Erudite pupils find one more reason to smile

New Delhi, Sep 3 (UNI) Students have reason to rejoice. Books by foreign authors, which were out of reach of students of the sub-continent due to price or availability, are now accessible to them at cheaper rates, something which can be described as a virtual manna from heaven.

Students from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Burma, Sri Lanka and Bhutan have easy access to cheaper books, which looked like a pipedream a decade ago.

One of the initiatives in this regard is that of PHI Learning, which believes in spreading education with affordable and high quality texts.

Mr Yogesh Srivastava, Marketing executive of PHI learning, said here at the 14th Delhi Book Fair that under the imprint of Eastern Economy Editions, books of science, humanities, management, computer information, are availabe under one roof at cheaper prices.

''Basically, we provide Indian students with the best of both the worlds as books by Indian authors are also provided for,'' he told UNI.

Books ranging from 'Reinventing the UN' by Ajit Banerjee and Murari R Sharma to 'Sociology of Religions' by Ali Shariati, from Kotler and Keller's 'Marketing Management' to 'Fossils in Earth Sciences' by Anis Kumar Ray are available.

Mr Prabhat Aggarwal, a Chartered accountant and commerce graduate from Delhi University, was surprised to see Kotler and Keller's book.

''I have always wanted to buy 'Marketing Management' in my college days, but could not do so as it was very expensive and I got some portions of the book photocopied from the library.'' The book, whose US edition was priced at Rs 5648, is now available at Rs 550 for students of the sub-continent.

Founded in 1963, PHI Learning has collaborated with IT giants like Microsoft Learning (a division of Microsoft Corp) and NIIT, and University Presses such as Harvard University Press, MIT for publishing and promoting a wide range of their texts in India. Microsoft Press Training Kits are written by expert authors with real-world technical experience in the software industry. This group includes award-winning authors of best-selling computer books, prominent speakers and recognised experts on Microsoft technologies.

''We tied up with Microsoft about four years ago and American authors write their books,'' Mr Srivastava said.

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