers.

INDIAN PRIME MINISTER Atal Bihari Vajpayee and his Bharatiya Janata Party stand for Hindu identity and traditional, even reactionary, values. But the practical effect of their rule, is to modernize India, which may be the last thing they want culturally.By sweeping away the socialism and bureaucratism of a half-century of mostly Congress Party rule, Mr. Vajpayee and the BJP ushered in the free market and Asia's latest economic miracle.The next Vajpayee government will still be subject to regional party defection at any time on any issue, but looms stronger and stabler than Indian government has been lately.

The Howard County Economic Development Authority is expected to announce today two new tenants for its high-technology incubator: a2z Inc. and Dot21 Real-Time Systems. "[The] opening is very, very timely for us, and we are very lucky," said Rajiv Jain, president of a2z. "We need the support and the room, and [the incubator] is there to help us out." The announcement of the new tenants is scheduled for a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the official opening of the incubator this morning. The high-technology incubator, called the Neotech, is on Bendix Road in Columbia.

Software company from Columbia wins technology award Columbia-based a2z Inc., a developer of online, real-time Web-based software used by associations, corporations and independent show organizers to manage and market conventions and other events, was honored with a "TechnoRising Star Award" at the opening breakfast of the eighth Maryland Technology Showcase. The awards breakfast was sponsored by the University of Maryland. The company, which won in the category of incubator companies, was honored for its development of software to increase productivity and revenue.