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.

VIEWPOINT: CRICKET TALK

Education At Eden

Australia must take stock as India seize momentum after the topsy-turvy second Test

By John Buchanan

The Lonely Planet Guide to India says of Calcutta-"densely populated and frequently polluted, Calcutta can be an ugly and desperate place. Yet, don't let first impressions put you off this city. Calcutta has long been acknowledged as the cultural capital of India, and has some scenes of rare beauty". For us the "beauty" lay in day 1 up till tea; Steve "Tugga" Waugh's superb 100 and then our strong bowling and batting performance in India's first innings. It certainly became "ugly and desperate" for us from day 4 lunch onwards. At this point, India enjoyed a lead of just over 100 with V.V.S. Laxman well and truly on his way to one of the greatest Test innings and Rahul Dravid on 50, having survived a very scratchy start. The game was then all about how courageous India wished to be. Were they prepared to risk losing in pursuit of victory a win which would be historic?

Let me come back to this enthralling Test match shortly. But, to address my first impressions of Kolkata, the "City of Joy", they were all that the Lonely Planet Guide had said and more. Even though it has been a hectic time here in the capital of West Bengal, not allowing us much time to soak in the diversities of this busy metropolis, its beauty has still struck us. Two of my lasting memories will be travelling through the streets of Kolkata on the Holi "colour day" en route to Rev James Stevens' Udayan Centre for children whose parents suffer from leprosy. We journeyed with Steve Waugh and had the opportunity to view the building and facilities for young girls that have been provided through the money he has assisted in raising.

The second is of the Eden Gardens-described by many commentators as the "Lords" of India. The stadium can be as imposing as it can be uplifting. The actual playing arena is a wonderful surface which can be unforgiving for bowlers and a godsend for batsmen as the ball races across the lush outfield. The spectators who literally carpet all the stands are enthusiastic, enchanting, eager and enraptured by their cricket.

It was with such a background, India 0-1 down in the series and the Indian skipper under intense scrutiny from press and public, that the magical tapestry of this game was woven. The game also involved one of the basic laws of physics. This law concerns momentum which is the product of mass and speed (or velocity). Principally this game has involved the principal of "change of momentum"!

To explain, it is the mass of runs and the speed at which they are accumulated which establishes momentum for the batting side, thereby reducing the momentum of the bowling side. For a bowling side to gather momentum, the reverse is true-the mass of wickets they can take and the speed at which they can take them builds the momentum.

There was much conjecture at the start of the Test match regarding the make-up of both sides. India opted through injury, sickness and form to make a number of changes with Zaheer Khan, Venkatpathy Raju and Venkatesh Prasad coming into the starting eleven. Also, the batting top order, reshuffled for India's second innings with stunning success, will be of interest. For our part, we still felt strongly that India's top order is vulnerable to the bouncing ball and consequently opted for Michael Kasprowicz to back up the new ball pair of Glenn McGrath and Jason Gillespie. Both had been rested in Delhi with an eye on the back-to-back Tests plus the start of the one-day tournament.

We were pleased to win the toss and bat, knowing a big first innings total would put us in a strong position to control the game. Matthew Hayden, known as "Haydos" to his teammates, Michael Slater, "Slats" and Justin Langer, known as "Alfie" or "JL", combined to give us great momentum through the first two sessions. In fact, it appeared as if we were cruising at 1/193 at tea with a run rate close to four. However, the change of momentum principle reared its ugly head for Australia and its beauteous face for India after tea when the home side began to amass wickets at an ever increasing rate.

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.