Bloated Babudam
More heads, less work-that's the state of the bureaucracy in India. A privileged lot with guaranteed rights, pay and perks, they cost the taxpayers Rs 75,000 crore a year.The work culture makes them surplus but hard to get rid of.

Taking the
Plunge
Congress President Sonia Gandhi shedding her inhibitions and taking a dip at the Mahakumbha in Allahabad and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad's Dharma Sansad at the same venue were both seen as political moves.

Starved of Future
With the state reeling under a severe drought and government measures providing little succour, the prospect of a famine looms large. The debilitating results are now showing up as a chain of catastrophes in this rain-fed region.

Puppy Paradise Professionals have turned Ludhiana into the richest city.

Fifth Column
by Tavleen Singh
Let's Get Real

Kautilya
by Jairam Ramesh
Core To RBI,Sore To Others

Right Angle
by Swapan Dasgupta
Knee Dip In Hindu Votes

Flip Side
by Dilip Bobb
Panic Stations

Luck's Abode

Pen Friend

More...

NATION

Dharma Sansad Made Easy

In 1984, the VHP held the first Dharma Sansad in Delhi's Vigyan Bhavan to consolidate Hindu preachers under an umbrella organisation. The ninth sansad met in Kumbhanagar this past week and was attended by some 4,000 senior monks. The "cabinet" as it were of the "religious parliament" is the 105-strong Kendriya Margdarshak Mandal. The VHP holds there are five main philosophical traditions in Hinduism: Shankaracharya, Ramanujacharya, Madhavacharya, Nimbkhacharya, Vallabhacharya. It seeks to represent all of them in the Dharma Sansad. Of the four shankaracharya peeths, Kanchi is with it, Sringeri and Puri are "neutral but in regular touch" and Swaroopananda of Dwaraka (he's also head of the Badrinath peeth, but the VHP has a pretender) is pro-Congress.

Of the five Ramanujacharyas (the Ramanandacharyas are subsumed under this rubric) Purshottamacharya and Vasudevacharya from Ayodhya and Rambhadra-charya (Chitrakoot) attended the sansad but the ones from Ahmedabad and Ramtek didn't. The two Vallabhacharyas (Mumbai and Vadodara), the Nimbkhacharya (Rajasthan-based) and the Madhavacharya (Udipi) did not come to the Kumbha at all "but were consulted on Ayodhya". Next in seniority are the acharya mahamandel- eshwaras who head the nine Shaivite akhadas and the srimahants who head the four Vaishnavite akhadas. Attendance was almost total. The cream of the rest of the sansad comprises leading lights of 1,100 sects. This is where everybody from the Swami Narayan group from Gujarat to Sri Sri Ravi Shankar of Bangalore comes in.

Top

Heads In Golf
It seems the golf course is a welcome change from the boardroom. On a foggy Saturday morning last week, 96 of India's top CEOs braved the cold and determinedly made their way to ITC Classic Golf Resort near Gurgaon. more...

Looking Glass

Bangalore:
Coffee Bar

Delhi: Music

Bangalore: Cultural Festival

If planned well, the quake could be the Keynesian opportunity for Yashwant Sinha to trigger growth,
says India Today Associate Editor
V. Shankar Aiyar
in Au ContrAiyar.

This is just the beginning, V.K. Aatre, who is at the core of the LCA action, tells India Today Principal Correspondent Stephen David in an exclusive
Interview.

Managing home and
a career was always tough but women in the metros can now choose from an increasing array of options to work flexible hours.
India Today's
Namita Bhandare takes a look at the part-time and flexi-time job market in Despatches.