Till a few years back Bihar was not only an administrative nightmare but was in the news mostly for the bizarre. The state, caught in the vicious cycle of caste wars, deteriorating law and order, administrative apathy and total abdication of the governance to the mafia and local dons, receded from the national consciousness.
But since late 2005 Bihar has made a remarkable comeback from the precipice after Nitish Kumar, an engineer by training but a politician by profession, took over as the Chief Minister of the state. The state underwent a dramatic transformation over the next few years and today is one of the fastest growing state in the country and even international agencies and organisations have lauded several schemes and methods adopted by the state government to bring Bihar back on track.
Rajesh Chakrabarti's Bihar Breakthrough - The Turnaround of a Beleaguered State vividly captures the transition from the "jungle raj" of the 1990s and the early part of the 21st century to the "sushasan" of Nitish Kumar.
Chakrabarti, who has admitted that he was a complete newcomer to the state, has tried to dissect the various problems facing Bihar meticulously and then gone on to highlight the steps taken by Nitish Kumar and his government on restoring administrative authority....
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03:36 PM, Apr 12, 2013
There have been no newspapers in the Valley for the last three days following the Afzal Guru execution. An unofficial media gag order prohibited the publication of newspapers in the valley. The biggest news in a decade have been restricted from being reported, and the curbs are likely to continue till Friday. ...
06:39 AM, Feb 12, 2013
Hyderabad: Kadapa MP YS Jagan Mohan Reddy's first day of questioning revolved around crores of investments that flowed into his companies allegedly through hawala routes. The CBI also sought to know the alleged pressure exerted by the MP and his late father and chief minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy, on the then investments and infrastructure minister Mopidevi Venkata Ramana Rao with regard to the Vanpic deal. The CBI, according to sources,...
10:44 AM, Jun 04, 2012
New Delhi: Kadapa MP and YSR Congress president YS Jaganmohan Reddy's Jagathi publications has moved the CBI court on Wednesday seeking to defreeze their bank accounts. The Court has asked the CBI to file a reply by Thursday. Earlier, reacting to the CBI's closure of the Current Accounts of the Group's organisations, the Sakshi group called it an attempt to gag the media and free speech. It denied the charge...
03:23 PM, May 09, 2012
New Delhi: The Aleph Book Company has announced its first list of titles. The twenty five fiction and non-fiction titles on the company's launch list will be published across five seasons, and will comprise original works by established authors as well as new voices. Ex-Penguin Canada President and novelist David Davidar, Ravi Singh and Kapish Mehra whose company Rupa Publications has partnered Davidar to launch Aleph, talked about their strategy...
04:18 PM, Apr 10, 2012
Aleph Book Company has announced its first list of titles to be released beginning 9 April 2012. The twenty-five books of fiction and non-fiction on the company's launch list will be published across five seasons, and will comprise original works by established authors as well as outstanding new voices. The first books to be published will be Between Clay and Dust by Musharraf Ali Farooqi, Em and The Big Hoom...
11:12 AM, Apr 09, 2012
Neeta Shah's 'Bollywood Striptease' is a light and frothy take on the big bad world of Hindi cinema. Mind you calling it Bollywood might not go down well with many of the insiders. More than being an intriguing narrative the book is closer to being a handbook on 'how to' navigate your way in a world which comes with its share of the good, bad and the ugly. Nikki, the...
07:38 PM, Mar 22, 2012
New Delhi: US based publishing company, Qbend has launched its ebook service in India. The company is not only offering users to buy ebooks from its website but also one can publish their books for a nominal fee. Using the services, customers can now buy eBooks or Electronic Books from a variety of Indian as well as international authors right form the Qbend store. The publications sold on Qbend are...
11:01 AM, Feb 26, 2012
New Delhi: Former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Rajshekhar Reddy's son Jagan Mohan Reddy is one step closer to being arrested in an illegal assets case, after his auditor Vijay Sai Reddy was arrested on Monday, shortly after he appeared before the CBI for questioning. The arrest is significant as Vijay Sai Reddy has been a close aide to the family for more than 3 decades. Accused number 2 in...
06:58 AM, Jan 03, 2012
New Delhi: Jamil Ahmad's The Wandering Falcon has won the Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize 2011. As the name suggests, the winner is always a first-time author, and what better start to a literary career than to win an award with your first book? Ahmad, a 78-year-old retired civil servant completed his manuscript of interconnected stories set on the border of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran back in 1974. But it...
06:29 PM, Nov 28, 2011
Hyderabad: Kadapa MP Jagan Mohan Reddy's firm Jagathi Publications is under scanner. Value of Jagathi Publications was allegedly overstated by Rs 1,000 crore at Rs 3,500 crore. In what is being called another Satyam-like scam, auditing firm Deloitte reportedly admitted to fudging the accounts of the Kadapa MP Jagan Reddy-owned media house Jagathi Publications. The company reportedly told a Hyderabad court it had pumped up the value of Jagathi by...
10:03 AM, Nov 12, 2011
New Delhi: Amidst all the big ticket literary prizes on the Indian landscape, the one that still has the most hearts racing is the Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize. After all, as the name suggests, the winner is always a first-time author, and what better start to a literary career than to win an award with your first book? The prize, set up in memory of the talented writer and...
06:40 PM, Sep 09, 2011
New Delhi: Indian publishing's poster boy is back. David Davidar, the man who virtually invented market-facing English language publishing in India, is setting up a new publishing firm. Named the Aleph Book Company, the firm is being set up by Davidar in partnership with Rupa Publications India. Davidar brings his huge editing and publishing skills - which took Penguin India to new heights in India - to the table, while...
07:21 PM, May 14, 2011
New Delhi: Law Minister M Veerappa Moily on Thursday said there were no plans for any fresh law or changes in existing laws to deal with publications which cast aspersions on national heroes like Mahatma Gandhi. Reacting to media reports which quoted him as favouring a ban on the latest book on Gandhi, Moily said he was in favour of self-regulation. "My stand is that since the author has himself...
08:20 PM, Mar 31, 2011
New Delhi: Blaft Publications founded by Rakesh Kumar Khanna. Formerly a totally independent publishing house based in Chennai, is going to co-publish titles with the Tata Group's Westland/Tranquebar imprints from now on. The publishing house repackages major Tamil pulp fiction as mainstream literature with English translations. It provides wider range of bestselling Indian crime novels, experimental fiction, pulp art, and graphic novels etc. Blaft Anthology of Tamil Pulp Fiction grabbed...
03:02 PM, Mar 23, 2011
Hyderabad: The Income Tax Department has slapped showcause and demand notices to the tune of Rs 122 crore on former Congress MP Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy-owned Jagathi Publications (JPPL) for mismatching amounts reported in company records. The notice assumes significance as Jagan Reddy announced a new party, the YSR Congress Party, just two days ago. When contacted, sources close to the Income tax Department confirmed the issuance of a...
02:29 PM, Mar 15, 2011
Beijing: China has banned the use of foreign words, particularly English ones, in the Chinese media. The ban order, which applies to newspapers, publishers and website-owners, was issued by the General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP), the People's Daily reported. According to the GAPP, abuse of foreign languages, particularly the use of half-English, half-Chinese terms, has seriously damaged the purity of the Chinese language and resulted in adverse social...
10:55 AM, Dec 22, 2010
SAGE as a publisher is spreading its wings. ...
02:05 PM, Nov 11, 2009
Mumbai: Former IPL Chairman Lalit Modi has asked for details of the recently held Special General Body meeting of the Cricket Board and the decisions it took in order to prepare his defence in front of the BCCI's disciplinary committee. Modi's counsel Gaurav Gopal of Wadia Ghandy & Co., had asked the Board to provide them with a copy of the SGM's notice and agenda, attendance sheet, minutes of the...
10:35 AM, Nov 17, 2007
Chennai: High on confidence after steamrolling the opposition in the first three matches before snatching an improbable win in the next, a rampaging India would look to rout New Zealand with a 5-0 series whitewash in the fifth and final cricket one-dayer here on Friday. The young Indian side have done remarkably well in the series in the absence of senior players like Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag...
09:11 PM, Nov 14, 2007
