This book brings out for the first time little known facts about the Indo-Pak War of 1971 which resulted in the birth of a new nation. The author was the hero of a thrilling drama enacted by an unbelievable small number of guerillas achieving disproportionately large successes, under some of the most difficult circumstances, thus blazing a new trail in the glorious tradition and history of the Indian Army. Mrs. Gandhi congratulated the author with the words “You were the backbone of all our success in Bangladesh.” The late Air Chief Marshal P.C. Lal wrote in letter of congratulations to the author: “Though a detailed account of your activities may never be published, I know your force played a major part in bringing about a quick victory in the East.” Sheikh Mujeebur Rehman requested the Government of India to send Major General Uban as his Personal Advisor. How did it all happen? How did the newly raised Special Frontier Force which was totally ill-equipped for modern warfare and unsupported by air, artillery or mortars, achieve what it did and win the highest admiration from Field Marshal Manekshaw who treated this small force as his “Fifth Army”? How did this guerilla force react to the news of the Seventh American Fleet rushing to the rescue of Pakistani forces? The petty rivalry within the Army, the wrangling amongst leaders of the Bangladesh Government in exile and the refreshing efforts of the author for peace resulting in Sheikh Mujeeb and Mr. Bhutto—the arch enemies—embracing each other on a public platform in Lahore, come out as exciting moments in this narration. Army Commanders most of whom were quite unaware of the existence of his Force, which was playing such a vital role to hasten their success, would be delighted to study the tactics of this unconventional “Army” and draw some useful lessons for the future.

"BEST OF 2011. Innovative ... intensely memorable ... drama and intelligence ... fascinating ... a gripping read." - Perry Crowe, Kirkus Reviews "I'm fascinated by the world building in Clark Carlton's Prophets of the Ghost Ants." - Annalee Newitz, i09.com "One of the most engrossing, original and powerful novels I have read in years. A monumental cross-genre book, an allegory like Animal Farm as well as a thrilling adventure into a whole new world. Exciting, visionary, a tour de force." - Lawrence Bender, Oscar winning producer of Inglorious Basterds, Pulp Fiction, Good Will Hunting, An Inconvenient Truth "An engaging piece of fiction built upon an imaginative idea. Even though everything takes place on a very small scale, the scope of the conflict remains epic and the nature of the conflict remains quintessentially human. The book has so much packed into it - from an exploration of class divisions, to the religious hypocrisy of the ruling and priestly classes, to the causes of religiously driven wars, to a coming-of-age story for Anand - that any reader will almost certainly find multiple levels of material in it to interest them." - Aaron Pounds, Dreaming of Other Worlds "An incredibly compelling novel ... highly original ... I am eager to see where the author goes with this series, a rewarding novel that is as remarkable for it's intensity as it's easy grace." - Antony Jones, SF Book Review Prophets of the Ghost Ants is in development as a film trilogy with Lawrence Bender Productions. The setting is Earth of the far-flung future, when all traces of our civilization have long vanished. The catastrophes of distant ages -- natural and man-made -- have passed into legend and mysticism. And yet ... the world is no utopia. Technology is unknown. The animal kingdom as we know it is extinct. Birds, reptiles, mammals -- all lost to endless, unforgiving cycles of planetary death and rebirth. Humankind has clung stubbornly to existence -- thanks to a perverse turn of Evolution. For as the weary planet became inexorably depleted, our species adapted by growing smaller with every passing eon, until at last we stood in parity with the only other "higher" species to survive -- insects. And just as our current society has domesticated animals to sustain ourselves, the human societies of this future have yoked insects to their service. Food, weapons, clothing, art -- even the most sacred religious beliefs -- are derived from Humankind's profound intertwining with the once-lowly insect world. In this savage landscape, men cannot hope to dominate. Ceaselessly and viciously, humans are stalked by Night Wasps, Lair Spiders, and Grass Roaches. And men are still men. Corrupt elites ruthlessly enforce a rigid caste system over a debased and ignorant populace. Duplicitous clergymen and power-mongering Royalty wage pointless wars for their own glory. Fantasies of a better life, a better world, serve only to torment those who dare to dream. One so cursed is a half-breed slave named Anand, a dung-collector of the midden caste who, against all possibility, rises above hopelessness to lead his people against a genocidal army of men who fight atop fearsome, translucent Ghost Ants. And to his horror, Anand finds that this merciless enemy is led by someone from his own family ... a religious zealot bent on the conversion of all non-believers ... or their extermination. For more info and concept art visit our web site: http://www.prophetsoftheghostants.com

Articles predominantly on political conditions of Tibet, China and Sino-Indian relations.

Celebrated as a theatre of geo-economic connectivity typified by the ‘Act East’ policy, India’s near east is key not only to its great-power rivalry with China, which first boiled over in the 1962 war, but to the idea(s) of India itself. It is also one of the most intricately partitioned lands anywhere on Earth. Rent by communal and class violence, the region has birthed extreme forms of religious and ethnic nationalisms and communist movements. The Indian state’s survival instinct and pursuit of regional hegemony have only accentuated such extremes. This book scripts a new history of India’s eastward-looking diplomacy and statecraft. Narrated against the backdrop of separatist resistance within India’s own northeastern states, as well as rivalry with Beijing and Islamabad in Myanmar and Bangladesh, it offers a simple but compelling argument. The aspirations of ‘Act East’ mask an uncomfortable truth: India privileges political stability over economic opportunity in this region. In his chronicle of a state’s struggle to overcome war, displacement and interventionism, Avinash Paliwal lays bare the limits of independent India’s influence in its near east.

This book studies the wars Pakistan has fought over the years with India as well as other non-state actors. Focusing on the first Kashmir war (1947–48), the wars of 1965 and 1971, and the 1999 Kargil war, it analyses the elite decision-making, which leads to these conflicts and tries to understand how Pakistan got involved in the first place. The author applies the ‘gambling model’ to provide insights into the dysfunctional world view, risk-taking behaviour, and other behavioural patterns of the decision makers, which precipitate these wars and highlight their effects on India–Pakistan relations for the future. The book also brings to the fore the experience of widows, children, common soldiers, displaced civilians, and villagers living near borders, in the form of interviews, to understand the subaltern perspective. A nuanced and accessible military history of Pakistan, this book will be indispensable to scholars and researchers of military history, defence and strategic studies, international relations, political studies, war and conflict studies, and South Asian studies.

A collection of vivid and deeply emotional stories... [that] deals with issues of identity and belonging, allowing one to experience the hope, pain, and remarkable perseverance of a people and region that are at risk of being forgotten. --Shashi Tharoor In this collection of short stories, heart-breaking and heart-warming in equal measure, the lives of displaced Tibetans building new homes in India are chronicled with rare nuance. The eleven stories are divided into the five colours of the Tibetan prayer flag: in Blue (Sky), 'Zinda' is the name of the Tibetan village which a child has to escape after Chinese occupation, returning only as a young man to this unfamiliar motherland after a bittersweet surprise. Mariko, the former monk protagonist in White (Air), shatters expectations by becoming a beauty icon and dancer. 'In the Footsteps of Buddha's Warriors' from Red (Fire) tells the story of the Chushi Gangdruk, the forgotten Tibetan guerrilla group which fought bravely from Nepal for an independence which never arrived. Madhu Gurung writes evocatively and with deep empathy about the Tibetan community's struggles and success, despair and hope, and the fabric of family and identity that stretches and dissolves and knits itself back in new configurations.

The name of this book, ‘Nuclear Bomb in Ganga’ sounds fearsome. But, it is a hard fact which has to be brought in black and white for the safety of millions of Indians who consider the river ‘Sacred Ganga’ or ‘the Ganges’ as their mother. After China detonated its first nuclear test on May, 1964 at Lop Nor, the USA was keen to keep track of further nuclear designs of Communist China in this region. The CIA teamed up with the Indian Intelligence Bureau (IB) to install a Nuclear Device on Nanda Devi Mountain to monitor further detonations by China in Lop Nor, across the Himalayas. Inclement weather during the installation mission forced the team involved in the expedition to hide the nuclear-powered device in a ledge around 2000 feet below the installation point of the Nanda Devi Mountain. When the recovery team of Indian climbers was sent in October 1966 to retrieve the equipment, they found it missing in the glaciers due to avalanches. The CIA and Indian Intelligence maintained an eerie silence about the missing device until it was exposed by an American magazine on 12 April 1978. The then Prime Minister of India, Morarji Desai, briefed the Parliament on 17 April 1978, about the missing device and appointed a committee of scientists to investigate this issue.