Vandals Of History Afghanistan's Taliban regime remains undeterred from its hard-line agenda of destroying historically valuable Buddhist idols. A look at the present regime and its slide to orthodox fundamentalism at a time when a drought has ravaged its economy and people.

Taking On the Family
Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Laloo Yadav is once again facing a tough fight for survival--this time prompted by a near revolt in the RJD fuelled by rumours of a dynastic takeover. Ranjan Yadav has emerged as a potential rival to Rabri Devi, enjoying the support of both the party rebels and the NDA allies.

Chennai Confusion
The upshot of the great Tamil circus: Jayalalitha needs Moopanar, but not the Congress.

Creepy Acquisition
With Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha determined to bring corporate payslips comprehensively into the taxman's dragnet, the salaried class is having a few palpitations. For them, it means that a long era of tax-free emoluments is coming to an end.

"Indians lack unity"
Two of cricket's finest brains met for a rare conversation:Bishen Singh Bedi takes on the role of interviewer for Aaj Tak, seeking to get into the mind of Australian captain Stephen Waugh.

Revenge Of the Bears The sudden fall in share-prices points to yet another rigging controversy, and raises questions about the efficacy and credibility of SEBI as a regulator.

BUSINESS: STOCKMARKETS

Uncharitable Rumour

It was only logical that the RBI would wake up to the murky machinations. Apparently the discrepancies were noticed while the RBI was examining the fine print of the merger between UTI Bank and Global Trust Bank (GTB). Of course, the uncharitable rumour doing the rounds is that the bear operators sounded the alarm. Suddenly, the RBI discovered that just one bull operator had been extended credit well in excess of prudent norms. Parekh himself, it was alleged, was granted a credit line of over Rs 400 crore. Parekh has denied this and put his exposure with the bank at less than Rs 100 crore. Be that as it may, the RBI cracked its whip and GTB was asked to set its books in order. GTB chief Ramesh Gelli, however, denied there was any problem.

The curious part is that in a suo moto statement on Wednesday, Gelli also asked his borrowers from the stock market to top up margins or face sale of the collateral placed with the bank. In a sense Gelli's statement belies the truth that banks have been caught on the wrong foot again. It wasn't just banks that were in the game. A senior BSE official reveals that the trick simply was
to build up a certain clutch of stocks to a level that they become currency

Indeed, the UTI itself was said to be mirroring the K-10 index. Some even allege collusion between UTI, mutual funds and Parekh. But UTI Chairman P. Subrahmanyam denies the charges. "There is no question of a nexus. In a shallow market every fund manager will invest in mobile and liquid scrips. There are nearly 30 mutual funds who have the same portfolio. Are they all acting in concert?"

Perhaps not. But the impunity with which both bull operators and the cabal of bear operators went about rigging the market proves only one thing: the law is honoured only in the breach. SEBI's repeated failure to prevent market rigging has severely eroded its credibility among small investors. The watchdog is perceived to be closer to market players than small investors. It's a shocking reflection on SEBI's ineffectiveness that the small investor's confidence in the stock market has not been rekindled even eight years after the securities scam.

Unless the RBI and SEBI come up with a rigorous, real-time monitoring mechanism, cabals will continue to rule the roost and dupe investors. More ominously, reforms that aim at building investment and national wealth-as envisaged in the latest budget-will remain stillborn. DSP Merill Lynch Chairman Hemendra Kothari declares that this year's budget "is among the best in 10 years and deserves a chance". That depends on exemplary action the RBI and SEBI take. Are they up to it?

MetroScape
Triple Act
What I would love to do more than anything else in the world is to write another play," says Gurcharan Das. "But I don't know if I have the courage." He should have dollops of it, going by the audience reaction to his 9 Jakhoo Hill--performed to mark the release of Three English Plays by Das --at Delhi's India Habitat Centre
last week.
more...

Looking Glass

Delhi and Mumbai: Adventure One Sport

Mumbai: Smooth Bar

Delhi: Good Earth Showroom

Polo, like many other events, is bringing about the resurgence of the almost forgotten royals. A chance, writes INDIA TODAY's Principal Correspondent Anshul Avijit, to say Maharaja again with an unctuous post-modernist gusto in Despatches.

"The only obvious competition is in bhangra," say the Pakistani duo of the music group, Strings, in conversation with INDIA TODAY's Sonia Faleiro in
Interviews.