Shamed And Crippled
With Tehelka.com's spy-camera taking a heavy political toll after the damning revelations of corruption in defence deals, the beleaguered Atal Bihari Vajpayee Government will have an uphill task restoring its credibility and undoing the damage to its image.

BJP: Old Hype

Interview:
Bangaru Laxman

Jaya Jaitly:
Jhola To Purse

Opposition: On A Roll

INDIA TODAY-ORG-MARG Poll: Outraged !

Defence Establishment
: Surgery For Graft

Interview: G. Fernandes

Barak Missiles:
Off The Mark

Tehelka:
Sting Theory

Highlights Of The Findings

Rakesh Kumar Jain: Gasbag Man

Wheeling A Good Deal
The battle for BALCO degenerates into a political chess match between Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Ajit Jogi, and Union Disinvestment Minister Arun Shourie. Jogi holds most of the aces at the moment--but will he play them all when it could mean loss of investments to the state?

The New Targets
The 60,000 policemen in Kashmir are caught in a dilemma. On the one hand, they are the target of militant attacks, and, on the other, the Army sees them with suspicion. It is not just themselves, but their families that the policemen worry about as they struggle to battle militancy and falling morale.

Crisis Of Confidence While stock prices haven't recovered since the collapse of March 2, the panic has spread from Mumbai to Kolkata. Underlying the fear is a deepening fear of the Securities and Exchange Board of India's will or capacity to regulate the stockmarkets.

Escape to Victory
Down and virtually out, India create a miracle at the Eden Gardens to stun the Australians and break their winning streak.

Mixing Metaphors Music, dance, and tourism synthesise in the famed textile centre of Maheshwar to provide sustainable synergies for its growth.

CAPLOOKS

DELHI
Pay-off Pantomime

Even some senior Congress leaders are unwilling to buy Ajit Jogi’s outrageous charge against the pmo of a Rs 100-crore pay-off in the balco case, but if the Chhattisgarh chief minister presses on, it has something to do with the tacit backing he has of his party chief Sonia Gandhi. Congress circles say Sonia panicked after the Supreme Court took cognisance of the balco matter. But Jogi flew to Delhi and met Sonia. Among the claims he is said to have made was of having the account number in which the pay-off had been deposited. BALCO could do for Sonia what Bofors did for V.P. Singh, ran his argument. Now which prospective prime minister would not buy that kind of logic?

BUBANESWAR
Economy On Auto Pilot

In stark contrast to the mild-mannered Naveen Patnaik, Orissa Finance Minister Ramakrushna Patnaik always comes across as garrulous and overbearing. But does it entitle the finance minister to ignore what the chief minister proposes? Barely a fortnight ago, Naveen announced the Biju Krushak Yojana scheme for farmers. But in this year’s state budget, placed before the Assembly last week, his finance minister has not even allotted a penny to the grandiose scheme. That’s called autonomy.

BHOPAL
Just Suite Nothings

In Madhya Pradesh, not a week passes without Governor Bhai Mahavir and Chief Minister Digvijay Singh getting involved in a minor skirmish. Now it is over who should stay at the Madhya Pradesh Bhavan suite in Delhi. After one of the two state guest houses went to Chhattisgarh, Mahavir has been suiteless, Diggy Raja being loathe to share his. It is now proposed that the state electricity board guest house in Delhi be spruced up for the governor. So what if both have their houses in Delhi, everyone loves sarkari hospitality.

PATNA
Father, Son And Holi Spirit

Holi bashes at the Laloo-Rabri household are known to be as raucous as rjd political rallies, but this year, son-in-law Sailesh Kumar, an engineer with Infosys, didn’t quite agree with everything that went on. When Laloo’s son Tej Pratap sought to grapple with him, Kumar shooed him off, saying “Hum tumhara baap se darte nahin (I am not afraid of your father).”

MetroScape
Pop Corn
"You are the best audience in the whole world," the Vengaboys tell raving crowds
in Delhi.
more...

Looking Glass

Delhi Exhibition:
Pop To Classic

Delhi Restaurant:
San Gimignano

Mumbai Accessories Store: Watches Of Switzerland

Bangalore Concert: Deep Purple

A bloody crackdown on Naxalites in the south-eastern fringes of Uttar Pradesh proves that only developmental programmes, not guns, can help fight the menace. INDIA TODAY's Special Correspondent Subhash Mishra explains why in
Despatches.