Paying attention to our personal finance is essential to lead a life with a sense of security, confidence and happiness. Achieving financial independence is the core purpose of managing our personal finance. Financial independence is defined as the state where one does not need to work and can deploy their accumulated assets, to earn their living. This book is meant for the middle-class citizens of India, with minimal knowledge and/or background in finance or accounting. It intends to be a no-nonsense one, with no pretensions of telling the reader how to get rich quickly. It contains detailed information about the fundamentals of the financial instruments so far as personal finance is concerned. It also contains opinions and recommendations from globally recognized experts in the field of investment and finance. It hopes to enable the reader to take control of their own finances, rather than depend on financial advisors, many of whom are known to be shady in their dealings. The author has tried his level best to refrain from sharing his personal views. The topics covered in this book include financial planning, life and health insurance, instruments of investment (equity, debt, mutual funds, gold and real estate), retirement planning and taxation as related to personal finance.

This book is an extensive and thorough exploration of the ways in which the middle class in India select their spouse. Using the prism of matchmaking, this book critically unpacks the concept of the 'modern' and traces the importance of moralities and values in the making of middle class identities, by bringing to the fore intersections and dynamics of caste, class, gender, and neoliberalism. The author discusses a range of issues: romantic relationships among youth, use of online technology and of professional services like matrimonial agencies and detective agencies, encounters of love and heartbreak, impact of experiences of pain and humiliation on spouse-selection, and the involvement of family in matchmaking. Based on this comprehensive account, she elucidates how the categories of 'love' and 'arranged' marriages fall short of explaining, in its entirety and essence, the contemporary process of spouse-selection in urban India. Though the ethnographic research has been conducted in India, this book is of relevance to social scientists studying matchmaking practices, youth cultures, modernity and the middle class in other societies, particularly in parts of Asia. While being based on thorough scholarship, the book is written in accessible language to appeal to a larger audience.

This book is one of the first ethnographic studies to examine the complexities of lifestyles of the the upwardly mobile middle classes in India in the new millennium. It reveals an original theory on cosmopolitan Indianness and urbanisation in the age of globalisation.

This innovative collection examines the transnational movements, effects, and transformations of religion in the contemporary world, offering a fresh perspective on the interrelation between globalization and religion. Transnational Transcendence challenges some widely accepted ideas about this relationship—in particular, that globalization can be understood solely as an economic phenomenon and that its religious manifestations are secondary. The book points out that religion's role remains understudied and undertheorized as an element in debates about globalization, and it raises questions about how and why certain forms of religious practice and intersubjectivity succeed as they cross national and cultural boundaries. Framed by Thomas J. Csordas's introduction, this timely volume both urges further development of a theory of religion and globalization and constitutes an important step toward that theory.

As India's middle class grows and disposable incomes rise, "modern" retail is becoming the next hot sector of the Indian economy. Hundreds of millions of new consumers will join this retail revolution, venturing into supermarkets, department stores and air-conditioned shopping malls for the first time. But instead of just window shopping, many of them will be serious buyers with money to spend. To cater for their needs, established players in the modern retail sector such as Biyani, Raheja and Goenka are being joined by the big names of Indian business - Reliance, Birla, Bharti, Tata etc - who plan to spend billions over the next few years rolling out supermarkets, big-box outlets and specialty stores. At the same time, property developers are getting on with the "malling" of India, and looking for high profile anchor tenants to lure customers. On the sidelines of this Indian retail revolution are big overseas players such as Wal-Mart, which already has a tie-up with Bharti to provide much-needed “back office” support. But what Wal-Mart really wants is the right to set up its own stores in India. The same goes for Tesco, Carrefour, Metro and other international players. While the macro outlook appears bright, the problems are astronomical for India retail industry. There is no reliable cold chain, transport logistics are appalling, there is a huge lack of managerial talent, there is no consistency for quality and quantity of supply, there is political opposition from groups such as market middlemen, the mom and pop "kirana" corner stores have to be catered for, as do the farmers who grow the produce that is integral to a successful retail revolution. How well will these disparate players cope with the various pressures of a dynamic and fast-moving industry?

The pieces in this volume voice the rage and helplessness sweeping through the Kashmir Valley while offering rare insights into the lives of those caught in the crossfire. This book is a timely collection of the most exciting writing that has recently emerged from within Kashmir, and about it. Sanjay Kak is a documentary filmmaker whose work includes Jashn-e-Azadi (How We Celebrate Freedom, 2007), a feature-length film about Kashmir. He is based in New Delhi, India.

In this book, Das deploys class theory to decipher India’s economic and political situation. It deals with the specificities of India’s capitalism and neoliberalism, and their economic consequences. It critically examines lower-class struggles led by the Left, and the fascistic politics of the Right.

In an uncertain and complex world leaders should not merely respond to the speed of change but attempt to anticipate it. Sometimes it is unexpected, sometimes the signs are there but the dots are not joined together. The NEW normal must be navigated, negotiated, networked and a narrative built around it. Leaders need to adapt to a changing ecosystem in which the biggest challenges cross the boundaries of the public, private and non-profit sectors, requiring much closer collaboration. Aggressive individualism is no longer a sustainable basis for companies needing to deliver social and economic value, now, enterprises must move beyond narrow self-interest and short-termism to balance stakeholder expectations. In Reframing the Leadership Landscape, Dr Roger Hayes and Dr Reginald Watts argue that the interconnected and interdependent world requires leaders to adopt a more holistic and inclusive approach. Despite global business education advances, business mostly fails to make cross-disciplinary connections or interpret weak signals and is ill-prepared for changes in cultural and technical demands. The tool kit is here, ready to be unpacked. The only question is whether aspirant leaders are sensitive enough to read the signals and develop the skills needed to create an essential collaborative paradigm, which they must do if they wish to regain trust, fill the leadership void and help reshape a sustainable future.

The 2010 mega-scams created a crisis of trust in governance and the leadership. Seeking solutions, N. Vittal analyses the record of the institutions involved and traces the roots of the growing rot to the decline of accountability in public life, the lack overall of transparency in governance, besides general greed and decline in integrity. As a prominent insider in government for over four decades, he believes that greater transparency and use of technology and ensuring there is no alternative can reform our system. The curb on use of money power in state elections and the 2010 landmark judgement in the case of P.J. Thomas’s appointment as Central Vigilance Commissioner are such steps. Through greater application of Right to Information, strengthening of watchdog bodies like the judiciary or the Central Election Commission, and choosing people of integrity and commitment to man them, besides an alert civil society and media, Vittal is optimistic of achieving a clean India.