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.

NEWSNOTES

Dropped from the Maharashtra Cabinet, dissident RANJIT DESHMUKH says he will continue to fight for Vidarbha.

Q. Why were you dropped?
A. Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh saw me as a threat to his chair. Unlike him, I have always been a party loyalist and have never quit the party. In fact, as the PCC president, I had welcomed him back to the party in 1998.

Q. Is the Congress-NCP Government in the state more secure now?
A. First of all, there was never any threat to the government. The decision on the reshuffle which saw ministers being dropped was taken elsewhere. He had to accommodate more people from the ncp at the behest of Sharad Pawar.

Q. It is said the Congress high command was consulted about your sacking?
A. Perhaps Deshmukh spread some falsehoods about me. I intend to find that out.

Q. But you have publicly criticised the chief minister so many times.
A. I never attacked him personally. I only criticised his style of functioning and some of the decisions taken.

Q. Will the Vidarbha statehood movement suffer because of your ouster?
A. I don’t need to be a minister for that. I will continue to fight for that.

—Sandeep Unnithan

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.