Must Read Books
New India: Reclaiming the Lost Glory
by Dr. Arvind Panagariya
With GDP having touched $2.6 trillion, India is poised to become the world’s third-largest economy in less than a decade. In doing so, it will have moved one step closer to reclaiming its pre-1820s glory, when it accounted for one-sixth of global output and ranked second in economic size. This rapid movement in the absolute size of the economy will be insufficient, however, to bring prosperity to India’s vast population. Today, 44 percent of the country’s workforce remains in agriculture and another 42 percent in tiny enterprises with fewer than twenty workers. Labor productivity of both sets of workers remains low, and they live overwhelmingly on subsistence-level incomes. This book lays down a concise road map of reforms that would help transform the country and create well-paid jobs in industry and services for those with limited or no skills. It argues that creation of good jobs requires the emergence of medium and large enterprises in industry and services, especially labor-intensive sectors such as apparel, footwear, and other light manufactures. India needs policies conducive to the growth of firms from small to medium, from medium to large, and from large to larger still. They must compete in the global marketplace to help increase India’s share in the world export market from less than 2 percent currently to 5 to 6 percent in a decade. Such policies include greater outward orientation; more flexible markets in land, labor, and capital; a concerted effort to improve the quality of higher education; faster urbanization; and improved governance at all levels.
Dr Arvind Panagariya is an Indian-American economist and a professor of economics at Columbia University, who served as first vice-chairman of the government of India think-tank NITI Aayog between January 2015 and August 2017.
Hinduism in America: A Convergence of Worlds
by Dr. Jeffery D. Long
Read the story of two worlds that converge: one of Hindu immigrants to America who want to preserve their traditions and pass them on to their children in a new and foreign land, and one of American spiritual seekers who find that the traditions of India fulfil their most deeply held aspirations. Learn about the theoretical approaches to Hinduism in America, the question of orientalism and ‘the invention of Hinduism’. Read about:
- How concepts like karma, rebirth, meditation and yoga have infiltrated and influenced the American consciousness
- Hindu temples in the United States and Canada
- How Hinduism has influenced vegetarianism
- The emergence of an increasingly assertive socially and politically active American Hinduism.
Dr. Jeffery D. Long is Professor of Religion and Asian Studies at Elizabethtown College, in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania. His graduate degrees are from the University of Chicago Divinity School and his undergraduate degree is from the University of Notre Dame. He also studied for two years at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, India. He is the author of A Vision for Hinduism (2007), Jainism: An Introduction (2009), The Historical Dictionary of Hinduism (2011), and the forthcoming Indian Philosophy: An Introduction, as well as a variety of articles and essays in edited volumes.
Making India Great: The Promise of a Reluctant Global Power by Dr. Aparna Pande
India will be the world’s most populous country by 2024 and its third largest economy by 2028. But the size of our population and a sense of historical greatness alone are insufficient to guarantee we will fulfill our ambition to become a global power. Our approach to realize this vision needs more than just planning for economic growth. It requires a shift in attitudes.
In Making India Great, Aparna Pande examines the challenges we face in the areas of social, economic, military and foreign policy and strategy. She points to the dichotomy that lies at the heart of the nation: our belief in becoming a global power and the reluctance to implement policies and take actions that would help us achieve that goal.
New India holds all the promise of greatness many of its citizens dream of. Can it become a reality? The book delves into this question
Dr Aparna Pande is Research Fellow and Director of Hudson Institute’s Initiative on the Future of India and South Asia. Dr. Pande wrote her PhD dissertation on Pakistan’s foreign policy.
