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Didi: A Political Biography
Mamata Banerjee is many things to many people – to some she is a ‘performer’ on the stage of Indian politics; to others she is a spirited woman who made it despite having no male patrons, a leader who was tested to the limit and emerged on top. If she is adored as the quintessential woman next door who has none of the airs that mark Indian politicians, she is as strongly derided for her ‘theatricality’ and rhetoric. But everyone agrees that she is a fighter who never gives up. Overcoming severe odds to challenge three decades of Marxist rule in West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee, ‘Didi’ to the young and old, came up trumps to become the first woman chief minister of West Bengal. But her real challenge begins now. Will she be able to end the culture of violence and regenerate West Bengal economically and politically? Will she be able to go beyond being a rabble-rouser to become a sagacious and visionary leader? Or will her party follow in the footsteps of the CPI(M), dragging the state deeper into the abyss it has fallen into? In Didi, Monobina Gupta brings her experience as journalist and commentator on politics in the state of West Bengal to paint a fascinating portrait of one of the most important political figures in India today.
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Chalkline
Endorsed by Amnesty International UK as contributing to a better understanding of human rights and the values that underpin them The moving story of a Kashmiri boy soldier, from a prize-winning Irish author. It’s an ordinary morning at nine-year-old Rafiq’s school in rural Kashmir when the silence of dawn prayers is ripped apart by gunfire. Soldiers of the Kashmir Freedom Fighters have raided the village in search of new recruits–they scrawl a line in chalk across the schoolroom wall, and any boy whose height reaches the line will be taken to fight. Rafiq is tall for his age–the first boy to cross the chalkline into a life of brutality and terrorism. This is the story of Rafiq’s transformation from child to boy soldier, as he is indoctrinated into the cause of fanatical belief. But his family have not forgotten him; when he can no longer recognize himself, they remember the boy he was, and reach out a hand of redemption as he spirals towards a final act of atrocity.
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Opening Night
This is the story of Naiya Kapur, a Princeton University graduate who comes to Mumbai to chase the big Indian dream Bollywood. Naiya isn't searching for her soulmate, or hoping to find her roots in the India her parents once knew; she is searching for fame, fortune and fun in the new India. We follow Naiya as she navigates the labyrinthine lanes of Mumbai and Bollywood, where identities are fluid and murky and where lines are meant to be crossed. In the middle of scuttling between auditions and parties of every hue, Naiya enters into a potentially happily ever after relationship that turns out to be an it s complicated one with a neurotic ex-model-turned-film producer. As she battles her demons and tries to deal with her increasingly tangled life, the stage is set for high drama, and her Opening Night.
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The Beauty Diet: Eat Your Way To A Fab New You
You don't have to be born with good looks-now you can eat our way to them Can eating make you look good? Yes, it's true. Diet provides nutrition but also makes you look beautiful by helping you lose weight, getting a proportionate body, making your skin glow and your hair and eyes shine. In The Beauty Diet, celebrity dietician Shonali Sabherwal, whose clients include Katrina Kaif, Neha Dhupia, Esha Deol, Hema Malini, Jacqueline Fernandez, Chitrangadha Singh, Shekhar Kapur, and Kabir Bedi among others, offers easy-to-follow and tried-and-tested diet advice for women of all ages to look younger and more stunning. She shows you how to: Do a basic detox to cleanse the body Make your skin glow, your hair shiny, and your teeth healthy Tuck that rebellious tummy in Get rid of fat thighs and flabby arms Eat to look younger Change your mood with the right food With diet charts, recipes, cooking techniques, illustrations, real life stories, and celeb experiences, The Beauty Diet redefines the purpose and formulas of eating. So get ready to welcome the fab new you!
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Inside Apple
In Inside Apple, Adam Lashinsky provides readers with an insight on leadership and innovation. He introduces Apple business concepts like the ‘DRI' (Apple's practice of assigning a Directly Responsible Individual to every task) and the Top 100 (an annual event where that year's top. 100 up-and-coming executives are surreptitiously transported to a secret retreat with company founder Steve Jobs). Based on numerous interviews, the book reveals exclusive new information about how Apple innovates, deals with its suppliers, and is handling the transition into the Post Jobs Era.While Inside Apple provides a detailed investigation into the unique company, its lessons about leadership, product design and marketing are universal. Inside Apple will appeal to anyone hoping to bring some of the Apple magic to their own company, career, or creative endeavour.
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Smart Trust
After illustrating the global relevance of trust with his book The Speed of Trust by selling more than one million copies in twenty-two languages, Stephen M. R. Covey again illuminates the hidden power of trust to change lives and impact organizations in Smart Trust. In a compelling and readable style, he and long-time business partner Greg Link share enlightening principles and anecdotes of people and organizations that are not only achieving unprecedented prosperity from high-trust relationships and cultures but—even more inspiring—also attaining elevated levels of energy and joy. The sustainable success these leaders and enterprises are exhibiting is paradoxically being produced in what has proved to be the lowest trust climate in years, if not decades. Smart Trust shows what they are doing and the five actions they are commonly taking to prosper, against the odds, in the same circumstances causing so many others to fail. With penetrating insights illuminated by their unique access to many of the world’s most successful leaders and organizations, the authors lay out a breakthrough process and skill set in a practical and actionable formula that makes trust a performance multiplier for leaders, teams, organizations, and even countries. They show why trust is fast becoming the most consequential life and leadership skill of our time-a career-critical competency required to navigate and compete in this perilous twenty-first-century interdependent, global economy. Covey and Link teach how to cut through traditional either/or thinking to extend “Smart Trust,” enabling you to exercise sound judgment in a low-trust world by minimizing risk and maximizing possibilities. Smart Trust has met the strict scrutiny of business leaders around the globe and is validated by research from multiple sources that confirms that high-trust organizations outperform low-trust organizations by nearly three times. Smart Trust shares findings that verify how enduring success, vitality, and happiness are directly related to the level of trust in our relationships—whether in our professional or personal lives. Find out why trusted people are more likely to get hired or promoted, get the best projects and bigger budgets, and are last to be laid off. This sea-changing book will forever shift your perspective as it reveals and validates, once and for all, the transformational power of trust. Reading Smart Trust will increase your probability of thriving in this increasingly unpredictable marketplace. The more unpredictable it becomes, the more your (and your organization’s) sound judgment and ability to trust in this low-trust world will give you a tremendous competitive advantage—and the capacity to navigate the uncertainty low trust creates.
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Micro
Three men are found dead in a locked second-floor office in Honolulu. There is no sign of struggle, though their bodies are covered in ultra-fine, razor sharp cuts. With no evidence, the police dismiss it as a bizarre suicide pact. But the murder weapon is still in the room, almost invisible to the human eye. In Cambridge, Massachusetts, seven graduate students at the forefront of their fields are recruited by a pioneering microbiology start-up company. Nanigen MicroTechnologies sends them to a mysterious laboratory in Hawaii, where they are promised access to tools that will open up a whole new scientific frontier. But this opportunity of a lifetime will teach them the true cost of existing at the cutting edge... The group becomes prey to a technology of radical, unimaginable power and is thrust out into the teeming rainforest. Armed only with their knowledge of the natural world, the young scientists face a hostile wilderness that threatens danger at every turn. To survive, they must harness the awe-inspiring creative – and destructive – forces of nature itself.
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Private London
For Hannah Shapiro, a beautiful young American student, this particular nightmare began eight years ago in Los Angeles, when Jack Morgan, owner of Private - the world\'s most exclusive detective agency - saved her from a horrific death. She has fled her country, but can\'t flee her past. The terror has followed her to London, and now it is down to former Royal Military Police Sergeant Dan Carter, head of Private London, to save her all over again. In central London, young women are being abducted off the street. When the bodies are found, some days later, they have been mutilated in a particularly mysterious way. Dan Carter\'s ex-wife, DI Kirsty Webb, is involved in the investigation and it looks likely that the two cases are gruesomely linked. Dan Carter draws on the whole resources of Private International in a desperate race against the odds. But the clock is ticking... Private may be the largest and most technologically advanced detection agency in the world, but the only thing they don\'t have is the one thing they need - time.
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Grandma's Bag Of Stories
Who can resist a good story, especially when it s being told by Grandma? From her bag emerges tales of kings and cheats, monkeys and mice, bears and gods. Here comes the bear who ate some really bad dessert and got very angry; a lazy man who would not put out a fire till it reached his beard; a princess who got turned into an onion; a queen who discovered silk, and many more weird and wonderful people and animals. Grandma tells the stories over long summer days and nights, as seven children enjoy life in her little town. The stories entertain, educate and provide hours of enjoyment to them. So come, why don t you too join in the fun.
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Love Me In The End
A fanatically devoted father, a headstrong daughter and a devious rake make their way into the world of an arranged marriage, which is a sham. It was going to be the perfect match according to the father, but Ria was impulsive and Arman hated being tied to a girl he had never seen before. Ria was determined to put up a fight to the end and Arman, guided by his instincts, did not offer any help but to desire her with his heart. Could Arman convince her that he wa s the one for Ria? Come journey with me through....
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True Lies And Hump
Puppy, why do people marry? asked Chinnu with her eyes lowered. To produce little babies, I replied. But can t I just adopt and take care of them? Of course you can, but who is going to take care of this baby? I asked, sliding my hands under the sheets and flicking her nose with my index finger and a thumb. Won t you take care of me, Puppy? I smiled and remained silent. On not hearing a reply, she brought herself closer to me, scooped her head on to my chest and clutched me as if it were the end of days. True Lies and Hump is a tale of living denial, where travesty of the young society meets its gradual renaissance. It portrays the raging storm in the minds of twenty-year olds and the confusion they go through to endure the highs and lows of life. It is a tale of transformation of an arrogant and self-centric creature to a mature and mellowed down human being. It also gives an insight into one of the greatest corporate frauds that India has known, through the eyes of an employee.
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The Game Changers
20 Extraordinary Success Stories Of Entrepreneurs From IIT Kharagpur A one of a kind book about IITs most successful entrepreneurs Entrepreneurship is not about breaking free from the 9 to 5 humdrum, not about being your own boss, and definitely not glorious. The entrepreneur shuns the comfort of a cushy corporate job and six figure salaries to set sail on unchartered waters with a single minded zeal and only an idea as an anchor. But it is this idea and passion that makes all the difference and catapults them into a world of infinite possibilities. The Game Changers brings to you 20 success stories of IITians who went on to live the big dream. These include: Suhas Patil, Vijay Kumar, Vinod Gupta, Sam Dalal, Sridhar Mitta, Arjun Malhotra, Kiran Seth, Prabhakant Sinha, Ranbir Singh Gupta, Bikram Dasgupta founder of Globsyn, Praful Kulkarni, Sunil Gaitonde, Anand Deshpande, Arvind Kejriwal, Harish Hande, Anuradha Acharya, Venkata Subramanian, Bikash Barai, Vikram Kumar, and Krishna Mehra. With a foreword by Dr Duvvuri Subbarao, Governor, Reserve Bank of India, and introduction by Damodar Acharya, Director, IIT Karagpur, this book marks the 60 golden years of India s finest institute. Come, be a part of their journey, get inspired to dream and make your own story. About The Author Yuvnesh Modi is a 4th year undergraduate student at IIT Kharagpur pursuing Mathematics and Computing. He has also been a National finalist at the Informatics Olympiad in the year 2007. He hails from the city of Kolkata. Rahul Kumar is a 4th year undergraduate student at IIT Kharagpur pursuing Mathematics and Computing. His area of interest includes applied mathematics, Indian history, and sociology. He hails from Bokaro Thermal, a very small town in Jharkhand. Alok Kothari is an alumnus of IIT Kharagpur. He graduated with an Integrated Masters in Mathematics and Computing in 2009. He was one of the founding members of Entrepreneurship Cell, IIT Kharagpur and one of the first editors of The Entrepreneur. He currently works as a project associate at a research organisation in Germany and hails from the city of Pune.
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Dear, I Love You
A guy sees a girl, falls in love woos and wins her love. They both experience the ecstasy of love that develops between them and both realise the purport of love. They discover that love is blind, literally blind against anything in the world. The guy makes a mistake; he seeks forgiveness from the girl. The girl too commits a mistake. Again the guy seeks apologies from her. Does the girl forgive the guy modestly for the mistake SHE has made? Beyond just hormone secretion or the chemical reaction that takes place in the human body, love is something more. Trust...hope...life...
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Zambezi
When a young American research assistant is killed by a man-eating lion, three people are devastated - Jed Banks, an American Special Forces soldier serving in Afghanistan; Professor Christine Wallis, a wildlife researcher in South Africa; and Hassan bin Zayid, a hotel magnate in Zambia. The victim, Miranda Banks-Lewis, was their daughter, protegee and lover respectively. Desperate to find out what happened to Miranda, Jed and Christine, with the help of a determined Australian journalist, set out on a perilous journey of discovery in Africa. Forced to pit themselves against the continent\'s dangers, they will also learn shocking truths about the woman they thought they knew. Zambezi is an unputdownable novel of love, loyalty, betrayal and revenge set against the magnificence and terror of Africa.
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Confessions Of A Serial Dieter
Kalli Purie has struggled with her weight since childhood and has finally found a weight she is happy with. Mostly. The diets featured here are structured rather like episodes in her life, full of characters, anecdotes and juicy nuggets of weight wisdom from surya namaskars set to Bollywood beats to drastic coconut water diets, from a dark experiment with bulimia to a love affair with a self-concocted champagne diet. In this candid tell-all, Kalli looks at weight-related complexes, myths and dilemmas straight in the eye and tells us not just what to do but how to do it. Kilo by kilo. The story of weight lost and a life gained, Confessions of a Serial Dieter will make you believe you can do it, whether it s losing those stubborn last three kilos or chasing your dream!
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The Cross
When an ancient cross is discovered in Eastern Europe it becomes a powerful weapon in the war between the trads and the Vampire Federation but soon, the world is threatened by its discovery... There are worse things than vampires... The Cross of Ardaich, bane of the undead, was thought to have been destroyed in the war between the Federation and its arch-enemy, the vampire Gabriel Stone. But its accidental rediscovery in the wilds of Romania could ultimately spell disaster for the whole world... Detective Joel Solomon and Vampire Federation agent Alexandra Bishop are lovers split by a terrible rift: Joel can\'t forgive that she made him a vampire. Yet when Gabriel Stone makes a deal with a bloodthirsty serial killer to retrieve the cross, the estranged couple and their rag-tag allies become the only hope in a race against pure evil. If the terrible powers of the cross fall into the hands of Stone\'s sinister masters the Übervampyr, it isn\'t just ordinary vampires like Alex and Joel who will become an endangered species. Things could be about to turn very nasty for the human race... The Cross combines the high-octane action of the Ben Hope novels with the thrills of fast- paced action thrillers such as Batman Begins and Blade. The terrifying new book in the Vampire Federation series.
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Leading Without Licence: Leadership The Anna Hazar
In February 2011, Anna Hazare suddenly shot to the nation s attention when he conveyed to the prime minister his intention to fast on matters relating to corruption. Since then, he has galvanized a massive, national movement to combat corruption in the country. So, how did Mr Hazare, at the age of 74 and relatively unknown to the masses, manage to spearhead this movement against corruption? Simply put, how did he become a leader? It is this question that Leading without Licence: Leadership the Anna Hazare Way answers. In this book, Satheesh Namasivayam and Sivaram Bandhakavi illustrate how Mr Hazare is masterfully practising a set of principles, proven to be effective over the ages, in exercising leadership. As they explain, leading is an act that comprises the performance of smaller sub-acts, in expanding circles of influence. If you understand these sub-acts and know how to combine them, you too can become a leader. Using the Anna Movement as an example and discussing other comparable cases, Leading without Licence provides guidelines for how you can lead in your everyday life whether you are an ordinary citizen who wants to address social issues in your neighbourhood, a student seeking to change campus politics, or a professional looking to make a mark in your company. No matter where you are or what you do, if you aspire to become a leader, this book is a must-read for you.
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I'll Walk Alone
Two years after the day that her son, Matthew, was kidnapped in broad daylight in Central Park, Alexandra Moreland still finds herself torn between hope and despair. As no trace of Matthew was ever found, she has never been able to give him up for dead. But now, on what would have been Matthew\'s fifth birthday, photos surface that seem to show Alexandra kidnapping her own child. Then, as her bank accounts are suddenly drained, and her reputation as a successful architect comes under immense pressure, Alexandra begins to suspect that someone is using her credit cards to steal her identity. But who would want to ruin her so completely? Hounded by the press, under investigation by the police, attacked by both her angry ex-husband and a vindictive business rival, Alexandra, sustained only by her belief that Matthew is still alive, sets out to discover who is behind this cruel hoax. Little does she realize that with every step she takes toward the truth, she is putting herself -and those she loves most - in mortal danger.
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When Loss Is Gain
Diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and given only a few months to live, Anand, a budding Delhi lawyer, who is obsessed with his own ambition and the politics of his workplace, thinks his life has hit rock bottom. But then further misfortune strikes: his wife Tanu leaves him for his best friend Adi, the owner of the law firm for which he works. As Anand surveys the wreckage of everything that has mattered to him, and realizes how misplaced his priorities have been, he is unexpectedly granted a reprieve. His doctor tells him that the initial diagnosis was wrong and that he is cancer-free. Determined to make the most of his second chance, Anand quits his high-powered job, and deliberately loses himself in the myriad simple joys of life for which he has never had the time. But when the old concerns and habits begin to creep back, he decides, on a whim, to journey to the remote Bhutanese retreat of Wangsisina to think about his future in solitude. Should he renounce the temptations of the city forever? Should he abjure romantic love? Should he spend the rest of his days as a recluse? Or should he start taking the first tentative steps back to a fuller life, which Chimi, his Bhutanese friend, encourages him to do? As he wrestles with these questions in the shadow of Bhutan's dramatic cliffs and mountains, he runs into the enigmatic Tara, a woman fleeing her own tragic past, and his life looks set to take yet another unexpected turn ... Action-packed yet contemplative, Pavan K. Varma s first novel is a powerful story of love and loss, despair and hope, chance and destiny, and the true meaning of joy and sorrow in every human life.
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Gone With The Wind
Set against the dramatic backdrop of the American Civil War, Margaret Mitchell's magnificent historical epic is an unforgettable tale of love and loss, of a nation mortally divided and a people forever changed. Above all, it is the story of beautiful, ruthless Scarlett O'Hara and the dashing soldier of fortune, Rhett Butler.
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The Legend Of Amrapali
Aryavart (around 500 B.C.) was a land of many prosperous kingdoms and among the most prominent of them was the vajji confederacy one of the first democratic republics known to mankind. Vaishali, the capital of the confederacy and that of the illustrious Lichchavis was not only a center of commerce and political activity but also the blessed motherland of Amrapali. The Legend of Amrapali is the story of mayhem and turmoil brought about by the obstinate desires of one man blinded by the intoxication of Power. It is a story of sinister plots and political wizardry, of chaste love and unbridled passion, of naked ambitions and dogged loyalties that lead to the transformation of an innocent young girl into one of the most revered, even worshipped, and occasionally feared personalities of her times. A Gripping cocktail of fantasy, Fiction, fable and histry that retains its charismatic appeal through the centuries gone by!
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Life..Love..Kumbh..
Like the Kumbh Fair, this book promises to open the doors of its readers' thinking, coaxing them to tarry for a few moments and re-examine their priorities in life. Togetherness is the greatest stoning... Relations, the best snuff... 'It is good to live a life of an instinct, you have nothing to fear, no failures, no successes, just a gut and the beatings of the tiny heart. Let it see the world, it said in its beat, like the haloed Damru of Shiva; come out and enjoy the Maya of so called God; now this was one mystery I coudn't fathom; wait, there was one more; destiny. To these I added a third; Faith, not in these two, but in my Self.... the Atma.' Aditi's take on Life...Love...Kumbh... On 13th of January 2010, a day before the first of the Eleven great baths of the Maha Kumbh at Haridwar, the largest human congregation in the Universe; Agastaya, Annant and Aditi, journey along in their lives; crossing each other's path; reminiscing of the past gone by and being wary of the future. But as the day nears its end, destiny would throw them in a situation from which there would be no running away. Will they face up to the challenges of living, loving, longing, leaving, learning and come out unscathed from the play of destiny and the cycle of Karma? What of their identity; their Philosophies and the quest for Yogic excellence? About the Author Aporva Kala is an explorer of Yogic knowledge. Writing for him is an exercise in creativity, which, he says, is a soul song. Since last Fifteen years he has been actively involved in mentoring students in particular and guiding humanity in general to lead a holistic and a rewarding life-style. He can be contacted at: aporvakala@yahoo.in aporvakala.blogspot.com
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In Course Of True Love!
All love stories are same. Or is it? A Boy and a girl meet and fall in love. Stroy ends, Is it? If so, then what about its journey. Its meaning, its feelings? What could love mean to anyone? Just a time pass or a reason to live? What if he who remained untouched from love so far in his life, will love be a time pass for him? What if he loves someone truly and deeply, who completes him, will he be able to see other side of love? In Course Of True Love! Destined to be a true yet unusual emotional love saga of Aarush, a reticent boy, falls in love amid unfavorable situations, crunch moments, will make reader to think and leave them pondering Does love happen at an age of sweet sixteen? Or is it mere a passing infatuation? Sanjeev Ranjan's debut novel stirs to unfold the reality of puppy love, and plumbs its depth, its warmth, and its meaning. About the Author Sanjeev Ranjan (21 years) is a final year Engineering student at Sastra University. He had spent most of his life in a small town of Bihar, Siwan. He did his schooling from DAV Public School but quest for quality education took him to Bokaro where he completed his 12th education from Chinmaya Vidyalaya. A Non conformist and voracious reader of novels, He spends the rest of his time in either thinking news ideas or listening music. Apart from this, what he loves is to analyze human behavior and mentor people in solving their problems because he, himself, is still trying to adjust in this fickle world. He is crazy about cars, novels. He plans to write more in near futures. "In Course Of True Love! In his debut novel. Reach him at : sanjeev.ranjan91@gmail.com You can also catch him at : facebook and twitter.