K Venkataraman – författare

First published in 1968, States'' Finances in India not only provides the first descriptive account of the finances of the states since Indian Independence, but also offers an analysis which successfully puts into perspective national, state and local finance on the one hand and problems of plan financing, taxation, borrowing and public expenditure on the other. The author supports his argument by a series of statistical tables on which he comments concisely, bringing out clearly their main features and implications. His analysis benefits from his practical experience of politics and administration.

He deals with union-state relations, state-local relations and problems of plan financing and implementation. Most of the statistical tables are aggregated from successive annual reports and will make this a valuable work of reference for economists, administrators and politicians.

First published in 1968, States'' Finances in India not only provides the first descriptive account of the finances of the states since Indian Independence, but also offers an analysis which successfully puts into perspective national, state and local finance on the one hand and problems of plan financing, taxation, borrowing and public expenditure on the other. The author supports his argument by a series of statistical tables on which he comments concisely, bringing out clearly their main features and implications. His analysis benefits from his practical experience of politics and administration.

He deals with union-state relations, state-local relations and problems of plan financing and implementation. Most of the statistical tables are aggregated from successive annual reports and will make this a valuable work of reference for economists, administrators and politicians.

The Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India, consist of 572 islands with a land area of 8,249 km2. Their topography is hilly and undulating, with elevations up to 732 m on the Andaman and up to 568 m on the Nicobar Islands. They are known for their rich biodiversity and a very high degree of endemicity in all taxa, especially in plants, reptiles, fishes and corals. Their habitats include bays, mangroves, moist deciduous forests and evergreen forests. Comprising 20 chapters each written by an expert or professional in his/her particular field this book offers new insights into the fascinating faunal communities of these islands and provides the fundamentals for their conservation and environmental management.

This book provides insights into various aspects of marine faunal communities in India, which are extremely diverse due to the geomorphologic and climatic variations along the Indian coasts. Consisting of 30 chapters by experts in their respective fields, it is divided into two parts:

·       Part I: Tropical Marine Faunal Communities

·       Part II: Ecology and Conservation

Part I highlights the diversity and distribution of Foraminifera; sponges associated with seagrass; Polychaeta; Opisthobranchia; oysters; copepods; horseshoe and brachyuran crabs; echinoderms; ascidians; fishes; fish parasites; and sea mammals. Topics of Part II include the status and environmental parameters of benthos; the status of coral reefs; the invasion of snowflake coral; the recovery of bleached corals; the socioeconomics and management of dugong; marine biodiversity conservation and management in India; the assessment of the marine fauna of the Indian Wildlife Protection Act; and marine biodiversity protected areas in India.

This book will serve as a valuable reference work for marine scientists, as well as for environmental managers and policy makers.