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Sulking
Saffron
As
the BJP wakes up to the problems of dissidence and ideological confusion,
what will the crisis add up to? And will the RSS worsen the situation?
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BUSINESS
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Monopoly,
So Long!
The
Government's vice-like grip over telecom gets a jolt with the opening
up of the long-distance sector without a limit on the number of entrants.
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Kiss
and Make-up
With
a perceptible softening in Japan's attitude, Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori's
visit holds promise of a return to normalcy and opens new doors for economic
investment.
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Home |
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NEWSNOTES
Sartorial
License
Delhi:
Richard Celeste, the US ambassador to India, is an avid party goer whose
photographs are featured in newspaper  society
columns with unfailing regularity along those of his wife Jacqueline Lundquist.
In fact, Celeste's penchant for partying set the trend among the capital's
diplomatic corps and no party in Delhi is now complete without a few diplomats
in attendance. Last week, Celeste arrived for the Independence Day "at-home"
hosted by President K.R. Narayanan clad in trousers and bush shirt, when
the invitation cards specifically stated that guests be dressed in either
their national dress or lounge suit, prompting a bureaucrat to suggest
that Naresh Chandra should land up for the next White House banquet in
Bermuda shorts.
How the
Mighty Fall
Delhi:
Till about two years ago, 7 Purana Qila Road was among the most powerful
addresses in Lutyens' Delhi. But these days, nothing seems to be going
right for its occupant, Sitaram Kesri. The former Congress chief is virtually
living the life of a recluse-his only companions being his three pet pomeranians
and three aides. What's worse, though he is involved in two cases for
his utterances and actions during his tenure as the Congress president,
his party has washed its hands of his misery and left him to tackle these
on his own.
Soni
Days Are Here Again
Delhi:
AICC General Secretary Ambika Soni is pleased as punch. Recently, when
the CPI(M)'s women's wing extended an invitation to the Congress to send
a representative for a rally to demand 33 per cent reservation for women
in Parliament, it was Soni whom Sonia Gandhi deputed. The honour more
than made up for the humiliation that Soni had suffered at the hands of
Congress' own women's wing. Just two days earlier at the same venue Mahila
Congress leaders did not even allow her to address a rally for the same
cause.
Dial
N for Success
Hyderabad:
Independence Day celebrations in Hyderabad turned out to be a case of
an overdose of N. Chandrababu Naidu. The formal function saw Naidu taking
the salute and reviewing the parade which included three tableaux put
up by the education, information and irrigation ministries, all of which
carried huge cutouts of, who else? Naidu himself.
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Samajwadi
Party President Mulayam Singh Yadav toes the RSS line of
"hot pursuit" on the Kashmir issue.
Q.
You have suggested attacking terrorist training camps in Pakistan.
That is what the RSS also wants.
A.
I am not following anyone's line or agenda. It is the BJP which
is toeing my agenda. When I talked about a confederation of India,
Pakistan and Bangladesh, L.K. Advani also approved of it.
Q.
You are a BJP baiter. Why did you go to Kashmir with Vajpayee?
A.
I went because it was necessary to tell the world that on national
issues we are one.
Q.
How do you feel about the failure of the talks?
A.
Peace talks are welcome, but why did the Centre ignore Farooq Abdullah?
At the same time, I condemn his statement that had he been in Pakistan,
he would have been prime minister. Look at the fate of their prime
ministers. One has been hanged, another is languishing in jail.
Q.
You think the Vajpayee government is making the same mistakes that
the Congress did?
A.
This is no time to talk politics.The Government should take drastic
steps to stop violence in Kashmir. For me the nation is always above
politics.
-Subhash
Mishra
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Top
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 Web
Exclusives |
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TALKING
POINT |
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India
should take a stand, impose sanctions on Fiji says Mahendra
Chaudhry in an exclusive interview to INDIA TODAY's Deputy Editor
Raj Chengappa.
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REALITY
BYTES |
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 The
Government should target inflation and leave the exchange rate to the
market, says P. Chidambaram in Politically
Correct.
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COLUMN |
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 Not
just Nayla, all villages can be easily e-connected, says INDIA TODAY Associate
Editor V. Shankar Aiyar in AU
CONTRAIYAR.
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DESPATCHES |
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They are greying but their
lives are anything but grey. INDIA TODAY Special Correspondent Sheela
Raval meets some of Mumbai's 60-80 somethings who are raring to go
in Despatches.
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