Ram's Laxman
Vajpayee's every pronouncement is fast becoming a new theme song of the BJP, reaffirming his grip over the party and the NDA. Quite a change for the party that once claimed that personality cult was the prerogative of the Congress.

It's On, It's On, It's Enron
Enron's Dabhol Power Corporation continues to generate more controversy than electricity.

Fifth Column
by Tavleen Singh
Clean Up Officialdom

Right Angle
by Swapan Dasgupta
End of the Durand Line

Flip Side
by Dilip Bobb
The Year Ahead ...Sort Of

Border Pangs

Bye Line

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VOICES

"A finance minister is like a domineering wife whom no prime minister can stand up to."
P.V. Narasimha Rao, former prime minister, at a book release function in Delhi

"If we could contain militancy by banning mobile phones, we would have eliminated it by now. They are the best weapons to fight militancy."
Pramod Mahajan, information technology minister, hinting that the ban on cell phones in Jammu & Kashmir may be lifted soon

"Industry should not ask for excessive protection. It should learn to face fair competition, including from the Chinese."
Yashwant Sinha, finance minister, asking Indian industry to accept the reality of global competition

VIS-A-VIS

I'll stay in Bengal and mount a campaign against the communists who have unleashed terror here."
Mamata Banerjee, Union Railway Minister

"Our experience is that Mamata unleashes violence whenever she finds she is losing public support."
Anil Biswas, CPI(M) State Secretary

Top

A Fancy For Words
"I don't think I could be called a poet," insists Feroze Gandhi with a shy smile.
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Looking Glass

Chennai: Mall

Calcutta: Home Library

Pune: Hotel

Delhi: Restaurant

Delhi: Play

Sagarika Ghose's The Gin Drinkers is easily the best diaspora novel set in India and an account of existential dilemmas of Indian PLUs , writes INDIA TODAY Deputy Editor Swapan Dasgupta in Day Dreams.

Cooking gas prices go up, derailing Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu's populist plans in Andhra Pradesh. INDIA TODAY Associate Editor Amarnath K. Menon reports on the flaming out of Deepam, a hyped scheme of subsidised gas connections in Despatches.