EDITOR'S NOTE: Read the Note. 
  

PERSONALITY (PROFILE/MRS RAJANI KUMAR): Freedom-lover extraordinaire
A fighter. That is what Mrs Rajani Kumar, the founding principal of Delhi’s prestigious Springdales School, has been. English by birth, Mrs Kumar came to India way back in 1946 with her marriage to a freedom-fighters’ family. Nourished on democracy and anti-fascism – as a child she had been brought up with anti-colonial ideals — her marriage and her presence in pre-Independence India contributed to an awakening in her a spirit of freedom.   Read the Article. 
 

COVER STORY: Giving peace a chance
The season of peace is at hand with India and Pakistan playing major roles. The doors of mistrust and suspicion were shut firmly when Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf agreed that a constructive dialogue alone could promote the normalization of relations between the two perpetually hostile nations. Indeed, both sides have taken the first steps but a lot remains to be done. Read the Article. 
 

COVER STORY (INDIA-PAK TRADE): Awaiting a new beginning
Peace would mean development and trade. The business community in Pakistan has welcomed SAFTA (South Asian Free Trade Area) and considers it essential for trade and the economic progress of Pakistan. There could be a rapid growth in exports from India as both nations have the potential to team up to improve their respective economies and face the challenges and competition from countries like China  Read an interview.
 

DIPLOMACY: The truth behind the dark cloud
Indian and American relations have been looking up for quite sometime now. The single dark cloud, which has the potential to create problems in what can best be described as a cosy relationship, is the outsourcing issue. And in an election year, US politicians are cashing in to exploit the situation.  Read an interview.    
    

DIPLOMACY: Towards a stronger US-India relationship
Excerpts from US Ambassador David C. Mulford’s speech to the Confederation of Indian Industry on 23 March, 2004   Read the Article. 
 

VOICES: Trade prospects between Bhutan and India are bright
Lyonpo Dago Tshering, Bhutan’s Ambassador to New Delhi, talks about his tiny country’s relations with India, the problem of militants from the North-east and the social and political changes taking place in the Royal Kingdom of Bhutan.   Read an interview.   
  

REGION (GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL): Poised for a new era of relationship
A lot seems to be happening on the economic, industrial, trade and commerce as well as the political front between the six members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), comprising Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and India. The age-old Indo-Arabian ties have matured over the years and a new dimension has now entered the bond.   Read the Article.  
  

PLACES (INTERNATIONAL TRAVELOUGE): Istanbul and Ephesus
Diplomatist Publisher and Managing Editor visited Turkey for four days back in January (2004). While they admit that they only experienced the ‘snowflake on the tip of the iceberg’ in terms of tourism attractions of Turkey, they share their story with our readers Read the Article.
  

PLACES (DOMESTIC GETAWAY): In search of the one-horned rhino
Diplomatist Publisher and Managing Editor spent a weekend at Kaziranga National Park back in March (2004), with hopes of viewing the endangered one-horned Rhino. They weren’t disappointed as the following short travelogue points out  Read the Article.  
 

INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION (INDIA-ISRAEL RELATION): Strategic cooperation and more 
India shares many commonalities with Israel. Both countries are democracies with 5,000 years of history. Both have weathered the storm of hostilities and fought wars in every decade of their existence.  Read the Article.
  

FUTURE ALLIANCES: Rainbow on the international horizon
India, Brazil and South Africa are the likely candidates to represent Asia, Latin America and Africa in the UN Security Council. Brazil is South America’s largest economy and one of the world’s top ten economies. South Africa is a unique combination of a highly developed first world infrastructure and a large emergent market economy. India, on the other hand, is a global leader in software and biotechnology and along with China the two best performing economies today. This “Rainbow” coalition between the three giants cannot be disregarded. Read an interview.    
  

SOCIETY: Indian women through Mexican eyes
Alexandra Sanchez Gavito is a political activist, a journalist, a professor, a feminist, an active participant in her country’s civic movements – which led to a wide range of electoral reforms and consequently the ushering in of a new political era in Mexico — and a woman. Read the information.
  

SOCIETY: Women: Suppressed through the ages
History records that women were always considered second-class citizens. The Indian woman has always been viewed from a male point of view and modern times is no exception to the rule. Read the information.
  

BUSINESS: Brand India
Is India still viewed as a land of snake charmers, elephants and rope tricks? What about the phenomenal strides the country has made in the last 50 years? Over the years, we have witnessed Brand India becoming increasingly distorted in the absence of efforts to manage and develop its associations. The only obvious way out is Branding, or rather re-Branding India.  Read the Article.
 

HEALTH (NGO WATCH): Ahelping hand to end AIDS
There is no denying the fact that large parts of the country is in the grip of AIDS. The epidemic is so widespread that experts have opined that at the end of the century, India would have the dubious distinction of being the country with the largest number of HIV infections. Perturbed over the growth of the disease, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has started a programme through its Indian wing, Avahan to stem the growing HIV/AIDS epidemic in India. Read the Article.  
  

ENVIRONMENT (NATIONAL NGO): Saving the Doon Valley
SAVE, a NGO, is committed to the cause of a better natural environment in the Himalayan and Tarai region Read the Article.