Book One - The Age of Shadows Series Elissa comes from hard and desperate beginnings on the streets of Galadrid. After falling foul of the City Watch and being thrown into the dungeons, she is suddenly thrust into the world of royalty and of magic. It is revealed she possesses a rare gift - the power of a Gold mage. Arina, the Queen, and one of the greatest Mages in her own right, quickly recognizes her power and commits to mentor and guide the young girl. Arth, an enigmatic Swordmaster, recently having lost his dear friend and liege, gets a message from across the veil to go to the west and find the one he is meant to protect. Arth soon reaches Galadrid and discovers Elissa and thus begins his connection as both a friend and as a master. As she trains under Arina & Arth's guidance, Elissa makes an unlikely friend in Thahim, a young lord. But her new life is far from safe. A strange enemy starts to arise to plague both the people of Galadrid and the greater kingdom. Arth, Elissa and the crown struggle to understand this rising enemy and to protect its people from the evils and destruction it heralds. Meanwhile, an ancient evil stir in the shadows, its insidious power growing. Elissa discovers that a Gold Mage is a sign of an impending age of turmoil. History has shown that, in such an age, chaos soon follows, and of impending battles between the light and dark forces. The more she learns the more she fears for the future. As Elissa wrestles with her newfound powers and responsibilities she encounters intrigue and politics swirling around her. She is confronted by the intrigues of the court and the tenuous relationship of the King, Drathren and the Guild of Mages. The realization that enemies of the crown exist within the very members of the court. Some challenge the authority of the Crown with Elissa finding herself unwittingly at the center of the resulting storm. When Elissa and Thahim make a startling discovery deep in the city, they unwittingly trigger lethal intentions. Betrayals and danger follow their every step, leading to Elissa facing her darkest hour. To save her friends and defeat the diabolical evil she discovers, she must accept her destiny and master the full might of her golden light. But even victories come at a terrible price. A wordless threat reveals greater shadows yet to come, and Elissa realizes her training has only just begun. The fate of the realm now rests on her shoulders in an epic struggle that will test the limits of her power - and her soul. Gripping from the first page to the chilling cliffhanger's end, The Rise of the Othari spins an epic tale of magic, mystery, and courage against overwhelming evil. Perfect for fans of character driven fantasy, this is the debut of an exciting new voice in epic fantasy. The Age of Shadows has only just begun.

With six essays exploring different aspects of economic growth, poverty, inequality and social security, this book offers a critical perspective on India's development experience since independence. Incisive and empirically rich, the book opens up new vistas in development discourse and informs current policy debates.

In this book some of the leading thinkers in development studies trace the history of their multi-disciplinary subject from the late colonial period and its establishment during decolonization all the way through to its contemporary concerns with poverty reduction. They present a critical genealogy of development by looking at the contested evolution and roles of development institutions and exploring changes in development discourses. These recollections, by those who teach, research and practise development, challenge simplistic, unilinear periodizations of the evolution of the discipline, and draw attention to those ongoing critiques of development studies, including Marxism, feminism and postcolonialism, which so often have been marginalized in mainstream development discourse. The contributors combine personal and institutional reflections, with an examination of key themes, including gender and development, NGOs, and natural resource management. The book is radical in that it challenges orthodoxies of development theory and practice and highlights concealed, critical discourses that have been written out of conventional stories of development. The contributors provide different versions of the history of development by inscribing their experiences and interpretations, some from left-inclined intellectual perspectives. Their accounts elucidate a more complex and nuanced understanding of development studies over time, simultaneously revealing common themes and trends, and they also attempt to reposition Development Studies along a more critical trajectory.. The volume is intended to stimulate new thinking on where the discipline may be moving. It ought also to be of great use to students coming to grips with the historical continuities and divergences in the theory and practice of development.

The discourse of 'green growth' has recently gained ground in environmental governance deliberations and policy proposals. It is presented as a fresh and innovative agenda centred on the deployment of engineering sophistication, managerial acumen and market mechanisms to redress the environmental and social derelictions of the existing development model. But the green growth project is deeply inadequate, whether assessed against criteria of social justice or the achievement of sustainable economic life upon a materially finite planet. This volume outlines three main lines of critique. First, it traces the development of the green growth discourse quaideology. It asks: what explains modern society's investment in it, why has it emerged as a master concept in the contemporary conjuncture, and what social forces does it serve? Second, it unpicks and explains the contradictions within a series of prominent green growth projects. Finally, it weighs up the merits and demerits of alternative strategies and policies, asking the vital question: 'if not green growth, then what?'

In a world that is essentially digitizing, some have argued that the idea of the knowledge society holds the greatest promise for Africa’s rapid socio-economic transformation. Impacts of the Knowledge Society on Economic and Social Growth in Africa aims to catalyze thinking and provide relevant information on the complex ways in which the information age is shaping Africa and the implications that this will have for the continent and the world. This premier reference volume will provide policy analysts, policymakers, academics, and researchers with fresh insights into the key empirical and theoretical matters framing Africa's ongoing digitization.

This book comprehensively chronicles the history of the education policymaking in India from 1947 to 2016 with a focus on the developments after 1964 when the Kothari Commission was constituted. The book is informed by the rare insights acquired by the author while making policy at the state, national, and international levels of governance. Another distinguishing feature of this book lies in the attention it pays to the process and politics of policymaking and the larger setting—or, to use jargon, the political and policy environment— in which policies were made at different points of time. The author brings out a crucial analysis of the Indian educational system against the backdrop of national and global political, economic, and educational developments. Two other distinguishing features of the book are the systematic treatment of the regulation of education and the role of judiciary in the making and implementation of education policies.

Sustainable increase in agricultural production while keeping the environmental quality, agro-ecosystem function and biodiversity is a real challenge in current agricultural practices. Application of PGPR can help in meeting the expected demand for increasing agricultural productivity to feed the world’s booming population. Global concern over the demerits of chemicals in agriculture has diverted the attention of researchers towards sustainable agriculture by utilizing the potential of Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria (PGPR). Use of PGPR as biofertilizers, biopesticides, soil, and plant health managers has gained considerable agricultural and commercial significance. The book Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria (PGPR): Prospects for Sustainable Agriculture has contributions in the form of book chapter from 25 eminent global researchers, that discusses about the PGPRs and their role in growth promotion of various crop plants, suppression of wide range of phytopathogens, their formulation, effect of various factors on growth and performance of PGPR, assessment of diversity of PGPR through microsatellites and role of PGPR in mitigating biotic and abiotic stress.This book will be helpful for students, teachers, researchers, and entrepreneurs involved in PGPR and allied fields. The book will be highly useful to researchers, teachers, students, entrepreneurs, and policymakers.

Contents: Introduction, Secondary Level, School Organisation, Curriculum Development, National Education Policy, Model Schools.

Contents: Introduction, Ancient Times, Medieval Times, Modern Times, Changing Times, Post-independence Period, Planned Development, Five Year Plans, Stress on Elementary Education, Stress on Secondary Education, Provision of Training, Financial Factors, Constitutional Guarantee.