The Indian Dimension

This study draws from postcolonial theory, science fiction criticism, utopian studies, genre theory, Western and Indian philosophy and history to propose that Indian science fiction functions at the intersection of Indian and Western cultures. The author deploys a diachronic and comparative approach in examining the multilingual science fiction traditions of India to trace the overarching generic evolutions, which he complements with an analysis of specific patterns of hybridity in the genre’s formal and thematic elements – time, space, characters and the epistemologies that build the worlds in Indian science fiction. The work explores the larger patterns and connections visible despite the linguistic and cultural diversities of Indian science fiction traditions.

This volume provides a critical reading of Khushwant Singh’s Train to Pakistan (1956), Neel Mukherjee’s The Lives of Others (2014) and Rohinton Mistry’s A Fine Balance (1995) to provide a literary account of three fundamental moments in India’s history: the Partition of 1947, the Naxalbari movement, and Indira Gandhi’s Emergency. These novels provide literary interpretations of the ways in which feelings of fear and insecurity connected with ethno-religious rivalries, as well as with new power shifts in Indian socio-economic structure, gave a significant contribution to the formation of the political landscape in post-colonial India. More specifically, defying any kind of identitarian juxtaposition (be it related to ethnic belonging, religion, sexuality, or social class), the present work reads those three major novels in Indian English fiction to investigate how episodes of violence, in the first three decades after India’s independence from the British Empire, were enacted under the influence of cultural images and “affects” which legitimised different social groups to claim for themselves the right to prevail over others, or even take their lives. The volume starts with a reflection on the spreading of rumours during Partition in Train to Pakistan (1956) and their power to turn friendly communities into sworn enemies. The analysis proceeds then to discuss how the newborn government’s struggle to stifle the Naxalbari movement, as it described in The Lives of Others, was partly sustained by paranoiac feelings projected by the new metropolitan bourgeoisie on the people living in the rural parts of the country. The historical itinerary concludes with an analysis of A Fine Balance’s description of the two main political objectives of the Emergency: the “beautification” of India and the reduction of the country’s population. Both appear to be revealing moments of a predatory character present in the new Indian democratic institutions, transmitted as a kind of bodily contagion.

The book looks at the need of minerals for humanity, how and what the oceans offer as minerals in general, the technological developments achieved and the insight into future technologies and designs in this field before finally focusing on the mineral wealth of the Indian Ocean. It eventually poses some tough questions that need answers if deep seabed mining is to become a success in the future. In addition, it discusses the efforts of the key players in this field operating in the Indian ocean that has rejuvenated the deep seabed mining both economically and strategically. Since, commercial profitability of marine minerals occurs only if the demand is greater than the supply, at times, the decision gets governed by strategic reasoning. Hence, the book aims to give an idea of the driving forces that guide such decision-making and the development of deep seabed mining.

In this work, “New Dimensions of Indian Historiography” the whole period of Indian history, from Vedic to the current period, has been widely and accurately discussed. Along with different schools of historiography, the new emerging Hindutva historiography has been widely discussed. The so-called controversial kings and events which raise the eyebrow of the Hindutva historians have been especially discussed by mentioning the original sources. The relations between Aurangzeb and Shivaji, Akbar and Maharana Pratap, which works as a tool of spreading hatred between Hindus and Muslims have been proved as political and not at all religious relations. The intentionally raised controversy over the mosque at Ayodhya, Taj Mahal and other heritage buildings have also been widely discussed by quoting the original sources and unbiased hypothesis.

This book is the third publication originating from the conference Legacy of Slavery and Indentured Labour: Past, present and future, which was organised in June 2013 by the Institute of Graduate Studies and Research (IGSR), Anton de Kom University of Suriname.

In the new millennium, India has joined global initiatives like the Community of Democracies (2000) and the UN Democracy Fund (2005) for promoting democracy. This marks a significant shift in India 's foreign policy as never earlier had India claimed or committed itself to playing a proactive role in promoting and protecting democracy in other countries. India has always remained engaged with the democracy question, particularly in its immediate neighbourhood. "India's Foreign Policy: the Democracy Dimension" is a study of India's responses to the challenge of democracy in other countries before and after its participation in the global democratic initiatives. India's similar responses in the past have been dictated and defined by its perceived vital strategic and political interests, and this continues to be so. The newly acquired obligations for promoting democracy may have tempered its foreign policy rhetoric and style on the democracy question but it has not, and will not, override India's critical strategic concerns and interests.

The book deals with various emerging facets of Indian society. This book relates to the broad changing trends in Indian society generated by industrialization, modernization and different source of information technology. This book will be immense interest to the students of sociology, economics, social work and planners who are engaged in the task of framing new strategies to reduce the socio economic problems on the one hand and to raise the levels of living of the common man on the other.

The relevance of different particles of new media has become prevalent across the World, and India is a nation with enormous opportunities and rapid growth, especially in the media sector, which is responding to its magnanimity with advanced technology, innovative content, and rapid production rate. Traditional media outlets are facing extensive competition with the news media platforms in this race of existence and often evolve into something more acceptable, innovative, and compelling version of their old self. The book “New Media Landscape and Dimensions: an Indian Perspective” provides an extensive review of various new media perspectives and concepts that shape the public and individual opinion like OTT, Social media, artificial intelligence, digital literacy, political campaigning on digital platforms, online privacy, post-globalization, memes, IoT, gender sensitization, digital disruption, public perception, animation, and many more. The combined efforts of twenty authors and their expertise make this book a complete guide for people which to get an understanding of the dimensions of new media.