Falling Star
The uproar over the prime minister's threat to resign may be over with the NDA reaffirming its faith and promising to behave. But the incident has called into question Vajpayee's inclination to govern. Buffeted by crises, is he preparing for a last bow? A report.

The Political Bank
The never-dying saga of UTI pitches the Government and the Opposition into the usual slanging match. More skeletons fall out of the UTI cupboard proving that the institution has been misused by politicians of all hues.

Crouching Tiger
Discontent is brewing in the RSS and the VHP over the coalition-hampered BJP and a pacifist Vajpayee being unable to push through the saffron programme. How long will it be before they refuse to toe the BJP line?

The Centre
Cannot Hold
Prodded by the DMK to requisition the services of three IPS officers involved in the arrest of M. Karunanidhi, the NDA Government is dragged into a constitutional debate.

Unravelling The Plot
A week after Samajwadi MP Phoolan Devi was gunned down by masked murderers, all the men believed to be involved have been arrested. Yet many questions remain to be answered before the case is solved.

Space Invaders
Research reveals life on earth may have originated from outer space comets.

EYECATCHERS

The Indian In Him

He's best remembered for his chart-topping album Arranged Marriage. But Apache Indian (aka Steven Kapoor), 34, settled in the UK, was back in Mumbai recently with more Indian sounds. His new album Karma with four new songs thrown in, including In the ghetto with Boy George and Calling out to jah with opera legend Luciano Pavarotti, will be released in India this month. Says Apache, who will be back in October to promote Karma: "Because I don't belong to any one culture, my music represents many cultures." Maybe it's time he changed his name again.

Saying Sayonara

So what if the Chennai film industry is giving her a cold shoulder? Buxom southern star Meena will always have Japan to lean on. Meena has just "signed an agreement" to play lead in an as-yet-untitled Japanese film. To the uninformed, the Tamil blockbuster Muthu she did with industry idol Rajnikanth six years ago was a raging hit in the land of the rising sun. The "dancing queen", as she's known in Japan, even has a fan club with "prominent Japanese industrialists and executives" on its board. Now, Meena is eagerly awaiting her day in the sun.

True To Life

No biological impossibilities here. Having played Hrithik Roshan's mom in Mission Kashmir, Sonali Kulkarni, 26, will be seen this week in a more believable avatar: as Saif Ali Khan's lady love in Dil Chahta Hai. She's made her mark with offbeat films like Amol Palekar's Daayra, but admits that "meaningful roles" in art films and on stage are no match for the "greater money and exposure" commercial cinema offers. Watch out for her in Junoon with Chandrachur Singh, Makarand Deshpande's Daanav and Arjun Sajnani's Agni Varsha co-starring Raveena Tandon and Jackie Shroff. "My inner soul wants to perform, yet there's no point in only doing films which give me awards but not audiences, so I guess I'll do a balancing act," she says. But no mother roles, please.

Charminar Charms

Aziz	Laxman
Hayden	Mirza

— Compiled by Methil Renuka

MetroScape

Man Of Many Parts
Dilip Chhabria is shifting gears. The 48-year-old ex-designer, rejuvenating the geriatric Ambassador and, sacrilege, redesigning the Mercedes, is diversifying.
more...

Looking Glass

Kolkata Aroma Bar:
The Address

Delhi Exhibition: Journey-Yatra

Bangalore Restauran t: Ai Cavalli

Bangalore Ice-dems : Stem dance theatre

Bangalore Furniture : Cinnamon

Kolkata & Delhi Play: Macbeth

Mumbai Photography : R. Veeresh Babu

Clinical tests of a controversial drug at a Kerala cancer institute exposes the vulnerability of the medical field to a larger malaise. An investigation by India Today Special Correspondent M.G. Radhakrishnan in
Trial And Error