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.

METROSCAPE: LOOKING GLASS

KOLKATA
Aroma Bar

Here is a shortcut that claims to cure a headache. Open a bottle of "Deep Sea Mystery" and.... inhale. Last week Kolkata store The Address added an aroma bar to its collection of nifty lifestyle products with nine little bottles of curiously coloured (and curiously named) concentrates for chasing away "all" physical and emotional ailments. Some samplers: "Harmony" to "balance the material world with the spiritual", and "Enlightenment" to "connect the being with the universe". Just keep the aspirin handy. Call (033) 247-2373.

DELHI
Exhibition

Austrian Artist Sybille Pfeiffer's exhibition "Journey-Yatra", is painstakingly described as "fragments of journey transformed into polychrome mosaics where tenderness, the hospitable earth and writing enigmatically merge their ever flowing streams". If that confuses you, it's only because Pfeiffer has chronicled her journey through India, Japan, Tunisia and Ivory Coast with an idiomatic mix of prose, poetry and ink on paper. Pity the installation-a row of PIDAs (small stools) festooned with random objects-was clumsily included. On at the Max Mueller Bhavan till August 10. Call (011) 332-9506.

BANGALORE
Restaurant

Mix riding with ravioli. Italian restaurant Ai Cavalli, about 30 km from Bangalore, is located in a massive 200-acre riding-school campus in Rajanakunte village. A bona fide Italian spread is the USP because the eatery, a few yards away from stables of retired thoroughbred mounts, is managed by an Italian jockey Silva Storai, who has now made her home in semi-rural India. Ai Cavalli, means "to the horses" and blends an informal leafy ambience with pastas, pizzas, lasagnas, gnocchi and an array of choice pastries. Meal for two costs Rs 400. Closed on Mondays. Call 98450-54013 or (080) 846-8296 for more details.

Ice-dems

STEM dance theatre begins a series of LEC-DEMs conducted by eminent dancers, theatre personalities, designers, musicians and painters in a valorous bid to create more art enthusiasts from among the public. Over the next few weeks, those scheduled to speak on the second Sunday of every month (August 12 and September 9) include musician Amit Heri and film director M.S. Sathyu. There will be an open house for dance buffs every second Saturday of the month between 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. At Natya Institute of Kathak and Choreography, Malleswaram. Call Brinda Jacob at (080) 546-0788 or the institute at (080) 334-8645 for more details.

Furniture

Furniture designers, also crucial architects of the decorative landscape like painters or sculptors, have traditionally not been given enough prominence in India. But they're slowly making their presence felt. Uptown store Cinnamon is now showing a collection of chairs designed by National School of Design graduate Ravinder Kharab and include folding, stacking, indoor and outdoor chairs made with a variety of materials. Their lines are clean, straight and non-gimmicky with elements of minimalist Retro underlying definitively futuristic constituents. Till August 11 at the shop at 11, Walton Road. Call (080) 222-9794 for more information.

KOLKATA & DELHI
Play

Teamwork Fine Arts Society and the British Council are bringing to India an acclaimed production of Shakespeare's Macbeth. This version-performed by the seven-year-old The Anglian Shakespeare Company of the UK-is not a modern interpretation but the play the way the Bard wrote it. Obviously not a fan of contemporary adaptations of the classics, director Hilary Spiers says, "So many Shakespeare productions seem to feel the need to feature mobile phones and hi-tech. Concept productions can so easily deny Shakespeare's intentions and often end up running out of steam." What "Shakespeare's intentions" originally were, we will leave out of this discussion. The play will be performed at the G.D. Birla Sabhaghar in Kolkata from August 7-10 and then at Delhi's Kamani Auditorium from August 14-16. For further information, call (011) 623-1494-96.

MUMBAI
Photography

Tea breaks in a nine-to-five job? Gossip sessions amid file ploughing? Not in the case of
R. Veeresh Babu, a 45-year-old postal assistant from Hyderabad. Babu uses these intermissions for quick walks around the city for some photography and his latest solo show highlights the (dying) cult of clocks in Hyderabad seen on the exteriors of palaces, railway stations, hospitals and markets. On at the NCPA till August 14.

-Contributed by Labonita Ghosh, Anshul Avijit, Stephen David,
Anna M.M. Vetticad and Natasha Israni

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