Padma is a Special Correspondent and looks after Central govt and political parties. She has special interest in local history of Indore and Malwa region, art and architecture.
Articles by Padma Shastri
12th century Shiva temple lies in sheer neglect in Madhya Pradesh
A 12th century Shiva temple with exquisite stone carvings and an imposing 120-foot high shikhar (top) lies in neglect at Malwai village, about 215 kilometres from Indore.
Updated on Apr 09, 2015 04:38 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Padma Shastri, Alirajpur
Tribals in Madhya Pradesh empowered yet unaware
A year back, a tractor trolley loaded with irrigation pumps of 5HP rolled into Sondhwa. The driver read the names of farmers from a list, distributed the pumps and departed. Even today, the farmers have little idea where the pumps came from.
Updated on Apr 07, 2015 06:02 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Padma Shastri, Jhabua/alirajpur
MP tribals' devotional songs echo life's dignity and divinity
Tribals in western Madhya Pradesh have been signing life’s dignity and divinity in their devotional songs, which sometimes echo Kabir’s soulful call and Govind Maharaj's wakeup chant.
Updated on Apr 05, 2015 04:07 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Padma Shastri, Jhabua/alirajpur
Tribal farmers of MP plough lonely furrow without govt help
The poor tribal farmers ploughing the rocky surface of steep hillocks at a height of more than 700 feet in western Madhya Pradesh belie the state government's claims about making agriculture a profitable profession.
Updated on Apr 03, 2015 09:49 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Padma Shastri, Jhabua/alirajpur
Madhya Pradesh: Family strives to keep Kumar Gandharv's legacy alive
The year 2014-15 marks the 90th birth anniversary of renowned Indian classical vocalist Pandit Kumar Gandharv who settled in Dewas in 1948. Kumar Gandharv Pratishthan, a trust with some family members on board, is holding three-day music concert in Indore next week to mark the occasion. HT portrays lesser known facets of Karnataka-born Kumar Gandharv.
Updated on Mar 15, 2015 05:00 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Padma Shastri, Indore
MP: How an energy deficit state became one that sells power to other states
In a decade, MP has gone from an energy deficit state to one that sells power to other states. Several factors contributed to the turnaround. The state government stepped up the generation of electricity from its own sources.
Updated on Jan 29, 2015 07:59 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Padma Shastri, Indore
Sanskrit means jobs too among Madhya Pradesh tribals
Sanskrit is a favourite language to learn among Madhya Pradesh’s tribal youths who think it connects with their dialect well and does offer them good job opportunities.
Updated on Nov 13, 2014 02:57 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Padma Shastri, Indore
Indore: What ails Sanskrit studies?
Sanskrit scholars in MP have three main issues which they want government and society to acknowledge. Experts say the new Sanskrit teachers should be groomed under guidance of Sanskrit scholars.
Updated on Nov 12, 2014 05:55 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Padma Shastri, Indore
Indore: Shrimad Bhagvad that almost reached scrap dealers
Over a century-old handwritten Shrimad Bhagvad, one of the most important Hindu texts, would have been lost to scrap dealers had Dhar's Dev family not visited Indore Sanskrit College in 2005.
Updated on Nov 07, 2014 08:53 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Padma Shastri, Indore
Solar city plan for Indore, Bhopal, Gwalior and Rewa
MP government has identified more than 20,000 hectares for setting up solar power projects in the state. This is keeping in view PM Narendra Modi's thrust on developing renewable energy sources.
Updated on Oct 10, 2014 03:10 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Padma Shastri, Indore
MP government's apathy turns Nimrani food park into mere flour mill cluster
Ideally, a food park is a cluster of upmarket food processing units to facilitate quality business. But, Nimrani is a classic example of how lack of promotional schemes can turn a food park into an "exclusive" cluster of loosely "chained" flour mills.
Updated on Oct 06, 2014 03:49 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Padma Shastri, Nimrani (khargone)
Indore investors hiring professionals to buy shares on their behalf
Indore's leading stock brokerage firms have different figures but most agree that average rise in investors hiring professionals is up by 10%. The professionals specialise in portfolio management service.
Updated on Sep 23, 2014 04:54 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Padma Shastri, Indore
Indore investors yet to get over slowdown shocker
Last week, Union government signed business agreements with China and Japan, which are expected to boost Indian economy. But all this has not drawn people to the share market.
Updated on Sep 22, 2014 06:07 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Padma Shastri, Indore
MP coal crisis intentionally created, claim engineers' body
The powerful national federation of the public sector power engineers on Friday claimed that the acute crisis faced by the thermal plants for want of coal has been willfully created.
Updated on Aug 27, 2014 04:43 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Padma Shastri, Indore
Right-wing groups to help trace 'missing' Malegaon blast accused
Reviving a six-year-old issue, two right wing organisations have come forward to trace a Malegaon blast accused who disappeared in 2008 after being picked up by the Maharashtra anti-terrorism squad.
Updated on Aug 05, 2014 02:40 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Padma Shastri, Indore
Sumitra Mahajan: The politician who couldn't become the CM
BJP MP Sumitra Mahajan, 72, was unanimously elected as the 16th Lok Sabha Speaker on Friday in New Delhi. She was congratulated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the appointment.
Updated on Jun 06, 2014 12:05 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Padma Shastri, Indore
Congress devoted to just one family, taunts Modi
Addressing a gathering of approximately 15,000 people at Nanakheda stadium, Modi said the Congress is deeply immersed in devotion of one family (Sonia Gandhi) while BJP is immersed in devotion of common people.
Updated on Nov 24, 2013 01:13 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Padma Shastri, Ujjain
‘Food, water more important than roads for common man’
Playing the pro-tribal and pro-poor card, All India Congress Committee (AICC) vice-president Rahul Gandhi said his party thinks providing food, water and shelter to common man is more important than providing roads and electricity.
Updated on Nov 21, 2013 12:44 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Padma Shastri, Madhya Pradesh
Goverment apathy pushes Madhya Pradesh tribals to the edge
Semi-literate and exploited for generations, a sense of hopelessness has set in among small-time farmers and tribals, who form nearly 60% of the population of the Harsud assembly constituency, reports Padma Shastri .
Updated on Oct 16, 2013 12:56 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Padma Shastri, Harsud, Khandwa
Dammed fortunes: govt looks away as farmers are forced to sell land
Dam meant to bring succour to farmers is turning into a curse. Canals run through farms and obstruct drainage, making them unfit for cultivation.
Updated on Oct 12, 2013 02:40 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Padma Shastri, Omkareshwar
Cong blasts BJP govt on crime, corruption
Congress party launched a scathing attack on MP chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and his cabinet ministers at a public rally held in Kukshi.
Updated on Sep 30, 2013 05:23 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Padma Shastri, Kukshi
How to steal a mineral?
The modus operandi of illegal mining follows a gameplan wherein the trail leading to the real beneficiary grows cold after a point. Forgery, deception and bribery, along with authorities looking the other way, ensure its success. Rahul Noronha and Padma Shastri report.
Updated on Nov 28, 2012 01:07 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Rahul Noronha and Padma Shastri
Minerals, money, marauders earth quakes in MP
An ever-increasing demand for minerals, a pliant government, crony bureaucracy and minimal law enforcement have created a near-perfect environment for the illegal mining industry to flourish in the Madhya Pradesh, reports Rahul Noronha and Padma Shastri.
Updated on Nov 27, 2012 04:39 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Rahul Noronha and Padma Shastri, Bhopal
Illegal mining dwarfs legal mining in Madhya Pradesh
Whether it is sand in Bhind, Morena, Khargone, Khandwa and Hoshangabad, iron ore, bauxite and marble in Katni and sandstone in Vidisha, Sagar and Shivpuri - illegal mining has now overtaken legal mining in terms of volume and earnings in Madhya Pradesh, reports Rahul Noronha & Padma Shastri.
Updated on Nov 27, 2012 04:09 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Rahul Noronha & Padma Shastri, Indore/bhopal
Narmada fishermen demand direct fishing rights
Taking a cue from the villagers protesting increase in the water levels of Indira Sagar and Omkareshwar dams, about one lakh fishermen have threatened an agitation over their demand for direct fishing rights in dams located along the Narmada river in Madhya Pradesh.
Updated on Sep 14, 2012 11:18 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Padma Shastri, Indore
British used Holkar PM to assess Hitler, Mussolini
Sir Siremal Bapna, prime minister in Indore's Holkar princely state from 1926 to 1939, had secretly met Italian fascist leader Mussolini and Hitler, the chief of Nazi Germany, in 1935, reveals his diary. Padma Shastri reports.
Updated on Aug 14, 2012 10:24 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Padma Shastri, Indore
Indore hamlet remembers the master's strokes
When news of MF Husain's death flashed on Thursday, it was business as usual in the congested Ushaganj locality here, where he spent his childhood, but there were a few families for whom the day brought indelible memories.
Updated on Jun 09, 2011 11:56 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Padma Shastri and Saeed Khan, Indore
Heirless, MP royals slipping into history
Seven former princely states of MP are on the verge of petering out of people's memory because of not having a line of succession. Padma Shastri reports.
Updated on Feb 27, 2011 11:54 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Padma Shastri, Indore
Where teachers sell eggs, work as loaders
Many poorly paid government schoolteachers in Indore sell eggs, vegetables and work as loaders or electricians after school hours to make ends meet.
Updated on Mar 23, 2010 11:10 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Padma Shastri, Indore
School where Muslim kids are happy to sing Hindu hymns
Sanskrit verses are part of the daily prayer for Mantasha Khan (class IX), Inayat Ali (class VIII), Jofisha Khan (class IV) and 30 other Muslim students who study at the Shaishvika Vidyalaya, a high school with 269 students run by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. Padma Shastri reports.
Updated on Jul 20, 2009 02:24 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Padma Shastri, Indore