Children For Sale
For as little as Rs 3,000, impoverished parents sell their children to adoption centres and unscrupulous operators in Andhra Pradesh, who in turn earn up to Rs 3 lakh from foster families. A look at the people involved, the law and where the process went wrong.

Amma Turns Red
J. Jayalalitha's hopes for contesting the elections have been dashed with the rejection of her nomination papers. But this does not deter her from stepping up her campaigning efforts for the AIADMK and assuming an aggressive stance.

Past Tense
The muted reaction of the Government to the massacre of the BSF troops raises many questions. A look at the past skirmishes between the BSF and BDR gives an insight into what led to the heightening of tension at the border.

Coming To Life
With the end of state monopoly, private insurance companies are offering wider risk coverage and better customer relations.

Starting Over
It's been three months since nature shook Gujarat, killing over 30,000 and shattering dreams. Despite government promises and generosity of individuals, rehabilitation is still to touch the lives of many. The story in pictures.

METROSCAPE

Model Achievers

Look closely before you yell, "Another fashion show!" (then dive for cover). And it doesn't seem as if they were any less than perfect as clotheshorses. For a few hours and for a worthy cause, 34 Mumbai woman "achievers" stepped out of their workday clothes, tucked in their tummies and put their best pedicured foot forward for a ramp roll at the Regent organised by the Cancer Patients Aids Association (CPAA). The 50 ensembles were created specially by designer Shaina NC and the names plodding paths usually reserved for the likes of Madhu Sapre included poet Imtiaz Dharker, actor Anahita Oberoi, Hema Malini and TV divas Kavita Kapoor and Kitu Kidwani. "It felt a little strange at first but then it was as smooth as swimming," said Rhea Pillai-Dutt on her ramp experience. CPAA managed to collect Rs 15 lakh after the ensemble was put on sale ... a model achievement.

SHOW THE WAY: Kapoor and Gidwani (right)

—Himanshi Dhawan

Play To The Toon

ANIMATED DISPLAY: D'Silva

Elvis D'Silva, 27, is having a two-dimensional, psychedelic, time-travelling moment of animated erudition. He's sitting beside stacks of comics nuzzling their contorted "biff, boom, bang" characters with the walls, watching his computer screen play Random Acts of Violence, his and India's only nominee to the Online Flash Film Festival being held in Barcelona, Spain, from May 3 to 5. The three-minute 12-second film, says D'Silva, "illustrates the omnipresent nature of struggle and savagery".

Against purple skies and honey-bee striped skyscrapers, in a city where the streets are blue and the blood is red, real people-a little girl, a young woman, a bully-confront their demons (internal, external, real and imagined): desperation, repentance, hope, fear and sadness.

A former RJ with Radio Mid-day, an animation artist and web designer, D'Silva is currently busy with online brainchild topwritecorner.com, a site with offbeat works of undiscovered writers and poets (An insight into cats and dogs, Pork, the other white meat). "With animation you become aware of several things-movement and interaction, for example. It helps you understand the interplay of elements in a scene and how to set them up for maximum effect," he says. "I also enjoy the intimacy of one-man-with-his-machine." Superhero and toon favourite Batman must approve.

—Sonia Faleiro

MetroScape

Focusing On Art
The brief for participants at
"Exhibit 'A' 2001" organised by the
200-member
Photographers'
Guild of India at the Nehru Centre, Mumbai, was clear—no advertisement and portfolio photos. more...

Looking Glass

Delhi Poster:
One Page Classics

Calcutta Pub:
London Pub

Bangalore & Mumbai Rock Concert:
Bryan Adams

West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharya reflected optimism about winning the state election when he spoke to INDIA TODAY Senior Editor Sumit Mitra at the CPI(M) headquarters in Kolkata, minutes before rushing off for campaigning.
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