Sense and senescence
We, in India, offer our political leaders privacy that would be the envy of Clinton, Blair, Putin, Netanyahu, Mitterrand and most other world leaders whose personal lives -- and health -- have been put under the microscope by the media, and exploited by the tabloids for entertainment.



Mr Shunglu takes a wrong turn
The evil that men do lives after them. The good is oft interred with their bones — Julius Ceasar, William Shakespeare Apart from the 13 Japanese firms and one French bank whose names he has slandered in his audit report on the VDIS tax-amnesty scheme of 1997.



Red flag fading
Just spare a thought for Jyoti Basu. After weathering eighty and more autumns in his long, eventful and illustrious life, he is clearly desirous of procuring some precious time by himself, a chance to explore the quiet pleasures of retirement.



Other headlines
Plain speaking at last
Economies of virtue
In Myanmar, road blocks on freedom's trail