No Money Marketing – From Upstart to Market Leader

Jessie Paul is the Chief Marketing Officer of Wipro's IT business. An MBA from IIM Calcutta, Jessie is considered an expert in brand globalization, and has been named one of the most influential women in IT in India. No Money Marketing shows how an emerging brand can spot and tap into its marketing ecosystem of all stakeholders, and compete successfully with established brands for market share and mind share. Highlights: ? Spells out practical, low-cost, high-impact offline and online marketing strategies ? Studies global branding successes of Indian brands abroad and international brands in India across diverse sectors like IT, automobiles, F & B and banking. ? Shares snippets of author's rich branding and marketing experiences and insights from interviews with thought leaders like Narayana Murthy, Nandan Nilekani, Vijay Mallya, and Shelly Lazarus. ? The book enlightens entrepreneurs, marketers and managers with the vision and road map of building their brands and capturing markets on limited budget.

Out of Poverty

Free-market advocate Paul Polak is an atypical poverty expert. He compellingly argues that handouts do not alleviate poverty and might make it worse. Instead, he insists, the true solution to poverty lies in unleashing the poor’s entrepreneurial power. Polak says successful entrepreneurs like him are the ones who can help the poor make more money. His company designs cheap water pumps and irrigation systems that sell for a profit while helping subsistence farmers make more money. Although he frequently repeats the same points, Polak’s treatise is a lively read. getAbstract recommends Polak’s point of view to readers who seek a contrary – and practical – perspective on the problem of global poverty.

The End of Food

Journalist Paul Roberts investigated the global food-delivery system and he reports that food product production and prices have advanced like the production and prices of other contemporary consumer goods. The economics of the food system push an ever-faster product cycle driven by supply-and-demand pressures. The infrastructure that delivers food to consumers uses ever-advancing technology. However, food itself is not an ordinary consumer “product.” Inexpensive food is an illusion, because the process externalizes many food production costs as cheap labor or cheap oil. Roberts explains why the food-delivery system is mired in economic, political and cultural problems, and examines the crisis that looms if it runs out of fuel or water, or both. getAbstract recommends this investigation to readers who want to understand the production, market and consumer implications involved in feeding the people on our planet.

Twitter Power

Why you should read Twitter Power
Comm’s book will alert you to the real business possibilities of Twitter. He guides new and intermediate Twitter users through the whole process of using Twitter productively, from creating a profile to building a following to measuring your success. He also explains how to get business results on Twitter and how to measure those results. While Comm covers the basics for beginners, even experienced users will discover tidbits that will improve how they tweet. getAbstract needs more than 140 characters to recommend Comm’s book, which gives corporate communicators, brand managers and individuals the information they need to do Twitter right.

The Professional

Bagchi’s first best-selling book, The High-Performance Entrepreneur, shared his story of building a company. His second bestseller, Go Kiss the World, was the story of his life, a motivation to young people that anyone can achieve. But as Subroto Bagchi says: ‘Go Kiss the World did not provide a tool kit.’ In The Professional he gives us his knowledge, based on his lifelong experience, of what it takes to be a professional, what qualities you need to become a great professional. Most importantly, he asks, and gives answers, to the toughest question every professional faces: Is what I am going to do now, faced with a difficult decision and multiple options, the professional choice to make? In a world where a ‘Satyam saga’ was incomprehensible; where the global economic meltdown has affected the livelihoods of millions of people; where companies and individuals are routinely revealed to have made unprofessional choices, The Professional provides the explicit and implicit code of conduct— the boundaries which separate a skilled individual from a professional.

What Is Worth Teaching

The Wages of Impunity consists of essays on human rights and civil liberties in India. Reiterating the indispensability of fundamental rights, read in the context of the Indian Constitution's Directive Principles, the essays focus on aspects such as secularism, socialism, and right to life, liberty, free speech and association. Using the Constitution as the point of departure, the author opens up the complexity of rights through incisive analyses of case law on each of these aspects.Examining the basis of repressive legal regimes in India and their history, K G Kannabiran traces discourses on rights along multiple channels, all inextricably linked yet separate and autonomous-the courts (both the judiciary and the bar), the government, and politics (progressive and reactionary). What is particularly striking about the essays is the manner in which each addresses a distinct point of law, but all of which converge on a single point that is in fact the core of rightlessness-the habit of impunity.On one track, the book looks at the origin of preventive detention laws in the country in the context of the debates during the colonial period on the issue. Arguing that, starting from 1950, the Constitution has been interpreted by the courts in a manner that breaks the critical link between it and the aspirations of a newly liberated people, The Wages of Impunity traces the whittling down of civil liberties in the emergency, which saw the suspension of free speech and freedom of association. The book shows that the years after 1980 saw the use with impunity of preventive detention in the political and legal fabric of governance and justice delivery through the enactment and validation of a series of antiterrorist laws. On a second track, the essays look at the practices of politics-the undermining of mass struggles and left movements and the rise of right-wing nationalism. On a third track, the essays explore possible remedies to a seemingly hopeless situation. These include absolute accountability, transparency and the rule of law in institutions of governance and justice and in political praxis.

Genetic Roulette: The Documented Health Risks of Genetically Engineered Foods

Eating genetically modified food is gambling with every bite.
The biotech industry?s claim that genetically modified (GM) foods are safe is shattered in this groundbreaking book. Nearly forty health risks of the foods that Americans eat every day are presented in easy-to-read two-page spreads. The left page is designed for the quick scanning reader; it includes bullets, illustrations, and quotes. The right side offers fully referenced text, describing both research studies and theoretical risks. It is presented in the clear, accessible style that made Jeffrey Smith?s Seeds of Deception the world?s best-selling book on genetically engineered foods.
The second half of Genetic Roulette explores why children are most at risk, how to avoid GM foods, false claims by biotech advocates, how industry research is rigged to avoid finding problems, why GM crops are not needed to feed the world, the economic losses associated with these crops, and more.
This book, prepared in collaboration with a team of international scientists, is for anyone wanting to understand GM technology, to learn how to protect themselves, or to share their concerns with others. As the world?s most complete reference on the health risks of GM foods, Genetic Roulette is also ideal for schools and libraries. Consider some findings:
Animals fed genetically modified (GM) foods developed bleeding stomachs, potentially precancerous cell growth, damaged organs and immune systems, kidney inflammation, problems with blood and liver cells, and unexplained deaths.
Soy allergies skyrocketed in the United Kingdom after GM soy was introduced.
Genes from GM crops transfer to human gut bacteria. This might transform our intestinal flora into living pesticide factories.

Games for Actors and Non-Actors

Games for Actors and Non-Actors is a valuable handbook of methods, techniques, games, and exercises, and is a genuinely inspiring work by the world-famous author of Theatre of the Oppressed. It is designed to help anyone - whether actor on non-actor - rehearse for real life: make the fictional real.

The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of the Capitalism

Max Weber is considered one of the most influential thinkers of the 20th century. Weber's The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism is the most famous and widely read classic of Sociology. This is also a classic study of Religion and Economics.

A Better India : A Better World

With one of the highest GDP growth rates in the world and an array of recent achievements in technology, industry and entrepreneurship, India strides confidently towards the future. But, in the world's largest democracy, not everyone is equally fortunate. More than 300 million Indians are still prey to hunger, illiteracy and disease, and 51 per cent of India's children are still undernourished. What will it take for India to bridge this great divide? When will the fruits of development reach the poorest of the poor, and wipe the tears from the eyes of every man, woman and child, as Mahatma Gandhi had dreamt? And how should this, our greatest challenge ever, be negotiated? In this extraordinarily inspiring and visionary book, N.R. Narayana Murthy, who pioneered, designed and executed the Global Delivery Model that has become the cornerstone of India's success in information technology services outsourcing, shows us that a society working for the greatest welfare of the greatest number — samasta jananam sukhino bhavantu — must focus on two simple things: values and good leadership. Drawing on the remarkable Infosys story and the lessons learnt from the two decades of post-reform India, Narayana Murthy lays down the ground rules that must be followed if future generations are to inherit a truly progressive nation. Built on Narayana Murthy's lectures delivered around the world, A Better India : A Better World is a manifesto for the youth, the architects of the future, and a compelling argument for why a better India holds the key to a better world.

The Secret Life of Trees: How They Live and Why They Matter

The age of trees often inspires awe, from the redwoods of California to English oaks. We wonder how they live so long, and how they really work. This work explores the way trees work and what they are, finding out how they communicate, how they tell the time, how they came to exist, and much more.

The Secret Life of Trees
By Colin Tudge
451 pages

The Meme Machine

In The Selfish Gene, Richard Dawkins proposed the concept of the meme as a unit of culture, spread by imitation. Now Dawkins himself says of Susan Blackmore:
Showing greater courage and intellectual chutzpah than I have ever aspired to, she deploys her memetic forces in a brave--do not think foolhardy until you have read it--assault on the deepest questions of all: What is a self? What am I? Where am I? ... Any theory deserves to be given its best shot, and that is what Susan Blackmore has given the theory of the meme.
Blackmore is a parapsychologist who rejects the paranormal, a skeptical investigator of near-death experiences, and a practitioner of Zen. Her explanation of the science of the meme (memetics) is rigorously Darwinian. Because she is a careful thinker (though by no means dull or conventional), the reader ends up with a good idea of what memetics explains well and what it doesn't, and with many ideas about how it can be tested--the very hallmark of an excellent science book. Blackmore's discussion of the "memeplexes" of religion and of the self are sure to be controversial, but she is (as Dawkins says) enormously honest and brave to make a connection between scientific ideas and how one should live one's life. --Mary Ellen Curtin

Five books released by CAM

Five books related to farm and rural journalism – ‘Guddada melina ekavyakti sainya’ authored by Shree Padre, ‘Jalanemmadiyatta Kakola – Teredabavi marupooranada yashogathe’ written by Poornaprajna Belur, ‘Oota Bharjari Hotte Khali’ by Shivaram Pailoor, ‘Kalluhasina mele hasiru hodike’ written by Anandateertha Pyati along with a collection of farmer friendly innovations published in Adike Patrike were released on the occasion. All the books are published by Centre for Agricultural Media.
Centre for Agricultural Media#119, 1st Main, 4th CrossNarayanapur, Dharwad 580 008Karnataka, INDIAwww.farmedia.orgagriculturalmedia@gmail.com

In Defense of Food By Michael Pollan

What to eat, what not to eat, and how to think about health: a manifesto for our times "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." These simple words go to the heart of Michael Pollan's "In Defense of Food," the well-considered answers he provides to the questions posed in the bestselling "The Omnivore's Dilemma," Humans used to know how to eat well, Pollan argues. But the balanced dietary lessons that were once passed down through generations have been confused, complicated, and distorted by food industry marketers, nutritional scientists, and journalists-all of whom have much to gain from our dietary confusion. As a result, we face today a complex culinary landscape dense with bad advice and foods that are not "real." These "edible foodlike substances" are often packaged with labels bearing health claims that are typically false or misleading. Indeed, real food is fast disappearing from the marketplace, to be replaced by "nutrients," and plain old eating by an obsession with nutrition that is, paradoxically, ruining our health, not to mention our meals. Michael Pollan's sensible and decidedly counterintuitive advice is: "Don't eat anything that your great-great grandmother would not recognize as food." Writing "In Defense of Food," and affirming the joy of eating, Pollan suggests that if we would pay more for better, well-grown food, but buy less of it, we'll benefit ourselves, our communities, and the environment at large. Taking a clear-eyed look at what science does and does not know about the links between diet and health, he proposes a new way to think about the question of what to eat that is informed by ecology and tradition rather than by the prevailing nutrient-by-nutrientapproach. "In Defense of Food" reminds us that, despite the daunting dietary landscape Americans confront in the modern supermarket, the solutions to the current omnivore's dilemma can be found all around us. In looking toward traditional diets the world over, as well as the foods our families-and regions-historically enjoyed, we can recover a more balanced, reasonable, and pleasurable approach to food. Michael Pollan's bracing and eloquent manifesto shows us how we might start making thoughtful food choices that will enrich our lives and enlarge our sense of what it means to be healthy.

The Mind Map Book: How to Use Radiant Thinking to Maximize Your Brain's Untapped

The potential of the human mind is absolutely phenomenal, and Tony Buzan is one of the world's leading experts on how people can maximize their brainpower. Now, in his most comprehensive book yet on the topic, Buzan reveals exciting new ways to improve one's memory, concentration, creativity, ability to learn, and more.

Animal Spirits: How Human Psychology Drives the Economy, and Why It Matters for Global Capitalism

The global financial crisis has made it painfully clear that powerful psychological forces are imperiling the wealth of nations today. From blind faith in ever-rising housing prices to plummeting confidence in capital markets, "animal spirits" are driving financial events worldwide. In this book, acclaimed economists George Akerlof and Robert Shiller challenge the economic wisdom that got us into this mess, and put forward a bold new vision that will transform economics and restore prosperity.
Akerlof and Shiller reassert the necessity of an active government role in economic policymaking by recovering the idea of animal spirits, a term John Maynard Keynes used to describe the gloom and despondence that led to the Great Depression and the changing psychology that accompanied recovery. Like Keynes, Akerlof and Shiller know that managing these animal spirits requires the steady hand of government--simply allowing markets to work won't do it. In rebuilding the case for a more robust, behaviorally informed Keynesianism, they detail the most pervasive effects of animal spirits in contemporary economic life--such as confidence, fear, bad faith, corruption, a concern for fairness, and the stories we tell ourselves about our economic fortunes--and show how Reaganomics, Thatcherism, and the rational expectations revolution failed to account for them.
Animal Spirits offers a road map for reversing the financial misfortunes besetting us today. Read it and learn how leaders can channel animal spirits--the powerful forces of human psychology that are afoot in the world economy today.

Plugged In: The Generation Y Guide to Thriving at Work

They make up nearly one-third of all Americans living today. Born after1980, they're now pouring into the work world with values, aspirations, and approaches that differ markedly from their parents-- and coworkers. They're Generation Y.In Plugged In, Tamara Erickson shows Gen Y's how to use their own unique strengths to understand and influence their professional relationships, to figure out how they define "success," and to help them find their way in the changing workplace.Filled with Erickson's extensive research into demographic trends and thoughtful insights, Plugged In gives Gen Y's the information they crave to connect with the working world and to craft the lives they want.The author reveals:
A framework Y's can use to develop their own criteria for making career choices
The unique assets and strengths Y's bring to the workplace
How X'ers and Boomers view Generation Y and how the different generations can collaborate more effectively at work
10 rules that can help Generation Y's succeed in the corporate worldWith her trademark warmth and liveliness, Erickson provides a thoughtful, valuable guidebook for the latest newcomers on the corporate scene.

LIFE, WORKS & WRITINGS

Laurie Baker has worked in India for over forty years and is renowned for being one of the very few architects in the world to have designed and built buildings as diverse as fisherman's huts, computer institutes, private homes, hostels, hospitals, churches, technical institutes, auditoriums, film studios and tourist centers. His distinctive brand of architecture, usually molded around local building traditions (especially those of Kerala, his adopted home state in South India), is instantly identifiable and has, unsurprisingly, revolutionized traditional concept of architecture in India. Baker's architecture is responsive, uses local materials and lays stress on low-cost design. This biography of Laurie Baker, like his work, is direct, simple and comprehensive; further embellished with sketches, plans, photographs and some of Baker's own writings, the book offers the professional architect as well as the layman a fascinating view of the life, methods and thoughts of an unorthodox genius.

Go Kiss the World

Go, kiss the world’ were Subroto Bagchi’s blind mother’s last words to him. These words became the guiding principle of his life. Subroto Bagchi grew up amidst what he calls the ‘material simplicity’ of rural and small-town Orissa, imbibing from his family a sense of contentment, constant wonder, connectedness to a larger whole and learning from unusual sources. From humble beginnings, he went on to achieve extraordinary professional success, eventually co-founding MindTree, one of India’s most admired software services companies. Through personal anecdotes and simple words of wisdom, Subroto Bagchi brings to the young professional lessons in working and living, energizing ordinary people to lead extraordinary lives. Go Kiss the World will be an inspiration to ‘young India’, and to those who come from small-town India, urging them to recognize and develop their inner strengths, thereby helping them realize their own, unique potential.

THE ART OF WAR

Preserved in China for more than 2,000 years before it was brought to the West by the French, this compact little book is widely regarded as the oldest military treatise in the world. Rumored to have been used by Napoleon in his campaigns to conquer Europe, it today retains much of its original merit. American officers read it closely during World War II. The Japanese army studied the work for decades, and many twentieth-century Chinese officers are said to have known the book by heart. More recently, it has also been viewed as a valuable guide to competing successfully in business.<br> Stressing the importance of attacking your enemy when he is unprepared and scheming to discover his plans, the author advises avoiding the strong and striking at the weak, and using spies for every kind of business. Principles of strategy, tactics, maneuvering, and communications, the treatment of soldiers, the importance of strong troops and well-trained officers, and the administration of rewards and punishments all have a modern ring to them. <br>A valuable guide to the conduct of war, this classic of military strategy is indispensable to military personnel, history enthusiasts, and anyone intrigued by competition and rivalry.

HOW CHILDREN LEARN

When it was first published in 1967, this now classic book was something of a bomb-shell. A companion volume to the earlier, equally ground-breaking How Children Fail, this illuminating survey gives central place to what Enistein called the 'holy curiosity of inquiry', suggesting that teachers stand back from their pupils in order to allow the learning process to operate more successfully. It sets out to demonstrate to parents and teachers that learning is as natural as breathing. The ways we learn to talk, to read, to count and to reason, even before we start school, should make the adult trust the child's innate ability. How children Learn also features an eloquent critique of methods of learning about children, and a chapter of 'Learning and love' that brings the reader close to the heart of John Holt's philosophy.

Totto-Chan: The Little Girl at the Window

This engaging series of childhood recollections tells about an ideal school in Tokyo during World War II that combined learning with fun, freedom, and love. This unusual school had old railroad cars for classrooms, and it was run by an extraordinary man-its founder and headmaster, Sosaku Kobayashi-who was a firm believer in freedom of expression and activity.
In real life, the Totto-chan of the book has become one of Japan's most popular television personalities-Tetsuko Kuroyanagi. She attributes her success in life to this wonderful school and its headmaster.
The charm of this account has won the hearts of millions of people of all ages and made this book a runaway bestseller in Japan, with sales hitting the 4.5 million mark in its first year.

How Much Should a Person Consume?: Thinking Through the Environment

This book presents a provocative comparative history of environmentalism through a study of two large, ecologically and culturally diverse democracies—India and the United States। Guha takes as his point of departure the dominant environmental philosophies in these two countries, identified here as ‘agrarianism’ in India and ‘wilderness thinking’ in the USA. He then proposes an inclusive theoretical framework, ‘social ecology’, which goes beyond these partisan and partial ideologies. This ‘social ecology’ framework is deployed in Guha’s analysis of environmental thought as well as in arriving at a richer understanding of controversies over large dams, state forests, and wildlife reserves. Profiles of three remarkable environmental thinkers and activists—Lewis Mumford, Chandi Prasad Bhatt, and Madhav Gadgil—follow. The concluding chapter poses what the author regards as the fundamental environmental question—how much should a person or country consume?—and explores various answers. Based on research done over two decades, and written with the author's characteristic verve and flair, this book ranges widely over a vast intellectual terrain. It brims with ideas and information on environmental histories, environmental philosophies, environmental scholars, and environmental activists. Guha offers trenchant critiques of privileged and isolationist proponents of conservation, persuasively arguing the case for biospheres that care as much for humans as for other species with which humans must share the earth. How Much Should a Person Consume? is an accessible and deeply felt summation of one pioneering and influential scholar’s views on environmentalism. Like everything else by Ramachandra Guha, this book wears its immense learning lightly. It will be ‘necessary reading’ within the academy even while attracting a large general readership by its lucidity and elegance.

Price : 295

Pages : 276
Year : 2007

GOOD WOMEN DO NOT INHERIT LAND’: Politics of Land and Gender in India

‘GOOD WOMEN should not claim a share in the inheritance, even if they have no brothers….’ Notions such as this have, in their own way and over time, given the women in the Santal Parganas the resolve to wrest what is rightfully theirs.This is a powerful book in the way in which it unfolds the lives and anxieties of Santal women in the two villages of Dumka district, Jharkhand. From the very beginning, adivasi women come alive through separate life histories. They span different situations and social patterns but all of them relate to rights in landed property, and their own troubled identities in the backdrop of harsh living conditions, social discrimination and lack of state support. Land for the Santal women is not a mere economic resource. It stands for security, social position and identity, and in this men have a distinct advantage. Soon after, writing in a personal vein, the author unfolds how these anxieties of the Santal women resonate her own.The author traces the relationship between Santals and their land from historic times to the modern era when they have access to both the modern legal system and their own customary laws. She also examines the role of external agencies in this struggle – government administrative bodies, non-governmental organizations and political leaders. As modern influences crowd out traditional mores the author asserts that development is not always a benign process of social advancement but a highly political struggle for re-negotiating power relations between men and women, and among social groups. The use of a ‘community’ identity as adivasis has also been responsible for denying women rights to land in the context of the movement for political autonomy of Jharkhand.Based on rich ethnographic material, this sensitive book lays bare the reality of being an adivasi and an adivasi woman, in all its nuances, in the modern globalized world.

Nitya Rao
Price : Rs. 750

Pages : 368 (10 b/w Photos)
Year : 2009

THE BLUE COVENANT

The Global Water Crisis & the Coming Battle for the Right to WaterAuthor: Maude Barlow
BLUE COVENANT, The Sequel to Blue Gold, the earlier international bestseller, describes a powerful response to this trend: the emergence of an international, grassroots-led movement to have water declared a basic human right, something that can’t be bought or sold for profit.
World renowned activist Maude Barlow is at the centre of this movement, which is gaining popular and political support across the gobe, encompassing protests in India against US bottling giant Coca-Cola etc.
With great passion and clarity, Barlow traces the history of these international battles, documents the life & death stakes involved in the fight for the right to water, and lays out the actions that we as global citizens must take to secure a water-just world – a “blue covenant” – for all
Published 2007. Reprinted in India by BfC in 2008. Paperback. RS 250.00 Net after Discount: RS 200.००

Important Ordering InformationPostage waived off on all orders, To order book/s, please call/fax/email at:
S Rajan Iyer, Books for Change(Dedicated to Development), 139, Richmond RoadBangalore – 560 025, Tel # 080-25580346/25321747. Fax # 080-25586284Cell # 09379268545.

The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable

Taleb delivers a groundbreaking look at the role played by the unexpected in life and history, and a fascinating examination of why we know less than we think we do and what to do about it.

Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future

Contending that more is not better for consumers, bestselling author McKibben offers a realistic, if challenging, scenario for a hopeful future. For those who wonder if there isn't more to life than buying, he provides insight on individual responsibility as well as global awareness.

Everybody Loves a Good Drought

In this thoroughly researched study of the poorest of the poor in India, we get to see how they manage, what sustains them, and the efforts, often ludicrous, to do something for them. The people who figure in this book tipify the lives and aspirations of a large section of the Indian society, and their stories present us with the true face of development.

The universal laws of business success . . . no matter whether you are selling fruit from a stand or running a Fortune 500 company.
Have you ever noticed that the business savvy of the world's best CEOs seems like a kind of street smarts? They sense where the opportunities are and how to take advantage of them. And their companies make money consistently, year after year.
How different is it to run a big company than to sell fruit from a cart or run a small shop in a village? In essence, not very, according to Ram Charan. From his childhood in India, where he worked in his family's shoe shop, to his education at Harvard Business School and his daily work advising many of the world's best CEOs, Ram understands business as few can.
The best CEOs have a knack for bringing the most complex business down to the fundamentals -- the same fundamentals of the family shoe shop. They have business acumen -- the ability to focus on the basics and make money for the company.
"
What the CEO Wants You to Know captures these insights and explains in clear, simple language how to do what great CEOs do instinctively and persistently:
* Understand the basic building blocks of a business and use them to figure out how your company makes money and operates as a total business.
* Decide what to do, despite the clutter of day-to-day business and the complexity of the real world.
Many people spend more than a hundred thousand dollars on an MBA without learning to pull these pieces of the puzzle together. Many others lack a formal business education and feel shut out from the executive suite. What the CEO Wants You to Know takes the mystery out of business and shows the secrets ofsuccess used by business legends like Jack Welch of GE.

Small Is Beautiful

The classic of common-sense economics. "Enormously broad in scope, pithily weaving together threads from Galbraith and Gandhi, capitalism and Buddhism, science and psychology."

Imagining India: Ideas For The New Century

Since the early 1990s, India has witnessed great social, political and cultural change. As the worlds largest democracy, its most diverse nation and one of its fastest growing economies, India is now, sixty years after Independence, universally regarded as an emerging superpower. In this sweeping and comprehensive book, one the countrys finest and most dynamic minds examines the central ideas that have shaped modern India, and offers an original perspective on our past, present and future. Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani, who has been a key player in Indias growth story and was chosen by Time magazine as one of the hundred most influential people in the world, points out that the countrys future rests on more than simply economic growth; it also depends on reform and innovation in all sectors of public life. Looking closely at our recent history, he examines the ideas and attitudes that have evolved with the times and contributed to our progress, as also those that keep us shackled to old, unproductive and fundamentally undemocratic ways. He discusses how, despite good intentions and astonishing idealism, our early socialist policies stifled growth and weakened our democracy; how, contrary to received wisdom, Indias large and overwhelmingly young population has now become our greatest strength; how information technology is revolutionizing not just business but also governance in the everyday life of a vast majority of Indians; and how rapid urbanization is transforming both our society and our politics. He also gets to the heart of charged debates about caste politics, labour reform, infrastructure, higher education, the English language in India and the role of the state in a globalized world where the wealth of big corporations exceeds that of some nations. And as he does this, he asks the key questions of the future: how will India as a global power avoid the mistakes of earlier development models? Will further access to the open market continue to stimulate such extraordinary growth? And how will this growth affect and be shaped by the countrys young people? India is in the middle of a huge transformational process, Nilekani argues, and only a safety net of ideasfrom genuinely inclusive democracy to social security, from public health to sustainable energycan transcend political agendas and safeguard the countrys future.

What is an outlier?
"Outlier" is a scientific term to describe things or phenomena that lie outside normal experience. In the summer, in Paris, we expect most days to be somewhere between warm and very hot. But imagine if you had a day in the middle of August where the temperature fell below freezing. That day would be outlier. And while we have a very good understanding of why summer days in Paris are warm or hot, we know a good deal less about why a summer day in Paris might be freezing cold. In this book I'm interested in people who are outliers—in men and women who, for one reason or another, are so accomplished and so extraordinary and so outside of ordinary experience that they are as puzzling to the rest of us as a cold day in August.

Happier

Yes… according to the teacher of Harvard University’s most popular and life-changing course. One out of every five Harvard students has lined up to hear Tal Ben-Shahar’s insightful and inspiring lectures on that ever-elusive state: Happiness. How? Grounded in the revolutionary “positive psychology” movement, Ben-Shahar ingeniously combines scientific studies, scholarly research, self-help advice, and spiritual enlightenment. He weaves them together into a set of principles that you can apply to your daily life. Once you open your heart and mind to Happier’s ideas, you will feel more fulfilled, more connected…and, yes, HAPPIER.