Cover Story

Return of the Congress
Editorial
More hurdles ahead for Congress
Interview: Jairam Ramesh
A resurgent Left
Interview: Harkishan Singh Surjeet
BJP: Misreading the mandate
Interview: Mukthar Abbas Naqvi

The States
Identity politics in Assam

World Affairs

Iraq: U.S. weakened and shamefaced
'Liberators' as killers
(Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004)
A life hardly lived
(Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004)
An unfazed Bush administration
Against all laws and conventions
Marines and Malacca Straits
China's gesture on Sikkim
Cuba, in focus
The lessons from Dien Bien Phu
Crisis in Chechnya
E.U.'s historic expansion
Divided in Cyprus
Russia's worries
Pakistan's Northern Areas on the boil

Elections 2004
Voting in Rajasthan desert

Books
Teaching a relevant economics
review by Venkatesh Athreya

Review Article
War on Iraq, an international crime:
by A.G. Noorani
Rebuff to Vajpayee

Astronomy
The Venus transit:
by Amalendu Bandyopadhyay

Genetic Resources
Rice germplasm and farmers' rights
Franken wheat has to wait
(Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004)

Cinema
Courageous women of Kutch

Defence
Faked valour in Siachen

Gujarat
Crime and complicity

Medicine
A miracle in the making:
by Milind Deogaonkar

Economic Perspectives
A tale of two mandates:
by C.P. Chandrasekhar

Special Feature: Education and Career in Chennai

A gateway to opportunities
Learning online
For skill-intensive training
A range of options
A mammoth institution
Encouraging studies abroad

Column
The desire for empire:
by Bhaskar Ghose
Articulating police problems:
by R.K. Raghavan
Stock market and the real economy:
by Jayati Ghosh
Liberation at last:
by Praful Bidwai

Also
The English Language
Letters