Author: B D Pande
Publisher: Speaking Tiger Books
ISBN: 9789354471582
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 354
Book Description
Description In the decades following 1947, as the tallest national leaders were building a new India, they were supported by a band of idealistic civil servants fiercely committed to the country's Constitution and its people. Among these remarkable officers was Bhairab Datt Pande, a young man from the Himalayan district of Kumaon, who joined the Indian Civil Service in 1939. Over almost forty years as civil servant, and later as governor, he played an important role in the country's administration, and interacted with leaders like Indira Gandhi (as cabinet secretary during the Emergency), Morarji Desai and Jyoti Basu. His memoir- which, respecting his wish, is being published posthumously-is a fascinating record of his own life and that of India in the half century after Independence. Pande chronicles several landmark events and initiatives that he either participated in or witnessed. He helped increase food-grain allotment to the state as food commissioner of Bihar in the early 1950s and drew up a new famine code as land reforms commissioner. His work in the Community Development programme some years later still has important lessons for today's Panchayati Raj institutions. After retirement, he was governor of West Bengal during the resurgence of Naxalism in the early 1980s, and of Punjab in 1983- 84-a tragic and turbulent year in the history of the state and the nation. Pande chose to resign as governor rather than carry out unconstitutional orders. His compelling narration of the behind-the-scenes events and negotiations leading up to the Anandpur Sahib Resolution and Operation Bluestar is of great value. Engaging and inspiring in equal measure, this memoir is both a fascinating record of an extraordinary life and an important and revealing historical document.
In the Service of Free India Memoir of a Civil Servant
Author: B D Pande
Publisher: Speaking Tiger Books
ISBN: 9789354471582
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 354
Book Description
Description In the decades following 1947, as the tallest national leaders were building a new India, they were supported by a band of idealistic civil servants fiercely committed to the country's Constitution and its people. Among these remarkable officers was Bhairab Datt Pande, a young man from the Himalayan district of Kumaon, who joined the Indian Civil Service in 1939. Over almost forty years as civil servant, and later as governor, he played an important role in the country's administration, and interacted with leaders like Indira Gandhi (as cabinet secretary during the Emergency), Morarji Desai and Jyoti Basu. His memoir- which, respecting his wish, is being published posthumously-is a fascinating record of his own life and that of India in the half century after Independence. Pande chronicles several landmark events and initiatives that he either participated in or witnessed. He helped increase food-grain allotment to the state as food commissioner of Bihar in the early 1950s and drew up a new famine code as land reforms commissioner. His work in the Community Development programme some years later still has important lessons for today's Panchayati Raj institutions. After retirement, he was governor of West Bengal during the resurgence of Naxalism in the early 1980s, and of Punjab in 1983- 84-a tragic and turbulent year in the history of the state and the nation. Pande chose to resign as governor rather than carry out unconstitutional orders. His compelling narration of the behind-the-scenes events and negotiations leading up to the Anandpur Sahib Resolution and Operation Bluestar is of great value. Engaging and inspiring in equal measure, this memoir is both a fascinating record of an extraordinary life and an important and revealing historical document.
Publisher: Speaking Tiger Books
ISBN: 9789354471582
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 354
Book Description
Description In the decades following 1947, as the tallest national leaders were building a new India, they were supported by a band of idealistic civil servants fiercely committed to the country's Constitution and its people. Among these remarkable officers was Bhairab Datt Pande, a young man from the Himalayan district of Kumaon, who joined the Indian Civil Service in 1939. Over almost forty years as civil servant, and later as governor, he played an important role in the country's administration, and interacted with leaders like Indira Gandhi (as cabinet secretary during the Emergency), Morarji Desai and Jyoti Basu. His memoir- which, respecting his wish, is being published posthumously-is a fascinating record of his own life and that of India in the half century after Independence. Pande chronicles several landmark events and initiatives that he either participated in or witnessed. He helped increase food-grain allotment to the state as food commissioner of Bihar in the early 1950s and drew up a new famine code as land reforms commissioner. His work in the Community Development programme some years later still has important lessons for today's Panchayati Raj institutions. After retirement, he was governor of West Bengal during the resurgence of Naxalism in the early 1980s, and of Punjab in 1983- 84-a tragic and turbulent year in the history of the state and the nation. Pande chose to resign as governor rather than carry out unconstitutional orders. His compelling narration of the behind-the-scenes events and negotiations leading up to the Anandpur Sahib Resolution and Operation Bluestar is of great value. Engaging and inspiring in equal measure, this memoir is both a fascinating record of an extraordinary life and an important and revealing historical document.
In the Service of Free India
THE ASPIRANT: Memoirs of a Monk Turned Civil Servant
Author: Mathew Joseph
Publisher: One Point Six Technologies Pvt Ltd
ISBN: 9354388094
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 269
Book Description
If you do not become what you once aspired to become, does it matter? ‘The Aspirant’ looks for an answer to this perennial question. It is the story of a young man who once wanted to become a Carmelite monk, but ended up becoming a monk of a different order - a civil servant. The disillusionment with the way monastic life was practiced, made him take this new direction. The journey ahead as a bureaucrat in CAG’s institution took the author to many places across the globe and caused him to meet several people – ordinary people with extraordinary stories – and those stories add extra layers to this memoir. And all through his life’s varied voyages, a part of him remained as a monk. ‘The Aspirant’ attempts to demystify two venerable institutions - the church and the bureaucracy - with a tinge of irreverence but without an iota of malice.
Publisher: One Point Six Technologies Pvt Ltd
ISBN: 9354388094
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 269
Book Description
If you do not become what you once aspired to become, does it matter? ‘The Aspirant’ looks for an answer to this perennial question. It is the story of a young man who once wanted to become a Carmelite monk, but ended up becoming a monk of a different order - a civil servant. The disillusionment with the way monastic life was practiced, made him take this new direction. The journey ahead as a bureaucrat in CAG’s institution took the author to many places across the globe and caused him to meet several people – ordinary people with extraordinary stories – and those stories add extra layers to this memoir. And all through his life’s varied voyages, a part of him remained as a monk. ‘The Aspirant’ attempts to demystify two venerable institutions - the church and the bureaucracy - with a tinge of irreverence but without an iota of malice.
India Unbound
Author: Gurcharan Das
Publisher: Anchor
ISBN: 0385720742
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 434
Book Description
India today is a vibrant free-market democracy, a nation well on its way to overcoming decades of widespread poverty. The nation’s rise is one of the great international stories of the late twentieth century, and in India Unbound the acclaimed columnist Gurcharan Das offers a sweeping economic history of India from independence to the new millennium. Das shows how India’s policies after 1947 condemned the nation to a hobbled economy until 1991, when the government instituted sweeping reforms that paved the way for extraordinary growth. Das traces these developments and tells the stories of the major players from Nehru through today. As the former CEO of Proctor & Gamble India, Das offers a unique insider’s perspective and he deftly interweaves memoir with history, creating a book that is at once vigorously analytical and vividly written. Impassioned, erudite, and eminently readable, India Unbound is a must for anyone interested in the global economy and its future.
Publisher: Anchor
ISBN: 0385720742
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 434
Book Description
India today is a vibrant free-market democracy, a nation well on its way to overcoming decades of widespread poverty. The nation’s rise is one of the great international stories of the late twentieth century, and in India Unbound the acclaimed columnist Gurcharan Das offers a sweeping economic history of India from independence to the new millennium. Das shows how India’s policies after 1947 condemned the nation to a hobbled economy until 1991, when the government instituted sweeping reforms that paved the way for extraordinary growth. Das traces these developments and tells the stories of the major players from Nehru through today. As the former CEO of Proctor & Gamble India, Das offers a unique insider’s perspective and he deftly interweaves memoir with history, creating a book that is at once vigorously analytical and vividly written. Impassioned, erudite, and eminently readable, India Unbound is a must for anyone interested in the global economy and its future.
Advice and Dissent
Author: Y.V. Reddy
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 9352643054
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 550
Book Description
'Few people know more about India's financial system than Dr Y.V. Reddy. And even fewer have the authority that he commands.' - Raghuram Rajan, former RBI governor 'If America had a central bank chief like Y.V. Reddy, the US economy would not have been in such a mess.' - Joseph Stiglitz, economist and Columbia University professor 'One among the brightest intellectuals living in India today...the most eminent central banker of the last decade across the world.' - P. Chidambaram, former Union finance minister 'How did India manage to beat the odds? [It was] largely the result of the sound management and foresight of one man: Yaga Venugopal Reddy.' - Arvind Panagariya, vice-chairman of the Niti Aayog 'I have high regard for him for two reasons. First, his complete integrity. There are very few civil servants like him who are not self-centered. He does not want to please any bureaucrat or minister. Second, his devotion to work. Intellectually, he is very open.' - Bimal Jalan, former RBI governor 'Unlike Alan Greenspan, who didn't believe it was his job to even point out bubbles, much less try to deflate them, Mr Reddy saw his job as making sure Indian banks did not get too caught up in the bubble mentality.' - Joe Nocera, American journalist and author 'Dr Reddy is of a generation that believed public service was the highest calling.' - Karina Robinson, editor, The Banker magazine A journalist once asked Y.V. Reddy, 'Governor, how independent is the RBI?''I am very independent,' Reddy replied. 'The RBI has full autonomy. I have the permission of my finance minister to tell you that.'Reddy may have put it lightly but it is a theme he deals with at length in Advice and Dissent. Spanning a long career in public service which began with his joining the IAS in 1964, he writes about decision making at several levels. In his dealings, he was firm, unafraid to speak his mind, but avoided open discord.In a book that appeals to the lay reader and the finance specialist alike, Reddy gives an account of the debate and thinking behind some landmark events, and some remarkable initiatives of his own, whose benefits reached the man on the street. Reading between the lines, one recognizes controversies on key policy decisions which reverberate even now.This book provides a ringside view of the licence permit raj, drought, bonded labour, draconian forex controls, the balance of payments crisis, liberalisation, high finance, and the emergence of India as a key player in the global economy. He also shares his experience of working closely with some of the architects of India's economic change: Manmohan Singh, Bimal Jalan, C. Rangarajan, Yashwant Sinha, Jaswant Singh and P. Chidambaram. He also worked closely with extraordinary leaders like N.T. Rama Rao, as described in a memorable chapter.As governor of the RBI from 2003 to 2008 he presided over a period of high growth, low inflation, a stable rupee and ample foreign exchange reserves -- a far cry from the 1991 crisis he lived through and describes in vivid detail, when the country had to mortgage its gold to meet its debt obligations. He is credited with saving the Indian banking system from the sub-prime and liquidity crisis of 2008 that erupted shortly after his term at RBI ended.Dr Reddy provides insight into post-crisis reflection undertaken by several global institutions on the international monetary system and financial architecture. In addition, he describes the development of the Fourteenth Finance Commission report, which he chaired, and is considered a game changer.Leavened with his irrepressible sense of humour, Advice and Dissent is a warm, engaging account of a life that moves easily from his career in the districts as a young IAS officer to the higher echelons of policy making, in a trajectory that follows change in the country itself.
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 9352643054
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 550
Book Description
'Few people know more about India's financial system than Dr Y.V. Reddy. And even fewer have the authority that he commands.' - Raghuram Rajan, former RBI governor 'If America had a central bank chief like Y.V. Reddy, the US economy would not have been in such a mess.' - Joseph Stiglitz, economist and Columbia University professor 'One among the brightest intellectuals living in India today...the most eminent central banker of the last decade across the world.' - P. Chidambaram, former Union finance minister 'How did India manage to beat the odds? [It was] largely the result of the sound management and foresight of one man: Yaga Venugopal Reddy.' - Arvind Panagariya, vice-chairman of the Niti Aayog 'I have high regard for him for two reasons. First, his complete integrity. There are very few civil servants like him who are not self-centered. He does not want to please any bureaucrat or minister. Second, his devotion to work. Intellectually, he is very open.' - Bimal Jalan, former RBI governor 'Unlike Alan Greenspan, who didn't believe it was his job to even point out bubbles, much less try to deflate them, Mr Reddy saw his job as making sure Indian banks did not get too caught up in the bubble mentality.' - Joe Nocera, American journalist and author 'Dr Reddy is of a generation that believed public service was the highest calling.' - Karina Robinson, editor, The Banker magazine A journalist once asked Y.V. Reddy, 'Governor, how independent is the RBI?''I am very independent,' Reddy replied. 'The RBI has full autonomy. I have the permission of my finance minister to tell you that.'Reddy may have put it lightly but it is a theme he deals with at length in Advice and Dissent. Spanning a long career in public service which began with his joining the IAS in 1964, he writes about decision making at several levels. In his dealings, he was firm, unafraid to speak his mind, but avoided open discord.In a book that appeals to the lay reader and the finance specialist alike, Reddy gives an account of the debate and thinking behind some landmark events, and some remarkable initiatives of his own, whose benefits reached the man on the street. Reading between the lines, one recognizes controversies on key policy decisions which reverberate even now.This book provides a ringside view of the licence permit raj, drought, bonded labour, draconian forex controls, the balance of payments crisis, liberalisation, high finance, and the emergence of India as a key player in the global economy. He also shares his experience of working closely with some of the architects of India's economic change: Manmohan Singh, Bimal Jalan, C. Rangarajan, Yashwant Sinha, Jaswant Singh and P. Chidambaram. He also worked closely with extraordinary leaders like N.T. Rama Rao, as described in a memorable chapter.As governor of the RBI from 2003 to 2008 he presided over a period of high growth, low inflation, a stable rupee and ample foreign exchange reserves -- a far cry from the 1991 crisis he lived through and describes in vivid detail, when the country had to mortgage its gold to meet its debt obligations. He is credited with saving the Indian banking system from the sub-prime and liquidity crisis of 2008 that erupted shortly after his term at RBI ended.Dr Reddy provides insight into post-crisis reflection undertaken by several global institutions on the international monetary system and financial architecture. In addition, he describes the development of the Fourteenth Finance Commission report, which he chaired, and is considered a game changer.Leavened with his irrepressible sense of humour, Advice and Dissent is a warm, engaging account of a life that moves easily from his career in the districts as a young IAS officer to the higher echelons of policy making, in a trajectory that follows change in the country itself.
VP Menon
Author: Narayani Basu
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 9386797690
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 675
Book Description
With his initial plans for an independent India in tatters, the desperate viceroy, Lord Mountbatten, turned to his seniormost Indian civil servant, Vappala Pangunni Menon—or VP—giving him a single night to devise an alternative, coherent and workable plan for independence. Menon met his stringent deadline, presenting the Menon Plan, which would change the map of the world forever. Menon was unarguably the architect of the modern Indian state. Yet startlingly little is known about this bureaucrat, patriot and visionary. In this definitive biography, Menon’s great-granddaughter, Narayani Basu, rectifies this travesty. She takes us through the highs and lows of his career, from his determination to give women the right to vote; to his strategy, at once ruthless and subtle, to get the princely states to accede to India; to his decision to join forces with the Swatantra Party; to his final relegation to relative obscurity. Equally, the book candidly explores the man behind the public figure— his unconventional personal life and his private conflicts, which made him channel his energy into public service. Drawing from documents—scattered, unread and unresearched until now—and with unprecedented access to Menon’s papers and his taped off-the-record and explosively frank interviews—this remarkable biography of VP Menon not only covers the life and times of a man unjustly consigned to the footnotes of history but also changes our perception of how India, as we know it, came into being.
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 9386797690
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 675
Book Description
With his initial plans for an independent India in tatters, the desperate viceroy, Lord Mountbatten, turned to his seniormost Indian civil servant, Vappala Pangunni Menon—or VP—giving him a single night to devise an alternative, coherent and workable plan for independence. Menon met his stringent deadline, presenting the Menon Plan, which would change the map of the world forever. Menon was unarguably the architect of the modern Indian state. Yet startlingly little is known about this bureaucrat, patriot and visionary. In this definitive biography, Menon’s great-granddaughter, Narayani Basu, rectifies this travesty. She takes us through the highs and lows of his career, from his determination to give women the right to vote; to his strategy, at once ruthless and subtle, to get the princely states to accede to India; to his decision to join forces with the Swatantra Party; to his final relegation to relative obscurity. Equally, the book candidly explores the man behind the public figure— his unconventional personal life and his private conflicts, which made him channel his energy into public service. Drawing from documents—scattered, unread and unresearched until now—and with unprecedented access to Menon’s papers and his taped off-the-record and explosively frank interviews—this remarkable biography of VP Menon not only covers the life and times of a man unjustly consigned to the footnotes of history but also changes our perception of how India, as we know it, came into being.
The Insider's View
Author: Javid Chowdhury
Publisher: Penguin UK
ISBN: 8184757220
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 308
Book Description
In this illuminating memoir Javid Chowdhury shares his varied experiences over four decades in the IAS: the years in training when he imbibed the service’s ethos and values; his initiation into the rural universe as the District Development Officer and the District Magistrate; and further on, to his handling of the infamous Bank Securities and Jain Hawala scams as Director of Enforcement and Union Revenue Secretary. With a light pen, Chowdhury describes the changing social profile and attitudes of entrants to the higher civil services; the nepotism, in many garbs, that he encountered as Establishment Officer; and the stranger-than-fiction tortuous investigations of crimes. He also offers his nuanced reflections on the dubious legacy Gujarat acquired as a result of the communal carnage in 2002. Chowdhury further examines how policymaking within government came to be whittled away under the neo-liberal theology, with key scrutiny being left to external expert think tanks and ad hoc groups. As a consequence, he perceives that public accountability came to be inordinately diffused, resulting in the roller-coaster governance that we witness today. Sharp and insightful, replete with telling anecdotes and amusing sketches of icons, colleagues and ministers, The Insider’s View is a compelling portrait of the author, a self-confessed welfare socialist, besides being an X-ray of the innards of the bureaucracy.
Publisher: Penguin UK
ISBN: 8184757220
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 308
Book Description
In this illuminating memoir Javid Chowdhury shares his varied experiences over four decades in the IAS: the years in training when he imbibed the service’s ethos and values; his initiation into the rural universe as the District Development Officer and the District Magistrate; and further on, to his handling of the infamous Bank Securities and Jain Hawala scams as Director of Enforcement and Union Revenue Secretary. With a light pen, Chowdhury describes the changing social profile and attitudes of entrants to the higher civil services; the nepotism, in many garbs, that he encountered as Establishment Officer; and the stranger-than-fiction tortuous investigations of crimes. He also offers his nuanced reflections on the dubious legacy Gujarat acquired as a result of the communal carnage in 2002. Chowdhury further examines how policymaking within government came to be whittled away under the neo-liberal theology, with key scrutiny being left to external expert think tanks and ad hoc groups. As a consequence, he perceives that public accountability came to be inordinately diffused, resulting in the roller-coaster governance that we witness today. Sharp and insightful, replete with telling anecdotes and amusing sketches of icons, colleagues and ministers, The Insider’s View is a compelling portrait of the author, a self-confessed welfare socialist, besides being an X-ray of the innards of the bureaucracy.
India Calling
Author: Anand Giridharadas
Publisher: ReadHowYouWant.com
ISBN: 1458763099
Category : Travel
Languages : en
Pages : 386
Book Description
Reversing his parents immigrant path, a young writer returns to India and discovers an old country making itself new. Anand Giridharadas sensed something was afoot as his plane prepared to land in Bombay. An elderly passenger looked at him and said, Were all trying to go that way, pointing to the rear. You, youre going this way. Giridharadas was...
Publisher: ReadHowYouWant.com
ISBN: 1458763099
Category : Travel
Languages : en
Pages : 386
Book Description
Reversing his parents immigrant path, a young writer returns to India and discovers an old country making itself new. Anand Giridharadas sensed something was afoot as his plane prepared to land in Bombay. An elderly passenger looked at him and said, Were all trying to go that way, pointing to the rear. You, youre going this way. Giridharadas was...
Rites of Passage
Author: Hiralal Muljibhai Patel
Publisher: books catalog
ISBN:
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 502
Book Description
Autobiographical reminiscences of Hiralal Muljibhai Patel, 1903-1993, Indian politician, civil servant, cabinet officer, and educator; also includes his impression on the events around partition of India, 1947.
Publisher: books catalog
ISBN:
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 502
Book Description
Autobiographical reminiscences of Hiralal Muljibhai Patel, 1903-1993, Indian politician, civil servant, cabinet officer, and educator; also includes his impression on the events around partition of India, 1947.
Unbecoming
Author: Anuradha Bhagwati
Publisher: Atria Books
ISBN: 1501162551
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 336
Book Description
Brimming “with the ebullient Bhagwati’s fierce humanism, seething humor, and change-maker righteousness,” (Shelf Awareness) a raw, unflinching memoir by a former US Marine Captain chronicling her journey from dutiful daughter of immigrants to radical activist fighting for historic policy reform. After a lifetime of buckling to the demands of her strict Indian parents, Anuradha Bhagwati abandons grad school in the Ivy League to join the Marines—the fiercest, most violent, most masculine branch of the military—determined to prove herself there in ways she couldn’t before. Yet once training begins, Anuradha’s GI Jane fantasy is punctured. As a bisexual woman of color in the military, she faces underestimation at every stage, confronting misogyny, racism, sexual violence, and astonishing injustice perpetrated by those in power. Pushing herself beyond her limits, she also wrestles with what drove her to pursue such punishment in the first place. Once her service concludes in 2004, Anuradha courageously vows to take to task the very leaders and traditions that cast such a dark cloud over her time in the Marines. Her efforts result in historic change, including the lifting of the ban on women from pursuing combat roles in the military. “Bhagwati’s fight is both incensing and inspiring” (Booklist) in this tale of heroic resilience and grapples with the timely question of what, exactly, America stands for, showing how one woman learned to believe in herself in spite of everything.
Publisher: Atria Books
ISBN: 1501162551
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 336
Book Description
Brimming “with the ebullient Bhagwati’s fierce humanism, seething humor, and change-maker righteousness,” (Shelf Awareness) a raw, unflinching memoir by a former US Marine Captain chronicling her journey from dutiful daughter of immigrants to radical activist fighting for historic policy reform. After a lifetime of buckling to the demands of her strict Indian parents, Anuradha Bhagwati abandons grad school in the Ivy League to join the Marines—the fiercest, most violent, most masculine branch of the military—determined to prove herself there in ways she couldn’t before. Yet once training begins, Anuradha’s GI Jane fantasy is punctured. As a bisexual woman of color in the military, she faces underestimation at every stage, confronting misogyny, racism, sexual violence, and astonishing injustice perpetrated by those in power. Pushing herself beyond her limits, she also wrestles with what drove her to pursue such punishment in the first place. Once her service concludes in 2004, Anuradha courageously vows to take to task the very leaders and traditions that cast such a dark cloud over her time in the Marines. Her efforts result in historic change, including the lifting of the ban on women from pursuing combat roles in the military. “Bhagwati’s fight is both incensing and inspiring” (Booklist) in this tale of heroic resilience and grapples with the timely question of what, exactly, America stands for, showing how one woman learned to believe in herself in spite of everything.