Among the case studies-chosen for the diversity of failures they highlight are - the procedural irregularities in the issuance of licenses for second generation spectrum allotment, the last minute quick-fixes in the conduct of the XIX commonwealth games, the loss of national resources while allocating coal blocks, the flouting of systems and the clear display of crony capitalism in the exploration of hydrocarbon and the tragic tale of civil aviation in India.Through these illustrations, Rai wishes to not only expose government malfeasance, but also probe the mandate of the CAG as a watchdog. Equally, he hopes to push for long-term solutions to corruption and bring home the urgent need for ethics-for the pursuit of excellence, accountability, probity and transparency within governments, the bureaucracy, corporate enterprises and public life.Interesting facts1. A blow-by-blow, explosive, yet thoughtful account that sheds new light on the scams that shook India - 2G, coalgate, civil aviation, the conduct of the XIX commonwealth games and hydrocarbon contracts.2. Explodes the myth of accountability in contemporary Indian governance.3. Written by the eleventh CAG of India and a symbol of the anti-corruption movement, Vinod Rai.4. Presents long-term solutions for the future, so as to contain procedural irregularities within the government and corporate enterprises.5. Provides a roadmap for good governance, important for the growth of the nation.6. Exhorts younger professionals / administrators to strive for excellence.

    Deep Halder is one of them.' - Amitava Kumar In 1978, around 1.5 lakh Hindu refugees, mostly belonging to the lower castes, settled in Marichjhapi an island in the Sundarbans, in West Bengal. By May 1979, the island was cleared of all refugees by Jyoti Basu's Left Front government. Most of the refugees were sent back to the central India camps they came from, but there were many deaths: of diseases, malnutrition resulting from an economic blockade, as well as from violence unleashed by the police on the orders of the government. Some of the refugees who survived Marichjhapi say the number of those who lost their lives could be as high as 10,000, while the-then government officials maintain that there were less than ten victims. How does an entire island population disappear? How does one unearth the truth and the details of one of the worst atrocities of post-Independent India? Journalist Deep Halder reconstructs the buried history of the 1979 massacres through his interviews with survivors, erstwhile reporters, government officials and activists with a rare combination of courage, conscientiousness and empathy.

    In January 1993, the selective massacres of Muslims at Bombay and the devastating revenge bomb blasts there two months later led to extensive travelling and reporting for the New York Times. In addition, there was 'normal reporting' : the Punjab, environmental, economic and political issues such as the billion dollar scam.

    In the dark days that followed, Coomi Kapoor, then a young journalist, personally experienced the full fury of the establishment. Meanwhile, Indira Gandhi, her son Sanjay and his coterie unleashed a reign of terror that saw forced sterilizations, brutal evictions in the thousands, and wanton imprisonment of many, including Opposition leaders.This gripping eyewitness account vividly recreates the drama, the horror, as well as the heroism of a few during those nineteen months when democracy was derailed.

    In the twenty-one harrowing months that followed, her regime unleashed a brutal campaign of coercion and intimidation, arresting and torturing people by the tens of thousands, razing slums, and imposing compulsory sterilization on the poor. Emergency Chronicles provides the first comprehensive account of this understudied episode in India's modern history. Gyan Prakash strips away the comfortable myth that the Emergency was an isolated event brought on solely by Gandhi's desire to cling to power, arguing that it was as much the product of Indian democracy's troubled relationship with popular politics.Drawing on archival records, private papers and letters, published sources, film and literary materials, and interviews with victims and perpetrators, Prakash traces the Emergency's origins to the moment of India's independence in 1947, revealing how the unfulfilled promise of democratic transformation upset the fine balance between state power and civil rights. He vividly depicts the unfolding of a political crisis that culminated in widespread popular unrest, which Gandhi sought to crush by paradoxically using the law to suspend lawful rights. Her failure to preserve the existing political order had lasting and unforeseen repercussions, opening the door for caste politics and Hindu nationalism.Placing the Emergency within the broader global history of democracy, this gripping book offers invaluable lessons for us today as the world once again confronts the dangers of rising authoritarianism and populist nationalism.

    Roopleen. This book contains the success stories of 17 renowned doctors namely Virendra Sarwal, Ashok Khurana, Lingam Vijaya, Muralidhar V. Pai, Krishna R. Murthy, Suresh K. Pandey, Jyotirmay Biswas, Barnali Das, Mahipal S. Sachdev, Praveen R. Murthy, Anita Panda, Jas Kohli, Dhanashree Ratra, Sarbjit Singh, Vidushi Sharma, Vinay R. Murthy and Sundaram Natarajan. It’s indeed a must read for all those young hearts aspiring to become doctors and also the other people in general who think that all the doctors are corrupt and they don’t feel, because firstly doctors are humans too, and not every doctor is bad, they sacrifice their personal lives to give birth and rebirth to others lives. Everyone knows that it takes a lot to become a good doctor, but what people think is that the big fat books are the only hurdles. But the truth is, the books are only a petty thing, the circumstances and plot twists of life is the real struggle. In the book we get to read about seventeen different doctors who had their fair share of struggle and all went through equal ups and downs. Their lives offered them different types of barriers in the way to their goals but one thing is there that they all have in common- None of them gave up. They continued to fight through the worst of situations. Even when the world were against them, they kept holding on to their dream. And they all worked hard and put in a lot of effort to get where they are today. Nothing in life comes without a price. They paid the price through immense hard work and now life is paying them back with success and happiness. I feel that the book is not only inspiring for to be doctors but also for other students from any stream and subject. Because the point of the book is the struggle to reach success not just the struggle to become doctor. The book also contains quotes and advice for the medical students. It warns them of the pros and cons. It is the best feeling in the world to give someone life but then there js sacrificing of personal time, family time, vacations, and yes again, there’s a lot of dedication and hard work required. It’s a full package and a complete punch of knowledge and motivation. The stories are destined to stir hearts and motivate souls. Every journey is aspiring in it’s own way. The hurdles were strong, but the will power and self motivation was stronger. It’s very easy to give up but then once you give up the rest of your lives you have to struggle to make a living. You struggle now, the rest of your lives will contain only flowers. Overall I’d like to rate this book 9/10. It was a good and satisfying read after a long time.

    Build lakes, plant trees. Gowda built a hundred lakes and lined the wide avenues of the city with leafy trees.After India gained independence, Bangalore became known as a pensioners’ paradise. In the early 1980s, the city reinvented itself once again, this time as the home of some of the world’s most outstanding entrepreneurs. Very rapidly, aided by the dozens of engineering schools that had sprouted in the city since Independence, Bangalore became the hub of India’s information technology (IT) revolution. In the twenty-first century, the city is trying to cope with the problems that have accompanied its explosive growth, and enormous success— crumbling infrastructure, traffic jams, soaring real estate prices, corruption and chaos. Despite the challenges it faces, Bangalore continues to be one of the world’s most distinctive and interesting cities. T. J. S. George walks us through both ‘old’ and ‘new’ Bangalore—from gleaming skyscrapers and lively dance studios to colonial-era bungalows marked by quaint little name-stones, from legendary eating places like Koshy’s and Mavalli Tiffin Room (MTR) to shining new eateries that serve craft beer.

    To recover the sense of moral well being and responsibility, the author suggests, is the core of the democratic challenge before India.

    -Faiz Ahmed FaizIn the two decades since the early 1990s, when India confirmed its allegiance to the Free Market, more of its citizens have become marginalized than ever before, and society has become more sharply riven than ever.In 'Looking Away', Harsh Mander ranges wide to record and analyse the many different fault lines which crisscross Indian society today.There is increasing prosperity among the middle classes, but also a corresponding intolerance for the less fortunate. Poverty and homelessness are also on the rise-both in urban and rural settings- but not only has the state abandoned its responsibility to provide for those afflicted, the middle class, too, now avoids even the basic impulses of sharing. And with the sharp Rightward turn in politics, minority communities are under serious threat-their very status as citizens in question-as a belligerent, monolithic idea of the nation takes the place of an inclusive, tolerant one.However, as Harsh Mander points out, what most stains society today is the erosion in the imperative for sympathy, both at the state and individual levels, a crumbling that is principally at the base of the vast inequities which afflict India. Exhaustive in its scope, impassioned in its arguments, and rigorous in its scholarship, 'Looking Away' is a sobering checklist of all the things we must collectively get right if India is to become the country that was promised, in equal measure, to all its citizens.

    With him ride his wives, his sisters, his daughters, his aunts and his distant female relatives. Unhindered by a relatively recent conversion to Islam, these women will help found a culture of such magnificence and beauty that it will become a by-word for opulence in the world. These Mughal women of Hindustan—unmarried daughters, eccentric sisters, fiery milk-mothers and beautiful wives, will contribute to the great syncretic culture of the Mughals by writing biographies, building monuments, engaging in diplomacy, and patronizing the arts. And even as the zenana changes from the earlier nomadic, tented spaces to the later more sequestered grandeur within the high stone walls of mighty qilas, the influence of the women remains visible and unquestioned. This book looks at the lives of these Mughal women, and the enigma of their disappearance, except as objects of curiosity, from our collective memory.

    This book examines the extraordinary contribution of Sardar Patel,from his unflinching support to Gandhi's satyagrahas and the Indian freedom struggle,to his farsighted and courageous approach in a strong,integrated India

    He unified the warring chiefdoms of the Punjab into an extraordinary northern empire, built up a formidable army, kept the British in check to the south of his realm, and closed the Khyber Pass through which plunderers had poured into India for centuries. His consummate humanity was unique among empire-builders. He gave employment to defeated foes, honored faiths other than his own, and included Hindus and Muslims among his ministers. A colorful character, he was inspired by the principles of peaceful coexistence uniquely articulated by the Sikh Gurus, firm in upholding the rights of others, and unabashed in exercising his own. The authors of this first full-length biography in English make use of a variety of eyewitness accounts, from reports by Maratha spies at the Lahore Durbar to British parliamentary papers and travel accounts. The story ends with the controversial Anglo-Sikh Wars following Ranjit's death, which saw the fall of his empire in the hands of his successors whose internecine conflict was exploited by the British. Coinciding with the 300th anniversary of the consecration of the Sikh holy scriptures, this book honors a vital figure in Sikh history.

    

    These belongings absorbed the memory of a time and place, remaining latent and undisturbed for generations. They now speak of their owner's pasts as they emerge as testaments to the struggle, sacrifice, pain and belonging at an unparalleled moment in history. A string of pearls gifted by a maharaja, carried from Dalhousie to Lahore, reveals the grandeur of a life that once was. A notebook of poems, brought from Lahore to Kalyan, shows one woman's determination to pursue the written word despite the turmoil around her. A refugee certificate created in Calcutta evokes in a daughter the feelings of displacement her father had experienced upon leaving Mymensingh zila, now in Bangladesh. Written as a crossover between history and anthropology, Remnants of a Separation is the product of years of passionate research. It is an alternative history of the Partition - the first and only one told through material memory that makes the event tangible even seven decades later.

    Meets the requirements of the various Universities of India for the LL.B., LL.M., B.A. and M.A. (Political Science) and Competitive examinations held by the Union and State Public Service Commissions. Also indispensable for politicians, journalists, statesmen and administrative authorities. Prescribed in several Universities even for under-graduate courses in Civics. Incorporates all amendments to the Constitution upto 83rd Constitutional Amendment Act 2000. Contains materials, figures and charts not included in any publication so far on the subject. Elaborate comments on separatism in Punjab, Assam & elsewhere.Salient features:* While the Author's Commentary on the Constitution of India and the Shorter Constitution annotate the Constitution Article by Article, primarily from the legal standpoint, the present work offers systematic exposition of the constitutional document in the form of a narrative, properly arranged under logical chapters and topical headings.* It will supply the long felt need for an introductory study on the Constitution for the general readers, politicians as well as students and candidates for the Public Service Commission and other competitive examinations.* It traces the constitutional history of India since the Government of India Act, 1935; analyses the provisions of the present Constitution and explains the inter-relation between its diverse contents. * It gives an account of the working of each of the provisions of the Constitution during its first decade with reference to statutes and decisions wherever necessary, together with a critical estimate of its trends, in a concluding chapter.* The analytical Table of Contents, marginal notes, index and the graphic Tables at the end of the book will serve as admirable aids.* The three Legislative lists have been printed side by side for the convenience of reference.* The change made by the different Constitution Amendment Acts upto the 83rd Amendment and the reorganisation of the States made by various statutes may be seen at a glance.* Without going into excessive detail the footnotes and references have been printed at the end of each Chapter so that the advanced student and the researcher may profit by pursuing those references, after his study of the contents of each chapter.* The status of Jammu and Kashmir and the provisions of its State Constitution have been fully dealt with.