Current Affairs September 2019 - Books
1 - “A Short History of Indian Railways" book penned by Rajendra B Aklekar released
A new book named "A Short History of Indian Railways" has been penned by veteran journalist and author Rajendra B Aklekar. The book chronicles the journey of the national transporter from the 1830s to the new high-speed Train 18 and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ambitious bullet train project.
The book documents several untold stories of the first train, the role of Railways in India's freedom struggle, including incidents like the Kakori train dacoity, a plot to blow up Mahatma Gandhi's train, and also quirkier stories of rail ghosts, demons and haunted rail lines.
2 - VP M. Venkaiah Naidu released book titled ‘Glorious Diaspora - Pride of India'
The Vice President of India, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu, released the Coffee Table Book titled 'Glorious Diaspora - Pride of India' in New Delhi. The book contains brief profiles of the recipients of Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Awards from 2003 to 2019.
The book has been brought out by Indian Diaspora Club. The Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Awards is the highest honour conferred upon by the Indian Government to overseas Indians. It is conferred by President of India as part of Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) Convention.
3 - I&B Minister released booklet ‘Jan Connect’ and inaugurated Exhibition on ‘Furthering India’s Development’
Union Minister Shri Prakash Javadekar released the booklet ‘Jan Connect’ and inaugurated an Exhibition on ‘Furthering India’s Development - 100 days of Bold Initiatives & Decisive Actions’.
The Booklet contains a compendium of key decisions of the government in 100 days such as abrogation of Articles 370 and 35A, legislation against Triple Talaq, transparency in GST and IT return filing process, Jal Shakti Abhiyaan, Fit India Movement, vision of making India $5 trillion economy, Jan Bhagidari movements and several other historic and landmark decisions.
4 - Book titled “Savarkar: Echoes from a forgotten past, 1883-1924” released
A book titled Savarkar: Echoes from a forgotten past, 1883-1924 was released. It is written by Bengaluru-based historian Vikram Sampath and published by Penguin.
Savarkar: Echoes from a forgotten past, 1883-1924 book describes the life of freedom fighter and Philosopher Vinayak Damodar Savarkar. It expresses and explains the incidents from his birth in 1883 to his conditional release to Ratnagiri in 1924. Sampath's first book, Splendours of Royal Mysore: The Untold Story of the Wodeyars has been widely acclaimed across India.
5 - ‘Fortune Turners: The Quartet That Spun India to Glory’ launched
A new book "Fortune Turners: The Quartet that Spun India to Glory" was released in Mumbai. The book is authored by Aditya Bhushan and Sachin Bajaj. It chronicles the careers of the famous four - Bishan Singh Bedi, Erapalli Prasanna, Bhagwath Chandrasekhar and Srinivas Venkataraghavan, who dominated Indian bowling in the 1960s-70s and were instrumental in some of the team’s famous victories of the time.
Together, the four spinners took 853 Test wickets from 231 matches between them. The book has been published by Global Cricket School.
6 - 38th Sharjah International Book Fair organised
The 38th edition of the Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF) was organised where authors, publishers, intellectuals and artists worldwide brought their experiences and expertise to this prominent event. UNESCO has named Sharjah as the World Book Capital City for the year 2019 in recognition of the city’s continuous efforts in promoting books and literacy.
The SIBF was organized under the theme 'Open Books, Open Minds'. It was an exceptional edition of the book fair, where the events and discussions reflected a spotlight on the book’s ability to ignite peoples' minds, appreciate cultural differences and bring them closer.
7 - The book titled “The Cousins Thackeray: Uddhav, Raj and the Shadow of their Senas” released
The book titled "The Cousins Thackeray: Uddhav, Raj and the Shadow of their Senas" penned by the journalist Dhaval Kulkarni was released. Published by Penguin Random House, this book describes the political journey, the competition and political war of Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray.
The Shiv Sena's birth had its roots in a campaign ‘Ghar vapsi or re-conversion to Hinduism’ launched by Prabodhankar, grandfather of Uddhav Thackeray and Raj Thackeray, through his periodical in 1922.
8 - “Being Gandhi” written by Paro Anand released
A new book titled 'Being Gandhi', was relased to mark the 150th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. The book has been written by award-winning author Paro Anand.
The book explores "not Gandhi the man or his life as a leader, but really the Gandhian way that must remain relevant to us." The book is published by Harper Collins Children’s Books. Paro Anand has won the Sahitya Akademi Bal Sahitya Puruskar in 2017[1] for her anthology Wild Child and Other Stories.
9 - ‘Professor Ayushman’ comic book released by Ayush Ministry in New Delhi
The Ayush ministry has released a new comic book series ‘Professor Ayushman’. It was conceived by the National Medicinal Plants Board (NMPB). This book will raise awareness in children about the importance of medicinal plants and their use of home remedies.
The book talks about plants like Aloe Vera, Tulsi, Amla, Giloy, Neem, Ashvagandha and Brahmi. It will be available for free. The Ayush Ministry has set a target to operationalise 4,200 AYUSH Health and Wellness Centres (HWCs) under Ayushman Bharat Scheme during 2019-20.
10 - Pranab Mukherjee launched the book titled ‘Reset: Regaining India’s Economic Legacy’
Former President Pranab Mukherjee released a book titled - ‘Reset: Regaining India’s Economic Legacy’. The book is written by BJP MP Subramanian Swamy. The book describes the country's economic development over the years and offers solutions for future growth.
Subramanian Swamy is an Indian politician and economist. Swamy has served as a member of the Planning Commission of India and was a Cabinet Minister in the Chandra Shekhar government. Swamy was Chairman of the Commission on Labour Standards and International Trade by former Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao.
