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

Voices

"Sometimes we fall prey to the media and sometimes you fall. They have their politics and their own games to play."
Atal Bihari Vajpayee, prime minister, in an uncharacteristic and intemperate attack on the media during a Parliament debate

"I am unable to accept this arrangement. I hope God and conscience will guide the TMC leadership today as they did in 1996."
P. Chidambaram, Tamil Maanila Congress leader, criticising his party's decision on an alliance with the AIADMK

"It is frivolous. The Government of India does not react to such frivolities."
Arun Shourie, Union disinvestment minister, after the Congress Government in Chhattisgarh offered to buy 51 per cent stake in BALCO sold recently to Sterlite Industries

"Public opinion can change once the court decides the case. It takes only two minutes for the public to change its mind."
Mohammed Azharuddin, former Indian cricket captain, declaring he would play for the country

VIS-A-VIS

"I cannot stay in a ministry that has been presiding over the destruction of Bihar for more than a decade."
S.P. Tekriwal, Former Bihar Finance Minister

"He found nothing wrong as long as he was minister. Suddenly he discovers nothing is right with Laloo."
Laloo Prasad Yadav, President, Rashtriya Janata Dal

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.