The Hindu :Sunday, September 22, 2002

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, September 22, 2002

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Statehood: Good for the media?
The creation of Chattisgarh, Jharkhand and Uttaranchal spelt hope and a new identity — if a person was not irrevocably cynical — with the media sensing the excitement and rising to the occasion. Now, in a month's time, the three States will be two years old, and SEVANTI NINAN uses the opportunity to look at how successful the media there has been playing its role. The first of a two-part article.

Focus

ISSUES
Little pani, less panchayat
In Orissa's `model' pani panchayats — which have never had an election of any kind — the control over water resources is moving swiftly into the hands of powerful landlords and contractors. It's privatisation of water through the backdoor and the jargon used is `community ownership' and `farmers' control'. In this scheme of things, influenced by the World Bank, this was the intended result, and it is the small farmer who faces bankruptcy and ruin, says award-winning journalist P. SAINATH. The conclusion of a two-part article.

SPOTLIGHT

Who killed Diana?
It is the voyeur in the audience who is the reason for offensive and obscene scenes in films. Ultimately, it is this that drives the media to publicise such stories, writes MANOJ DAS.

Columns

FIRST STRIKE By Anil Dharker Justice ... very quick		RIPPLE EFFECTS By Ranjit Hoskote Under the weather

CAMBRIDGE LETTER By Bill Kirkman Two days before Parliament		MEDIA PULSE By Sevanti Ninan Kashmir votes

THE OTHER HALF By Kalpana Sharma Drums of war		AGAINST THE GRAIN By C. Rammanohar Reddy The day that did not change the world

Lifestyle

ART

A new arena for expression
The inaugural exhibition at Shalini Biswajit's Forum Art Gallery in Chennai today, marks her maiden venture in bringing together 19 reputed Indian artists. The selected works can be broadly categorised as abstracts that are mythological and figurative in content, says ASHRAFI S. BHAGAT.

CINEMA

Exploring discord
The current craze for India in the West has crowds flocking to Indian movies. But they are looking for a contemporary urban scene, not the old rural landscape. That's why `Let's Talk' scored at the Locarno International Film Festival, says GOWRI RAMNARAYAN.

NOSTALGIA

'Casablanca' revisited
`Casablanca' is a great weepie and its script delightfully kitschy. Yet it remains among the top 10 love stories. Why? Because it has the inexplicable element called magic, writes UMA MAHADEVAN-DASGUPTA.

TIME OUT
Their hearts still went on
SHEILA KUMAR travels along Australia's Great Ocean Road and tells the tale of the ill-fated Loch Ard and its two survivors.

PLACES
Marvels in the Thar
The smaller towns of Rajasthan are as eye-catching and beautiful as Jaipur or Jaisalmer.

Health

HEALTHWATCH

Old age or disease?
When a loss of memory begins to create problems in daily life, it is time to take note that it may not be a natural part of growing old. Rather, it may be the first signs of dementia. This year's World Alzheimer's Day campaign — September 21 — and National Dementia Awareness Week — September 16 - 22 — focus on the importance of recognising the early symptoms of the disability.

HEART NEWS
Breathing life into the written-off
The endoventricular patch plasty is a cardiovascular procedure with promise, writes GOUTAM GHOSH.

Books

PERSONALITY
Dancing through their lives
An engaging and irreverent account of three remarkable,unconventional women, writes ARUNDHATI SUBRAMANIAM of Sukanya Rahman's book.

REVIEW

Rewriting cricket's history
Cricket has always been much more than a sport in India. Ramachandra Guha's latest book, A Corner of a Foreign Field, tells the story of the gradual indigenisation of this once English game in a hugely entertaining way, writes MUKUND PADMANABHAN.

Miscellany