Royal Challenge
Dissident leader Jitendra Prasada seems to be weighing all options before throwing his hat in the ring for the party president's post.

Damning Verdict
The high profile people's agitation suffers a body blow as the Supreme Court clears the controversial dam

Fifth Column
by Tavleen Singh
The Road Not Taken

Kautilya
by Jairam Ramesh
A New Round Of Controversy

Friend in Deed

Signal Service

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Eyecatchers

Period Piece
It's the Taj twice over. producer-director Akbar Khan is making a 104-part serial called Tajmehal and a Rs 50 crore-plus film called Tajmehal: An Eternal Love Story. Shah Jahan will be a new face, and Khan is in negotiations with Aishwarya Rai to play Mumtaz Mahal in the film. "She's my first choice because she has a strong resemblance to the real Mumtaz Mahal," he says. We haven't matched photographs, but we'll take his word for it.

A New Field
Life doesn't end with the playing field for I.M. Vijayan. The ace footballer has been cast in Malayalam filmmaker Jayaraj's Shaantham. "He was the automatic choice as hero," says the director. Don't know if that's a compliment-Vijayan is playing a convict in the film. Just kidding ... Says the 29-year-old star: "I do whatever Jayarajettan (brother) has asked me to do. I just follow his instructions." His best shot is yet to come.

A Storm of a Start
"The search has been on for a while in the UK for a great-looking Asian girl," says Benjamin Hart of Storm modelling agency. Now Storm has invited Delhi's Kamalika Basak, 20, to London for a shoot with top lensman Barry Ryan. This is as good as it gets: Storm represents Kate Moss. They spotted Basak when she won a "Face of Delhi" contest last year, where Storm scouts were judges. Ryan thinks she's "a lovely girl". A face with a future?

You Two
It's the ex-girlfriends' club. Since they were both once hitched to Akshay Kumar, you'd think Pooja Batra and Raveena Tandon are enemies. Here's how wrong you are: the two are acting together in Aruna Raje's film Khajuraho which, the director says, "has a strong narrative and addresses the relevance of sex in today's world". Will the cat's claws be out during shooting? Pooja's out of town and the usually ready-with-quotable-snarls Raveena won't talk. But sex and two exs ... who needs a comment.

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Eye On Fashion
It was like fashion week again with a string of shows in Delhi and Mumbai.
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Looking Glass

Mumbai: Store

Bangalore: Cyber Cafe

Bangalore: Education

Chennai: Exhibition

Delhi: Conference

CII’s conference on Friday on corporate governance is called Independent Directors: Why, How and Who. Why Not, How Not and Who Not, would have been better, says INDIA TODAY Associate Editor, V Shankar Aiyar
Au ContrAiyar.

While the focus of the rest of the world is shifting from relief work to long-term preparedness, disaster management in India is still a good intention. Why? Some answers by INDIA TODAY Principal Correspondent Subhadra Menon in Despatches.