The Truth About Ourselves
The human genome sequence has been completed and shows some surprising findings. Despite having one-third less genes than estimated, human beings are still very complex. With access to disease genes, medicine and diagnostics will be revolutionised. However, this will also raise ethical questions on cloning and genetic privacy.

Hope In Hell
Four weeks after the earthquake, Gujarat is still coming to terms with the devastation. True grit is emerging from the rubble but it will be some time before lives are rebuilt. INDIA TODAY's teams went out across these death zones, capturing stories which record this renewal.

Simmer Time

Profitable Loss
36 With over 90,000 employees opting for the VRS scheme, PSU banks are set to get over their problem of overstaffing. But is it going to make banks more competitive in this age of automation? Besides, it is also going to cost more than Rs 7,500 crore and will deprive the banks of skilled workers.

Paper Money

Spreading Terror
The attacks on Delhi's Red Fort,
the Srinagar airport and the city's police control room show the Lashkar-e-Toiba is increasingly catching the Indian security forces unawares-and emerging as the most daring terrorist group from Pakistan.

Face Off
It's David Vs Goliath as India play an Australian demolition squad at home. What makes the Aussies tick and how can India take them on?

Cricketwatch:
Ashley Mallett

NEIGHBOURS: PAKISTAN

TROUBLE FOR PAKISTAN
Tasting Its Own Medicine

By Zahid Hussain

A green flag with "Allah" inscribed on it and a white globe flutters over the imposing white marble minaret. The sprawling army barrack like structure of Darul Irfan (the house of learning) in Munara, a small village 90 miles from Islamabad, serves as the headquarters of the Tanzeemul Ikhwan (TI), a radical Islamic movement. Retired Pakistani army personnel impart martial arts training and ideologically prepare its members to run a future Islamic state. "We can extend jehad beyond our boundaries, but first we have to achieve our objective at home," says Mohammed Akram Awan, a retired soldier and the self-styled supreme leader of the group.

For Awan and hundreds of thousands of his followers across the country, elections and democracy are not the solution to the country's problems. They would settle for nothing less than an Islamic revolution in the country. "If the Government does not enforce Sharia by March 7, we will establish our own independent Islamic state," he declares, sitting in his modest office surrounded by gunmen in all berets.

DETERMINED DRIVE: Official threats to ban fund-raising have not deterred the jehadis

Among the myriad of challenges that beset Pakistani's military regime, the most serious one comes from extremist Islamic outfits like the TI. Last month, Awan gave a call for a storming of Islamabad if an Islamic system of rule was not enforced. It was postponed only after the military rulers gave an assurance that all steps would be taken to usher in Islamic rule. What makes the TI more belligerent is its strong network in the army. "Pakistani soldiers have always been religious but now many are turning Islamist," says Lt-General (retd) Hamid Gul, former ISI chief.

Last week, the military regime had announced tough measures to rein in the extremists, including banning them from raising donations in the name of jehad. But the militant groups were quick to announce that they would defy the Government. Their contention: the restrictions were "unIslamic and aimed at stopping people from performing the religious obligation of all Muslims to participate in jehad".

The TI leaders are confident that in the event of a confrontation, the troops will support their call for sharia. "They are our sons and brothers. They will support our call when the time comes," says Awan. Senior members of the ruling military junta dismiss the challenge from the extremists, saying there is no support for them either in the army or among the public. The Government's reluctance to curb militancy and the absence of a democratic process provide a conducive atmosphere for extremists trying to fill the existing political vacuum.

MetroScape
Delhi On My Mind...
I'm very flattered to have this act of 'piracy' take place," laughs William Dalrymple, as extracts from his engrossing travelogue City of Djinns: A Year in Delhi were interpreted by photographer Agnes Montanari and art historian Nathalie Trouveroy in an exhibition.
more...

Looking Glass

Delhi: Restaurant

Delhi: Exhibition

Mumbai: Exhibition

"I was very much against the idea of India," says William Dalrymple, author, The City of Djinns: A Year in Delhi. In conversation with INDIA TODAY's Sonia Faleiro, he talks about his old girlfriend, Delhi and his "enormously exciting" next book, The White Moghuls in Interviews.