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It's
About Politics
The limits on Finance Minister Yashwant
Sinha's budget this year are political. He has the prescription to put
the economy on a high growth track, but hampered by vested interests,
vote-bank politics and stubborn opposition parties, he is unlikely to
deliver.
The
Rot in Farming
Falling prices, stagnating production
and diminishing returns are brewing an unparalleled crisis in farmlands
across India. Ironically, the alarming situation has arisen despite an
unprecedented 12 consecutive normal monsoons.
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STATES
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Creeping
Paralysis
Doubts over Keshubhai Patel's fitness to rule
are growing after his government failed to provide basic relief like tents
to those affected by the earthquake. Despite having speedily restored
electricity and water, which earned praise from some international agencies,
criticism over Patel's poor marshalling of resources continues.
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THE ARTS
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Artless
Artistry
The festival tried to exhibit the widest selection
rather than the best, making it a disappointing show.
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NEIGHBOURS
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Stillness of Change
The legendary bamboo curtain is lifting to reveal
that Myanmar isn't quite the "fascist Disneyland" it is made out to be.
The winds of change have brought back English as the medium of instruction
and Aung San Suu Kyi is talking to the military. After prolonged isolation,
Yangon wants to face the world, but on its own terms.
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CAPLOOKS
Yes,
Ma'am
 Delhi:
Ambika Soni's influence increases by the day in the Congress party, but
the lady is certainly not winning friends. Soni, an AICC general secretary
and the virtual No. 2 in the party, has earned herself a new nickname.
Irate partymen say she is the Congress' Sasikala. They point to the manner
in which she was looking after Sonia Gandhi's personal belongings during
their two-day tour of Gujarat. Why, once she was even seen arranging strands
of Sonia's hair that had gone out of place. What party leaders are now
waiting to see is whether she will do for Sonia what the original Sasikala
did for Jayalalitha.
Taken to Tusk
Thiruvananthapuram: There's a new kind
of menace on Kerala's streets and it's turning out to be a jumbo-sized
problem for civic authorities in God's Own Country. In the past month,
there have been at least six cases of domestic elephants spreading terror
on the streets. The problem is not with the pachyderms but with their
mahouts, whose penchant for the local peg is legendary. Municipal authorities
in some cities have now introduced breathalyser tests, threatening mahouts
with arrest if found drunk while in charge of an elephant.
Eager Beaver
Mumbai: When Orissa was hit by a cyclone,
Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh adopted a district. After
the Gujarat earthquake, the state adopted Bhachau in the erstwhile Congress
stronghold of Kutch. There were no calamities in Andhra Pradesh but Deshmukh
last week received a call from Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu: a busload
of people from Andhra were involved in
an accident in Nashik and would he ensure they were well
looked after? Sure enough. No wonder, they now call him the chief minister
for relief.
 Pupil
Perfect
Chandigarh: Having appointed vice-chancellors
of his choice at several Haryana universities, Chief Minister Om Prakash
Chautala is eminently qualified to reap academic dividends. Next week,
at its annual convocation, the Kurukshetra University will confer an honorary
DLitt on Chautala. Not bad going for a drop-out.
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METRO TODAY |
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 Web
Exclusives |
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The Indian Navy's International Fleet Review
was a fine effort at naval diplomacy which the Government would do well
to build on, writes INDIA TODAY's Principal Correspondent Sandeep Unnithan
in
Despatches.
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INTERVIEWS
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"The
only obvious competition is in bhangra," say the Pakistani duo of
the music group, Strings, in an exclusive interview with INDIA TODAY's
Sonia Faleiro.
Interviews.
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