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In Service Of The Republic The Art And Science Of
As a $3-trillion economy, India is on her way to becoming an economic superpower. Between 1991 and 2011, the period of our best growth, there was also a substantial decline in the number of people below the poverty line. Since 2011, however, there has been a marked retreat in the high growth performance of the previous two decades. What happened to the promise? Where have we faltered? How do we change course? How do we overcome the ever-present dangers of the middle-income trap, and get rich before we grow old? And one question above all else: What do we need to do to make our tryst with destiny? As professional economists as well as former civil servants, Vijay Kelkar and Ajay Shah have spent most of their lives thinking about and working on these questions. The result: In Service of the Republic, a meticulously researched work that stands at the intersection of economics, political philosophy and public administration. This highly readable book lays out the art and the science of the policymaking that we need, from the high ideas to the gritty practicalities that go into building the Republic.
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Roots Of Terrorism
The events of 11 September in New York and 13 December in New Delhi marked the high points of terrorism. But India's experience with it goes back two decades. In this essay, Bajpai examines the volatile situation in the borderlands of Kashmir, Punjab and the Northeast, while drawing comparisons with leftist insurgency, communal riots, and caste wars elsewhere. How should we think about terrorist violence? Why has India been the object of terrorism from separatist groups in Kashmir, Punjab, and the Northeast? Have external influences played a role in supporting this? How has the Indian government responded to secessionist violence? These are some of the concerns the author explores here, as he seeks an identifiable set of factors that account for terrorism. Dwelling on how this violence can be combated, Bajpai discusses in detail the case of Kashmir. He argues convincingly about the impracticality of the military option, including war, and the futility of using limited force, as in policing, without commitment to a credible political process, namely free and fair elections. In this forceful and timely essay he not only calls for measured governmental action, but also places responsibility on citizens for restoring long-term peace by finding ways of de-legitimizing violence in Indian society.
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The Book Of Ram
He is Eka-vachani, a king who always keeps his word; Eka-bani, an archer who strikes his target with the first arrow; and Eka-patni, a husband who is eternally and absolutely devoted to a single wife. He is maryada purushottam Ram, the supreme upholder of social values, the scion of the Raghu clan, jewel of the solar dynasty, the seventh avatar of Vishnu, God who establishes order in worldly life. Hindus believe that in stressful and tumultuous times chanting Ram’s name and hearing his tale, the Ramayan, brings stability, hope, peace and prosperity. Reviled by feminists, appropriated by politicians, Ram remains serene in his majesty, the only Hindu deity to be worshipped as a king.
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The Burden Of Democracy
The Burden of Democracy is primarily an informative and intellectual book, which in turn is an elongated essay explaining the probable chaos of Indian democracy. In the book, the author discusses about the plight of Indian democracy even after sixty years of its birth. This book raises some very valid questions, which are often also raised and discussed by common people.In The Burden of Democracy, the author discusses crucial underlined factors of the demolishing Indian democracy and also puts on the podium some very interesting and reasonable suggestions, which if implemented, can bring forth the democracy of this country on the world map. The issues of social inequality, sphere of Indian politics, self-respect of the Indian democracy, public participation in the democracy and the crises of answerability and accountability, are very interestingly discussed in the book.The Burden of Democracy finally urges for a collective action of the Indians in order to help recover the ailing democracy of India. This collective action, the author explains in the essay, will include moral responsibility and social well being.
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Bazaars Conversations & Freedom For A Market Cultu
Long before the financial meltdown and the red alert on climate change, some far-sighted innovators diagnosed the fatal flaws in an economic system driven by greed and fear. Across the global North and South, diverse people-financial wizards, economists, business persons and social activists-have been challenging the 'free market' orthodoxy. They seek to recover the virtues of bazaars from the tyranny of a market model that emerged about two centuries ago. This book is a chronicle of their adventures. From Wall Street icon George Soros and VISA card designer Dee Hock we get an insider critique of the malaise. Creators of community currencies and others, like the father of microfinance, Bangladesh's Muhammad Yunus, explore how money can work differently. The doctrine of self-interest is re-examined by looking more closely at Adam Smith through the eyes of Amartya Sen. Mahatma Gandhi's concept of 'Trusteeship' gathers strength as the socially responsible investing phenomenon challenges the power of capital. Pioneers of the open source and free software movement thrive on cooperation to drive innovation. The Dalai Lama and Ela Bhatt demonstrate that it is possible to compete compassionately and to nurture a more mindful market culture. This sweeping narrative takes you from the ancient Greek Agora, Indian choupal, and Native American gift culture, onto present day Wall Street to illuminate ideas, subversive and prudent, about how the market can serve society rather than being its master. In a world exhausted by dogma Bazaars, Conversations and Freedom is an open quest for possible futures.
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Delhi A Novel
I return to Delhi as I return to my mistress Bhagmati when I have had my fill of whoring in foreign lands…’ Thus begins Khushwant Singh’s vast, erotic, irrelevant magnum opus on the city of Delhi. The principal narrator of the saga, which extends over six hundred years, is a bawdy, ageing reprobate who loves Delhi as much as he does the hijda whore Bhagmati—half man, half woman with sexual inventiveness and energy of both the sexes. Travelling through time, space and history to ‘discover’ his beloved city, the narrator meets a myriad of people—poets and princes, saints and sultans, temptresses and traitors, emperors and eunuchs—who have shaped and endowed Delhi with its very special mystique. And as we accompany the narrator on his epic journey we find the city of emperors transformed and immortalized in our minds forever.
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Orientalism
Now reissued with a substantial new afterword, this highly acclaimed overview of Western attitudes towards the East has become one of the canonical texts of cultural studies. Very excitinghis case is not merely persuasive, but conclusive. John Leonard in The New York Times His most important book, Orientalism established a new benchmark for discussion of the Wests skewed view of the Arab and Islamic world. Simon Louvish in the New Statesman & Society Edward Said speaks for interdisciplinarity as well as for monumental eruditionThe breadth of reading [is] astonishing. Fred Inglis in The Times Higher Education Supplement A stimulating, elegant yet pugnacious essay. Observer Excitingfor anyone interested in the history and power of ideas. J.H. Plumb in The New York Times Book Review Beautifully patterned and passionately argued. Nicholas Richardson in the New Statesman & Society
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How To Change The World
What business entrepreneurs are to the economy, social entrepreneurs are to social change. They are, writes David Bornstein, the driven, creative individuals who question the status quo, exploit new opportunities, refuse to give up--and remake the world for the better. How to Change the World tells the fascinating stories of these remarkable individuals--many in the United States, others in countries from Brazil to Hungary--providing an In Search of Excellence for the nonprofit sector. In America, one man, J.B. Schramm, has helped thousands of low-income high school students get into college. In South Africa, one woman, Veronica Khosa, developed a home-based care model for AIDS patients that changed government health policy. In Brazil, Fabio Rosa helped bring electricity to hundreds of thousands of remote rural residents. Another American, James Grant, is credited with saving 25 million lives by leading and 'marketing' a global campaign for immunization. Yet another, Bill Drayton, created a pioneering foundation, Ashoka, that has funded and supported these social entrepreneurs and over a thousand like them, leveraging the power of their ideas across the globe. These extraordinary stories highlight a massive transformation that is going largely unreported by the media: Around the world, the fastest-growing segment of society is the nonprofit sector, as millions of ordinary people--social entrepreneurs--are increasingly stepping in to solve the problems where governments and bureaucracies have failed. How to Change the World shows, as its title suggests, that with determination and innovation, even a single person can make a surprising difference. For anyone seeking to make a positive mark on the world, this will be both an inspiring read and an invaluable handbook.
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Brushes With History An Autobiography
Krishna Kumar Birla (1918-2008) was the chairman of several companies in areas as diverse as textiles, sugar, engineering, shipping, fertilizers and information technology. He was also the chairperson of HT Media, which publishes the Hindustan Times, an English daily with the largest circulation in north India, besides newspapers and magazines in Hindi. He was a member of the Rajya Sabha for three successive terms from 1984 to 2002, served on several committees of Parliament and was on the central board of the State Bank of India and ICICI. He was appointed twice, in 1980 and 2004, as a member of the National Integration Council chaired by the prime minister. Born in Pilani, a village in Rajasthan, in 1918, K.K. Birla got a bachelor's degree (honours) from Lahore University in 1939, and in 1997 was conferred the degree of Doctor of Letters (Honoris Causa) by Pondicherry University. He was chairman/chancellor of Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani. He set up the K.K. Birla Foundation, which confers annual awards for excellence in literature, scientific research, Indian philosophy, art and culture and sports. He also established the K.K. Birla Academy, which undertakes research on scientific, historical and cultural subjects
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Making Peace With Partition
The Partition of the Indian subcontinent in 1947 left a legacy of hostility and bitterness that has bedevilled relations between India and Pakistan for over fifty-five years. The two countries, both nuclear powers now, have fought three wars since Independence and have twice come to the brink of war in recent years. Each of their attempts to make peace has failed, and each failure has added a new layer of anger and mistrust to existing animosities. So what will it take for India and Pakistan to put the long shadows of Partition behind them, once and for all? Reviewing the turbulent history of their past relationship, Radha Kumar analyses the chief obstacles the two countries face and looks afresh, in particular, at the Kashmir conflict, in the light of the new opportunities and challenges that the twenty-first century presents. Kumar's comparisons with partition-related peace processes in Bosnia, Ireland, Cyprus and Israel-Palestine offer a radically different perspective on the prospects for peace between India and Pakistan, and illuminate the key elements that go into a successful peace process. Lucid, incisive and optimistic, Radha Kumar's essay, written at a time when a new peace process between India and Pakistan has begun to unfold, challenges received wisdom as it argues persuasively that the South Asian neighbours are today better placed to make peace than ever before.
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Pilgrim's Progress
The pilgrim Christian undertakes the dangerous journey to the Celestial City, experiencing physical and spiritual obstacles along the way
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Dictionary Of Quotations
This volume of memorable quotations, old and new, will be useful for competition entries and crosswords, speeches or letters or purely to dip into for entertainment.
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India 2020 A Vision for the New Millennium
In this ground-breaking vision document, first published in 1998, Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and Y.S. Rajan offer a blueprint for India to be counted among the world's top five economic powers by the year 2020. They cite growth rates and development trends to show that the goal is not unrealistic. Past successes - the green revolution and satellite-based communication linking remote regions of the country, for instance bear them out. The same sense of purpose can make us a prosperous, strong nation in a matter of years, assert Kalam and Rajan. This is a book that every citizen who hopes for a better India must read.
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Pocketful O' Stories 2
ITC Engage, one of India's leading fragrance brands is back with its much-loved bestselling series Pocketful O'Stories 2.0 in collaboration with the bestselling romance novelist Durjoy Datta. This year's theme, @LOVEIMPROMTWO was inspired by the newly launched 2-in-1 Pocket Perfume which makes sure that you are always ready for romance. People were invited to submit microtales on the unexpected and impromptu moments of love. Almost 25,000 entries were received within a month, making the second edition bigger than the first. Here's presenting a compilation of the best stories that also includes Durjoy's own microtales on unexpected moments of romance.
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The World Between Us
When Amal finds out that her disastrous Tinder match is now going to be her boss, she can't be more annoyed. Qais Ahmed is everything she never wants to be: narcissistic, manipulative and arrogant. However, despite her relentless efforts, she is unable to resist his charm and wit and is drawn to him once she gets to know the real him. She soon discovers that he isn't just a part of her professional life but has a deep connection to a past she is trying to forget. Will this disturbing secret tear them apart or bind them together forever?
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The Girl Who Disappeared
At the onset of her getaway to the hills of Himachal Pradesh in a secluded tourist spot, Writer's Hill, Nisha knew something terrible was going to happen. Less than seventy-two hours later, she goes missing under mysterious circumstances. When the police arrive and question the co-inhabitants, they're surprised at their statements. All of them describe an eerie, almost supernatural, occurrence on the night of Nisha's disappearance. To add to the strangeness is a unique coterie of travellers-Nisha's ignorant boyfriend, a reclusive but nosy writer and a young couple who are not what they seem. There is also the caretaker's visually impaired daughter who claims she can 'see things'. With barely any leads, the police know they have to work doubly hard if they want to find Nisha, but with each passing day, the mystery around her disappearance gets murkier. Where is Nisha?
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Death An Inside Story
Death is a taboo in most societies in the world. But what if we have got this completely wrong? What if death was not the catastrophe it is made out to be but an essential aspect of life, rife with spiritual possibilities for transcendence? For the first time, someone is saying just that. In this unique treatise-like exposition, Sadhguru dwells extensively upon his inner experience as he expounds on the more profound aspects of death that are rarely spoken about. From a practical standpoint, he elaborates on what preparations one can make for one's death, how best we can assist someone who is dying and how we can continue to support their journey even after death. Whether a believer or not, a devotee or an agnostic, an accomplished seeker or a simpleton, this is truly a book for all those who shall die!
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With Love A Collection of Letters
Dear Reader, Letters change people. They turn forty-year-old men into helpless fathers. Scared mothers into fierce fighters. Long-lost pets into possessive exes. And old lovers into best friends. They make you spell help. Give someone a second first chance. Make you leave behind a home. And find another in someone. Sometimes, they're warnings. Sometimes, confessions. And sometimes, a story left untold. Letters change people, they say. Let's hope these change you too. With love, Us After two bestsellers--Terribly Tiny Tales and Ninety-Seven Poems--Terribly Tiny Tales and Penguin come together on the same page for the third time.
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Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line
Nine-year-old Jai drools outside sweet shops, watches too many reality police shows and considers himself to be smarter than his friends Pari and Faiz. When a classmate goes missing, Jai decides to use the crime-solving skills he has picked up from TV to find him. He asks Pari and Faiz to be his assistants, and together they draw up lists of people to interview and places to visit. But what begins as a game turns sinister as other children start disappearing from their neighbourhood. Jai, Pari and Faiz have to confront terrified parents, an indifferent police force and rumours of soul-snatching djinns. As the disappearances edge ever closer to home, the lives of Jai and his friends will never be the same again. Drawing on real incidents and a spate of disappearances in metropolitan India, Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line is extraordinarily moving, flawlessly imagined and a triumph of suspense. It captures the fierce warmth, resilience and bravery that can emerge in times of trouble and carries the reader headlong into a world that, once encountered, is impossible to forget.
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Casino Royale
'A dry martini,' Bond said. 'In a deep champagne goblet. Three measures of Gordons, one of Vodka, half a measure of Kina Lillet. Shake it very well until it's ice cold, then add a thin slice of lemon peel. Got it?' 'Certainly, monsieur.' Introducing James Bond: charming, sophisticated, handsome; chillingly ruthless and very deadly. This, the first of Fleming's tales of agent 007, finds Bond on a mission to neutralize a lethal, high-rolling Russian operative called simply 'The Cypher' - by ruining him at the Baccarat table and forcing his Soviet spymasters to 'retire' him. It seems that lady luck is taken with James - The Cypher has hit a losing streak. But some people just refuse to play by the rules and Bond's attraction to a beautiful female agent leads him to disaster and an unexpected saviour ...
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Non Stop India
Jugaar can loosely be translated as muddling through, or making do. This is undoubtedly a valuable talent and has seen India through numerous crises which could have destabilized a country that is less adaptable—four wars, for example. But while jugaar can be seen to have served India well in the past, it has a downside. It has led to a dangerous complacency, the belief that as India has muddled through so many times before, there is no need for urgency in tackling the problems it faces. In Non Stop India veteran journalist Mark Tully draws on his unmatched knowledge of India, garnered from thirty years of living in, and reporting from, the country, to examine how this approach impacts on her much-touted prospects of becoming an economic super-power. From Maoist conflicts to huge industrial houses; from the Tiger project to farmer suicides; from the Ramayana to the remote valleys of the north-east, Tully examines India’s myriad negotiations with modernity and her prospects for the next century and beyond.
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Trending in Love
Sanam is a carefree, but headstrong young girl. A spat with a politician's son pushes her take up a big challenge-to become an IAS. At the same time, a small-town boy, Aamir, is nudged into studying for the civil services too. Their hard work pays off when both become rank holders. And soon their lives come together at the IAS Training Academy, Mussoorie. Love blossoms, but when they decide to spend their lives together, all hell breaks loose. Their religious difference become a reason for clashes between the two communities, social media explodes and things take a dangerous turn. It seems hate has triumphed over love. What will be Sanam and Aamir's fate? A heady mix of dreams and desire, this is a story of undying love in the face of our society's most dangerous beliefs.
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Happy For No Reason
Mandira Bedi is a fitness icon.But behind the six-pack is also a snotty, complaining, can't-get-out-of-bed-today girl who, in her own way, is still searching for true happiness. Not conditional, materialistic, transactional happiness, but just happiness. So has she cracked it yet? Mandira says 'No'. But she genuinely believes that she's headed in the right direction. In her own chaotic way, she seems to have discovered some kind of non-scientific, non-spiritual and as-yet-non-existent formula for finding peace in everything. Just being happy-for no reason. This book is about that.
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A Good Wife
At fifteen, Samra Zafar had big dreams for herself. She was going to go to university, and forge her own path. Then with almost no warning, those dreams were pulled away from her when she was suddenly married to a stranger at seventeen and had to leave behind her family in Pakistan to move to Canada. Her new husband and his family promised that the marriage and the move would be a fulfilment of her dream, not a betrayal of it. But as the walls of their home slowly became a prison, Samra realized the promises were empty ones. In the years that followed she suffered her husband's emotional and physical abuse that left her feeling isolated, humiliated and assaulted. Desperate to get out, and refusing to give up, she hatched an escape plan for herself and her two daughters. Somehow she found the strength to not only build a new future, but to walk away from her past, ignoring the pleas of her family and risking cultural isolation by divorcing her husband. But that end was only the beginning for Samra. Through her academic and career achievements, she has gone on to become a mentor and public speaker, connecting with people around the world from isolated women in situations similar to her own, to young schoolgirls in Kenya who never allowed themselves to dream to men making the decisions to save for their daughters' educations instead of their dowries. A Good Wife tells her harrowing and inspiring story, following her from a young girl with big dreams, through finding strength in the face of oppression and then finally battling through to empowerment.