A BITTER PILL FOR COMMUNISTS EVERYWHERE:

India-U.S. Nuclear Deal Is in Sight: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh survives a no-confidence vote inside a raucous Parliament, paving the way for a nuclear pact with the U.S. (Mehul Srivastava and Nandini Lakshman, 7/22/08, Business Week)

The Indian government won a vote of confidence July 22, with 275 members of Parliament voting to support the coalition of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, vs. 256 who voted against. The victory opens the way for India to ratify a long-delayed nuclear accord with the U.S.

It was a hot, rumor-filled day in New Delhi as members of Parliament gathered for a vote of confidence tied to the controversial nuclear power deal with the U.S. Arriving at the Lok Sabha, the lower house of Parliament, deal advocate Singh flashed a victory sign as he was mobbed by journalists. With the government's survival likely coming down to just a few votes, ambulances carried ailing parliamentarians to stretchers and wheelchairs that were waiting to take them inside. Three members of Parliament even showed up with suitcases stuffed with $750,000 in cash that they claimed was bribe money offered to them to abstain rather than voting no.

Inside, critics of the nuclear deal, including Communist Party members who only recently left the ruling coalition over their opposition to the pact (BusinessWeek.com, 7/18/08), tried to shout down pro-government speakers. Among those they heckled was Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram, who tried to cast the nuclear deal as not only important for India's economic expansion but also as a way to keep pace with the country's longtime rival to the north. "I don't want to be envious of China," he told Parliament over shouts of derision from opponents.