Karina Pandya

Books have always remained integral to any culture across the world and having said that the publishing industry holds a stronghold across the world. With the popularity of the internet, physical books are slowly falling into obscurity and there is a tremendous rise in e-books on tablets and other devices. One of the key drivers of change in the publishing industry is the use of technology by using artificial intelligence to write books.     It is well known that the Indian publishing industry is highly competitive and highly fragmented. There are over 9000 publishers and approximately 25,000 retailers. The industry is dominated by educational book publishing and a small share of trade book publishing. There is a small segment devoted to the dissemination of scientific research as well     The key growth drivers of the Indian publishing industry include government initiatives on education, an increase in enrolment rates in institutions and an increase in the ove...

Magazines have been in India for over a century and have been a main source of entertainment while also covering national, regional, state and city-scope topics. They are periodical publications containing many articles and illustrations on different topics and are of different types such as consumer magazines, trade magazines and organisation magazines.    Besides this, there are also many different types of magazines that are published such as covering topics such as general news, cooking, art, fashion, tech, health, children's magazines, business, travel, cultural, rider and driver topics, pets, sports, entertainment and wild magazines.    The very first publication was known as the German publication known as  Erbauliche   Monaths  Unteretungene  ( Editing Monthly Discussions) - a literary and philosophical publication which was published in 1663. However, in India, the first publications were published by the British and the earliest known to...

Emerging from the activities of labour movements in North America and Europe at the beginning of the 20 th Century the very first National Women’s Day was observed on February 28 th , 1909 in the United States to honour the 1908 garment workers' strike in New York. On this day, 15000 women marched through New York demanding shorter work hours, voting rights and better pay. Immediately following this, in 1910 Clara Zetkin – a women’s rights advocate and leader of Germany’s Women’s office for the social democratic party proposed the idea of a global international women's day. Later on, the date shifted to March 8 th   and the month of March marks women’s history month, an annual month-long celebration of cultural, political and socioeconomic women who made achievements of different women from various fields.          Being celebrated in many different countries across the world, this day is known for recognising women for their achievements with regard to div...

      An ancient Hindu festival, Holi is also known as the Festival of Colours/ Festival of Spring or Festival of Love and has been celebrated with poems dating back to the 4 th  Century CE. It is a symbol of the beginning of Spring and the end of Winter. It also marks the beginning where people can release all their inhibitions and start afresh. Named after Holika, the demoness sister of evil King  Hiranyakashyap ( as per Hindu mythology), Holi is also well-known for celebrating the eternal and divine love of gods Radha and Krishna.     It is a festive day to end and rid oneself of all past errors, repair broken relationships, end conflicts by meeting other people and is a day to forget and forgive one another.  In the 17 th  Century, it was also witnessed as a festival that celebrated agriculture and commemorated good spring harvests and fertile land.       Lasting for a night and a day, Holi starts on the evening o...

  After a long pandemic-induced hiatus, the much-awaited Ajio-Luxe Weekend - third edition was held from February 3 rd   to February 5 th , 2023.     Held at the premium open-air turfed venue located in Bandra-Kurla Complex, the Jio World Garden there was much to boast about international entertainment, culinary experiences, power panels, health and wellness sessions with plenty of cocktails, high teas with prominent industry experts and thought leaders attending.   A fashion and lifestyle brand, Ajio is Reliance’s digital commerce initiative and is an understatement to being a fashion destination. Founded in 2016, AJIO is a subsidiary company of Reliance Retails that was founded by Mukesh Ambani and has its headquarters in Bangalore.  Having over 2,500 brands, there are also over 6 lakh styles and trends. JIO Business has signed Indian cricket all-rounder Hardik Pandya as its brand ambassador.    Many leading personalities from the film frat...

  Indians say it is important to respect all religions. However major religious groups have very little in common and choose to live separately. It is over 75 years since India gained independence and India has definitely lived up to its post-independence ideals where people from different religions can live and practice freely.   While the majority of the population is diverse and devout where most of the world’s Hindus, Jains and Sikhs live; it is also home to one of the world’s largest Muslim populations and to millions of Christians and Buddhists. Religious tolerance is seen as a central theme of the country and it is viewed that being truly Indian is when an Indian can respect all religions. Tolerance is observed as a critical civic value.    In addition to this, there are many shared values which accompany a number of beliefs across the country. Not only do a majority of Hindus in India believe in karma but an identical percentage of Muslims do as well. Many Ch...

The Parliament’s budget for 2023 will start from January 31 st   and will continue till April 6 . This Union Budget 2023-24 may be the last full before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, which are re-elected every five years to elect 543 members. The election for the new set of members to the House of the Common People, i.e. the Lok Sabha which is the lower house of India’s bicameral Parliament will be elected by the citizens of the country from a selected number of candidates who represent their parliamentary constituency.    The Finance Minister who is currently, Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Union Budget on February 1 st . On this day the ‘Budget Speech’ will be read out which highlights the salient points of the entire budget. The budget session which began on Tuesday began with an address by President Droupadi Murmu to the joint sitting of two Houses of Parliament. An Economic Survey was also tabled in the Parliament ahead of the Union Budget. The session will take ...