Right to Information

Right to Information: An Act for Best Citizenry by E. M. S. Natchappan from Concept Publishing.

Knowledge is power. Knowledge is enriched by information. A person, legal entity, a society, a corporate body, MNC and any country wants to use the information for their benefits. The amount of information, analysis, research and development enhances the individual’s life, society and the country. Much more importance for information of governance is the soul of democracy. The information and the right to access to it is the foundation of civilization.

This book is the exposure of the secret of importance on access to information which was transparent in the early part of civilization but shrinked into the hands of individuals during colonial rule. This made the individual into a slavery system loosing the entire freedom of information from which liberation happened after long struggle in various parts of the world.

India could achieve this Right to Information after practicing democracy for about 58 years. This book gives another opportunity to go through the Parliamentary procedure and to enjoy the way the law making is practiced to resolve lot of barriers being created in the system and Anna Hazare to Arvind Kejriwal and world renowned activists have played the role in this transparent law making system.

In our Law section, Rs. 950, in hardback, xii+418 pages, ISBN :9789351250890

India's National Security

India's National Security: Annual Review 2013 by Satish Kumar from Routledge India.

The thirteenth volume in the series Indias National Security Annual Review examines Indias security environment in the context of the changing global balance of power. It analyzes the manner in which India has structured its relations with major powers so that they serve as dependable anchors of its national security and discusses the imminent challenges faced by the country.

In addition, it makes an in-depth assessment of Indias relations with China and Pakistan, the attempts of China to establish a strategic foothold in all countries in Indias neighborhood, the extent of Islamist radicalization in South Asia and the role of Pakistan. The volume also includes a strategic profile of newly emerging countries in international affairs along with a chronology of the major events of the preceding year.

The book will be indispensable for policymakers and governmental organizations, those in defence and strategic sectors and students of defence studies, foreign policy, International relations and political science.

In our Strategic Affairs section, Rs. 1095, in hardback, 480 pages, ISBN :9781138796386

Essays on Indias Political Economy

Essays on Indias Political Economy by Prakash Sarangi from Knowledge World Publishers.

This monograph is an attempt to understand the symbiotic relationship between politics and economy in India since independence. A few essays are presented to delineate this relationship in simple, non-technical language. But a discerning reader could easily decipher a specific interpretation throughout the text: the process of economic transformation is viewed as a function of the decision makers’ changing calculus of political pay-offs.

Indian Political Economy is divided into three phases: (1) Nationalist Political Economy (1947-68); (2) Populist Political Economy (1969-1990) and (3) Competitive Political Economy (1991- ). The grand coalition in the first phase enabled the state to play an interventionist role and to estimate payoffs for the entire country; the minimum-winning coalition in the polarised politics of the second phase played a redistributive game and carefully calculated payoffs of its own supporters only and the uncertainty resulting from a fragmented politics in the third phase did not allow any party to be assured of a winning coalition and, therefore, made it difficult for any political party to predict political payoffs. Economic reforms of the 1990s were the result of this political uncertainty.

The radical changes in economic policy transformed contemporary politics. A running theme in these essays is that while political actors face uncertainty in a competitive political economy, the citizens, as consumers of public policies, are further empowered to question, accept or reject any policy initiative. Citizens and groups are able to assert their rights and, if necessary, throw out the non-performers. Rights dominate over welfare in this new policy regime.

In our Politics section, Rs. 480, in hardback, 104 pages, ISBN :9789383649280

India-US Partnership

India-US Partnership: Asian Challenges and Beyond by P.P. Shukla from Wisdom Tree.

India and the United States of America aim to form a strategic partnership of trust, cooperation and collaboration, especially in the Asia-Pacific region. Indo-US relationship has had its share of ups and downs, but both admit to the necessity of greater understanding. The book covers economic and political aspects of the changes taking place in Asia, and provides a perspective different from the standard narrative, that of the inexorable rise of China to the top.

The authors examine the strengths and the weaknesses not only of China, but also of the other major countries and offer a more balanced picture. The book, a culmination of the joint study between the Vivekananda International Foundation of India and the Heritage Foundation of the US, has contributions by experts like Kanwal Sibal, Lisa Curtis, Walter Lohman, Ajit Doval and Jeff Smith.

A must-read for subject-experts as well as policy makers, it also looks at some of the important issues, including that of Afghanistan and Iran, which will determine how the situation in Asia-Pacific evolves, and the relevance of better Indo-US ties to address the challenges ahead.


In our Governance section, Rs. 795, in hardback, x+194 pages, ISBN :9788183283335

Political Order and Political Decay

Political Order and Political Decay by Francis Fukuyama from Hachette India.

The Origins of Political Order , Francis Fukuyama took us from the dawn of mankind to the French and American Revolutions. Here, he picks up the thread again in the second instalment of his definitive account of mankind's emergence as a political animal. This is the story of how state, law and democracy developed after these cataclysmic events, how the modern landscape - with its uneasy tension between dictatorships and liberal democracies - evolved and how in the United States and in other developed democracies, unmistakable signs of decay have emerged.

If we want to understand the political systems that dominate and order our lives, we must first address their origins - in our own recent past as well as in the earliest systems of human government. Fukuyama argues that the key to successful government can be reduced to three key elements: a strong state, the rule of law, and institutons of democratic accountability. This magisterial account is required reading for anyone wishing to know more about mankind's greatest achievements.

In our Political section, Rs. 699, in paperback, 672 pages, ISBN :9781781255001

Governance Unbound

Governance Unbound: Public Services, Players and Rules of the Game by R. N. Gupta from Aakar Books.

Have you ever wondered why? More than 50% of labour in the organized sector is shadow labour. 50% of food subsidy for the poor is misdirected or misappropriated. The rate of conviction in criminal cases is abysmally low. Under-trial prisoners accused of petty crimes rot in jail for long periods, even much beyond the jail term for the offence. Cadaver organs are rarely available for transplantation.

Registration plates on motor vehicles carry so many digits and numerals that nobody can remember them. Find the explanation for these and many other perverse outcomes of otherwise well intentioned public policies and programmes in India, ranging from need based services, such as caste certificates, to public goods - education, control of crime and corruption.

The problem seems to lie not in the policy design, implementing structures or incompetent officials - the usual scapegoats - but the unimaginative rules of the game which appear to ignore the incentives and behaviour of the human actors involved and are mainly concerned with filing forms and filing returns. Governments would do well, it is argued, to design appropriate rules and institutions which are compatible with the incentives of players not as econs, angels or demons, but as humans.

In our Governance section, Rs. 795, in hardback, 338 pages, ISBN :9789350023167

Final Test

Final Test: Exit Sachin Tendulkar by Dilip D'Souza from Random House India.

Dilip D’Souza closely observes those two-and-a-half days of the last test match played by Tendulkar, at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai in November, 2013. The book captures the tumult of sentiments the match had spawned, the love and worship that was showered by the cricket lovers at the stadium, the choking emotion, and the match against the West Indies. This title discusses cricket from the olden days to the new, as Sachin takes to the pitch one last time.

The deafening noise in the Wankhede turns into stark silence as the Little Master begins his walk back to the pavilion, marking the end of a glorious era. The author poignantly describes how there will be no more swearing and switching off televisions when he got out; no resonating chants of “Sa-chi-i-i-n, Sa-chin!” on the fields anymore. Final Test is a must-read for all fans of Sachin and of the game itself.


In our General section, Rs. 299, in paperback, 254 pages, ISBN :9788184006360