On The Shelf

This is a book you can judge by its weight. About a thousand professional and amateur birdwatchers, conservationists and forest officials contributed data over five years to shape this more than a thousand page long book. India is home to about 1,225 species of birds and Important Bird Areas comes as an acknowledgement of this abundant diversity.br>This is an ambitious attempt to map the important bird areas in India, which by logical extension are important sites for biodiversity conservation. This exhaustive account soars over the Himalayas and the Western Ghats, dipping over islands, coasts and plains, writing out a narrative of endangered existence.

The inventory lists 465 important bird areas IBAs 8212; 425 of these have globally threatened species. The need for such a list is spelt out: 8216;8216;Seventy-nine Indian bird species are globally threatened with extinction8230; Many other supposedly common species are also rapidly declining and are in urgent need of conservation action.8217;8217; For anyone with an abiding interest in birds, personal or professional, this book is a welcome weight.

Devyani Onial

---

This meticulous and scholarly inquiry into Nepal8217;s failure to evolve viable liberal democratic institutions comes just weeks after the country plunged into another phase of uncertainty. Nepal8217;s dreams of a politically stable future have been jeopardised by all the players under scrutiny here: the politicians, the Maoists, and the monarchy. It is Lawoti8217;s case that reform lies beyond these key players. To have beneficial democracy, the entire system needs to be reformed. Nepal, it is contended, needs a more representative electoral system, it needs to declare itself a secular state, it must hasten policies for affirmative action, it must guarantee judicial review, and it must safeguard the rights of minorities. In effect, to adequately address Nepal8217;s political crisis, socio-economic realities have to be taken into account. In the end, this book is also an appeal not to lose hope: 8220;Major institutional reforms do not occur under normal circumstances8230; The Maoist insurgency, a major political disturbance, has increased the likelihood of some major political reforms but whether it would induce inclusive reforms or not is uncertain.8221;