Correct Answer :   Jagdeep Dhankhar

The release of the book “Mundaka Upanishad: The Gateway to Eternity” was announced by Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar.

The book was written at Upa-Rashtrapati Nivas in New Delhi by Dr. Karan Singh, a former member of parliament. He is a philosopher and politician from India.

About the book :

* Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan initially released this book in 1987. But, the current edition is unique since it includes Dr. Kamal Kishor Mishra’s Hindi translation of Dr. Karan Singh’s texts, who also transliterated the Sanskrit text in accordance with international standards.

* Six antiquated manuscripts have also been added from the large collection at the Sri Ranbir Sanskrit Research Center, Sri Raghunath Temple in Jammu.

* These documents, which include the primary text as well as the Bhasya, Bhasya-tippanam, and Dipika-comments by Adi Shankaracharya and Pandita Naraina, show that this important Upanisad was written down for centuries in both the old and new Kashmiri types of Devanagari script.

About the Dr. Karan Singh :

* Dr. Karan Singh is well recognised as an intellectual and a patron of scholarship and artistic endeavours in addition to his extraordinary record of 70 years in public life, which began at the age of 18 when he was named Regent of Jammu & Kashmir by his father Maharaja Hari Singh.

* His most recent novels are Shiva: King of the Cosmic Dance (Speaking Tiger) and Reflections, which are among his more than 20 published works (Shubhi Publications).

* He formerly served as chancellor of the Jawaharlal Nehru University, Banaras Hindu University, and the Jammu & Kashmir University.

Correct Answer :   Mansukh Mandaviya

Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya on Saturday (4th Mar 2023) released the book, 'India’s Vaccine Growth Story- From Cowpox to Vaccine Maitri', at World Book Fair in New Delhi.

* The book is authored by Additional Secretary of Finance Ministry Sajjan Singh Yadav. Speaking on the occasion, Dr Mandaviya has urged the writers to inculcate research-based documentation.

* He said that research-based documentation is mandatory to put light on the country's heritage which reflects its knowledge and science that have proven exemplary in times of crisis.

* Lauding the unwavering dedication of healthcare professionals, the Minister stated that the country administered 2.2 billion doses as a part of the what he described as the world's largest COVID vaccination drive without any shortages across the nation, resulting in saving 3.4 million lives..

Source : AIR

Correct Answer :   Jagat Prakash Nadda

BJP national president Jagat Prakash Nadda on Wednesday (22nd Feb 2023) launched a book "Modi: Shaping a Global Order in Flux" .

* While addressing the readers, Nadda said, "This book is going to open a debate on how PM Modi has taken a decision which has changed India's image worldwide.

* It's necessary to understand what was the image of India before Modi ji came to power." Recalling the old image, Nadda said, "The economy was declining, India had an image of a corrupt state, repeated terrorist attacks and a lack of stable govt. The very sad part was that the authority of the PM was eroded".

* He further said, "Unlike in the past, India doesn't shy to take positions. For a long time, India has been shying from taking hard positions. However, under PM Modi, on international issues, India can take a stand on complex issues. A classic example is the Russia-Ukraine war".

* Book is forewarded by Union External Affair Minister S. Jaishankar. Editors are Sujan Chinoy, Vijay Chauthaiwala, and Uttam Kumar Sinha..

Source : The Hans India

Correct Answer :   Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu Governor R.N. Ravi released two books — Pt. Deendayal Udadhyaya: Dispersions of Thought and Pt. Deendayal Udpadhyaya: Integral Humanism authored by Professor B. Dharmalingam in Chennai on Tuesday (21st Feb 2023).

* According to a Raj Bhavan release, addressing at the event, Governor said four prominent western ideologies — Theology, Darwinian theory, Karl Marx theory and Rousseau’s social contract theory — caused “damage to our national growth”.

* The Governor explained that the theology “created reckless exploitation of natural resources, conflict between humans and nature, and resulted in climate crisis”.

* The Darwinian Theory “which insist on the survival of the fittest, meant those who are weak got no right to exist and only the strong prospered. It is the law of the jungle where there is no compassion, or sense of right or wrong”, the release quoted as saying.

* On theory of Karl Marx, he said it raised perpetual conflicts between haves and have-nots. “This model created divisions between and within different segments. It triggered perpetual conflict in society,” he said.

* The Rousseau’s social contract theory, “considered an individual as primary stakeholder and supports supremacy of the individual over collectives and state and society is a product. Like six blind men and an elephant, everyone looked at part of it, but nobody looked at it in totality.”

* According to him, “We have committed a grave mistake by misunderstanding and misusing the term ‘Dharma’ as the English counterpart of ‘religion’.” He reiterated dharma as the eternal law of the universe by which all have to abide...

Source : The Hindu

Correct Answer :   Salman Rushdie

British author, Salman Rushdie has released his new novel "Victory City" on Tuesday (7th Feb 2023).

* This novel was published by Penguin Random House.

* It is an "epic tale" of a 14th-century woman who defies a patriarchal world to rule a city.

* This novel purports to be a translation of a historical epic originally written in Sanskrit.

* Rushdie won the Booker Prize in 1981 for his second novel, Midnight's Children.

* His notable works : Grimus (1975); Shame (1983); The Satanic Verses (1988).


12 Notable Salman Rushdie Books :

1. Grimus (1975)
2. Midnight’s Children (1981)
3. Shame (1983)
4. The Satanic Verses (1988)
5. The Moor’s Last Sigh (1995)
6. The Ground Beneath Her Feet (1999)
7. Fury (2001)
8. Shalimar the Clown (2005)
9. The Enchantress of Florence (2008)
10. Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights (2015)
11. The Golden House (2017)
12. Quichotte (2019)....

Source : Mint

Correct Answer :   Meghnad Desai

India-born naturalised British economist "Meghnad Desai" has authored a new book titled “The Poverty Of Political Economy: How Economics Abandoned the Poor” which highlights how the discipline of economics, since the time it evolved from the late 18th century, systematically kept the interests of the poor at the periphery.

* The book is published by HarperCollins Publishers India.

* The book examines the philosophical traditions that have shaped economics across the world in this engrossing new book.

* Through this book, Meghnad Desai studies the contributions of economics to domestic and international politics from Adam Smith to John Maynard Keynes, and from the Great Depression to the collapse of the Lehmann Brothers.
 
About the book : In this compelling new book, Meghnad Desai takes a critical, introspective look at the bodies of thought that have driven economics across the world.

* From Adam Smith to John Maynard Keynes, and from the Great Depression to the collapse of the Lehmann Brothers, Desai studies the contributions of economics to domestic and international politics.

* The Poverty of Political Economy asks necessary and startling questions: Where have we fallen short? How have changes in the international order affected the making of economies? In the face of Covid-19, how do we reinvent the way that economic policies are formed?

* This is a remarkable thesis by one of the foremost political economists of our time. Desai argues his point persuasively, with great erudition, insisting that in the twenty-first century, humanity must return to economics.

Correct Answer :   R. Kaushik and R. Sridhar

Correct Answer :   Mansukh Mandaviya

Correct Answer :   Amit Shah

Correct Answer :   Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex