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A revolution whose time has come

E-Governance – Case Studies
Edited by Ashok Agarwal
Published by Universities Press

THE Information Technology (IT) revolution is sweeping every corner of the globe and every facet of our life. Such is the impact of the revolutionary change that whether one is plugged in or not, most of the people have in some way or the other already been touched by the Internet. Today more and more of the transactions involve the exchange and movement of data, images and sounds, rather than physical goods. Travelling at the speed of light, these data streams ensure that at least in theory we are no more than a second away from anyone anywhere on earth. Information has already become the new determinant of power.

The strength of the book is its sweep of issues covering major ongoing e-governance projects in one volume as well as its various applications. It provides interesting appraisal of major projects like e-Sagu, the next generation cost-effective and personalized agro-advisory system, land records-related projects of various governments like Bhoomi, Dev-bhoomi and Dharitree. Two projects—Khajane of the Karnataka Government and e-Kosh of the Chhattisgarh government deal with treasury computerisation. It also discusses issues like ICT solution for NREGA, national identity scheme, postal life insurance, instant money order etc.

Ash Narain Roy

Of Travels and Conservations

Tigerland and Other Unintended Destinations
Eric Dinerstein
Published by Universities Press

Eric Dinerstein's book Tigerland and Other Unintended Destinations provides a vivid account of some incredible wild places and magical creatures that inhabit our planet. Tigerland engages the reaser's attention from the first chapter and keeps you riveted until the end. The first three chapters focus on Dinerstein's adventures and experiences as a Peace Corps volunteer and graduate student. The later chapters are accounts of Dinerstein's professional experience at the World Wildlife Fund..

Dinerstein clearly articulates the science, advocacy, and his passion for nature. He succinctly brings to our attention the many conservation problems and challenges that exist (small size of reserves, dwindling populations, poaching, illegal wildlife trade, fragmentation, logging, introduction of invasive species). Tigerland leaves the reader marvelling at the extraordinary wild places and animals that exist on our planet with the hope that the battle to save nature is worth fighting and awakens a sense of responsibility towards joining in the efforts to save earth's biodiversity.

Krithi K. Karanth
THE BOOK REVIEW, March 2008

Conservation’s frontiers

Tigerland and Other Unintended Destinations
Eric Dinerstein
Published by Universities Press

“With species going extinct at the rate of one hundred per day, the chapters that follow could easily be advertised as a lament to the end of nature…”writes Eric Dinerstein in the introduction,”… Instead, this book offers a more hopeful vision of what success would look like in various ecoregions if the dreams of conservation-minded biologists came true.” How important hope and faith are! Without these we would simply stop trying to save wildlife, considering its disappearance inevitable.

In each chapter we meet people working to protect the wildlife of the world, people who prove that individuals can make a difference. His writing is laced with humour – this is humour of the flavour of that draws a quick smile or a quiet chuckle, rather than a guffaw or a long-drawn laugh. The book does describe the hopeful vision of success in various eco-regions that it promises…. …a good read ….

Kumaran Sathasivan
THE HINDU, 22 January 2008

Growth Divergences

Growth Divergences: Explaining Differences in Economic Performance
Edited by Jose Antonio Ocampo, Jomo K.S. and Rob Vos
Published by Orient Longman, Zed Books and Third World Network in association with the United Nations.

Unlike the 1950s and 1960s, when the rising tide of economic growth lifted most economies, the last three decades have been characterised by a paradox of greater international economic integration as well as divergent economic growth performances.

This volume of analytical studies seeks to explain these major differences in economic performance in recent decades by considering the dynamics of international economic growth, diverging growth rates, economic structures, and sources of demand, successes and collapses in the developing world, recent episodes of real income stagnation in countries. Several chapters critically review recent misleading claims and the conventional wisdom regarding the relationship of trade liberalisation, financial development, development, aid, infrastructure spending, violent conflict, good governance and industrial policy to economic growth.

THE HINDU, 29 April 2008

Yuganta

Yuganta
Irawati Karve
Published by Orient Longman

The Sahitya Akademi award-winning Yuganta by Irawati Karve, [has been recently] published by Orient Longman in a new edition. The moral dilemmas, the emotional complexities, made most accessible by the wonderful writing style of Irawati Karwe—the book was originally written in Marathi and translated by her into English. There is much to learn from the book and from the persuasive analysis and interpretation offered by Karwe.

Excerpts from a blog run by ‘Scholars without Borders’, who teach and study at the Jawaharlal Nehru University.

What is not here is nowhere else

The Mahabharata
Chaturvedi Badrinath
Published by Orient Longman

This book is a scholarly treatise on the subject of Indian philosophy and is also written by one of its foremost and most well-known proponents. Chaturvedi Badrinath shows that the Mahabharata is the most systematic inquiry into the human condition. Its principal concern is the relationship of the self with the self and with the other. This book not only proves the universality of the themes explored in the Mahabharata, but also how this great epic provides us with a method to understand the human condition itself.

Excerpts from a blog run by ‘Scholars without Borders’, who teach and study at the Jawaharlal Nehru University.

Reflecting on Our Past - Economic History of a Princely State

Hyderabad: The Social Context of Industrialisation 1875 to 1948
C. V. Subba Rao
Published by Orient Longman

This is a slim and easily readable volume tracing the economic history of the princely State of Hyderabad from 1875 to 1948. This is the period in which the Asaf Jahi dynasty ruled the state. As is well-known, this reign came to an end in September 1948 when the Indian Army entered the state and it became part of the Indian Union. The author uses succinct prose while the supporting abstracts and tables run even longer than the main text. It is a scholarly exercise taken up against the type of odds faced by all economic historians documenting the evolution of industrialization of in the princely States of British India in which the data base was imperfect and the governments, given to oral traditions did not maintain systematic records. In this context the work is still quite authentic with an empirical base, having drawn upon significant primary and secondary sources of data and information.

Whatever be the merits of the conclusions in the book on the interplay of economic and social forces, the book itself is a clear labour of intensity and commitment and would fill voids in the current knowledge of the economic history of princely states like Hyderabad.

R. Rajamani
THE BOOK REVIEW/ April 2008

Review of The Legacy of Susruta

The Legacy of Susruta
M. S. Valiathan
Published by Orient Longman

M. S. Valiathan’s new book on the Suśrutasamhita has been constructed on the same principles as his The legacy of Caraka published for the first time in 2004. The contents of the Samhita are rearranged in fifteen sections and eighty-seven chapters by collecting the material on particular subjects usually found scattered in the original treatise. Most chapters are therefore composite as can easily be ascertained by consulting the references at the end of each. Several chapters on particular diseases, for example, derive the text from the Nidanasthana (aetiology, symptomatology, etc.) and the Cikitsasthana (treatment). The position of the sthanas themselves has also been reorganized. The Śarirasthana, for example, ahs been moved towards the end.

Recapitulating briefly my impressions, Valiathan’s new book on the Suśrutasamhita is a valuable addition to the already existing translations by bringing together related but scattered information and by presenting complex material in tables.

G. J. Meulenbeld, Bedum, The Netherlands MEDICAL HISTORY, April 2008, 52 (2)

Review of Sanjoy Bhattacharya’s Expunging Variola: The Control and Eradication of Smallpox in India 1947 – 1977

Expunging Variola: The Control and Eradication of Smallpox in India 1947 – 1977
Sanjoy Bhattacharya
Published by Orient Longman

Expunging Variola is a serious and important book. This ‘nuanced history’ (p 7) enriches our understanding of the eradication of smallpox in India which went a long way to ensuring global eradication of smallpox in 1979. However, its true value outstrips a better understanding of local history. Its far greater value lies in what it teaches about human endeavour in the health field. Removing health inequalities is not easily or simply achieved. Having a good policy and programme is not good enough to ensure success. One has to be willing to communicate, negotiate, evaluate, redesign and persist. Health professionals, bureaucrats and politicians would do well to read this book and savour its message.

Mary Ditton, University of New England, Australia
CONTEMPORARY SOUTH ASIA 16(1) (March 2008)

Review of Nick Robins’ The Corporation that Changed the World

The Corporation that Changed the World
Nick Robins
Published by Orient Longman

As a world famous organisation, East India Company (EIC) pioneered not only the shareholder model of corporate ownership but also a plethora of modern business practices as well as malpractices. Yet, not much is known about its social record as a corporation that would have easily outstripped Wal-Mart in terms of market power, Enron for corruption, and Union Carbide for human devastation. “The Corporation that Changed the World by Nick Robins admirably fills this glaring gap. Throughout the book, the author seeks to examine the meaning of the Company’s legacy for the global economy of the twenty-first century by drawing lessons on how corporate power which is “as much a political as an economic problem”, can be confronted and countered through reform, protest, litigation, regulation, and, above al, through organizational redesign.

Students as well as professionals in the area of Organisational Behaviour in general and International Management in particular must not miss this gripping account of the rise and fall of the world’s most opulent and greatest corporation. The book is suitably adorned with a number of tables, figures, maps, and illustrations.

Dr. J. M. Deo
THE SOCIAL ENGINEER, January 2008

The Impact of 1857

Rethinking 1857
Edited by Sabyasachi Bhattacharya
Published by Orient Longman

The papers on the theme ‘Rethinking 1857’ have been divided into four groups according to the thematic unity or convergence of focus. The first group addresses questions of historiography and interpretative trends, both old and new. The second is about the impact of 1857 on marginal communities, i.e. social groups, such as the Dalits or tribals who were kept on the margins by the socially dominant. An effort to look beyond the consideration that the uprising of 1857 was an exclusively north Indian affair is reflected in the third section on regions beyond the Gangetic heartland. The fourth section addresses from diverse angles the question of what kind of polity and system of governance and military organisations was posited in the rebel discourse.

Manju Gupta
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The Trial of Bahadur Shah Zafar and Rethinking 1857

The Trial of Bahadur Shah Zafar
Edited by Pramod K. Nayar
Published by Orient Longman

Rethinking 1857
Edited by Sabyasachi Bhattacharya
Published by Orient Longman

As is well known, following the ‘recapture’ of Delhi in mid-September 1857, the British carried out a mock trial of Bahadur Shah in the Diwan-i-khas of the Red Fort. This sham show was conducted by a military commission headed by Lt. Col. M. Dawes. It lasted from 27 January to 9 March 1858. At the end of the trial Bahadur Shah was convicted of treason and of having abetted the killing of Europeans. Neither of these charges had any legal substance. In October 1858 Bahadur Shah, along with some of the members of his immediate family, was transported to Rangoon, where he died in 1862.

If Trial of Bahadur Shah Zafar and Rethinking 1857, and some of the other writings on the Revolt which have appeared during the course of 2007, are any indication then the commemoration of such a major historical event is not merely an occasion of empty rhetoric or trivial cliché-laden speeches/writings as quite a few sceptics have suggested it is. The commemoration has provided an opportunity for serious reflection on our past, on the rich legacy of the anti-imperialist struggle which has great contemporary relevance.

Amar Farooqui
THE BOOK REVIEW/ April 2008

Interrogating the past

RETHINKING 1857
Edited by Sabyasachi Bhattacharya
Published by Orient Longman

This is one among the interesting collections of essays brought out in the 150th anniversary of 1857.

Basudev Chattopadhyay describes the situation of general panic in Calcutta and how the British went about disarming Indians; N. Rajendran that not all was quiet in the Madras Presidency either; and David R. Siemlieh that despite little popular support, disaffection was expressed by the Ahom princes and the princes of Manipur and in the Barak valley. Two essays deal with the differential access of rebels and the British to technology and means of communication and the extent to which these affected the outcome.

The book certainly contributes to our understanding of 1857...

Nalini Taneja
THE HINDU, 11 March 2008

Review of Baby Kamble’s The Prisons We Broke

The Prisons We Broke: The Autobiography of a Community
Baby Kamble
Published by Orient Longman

The Prisons We Broke is the first autobiography of a Dalit woman in Marathi. Jina Amucha, the original in Marathi, was serialised in 1982 and published as a book in 1986.

What Ambedkar’s teachings meant to this oppressed group of people shunned by society is what comes through in this work, as Baby records her own involvement with the Dalit movement. An interesting read, The Prisons We Broke humanises the Dalit movement in India.

Priya M Menon
THE NEW SUNDAY EXPRESS

Janhavi Acharekar
THE HINDU, 2 March 2008

Liberation narrative

The Prisons We Broke: The Autobiography of a Community
Baby Kamble
Published by Orient Longman

The Prisons We Broke is significant because it traces the evolution of the Mahar community from pre-Ambedkar days to its rapid transformation through education and mass conversion.

Dalit literature, historically, has been writing of protest and part of a larger social movement. While Baby Kamble’s The Prisons We Broke continues the tradition, it is also an important life narrative whose original title Jina Amucha (Our Existence) communicates simply an urge to share the trials, tribulations and triumphs of an extraordinary people.

Janhavi Acharekar
THE HINDU, 2 March 2008

The idea of the Tribal

A Nomad Called Thief: Reflections on Adivasi Silence
G. N. Devy
Published by Orient Longman

The volume under review is a collection of short pieces previously published by the author in a number of dailies and periodicals—many of which have been revised and expanded for inclusion in the book. The main theme of these short and extremely perceptive narratives is the marginalization of adivasis in India, with a focus on various erroneous constructions of the idea of the tribal.

The book is a fascinating narrative of a surprisingly wide canvas of issues related to the adivasis. It does not aspire to serve a larger purpose except documenting the author’s concerns about a host of issues—from environment to livelihood, from development to cultural processes and from violence to knowledge systems. In the process, Devy successfully manages to provide a voice to some of these issues which the adivasis grapple with on a daily basis.

Amit Prakash
THE BOOK REVIEW, January 2008

Amazing grace

Peculiar People, Amazing Lives: Leprosy, Social Exclusion and Community Making in South India
James Staples
Published by Orient Longman

Peculiar People, Amazing Lives is a study of a community of leprosy sufferers in ‘colony’ in Andhra Pradesh. What unites them into a community is not just their disease, but also their social exclusion, they are outcastes from even the outcastes. But ironically as a Christian community, they exclude others too, non-Christian. The author carried out intensive field work not only in the ‘colony’ but also in Mumbai, where many of them earn their livelihood as beggars.

The book is rich in texture, a pleasure to read, with an impressive reading of the literature. It would be useful for students of anthropology in general and medical anthropology in particular.

Mohan Rao
THE BOOK REVIEW, January 2008