Sindhi book on Gandhi to be published in Pakistan

October 1st, 2009 AHMEDABAD/NEW DELHI - A four-volume biography of Mahatma Gandhi, with intimate details penned by one who in his childhood played with the great man, has been translated from Gujarati into English and releases Friday, the 140th birth anniversary of the icon of peace and non-violence. When Narayan Desai, 84, published "Maru Jivan Ej Mari Vani" (My Life is My Message) in October 2003, it was immediately hailed as a milestone by Gandhian scholars.

September 18th, 2009 LAHORE - Three people have been arrested for selling pirated editions of former Indian minister Jaswant Singh's book "Jinnah: India, Partition, Independence" in this Pakistani city, authorities said. The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) raided two shops in Defence Housing Authority and arrested three people for selling the pirated editions of Jaswant Singh's book, Daily Times reported Friday.

September 16th, 2009 HYDERABAD - Eminent litterateur and Sahitya Akademi winner Meenakshi Mukherjee died here Wednesday. She was 72. Mukherjee, a professor at the University of Hyderabad, fainted and collapsed at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) here while preparing to board a flight to New Delhi, where she was to release one of her books.

September 13th, 2009 ABU DHABI - The Indian community in United Arab Emirates has paid a tribute to the founder of the nation, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, by publishing a book on him in the Malayalam language. The book was officially released at a special ceremony at the Indian Social and Cultural Centre here during a mass Iftar banquet Saturday, WAM news agency reported Sunday.

September 5th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - The Indian government has allowed expelled Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Jaswant Singh to visit Pakistan Sep 26 to promote his book Jinnah: India, Partition and Independence, a media report said. He will arrive in Karachi Sep 26, before heading to the Pakistani capital Sep 27 to attend a launching ceremony of the book at the Islamabad Press Club.

August 22nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - Jaswant Singh's book that got him expelled from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is now creating fissures in the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), with many key allies opposing the idea of banning the book. BJP-ruled Gujarat has already banned the book "Jinnah - India, Partition, Independence", which says that Pakistan founder Mohammad Ali Jinnah has been demonised in India and holds country's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru and home minister Sardar Vallabhai Patel also responsible for the partition.

August 18th, 2009 LUCKNOW - Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Jaswant Singh's controversial book on Pakistan's founder Mohammed Ali Jinnah was consigned to flames by Uttar Pradesh Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Pramod Tiwari here Tuesday afternoon. A large number of Congressmen cheered him as he made a bonfire of the book, "Jinnah - India, Partition, Independence", which has already sparked off a debate in the corridors of power in New Delhi.

August 17th, 2009 NEW DELHI - After creating a storm by his praise of Mohammad Ali Jinnah, senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Jaswant Singh Monday clammed up on the subject during the release of his book on the architect of Pakistan. After a panel of seven speakers praised his book, 'Jinnah - India, Partition, Independence' at the launch function here, Jaswant Singh merely said - Authors should not speak.

August 1st, 2009 HYDERABAD - Vice President Hamid Ansari Saturday released a new edition of "Muraqqa-e-Chughtai", a rare combination of poetry by Urdu great Mirza Ghalib and paintings by eminent artist Abdul Rahman Chughtai. Considered as a masterpiece, it was first published here in 1928 and has now been reprinted by Andhra Pradesh Urdu Academy.

July 17th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The marketing campaign for the Man Booker winning novel, The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga, has bagged the 'Excellence Award (best book)' of the Asian Multimedia Publishing Award 2009. The campaign was adjudged the best for using multimedia marketing by a publisher in the most effective way.

July 2nd, 2009 LONDON - British Prime Minister Gordon Brown Thursday garlanded a recently installed statue of Mahatma Gandhi in the city of Leicester. Brown surprised shoppers in Belgrave Road, a popular Indian shopping area of Leicester, when he dropped by to view the statue - believed to be only the second of Gandhi in Europe.

June 16th, 2009 NEW YORK - US President Barack Obama's half-brother, George Obama, is working on a book to be published by Simon & Schuster, the US publishing giant said in a statement Monday. George Obama, 27, is the youngest of the seven children born to Obama's father in Kenya and was recently arrested there for marijuana possession.

May 28th, 2009 MUMBAI - The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) busted a sex racket in Mumbai and arrested eight persons as well as rescued 34 girls who had been forcefully pushed into the flesh trade. This was disclosed by Rishi Raj Singh, the Joint Director of CBI, Western Region while addressing a press conference here on Wednesday.

April 12th, 2009 MUMBAI - Pravin Mahajan, who is undergoing life imprisonment for murdering his brother and late Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Pramod Mahajan, has made serious allegations about Mahajan's character in his book. The 75-pages book, 'My Album', purported excepts of which were published in a leading Marathi daily on Sunday, will be published in Marathi and English soon.

February 25th, 2009 MUMBAI - The controversial book, 'Amen - Autobiography of a Nun', by a Kerala Catholic nun in which she alleges that sexual abuse and homosexuality are prevalent in the Catholic Church in the southern state, will soon be published in English, Hindi and Marathi. The book, which has taken the Catholic Church by storm, could hit bookshelves across the country before the Lent period begins on March 10, book's author Sister Jesme told IANS over phone from Calicut.