Riding The Tide
The US endorsement of Pakistan's position on Kashmir bolsters Musharraf's fortunes even as anti-American outrage gathers steam.

Powell And Patience
President Bush's invitation to Vajpayee for a one-on-one in Washington next month makes up for the disappointment in New Delhi in the wake of Colin Powell's visit.

Autumn Of Turmoil
The Northern Alliance waits and watches the US moves in anticipation of a post-US-attack power struggle with the Taliban.
A look at the mood and the ground realities in Kabul.

NEWSNOTES

DESPATCH
No Pandals About Vandals

	SAME OLD DEMON: No Osama bin Laden asures, say police

Kolkata: If the Durga Pujas in Kolkata lack their usual current-affairs bent, it is not for lack of trying. The day after the attack on the World Trade Center, idolmaker Mintu Pal got a call from the youth club he was selling his image of Durga to. Could he replace the Mahisasura, traditionally shown as being trampled by the goddess, with Osama bin Laden? Pal put a likeness of bin Laden on the asura's body. His image would have been a crowdpuller ... if the West Bengal Police had not banned "controversial" portrayals to ensure the pujas are peaceful.

Idolmakers in Bengal usually let their imaginations run riot before Durga Puja. Last year, there were battlefields depicting Kargil; this year, Phoolan Devi's murder and Afghanistan were favourites. But then the strictures, which apply to pandal decorators and puja committees too, came in. At a recent meeting, dig (Headquarters) Narayan Ghosh said the police would check all decorations for "inflammatory" material.

That's how electrical worker Sridhar Das' 40-ft reconstruction of the wtc attack was trashed. The police has also banned depictions of the abduction of P.P. Roy Burman, head of Khadim's footwear. Art imitating life is out.

—Labonita Ghosh

AWARDED
The Russian Academy of Natural Sciences Annual Award to Union HRD Minister Murli Manohar Joshi for his "outstanding contribution in fostering Indo-Russian scientific cooperation".

The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation's World Food Day prize to ICAR Director Panjab Singh and journalist Harbir Singh, for dissemination of information on food accessibility in rural areas.

AWARDED
Amitav Ghosh, the grand prize for fiction in the first Frankfurt eBook Award for his novel The Glass Palace. He had withdrawn the same work from the Commonwealth Writers' Prize competition.

PERSONALITY

S.P. Bharucha, who becomes the Chief justice of India on November 1 for a six-month tenure, is a strict, traditional judge not given to judicial activism. His judgements are typically brief and often peppered with wry humour. Their enduring feature is adherence to the letter and spirit of the Constitution. In the late 1990s, he left eyebrows arching when he held in the JMM bribery case that when an MP voted in Parliament it was no business of the court to question his motive, be it a bribe or coercion. This judgement of the constitution bench became controversial as it exonerated the MPs accused of bailing out the P.V. Narasimha Rao government for a price. However, Justice Bharucha had merely stuck to the provisions of Article 105, which grants immunity to MPs against anti-corruption proceedings. In the recent J. Jayalalitha case, as Justice Bharucha held that the former Tamil Nadu governor was wrong in appointing her the chief minister despite her conviction prior to the appointment, there were public cheers, but for the wrong reasons. The judge was only going by Article 191 which disqualifies such persons from membership of the Assembly and, therefore, chief ministership.

—Sumit Mitra

MetroScape

Looking Glass

Kolkata Restaurant: Tangerine

Delhi Yoga: Morarji Desai National Yoga Institute

Delhi Cultural Festival : Qutab Festival