This hard cover edition published by Unisun Publications and edited by Aruna Nambiar is an interesting book to read. It is a compilation of 25 stories written by 14 Indian writers. The book is also profusely illustrated.
I qoute below portions of the forward, written by the editor Aruna Nambiar which gives an idea of the contents.

Be honest now - have you picked up this book to learn what the entrance fee is for Disneyland? Or where you can find a vegetarian menu amidst the smorgasbord of carnivorous delights in the Far East? Or how tall the Eiffel tower is and when it was built? Forewarned is forearmed. whisper to yourself."LET'S GO find another book" quitely return the offending pieceto that gap in the dust, back away carefully from the shelf and head FO-theDOR's.
let you labour under the misapprehension that this book is not of academic importance however, let me assure you that it contains a treasure trove of information. you will learn, for instance that shovelling shit can be fun- if you are on a reserve in South Africa. The slurping of noodles is not just expected in a Japanese ramen restaurant, but is also a highly efficient noodle consumption technique. That it is an honour in Australia, to be able to trace your background to a convict transported from England. That the largest beach in the world is a little 'worse-for wear'. That the children of Gandhi live in Brazil and not in Porbandar.

If you have ever been stuck in an alien land, hot or homesick, uncomfortable or unemployed, frozen or famished, or generally out of your depth, you will find ample company in misery as you turn these pages. If you are a jaded traveller who has sampled all that the world has to offer,only to discover surprises closer to home, you will find your wonderment echoed in these writings ............

So much was said and debated about the unprincipled war in Iraq and subsequent occupation of Iraq by American and British troops and their friends, that the rest of the world thought the people of USA and UK would show both Mr. Bush and Mr. Blair the door in the elections held recently. But that did not happen and both the leaders have been voted back to power.
What does this show to the world? It certainly proves that for all the talk of fair play, decency, justice and democracy the people of both these countries do not really care for all these values and all they care is for their supremacy and their own safety in this world. In war and in politics the winner is right.
It was widely reported that Saddam had the tacit support of the US to attack Kuwait, and when it happened the US turned the tables on Saddam and waged a war against Iraq and humbled Saddam. Sanctions were imposed on Iraq and Saddam was brought to his knees and the country was ruined. They wanted nothing less than full ownership of Iraq’s oil wealth (as believed by everyone in the world). But they would not admit it and it looks as though they believe that a lie repeated many times will ultimately turn out to be a truth.
Later, both US and UK went after Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction in spite of knowing the truth that there was no such WMD in Saddam’s possession. Again they attacked and humbled Saddam and imprisoned him. Both Bush and Blair are telling their people and the world that they have done a great job by removing the menace of Saddam and they are now in the process of teaching “democracy” to the people of Iraq.
Knowing all these matters, the people of the US and UK have voted these two leaders back to power. Do they really care for anything other than their own safety and prosperity? Lip sympathy for the hapless people of the rest of the world is all that they can give. Does Human rights and values mean anything to the people of the US and UK?

India is a country of diversity
Diversity of all kinds: religion, language, color and appearance of people, food, climate of different regions, art and culture and every aspect of life.

Spirituality is the Ethos of India
From Kashmir in north to Kanyakumari at the southern tip of India and from Bhuj in the west to Shillong in the east every aspect of the country and life of the people is different. With all these differences the people of the subcontinent has for centuries lived as Indians. Differences in religion and language have from time to time caused discord and strife in different regions. But the people in general are proud to call themselves as Indians.
The diversity of India would seem to be its strength and cohesive factor. A Malayali of Kerala in the south is so much different from his counterpart in Punjab or Kashmir in the north. They have their individual Ethos but the Indian Ethos envelopes people of all regions and sections and prevail over the differences.
The majority population is of the Hindu faith. The Hindu faith is one, which has evolved over a span of several centuries. Hinduism is in fact a way of living as practiced by the people who lived in the Indus valley in ancient times. The Hindu scriptures known as Vedas and Upanishads originated several centuries before Christ.
Though Hindus are believed to be idol worshippers, in actual fact the idols represent only symbols which are necessary for the ordinary people to relate to a higher being, an almighty God. The great philosopher, thinker and poet Shankaracharya of Kaladi of 8th century BC, has propounded the theory of "Adwaita", which means non-dualistic. In simple terms God and soul (or Self) are one and the same. There is no separate existence of soul. Everything in this Universe, which are known, or unknown to us are all God manifestations.
God is omnipotent and resides everywhere and in everything. God is immortal and changeless. God is incomprehensible. You can neither feel nor see Him. But his presence is everywhere. God is present in the spark of life, in the heat and light of Fire. One can only realize him through introspection and meditation.
The purpose of taking birth in this world is to realize God. This life is precious because only the human intellect can realize God and one's true state. The Hindu belief is that death is not the end of life and that there is life after death. Until one reaches true realization of the self, cycle of birth and death continues.
When one realizes self, one attains release from the cycle of birth and death and becomes one with God.
The cycle of birth and death repeats because of the actions or "Karma" of the individual. Soul, or the Self, God, is inert, does not have qualities discernable to us. God is formless and infinite. It is like space. Like space or air it is inside and outside a vessel or a container. Soul is the spark of life and when it leaves the body the man is dead.
All living beings are born with certain inherent qualities, depending on ones actions or "Karma" in the previous life. These qualities more or less direct one's destiny. But once born, the humans unlike the beasts can use their intellect and modify their destiny through Karma. The quality of the Karma in the present life will mould the qualities for the next birth. This somewhat explains why the rewards of action are different for different persons.
Body, mind and intellect are the three main aspects of human beings. Ones desires arise from tendencies termed as "Vasnas" in Sanskrit, accumulated from previous lives. These desires are in one's mind and one's actions are dictated by the Vasnas and controlled by the intellect. If actions are performed without any control by the intellect, the intensity of the Vasnas increase and he will want to go on indulging in the same actions until his body can no more do these. If actions are undertaken with understanding and moderation it will help exhaust the Vasnas and the person will become more spiritual. Actions, if performed with a sense of duty and devotion will help reduce desires. The ultimate state of spirituality is not to have any desires at all. For the spiritual person there is no sorrow or happiness. His actions are dispassionate and he is not worried about the rewards for his actions.
When a person conducts his life without passionate desires he becomes relieved of the worries of success or failure. He becomes a spiritual person. A spiritual person is one who has no selfish interest in his actions or rewards. His work will be for the good of society at large and his outlook will gradually become universal.
A spiritual person is not worried about his welfare, his actions are as dictated by his "Dharma" and duty. He is not bound by anxiety for reward for himself. As a person becomes more and more spiritual he cares less and less for material comforts in life. He is a rich person whose needs are not many! Even while doing things his mind will be fixed on God, which is within him.
A person who realizes God, that is the one who gets a glimpse of his own soul (the Self) becomes the knower of every thing. He will want to know nothing more as his knowledge is complete. He becomes ecstatic and forgets the world around him and even himself and his body. A fully realized person is God himself.
Our spiritual state depends on our previous life too. If one is born with Satwic Vasnas he will tend to be more spiritual and he may reach Godhead more easily. The accumulated Vasnas of the previous lives is the logical explanation for pronounced inherent characteristics that are sometimes seen in small children. Valmiki who wrote the Hindu epic Ramayana was a hunter. Gautam Buddha, a prince, who grew up in the lap of luxury became an ascetic at an early age.
One of the more popular scripture of the Hindus is the Bhagavat Gita, which is a comprehensive text of the Hindu philosophy. It says that your religious Dharma, even though it may not be perfect is best for you. Fulfillment of Dharma, which is not yours, is always fraught with danger.
Bhagavat Gita also advises that it's teachings or secrets are not to be told to every one. Only those with a mature mind and faith in Him can understand or appreciate the text or realize the truth. Such people are rare. It is clear then that Religious Conversion is not a Hindu creed.

One of the main constraints for industrial growth of India is inadequate infrastructure. Though a lot has been achieved during the past couple of decades the energy situation is far from satisfactory There is this energy crisis looming large and for a country like India the problem could well become very serious in the future.
Conventional energy sources are becoming scarcer by the day and therefore new sources are to be explored. Through out the world lot of work is going on for alternative sources of energy.Apart from nuclear energy other sources such as solar energy, energy from wind and ocean waves, geothermal energy etc could become major alternatives for the conventional source from fossil fuels. Hydrogen is seen as a major alternative for automobile combustion engines.
For Indian conditions Biogas is a very interesting proposition, because of the abundance of the raw material - cow dung.
One of the main sources of methane or the biogas is from cow dung. There was an article in the Times of India written by Mr.Arun Firodia, which was very informative on the subject. Look at the numbers:

· India’s cattle population is about 250 million, which will produce 125 million tons of dung per year.
· Calorific value of one Kg of methane gas is equal to one KG of Petrol/Diesel/LPG
· Per capita requirement of LPG is 15KG and dung from 75 million cows can produce methane gas for cooking purpose for the entire population of the country.
· Petrol consumption in 2003-2004 was 8 million tonnes. Dung from 40 million cows is sufficient to produce equivalent amount of methane gas.
· Electric energy consumption of rural India is 112 KWH per capita/annum. Assuming that 200gms of petrol can produce 1 KWH power, dung from 85 million cows can meet the needs of a rural population of 740 million in India.

One should think it is high time the cow worshipping people of this country will utilise the cow dung more profitably so that the cow will be able to maintain its status in our society.
Plants of different production capacities are available in the country. Today the production of biogas from cow dung is mainly used for domestic cooking. However the production on a large scale may pose many problems. The whole production process depends on bacterial activity, which is not a totally dependable process since several factors affect the bacterial activity. Large-scale production would require innovation and adoption of controls for uninterrupted supply.
One is reminded of the grand success of milk production in the country. In the early sixties and seventies there was severe shortage of milk in the country. One man’s vision and hard work saw the flooding of milk in the country. The co-operative initiative started by Mr. Kurien, was responsible for this success. A similar co-operative movement can make methane production in this country a successful venture.
The cattle population is spread out all over the country and a well thought out strategy should be worked out to see that all the dung is collected properly and brought to the various plants within the specified time period. It may be necessary to produce the methane gas in small plants at district levels so that time is not lost in transportation, which may be vital for successful bacterial action.
After the gas is produced it must pass through quality checks and necessary processing before delivery. Problems of packaging and delivery of the standardised gas may also pose problems. Methane gas can be liquefied only at very high pressures, which may not be practical. However, methods could be evolved depending on the end use of the gas.
It is hoped that Indian researchers and industry will take an active part in utilising the abundant natural resource to meet the energy crisis faced by the country.
I hope some leaders of industry will take the initiative and save the country a lot of foriegn exchange and also dependence on the conventional fossil fuels which are slated to be exhausting within a couple of decades
I understand that the reputed German automobile manufacturer BMW is producing electrical energy from landfill gas, methane, to meet almost 20% of their energy requirement. They are getting the methane gas from a distance of about 9 kilometres through pipe lines to gas turbines for production of electrical power. This is really good.