India Today



INDIA TODAY ARCHIVE

CURRENT ISSUE DECEMBER 16, 2002

COVER STORY: GUJARAT POLLS

Last Man Standing

The December 12 assembly elections in Gujarat has been described as a "battle for the soul of India". Should that claim be taken at face value, irrespective of whether the BJP wins or the Congress, India's soul will evidently be very scarred after the proverbial last vote is counted. As D-Day approaches the war of words between the two contending parties, the BJP and the Congress, and their respective commanders-Chief Minister Narendra Modi and Congress state unit President Shankersinh Vaghela-becomes louder by the minute.


	Two killed, 34 injured in Mumbai bus explosion

	Ketan Parekh held in Cal-cutta Stock Exchange scam

	US envoy Blackwill reaches Kashmir on fact-finding tour

	India to move Malaysia court for Quattrocchi's extradition

	FDI proposals worth Rs 490 crore cleared

	House clears Sebi Bill for more teeth to mkt regulator

	Vaghela attacks Vajpayee, says he is the weakest PM

	Harbhajan, Sehwag fined for dirty shoes in NZ

	Australia names World Cup team, Steve Waugh left out

	Pak: India must make stand on SAARC summit clear

Despite all efforts by India, the US continues to ignore crossborder terrorism by Pakistan. What should India do to muster international opinion against Islamabad's misadventures?


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WEB ONLY FEATURES


Set up to counter Pakistani propaganda, Doordarshan's Kashir channel has lost its way in a maze of corruption. India Today's Sayantan Chakravarty reports. SERIAL CRAFT

Diary of Events










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COVER STORY: GUJARAT POLLS			THE NATION: PARLIAMENT

Shrinking Lead			The House Holders
With the Congress notching marginal gains in the past month, the BJP may not romp through, but Modi still seems set for a clear win.			While the budget and monsoon sessions of Parliament were stormy, the ongoing winter session is refreshingly different. A look at the remarkable transformation in both the Houses.



STATES: KARNATAKA			STATES: ANDHRA PRADESH

Downhill Yatra Even as he fails to free Nagappa or put an end to the Cauvery crisis, fresh rows with neighbouring states threaten to further destablilise Krishna.			End Game Dissent within the TDP isn't Naidu's only worry as he tries to revamp the party. His governance itself is under a cloud.



LETTERS			EDITORIAL
From The Editor In Chief To The Editor			World Wide Web The hubbub around Miss World 2002 should be seen for the farce it is.

OTHER STORIES


ECONOMY: MID-TERM REVIEW			DIPLOMACY: PUTIN'S VISIT
Is this a Requiem for Reforms, Mr Singh?			Russia Hour
Good in concept but bad in content, the first-ever mid-year review of the economy doesn't go beyond the old pleas for tough reforms.			Putin's focused approach to his hurried third summit with Vajpayee brings a great deal of pragmatism in relations between the two countries.
AVIATION: AIRPORTS			RELIGION: OSHO ASHRAM
No-Flight Zones			New House for Old God
As air travellers suffer, successive gover- nments continue to invest in non-operational airports and neglect metro airports that account for 78 per cent of passenger traffic.			Bhagwan Rajneesh says his epitaph never died. Neither has the debate on his ashram in Pune, now alive again after the recent Rs 50 crore revamp.
LIVING: SEXUAL HABITS			SOCIETY AND TRENDS: BEAUTY PAGEANTS
Sleeping Disorder			Panipat to Paris
Small-town sexual mores undergo a subtle shift as housewives and girls trade bodies for favours and fun.			The beauty business has never looked better. Small-town Indians make pageants their first port of call as grooming schools and modelling agencies proliferate.
LAW: RAPE TRIALS			SPORTS: NATIONAL GAMES
Rape of Law			False Start
The spate of rapes has sparked a debate on penalty. But it's the trials, loaded in favour of the accused and humiliating for the victim, that need a revamp.			Opening on December 13, the Rs 250 crore event has enthused the organisers more than the athletes.
OFFTRACK: NADIA, WEST BENGAL
Stage for Change
A troupe of rural child actors demands an end to social ills.

NEWSNOTES


FIRST TAKE CONFESSIONAL DESPATCH SPOTLIGHT AIDS AWARENESS WORLDWATCH TABS ON TRIVIA

QUOTE OF THE WEEK
"Let us fight it out face to face. We have fought three times, let there be a fourth war. But killing of innocent civilians is unacceptable." L.K. ADVANI, Deputy Prime Minister, in reference to Pakistan

REGULARS

BOOKS Truth Hunt			BOOKS Memory's Bylane

Memories of the Gujarat carnage are still disturbing. But no longer because they are just painful.			Kalikatha: Via Bypass is Alka Saraogi's first novel and it won the Srikant Verma and the Sahitya Akademi awards.
ESSAY Phallus Coup

The age of striptease orientalism.

METRO TODAY


EYECATCHERS
Ujjwala's Secret, Super Selection , That's Entertainment , Strings Attached

NRI DIARY


Sonia Gandhi brushes aside critics to make her speech at the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies.			Folk Tale The Arts Interview Gurinder Chadha Travel In the News