Politicians and war make strange bedfellows. War tends to make or unmake politicians in most unpredictable ways. Winston Churchill, who led Great Britain to victory in World War II, was defeated in the subsequent elections of 1945. George Bush Sr, who declared war on Iraq in 1991, too lost to Bill Clinton in 1992. And now his son George Bush Jr is going to war against Iraq to succeed where his father failed—in the ouster of Saddam Hussein. A reluctant Saddam, however, prepares to "fight from every house". But the odds are heavily stacked against him. This time the economically ravaged Iraqis may not rally around him as they did in the 1991 Gulf War.
 

By pulling back its troops from the border, India signals a phased reduction in tensions with Pakistan. Was the build up worth it?

They come from different worlds and it would be difficult to find two individuals less alike than Mayawati and J. Jayalalithaa.
 

The rise of the pro-Taliban parties poses a major challenge to Musharraf after the king's party failed to secure a majority.

Private companies have not only brought new types of schemes, but also changed the way Indians look at life insurance.

Banks are innovating to make you loosen your pursestrings. On offer: coffee, gifts and meals while you transact business.

Retirement planning should be such that when you stop working for money, your money should start working for you.

Health meets recreation in a trend
that sees gyms giving way to
lifestyle centres.

As more urban children define themselves by what they can buy, blatant consumerism becomes the new religion for adolescents.

Delhi's Tatarpur market on Najafgarh Road revels in turning the heroic Ravana into the fall guy.

The ugly truth about drugs in Indian sport takes centrestage as the country's most gifted young athlete tests positive.

The latest recipe for culinary and
business success seems to be
celebrity eateries.

A skilful narrative of the changing equations between the two largest democracies.

Authorspeak

Schauna Chauhan, Upendra, Raveena Tandon, Irfan